27. Find Your Footing: Growing Confidence and Prioritizing Health

Greyson Goody (00:00):

You know, it’s funny, you have the, this negative self-talk, particularly as a young trial lawyer, when you don’t know what you’re doing, where you’re like, “I’m not good at this. I’m not very — I’m not gonna be the best one for this. I’m gonna fail.” You know, once you get to that point and you realize, “Hey, I am the best one for this job.” It, it’s really liberating.

Maria Monroy (00:21):

In law school, attorneys are taught to challenge everything. Tear things apart, break them down. But the qualities that make great lawyers are some of the worst for running a business. At every stage of growth, running a business and practicing law can be overwhelming. You don’t have to do this alone. I’m Maria Monroy, president and co-founder of LawRank, an SEO agency for ambitious law firms. Each week, we hear from the industry leaders on what it really takes to run a law firm, from marketing to manifestation. Because success lies in the balance of life and law, we’re here to help you Tip the Scales. Today I’m live with Greyson Goody.

Greyson Goody (01:00):

My name is Greyson Goody. I’m a partner at the Simon Law Group, and I’m also a partner and owner at Goody Law Group.

Maria Monroy (01:06):

Are you a goody-goody?

Greyson Goody (01:07):

I’m a goody-goody.

Maria Monroy (01:08):

That’s like the first time you hear this.

Greyson Goody (01:09):

And a goody two-shoes. Yes. Yes.

Maria Monroy (01:11):

You are though the nicest person ever.

Greyson Goody (01:14):

Oh, thank you.

Maria Monroy (01:15):

No, really. I’m sure you get all the time.

Greyson Goody (01:17):

You’re very nice, too.

Maria Monroy (01:18):

Yeah, no, I’m not nice.

Greyson Goody (01:19):

Well, I, you know, I grew up in a small town, and, uh, I got three older brothers, and I just kind of was taught to be nice from a, from a young —

Maria Monroy (01:25):

Are you the youngest?

Greyson Goody (01:26):

I am. I’m the youngest of four brothers.

Maria Monroy (01:28):

Wow.

Greyson Goody (01:28):

Yeah.

Maria Monroy (01:29):

Do you get along with your brothers?

Greyson Goody (01:30):

You know, for the most part, we can hang out for like two or three days, but then by day four, it’s usually like we get into a fight, and we gotta separate a little bit. And then distance makes the heart grow stronger. So yeah, we, we get along for the most part, yeah.

Maria Monroy (01:43):

Well, that’s good. So you work at the Simon Law Group.

Greyson Goody (01:47):

Yes. Yeah.

Maria Monroy (01:48):

What’s that been like? How long have you been there?

Greyson Goody (01:51):

Well, I’ve been at the Simon Law Group for about ten years.

Maria Monroy (01:54):

Really?

Greyson Goody (01:55):

Um, yeah, so when I got out of law school, I got a job down in San Diego. I went to law school in San Diego, and I got a job for, like, four or five months. And then my buddies, Brandon and Sevy, who you know —

Maria Monroy (02:10):

Yes.

Greyson Goody (02:11):

Were working at the Simon Law Group, and they invited me up, and, you know, the rest is history. I, I absolutely love it. It’s been a, it’s been a blessing to have the opportunities that I’ve been provided at the Simon Law Group.

Maria Monroy (02:19):

I could totally see you being, like, a San Diego guy.

Greyson Goody (02:21):

Yeah.

Maria Monroy (02:22):

Do you miss it or no?

Greyson Goody (02:24):

Oh, absolutely. I think San Diego is my favorite city in the entire world, aside from back home in Wyoming. Um, and in fact, if we opened a branch down there, I would very seriously consider moving down there.

Maria Monroy (02:35):

I could totally see you and Taly living in San Diego.

Greyson Goody (02:38):

Yeah. Well, you know, I don’t know if I’ve showed you this, but my old ID — so when I was in law school, my hair was down, like, below my shoulders.

Maria Monroy (02:49):
I believe it.

Greyson Goody (02:50):

Yeah. So I surfed all the time. Um, law school, I probably surfed four or five times a week, just in between classes. And, um, San Diego has a, a big piece of my heart.

Maria Monroy (02:56):

I bet. So tell me what it’s been like, like, these ten years, because now you’re a well-known trial lawyer.

Greyson Goody (03:04):

Yeah. Thank you. Well, you know, at, at the beginning, it’s kind of funny, how it works in the law is I feel like you kind of will fall in to some practice area that you didn’t necessarily think you were going to be in. Uh, my dad’s a criminal defense attorney, so I always kind of thought I might do criminal defense, and I never really wanted to do trial work until I started working at the Simon Law Group. So, you know, I, I, I started working here, and I tried a couple cases with Bob, with Tom Feher. Tried one with Sevy and kind of, you know, as time went on, I just, I, I just got better and better at it. And now that’s kind of all I do. You know, all I do is really try cases and, um, it’s taken a while, Maria, it’s taken a while to get proficient at it.

Greyson Goody (03:50):

And I think over the last probably four or five years, you know, when I get a case, I always kind of try to put myself in my client’s shoes to understand what they’re going through. I think in the last four or five years, I’ve finally come to that place where I’m saying, “If I was in your shoes, I would want me trying this case.” Because I trust in myself, and I trust in the skills that I’ve built over the past ten years. So much. So I —

Maria Monroy (4:17):
That’s amazing.

Greyson Goody (4:18):
Yeah. So, again, I’ve just been really lucky. I’ve been given every opportunity in the world to try cases and learn from the best.

Maria Monroy (04:22):

Absolutely. And at first, were you scared?

Greyson Goody (04:26):

For sure, for sure. I think that it’s the number — I think it’s the number-one or two fear in the entire world is, like, public speaking, right?

Maria Monroy (04:34):

Yes. Yes, it is.

Greyson Goody (04:35):

So, yeah. And particularly when you don’t know what you’re doing and you’re going into trial and you’ve got a direct exam or a cross exam and, and you haven’t really seen anybody do it before, it’s nerve-wracking. And, uh, and I still, you know, to this day, I still get nervous. I get butterflies in my stomach when I’m about to talk to a jury.

Maria Monroy (04:53):

That’s good.

Greyson Goody (04:53):

Yeah.

Maria Monroy (04:54):

That’s a good thing.

Greyson Goody (04:54):

It is a good thing.

Maria Monroy (04:55):

Worry the day that goes away.

Greyson Goody (04:57):

It, you have to worry the day it goes away, you know?

Maria Monroy (04:58):

Yeah.

Greyson Goody (04:59):

I read a lot of Gerry Spence, he’s, like, kind of one of my mentors. I, I read a lot of his books, and, and he says that that concern and that worry and that fear of failing and the, and the, the desire to do really well for your client and to win the case, that’s what makes you better, and that’s what makes you strive and work hard and be prepared for your trial. So, like you said, once that goes, you should be very concerned. You should be concerned.

Maria Monroy (05:24):

And you and your wife started a firm.

Greyson Goody (05:26):

Mm-hmm.

Maria Monroy (05:27):

And the Simon Law Group is cool with this?

Greyson Goody (05:31):

Yes. Well, so her story is, is kind of interesting. You know, she came outta law school, she was doing art law for a few years.

Maria Monroy (05:40):

Really? I didn’t know this about her.

Greyson Goody (05:41):

You didn’t know this about Taly? So it, it’s actually really cool. So she was in a small firm in Century City, and she was doing art law, which is like art transactions. And then there’s, like, a lot of fraud in the art world, as you might imagine.

Maria Monroy (06:00):

Interesting.

Greyson Goody (06:01):

Yeah. So there was a lot of lawsuits going on, but really it was just her and her boss. And, um, you know, she was driving an hour and a half to work in the morning.

Maria Monroy (06:07):

That’s brutal.

Greyson Goody (06:08):

An hour and a half from, and I was at a point in my career with the Simon Law Group where I was like, you know, “Hey, we’re doing well enough. I’m, I’m, I’m doing well enough. I’m a partner here. Take this leap, take this opportunity that we have.”

Maria Monroy (06:19):

Wait, you’re a partner?

Greyson Goody (06:20):

Yeah.

Maria Monroy (06:20):

I didn’t know that.

Greyson Goody (06:21):

Yeah. I’ve been a partner at Simon Law Group for four or five years.

Maria Monroy (06:24):

How many partners are there?

Greyson Goody (06:26):

Four years. Oh boy. I think now we just got Greg Jackson and Evan Garcia in. I think there are nine partners now.

Maria Monroy (06:35):

That’s amazing. I just love how the Simons, like, take people in —

Greyson Goody (06:39):

Mm-hmm.

Maria Monroy (06:40):

And, like, they help people grow with them.

Greyson Goody (06:43):

Yeah.

Maria Monroy (06:44):

Right? It’s not about them.

Greyson Goody (06:46):

Mm-hmm.

Maria Monroy (06:47):

It’s really about the firm.

Greyson Goody (06:49):

A, a thousand percent. A thousand percent. And I think that’s the mark of a, a really good leader is somebody who says, “You know what? Let me bring you up, and a rising tide rises all ships.” And, you know, you just — since I’ve known Bob, since I’ve known Brad and Brandon, and really the Simons in general, that’s what they do with people. You know, they, they say, “Hey, I see something in you you may not even see in yourself. Let me help you. And, and at the end of the day, we’re all gonna help each other.” And I’ve seen that so many times with Bob, with Brad, with Brandon. You know, they’re just, that’s what they’re really good at. They’re really good at helping people. And at the end of the day, it helps everybody.

Maria Monroy (07:24):

It’s funny ‘cause Bob was my first guest.

Greyson Goody (07:27):

Oh, really?

Maria Monroy (07:28):

Yeah. And I, I called him with the idea. I was like, “Hey, I’m gonna start this podcast, and what do you think?” And he was super supportive. And I said, “How, how would you feel if you were the first guest? And we recorded during Law-Di-Gras?” And he said, “Of course I’m down. Like, I’ll support you, whatever.”

Greyson Goody (07:47):

Mm-hmm.

Maria Monroy (07:48):

And we talked about this particular thing where he said, you know, “I find lawyers that I think can be really good trial lawyers, and I bring them in, and I, you know, I help them grow, and it’s not about me trying every case.”

Greyson Goody (07:59):

Mm-hmm.

Maria Monroy (08:00):

Right? And how that’s given him work-life balance.

Greyson Goody (08:03):

Yeah. And that’s, that’s really important. You know, and, and kind of going back to what you were asking me about earlier, like how did they feel starting Goody Law Group? Bob was ultimate supportive. You know, he was giving us tips. He was telling us, “Hey, you know, here’s a good slogan for the firm.” You know, um, there’s, there’s so much support there. Uh, and you see the opposite of it in the legal community. You really do. You know, some,

Maria Monroy (08:29):

Especially in LA

Greyson Goody (08:30):

Especially in LA,

Maria Monroy (08:31):

Yeah.

Greyson Goody (08:32):

You have these, you know, real famous attorneys who are running their firm, and they’ve got these great cases, but they don’t let anybody else try them. They have to go try them. Um, but that kind of means that they’re always cooped up trying all these cases.

Maria Monroy (08:43):

Right.

Greyson Goody (08:44):

Like, bring people up around you that get to your level, or, you know, better or worse, whatever it is. And then you can diversify. You can start doing other things, which you’ve seen Bob do with JHQ and, and with all of his other things that he’s got going on.

Maria Monroy (09:00):

Yeah. He has a lot going on

Greyson Goody (09:02):

He does.

Maria Monroy (09:03):

And it, it’s funny because people will message me and they’re like, “Oh my God, I love Bob. Like, can you intro me?” I’m like, “Just DM him. Like, he’s like —”

Greyson Goody (09:10):

He’ll respond.

Maria Monroy (09:11):

He will respond.

Greyson Goody (09:12):

Yeah.

Maria Monroy (09:13):

What people will tell me, like, “I DMed Bob, and, like, he gave me his number, and we’re texting back and forth,” and he mentors so many people.

Greyson Goody (09:19):

Mm-hmm.

Maria Monroy (09:20):

But the way that he’s mentored you and Sevy and everyone else at the firm is like a whole other level.

Greyson Goody (09:23):

It is, it is. It’s a whole ‘nother level. I mean, to give you an example, I was along for the ride with Bob on, you know, maybe like three or four trials. I think I watched Tom Feher try a case or two. So I kind of, like, had a decent idea about what I was doing in the courtroom. And, you know, back in 2016, I think it was, Bob gave me my first case to go try like, “Hey, you’re first chair on this case.” It was a cervical fusion case, huge crash. I mean, it’s, like, a multi, multi-million-dollar case. And I had to drive up to Ventura to go try this case. And I was like, “I don’t really even know what I’m doing.” But again, he saw something in me that maybe I didn’t. Ended up being a great verdict. And then, you know, that kind of gives me the confidence to go out and start trying a lot more cases and, and, and feeling like, “Hey, I can really do this. I can be successful doing this, and I can be really good at it.”

Maria Monroy (10:14):

Why do you think you’re so good at it?

Greyson Goody (10:19):

You know, I think there’s a, a few things that make me different from other trial lawyers. I think that, um, you know, just growing up, I’ve, I’ve grown up very, very humble, um, very honest. And I take the case that’s in front of me, and I try that case. I don’t try, I don’t try to make it anything that it’s not. Um, I try to — and again, this kind of goes back to some of the things that I’ve learned, just, just educating myself as a trial lawyer, reading a lot of Gerry Spence. It’s just about honesty. It’s about taking those things and — that are really bad in the case and just making ’em your own, you know, and, and being honest with the jury. And I think that when I go in there, jurors have this feeling about trial lawyers, that they’re dishonest, that they’re gonna try to slant every fact in their favor.

Greyson Goody (11:07):

And when I go in there and I talk to a jury, I think that they can see through that and, and they see that I’m honest, and they see that I’m just gonna tell them things how it is, you know? And, um, and I think that’s what’s really made me a good trial lawyer and made me really not scared of the bad facts. I just take them and, and I’ll be honest with them. That’s it. Be honest with the jury, be honest with yourself, be honest with the client, and at the end of the day, uh, you know, you’re gonna find that there’s gonna be justice.

Maria Monroy (11:33):

Joe Fried talks a lot about this as well. And you’re very likable. And I feel like that has to impact the jury.

Greyson Goody (11:41):

Yeah. Well I try to — you know, it’s one of those things — I think Nick Rowley does this too — is, you know, when you, when you talk with a jury, really, you don’t just try and get, like, surface things from them. And, and jury selection. You really wanna talk about, you know, levels below. You wanna peel back the onion. You wanna talk about, “Oh hey, what do you really love to do? Why do you love to do it? Do you feel you’re good at it? Why do you feel like you’re good at it? Is that a passion of yours?” Try to figure out who these people are and, at the same time, show them a little bit about yourself. Because that’s what brings trust. And the biggest thing when you’re in trial is trust. A jury — you want a jury to trust you. And, um, and that’s, that’s the way to do it. Talk to them like a person. Don’t use big words, which is easy ‘cause I don’t know very many big words.

Maria Monroy (12:25):

So tell us more about, uh, Goody Law Group.

Greyson Goody (12:29):

Yes. Okay. Yeah. So, so going back to Taly, I just said, “Look, babe, start your own firm. You can do this. Like, don’t worry about the money thing.” And she goes, “Okay.” So she quit her firm and immediately she starts doing, you know, PI employment. She sets it all up, she does all the groundwork and, you know, I’ve always been a partner of it, but she’s done 99% of the work. And some of the things that I think that are, have been really creative and have helped her, um, and been really fun at the same time, is she does a mock law school class. And we, we, throughout COVID, we did this a few times where you have high school students, you have college students, you have people that are maybe, like, just starting law school that want to know what law school classes are like.

Greyson Goody (13:14):

So we’ll get them together, we’ll give them a case. We’ll, we’ll say, “Hey, we have to do X, Y, and Z on this case. We’re, we’re gonna do a Socratic method class.” And then we, we do this class. And she’s gotten a ton of cases from these classes. She’s had a lot of people that have just really started to follow her on social media because she is a mentor in herself, you know, in her own right. And people just love to hear from her. She’s, I mean, you talk about likable — Taly is extremely likable.

Maria Monroy (13:44):

She is.

Greyson Goody (13:45):

She’s j— absolutely gorgeous. And she goes out of her way to help people. And I think that has really helped her firm and our firm take off.

Maria Monroy (13:53):

Oh absolutely. We were at TBI, I don’t know if it was last year or the year before — the last TBI that they had — last year.

Greyson Goody (14:01):

Mm-hmm.

Maria Monroy (14:02):

And we’re just like walking through the hall. And this kid, I say kid ‘cause he was for us. He is, he was young, you know —

Greyson Goody (14:06):

Mm-hmm.

Maria Monroy (14:07):

Stops her and he’s like freaked out. He’s like, you would think Taly was, like, fucking Britney Spears. And he’s like, “Oh my God, Taly, I love you so much. I love your Instagram. Can, can we take a picture?”

Greyson Goody (14:17):

Mm-hmm.

Maria Monroy (14:18):

So the next thing you know, I’m like taking pictures for Taly and this random kid. And he’s like totally fangirling her. And I’m like, “What the hell just happened?”

Greyson Goody (14:26):

Yeah. Well, and this’ll give you an idea about how famous she is on social media. I will be out, I’ll be like, at a golf tournament or I’ll be at like, you know, I’ll be speaking at some sort of lawyer event, and people will come up to me and be like, “Oh my God, you’re Taly Goody’s husband. Oh, where — is Taly here? Can we take a picture together?” People have like, wanted pictures with me, and I’m on TikTok, too. I haven’t posted one time, but just by —

Maria Monroy (14:50):

But you’re in her, her videos sometimes.

Greyson Goody (14:51):

I’m so, you know, I’ve been in a couple videos when she wants me to be attacked by a dog or something like that, I’ll be there. But just by virtue of being in her videos on, you know, Instagram and TikTok, I’ve got like a bunch of followers on TikTok. I’ve never even posted. So it’s like it, the first time somebody stopped me and was like, “Oh, are you Taly Goody’s husband?” I was like, “Alright. She’s famous.”

Maria Monroy (15:12):

Yeah.

Greyson Goody (15:12):

That’s it.

Maria Monroy (15:13):

That’s crazy.

Greyson Goody (15:14):

Yeah.

Maria Monroy (15:15):

What’s really funny, and I’ve actually talked to you guys about this before, is that you are both so nice, and don’t thank me. Stop thanking me. You’re both so nice. And typically there’s like one person that has, like, in a relationship — and this is my husband’s theory — that is, like, you know, not as friendly. And in his, uh, he jokes that that’s me, but he’s like dead serious, because he’s, like, super, super nice.

Greyson Goody (15:38):

Your husband is really nice.

Maria Monroy (15:39):

Oh, you’ve met him?

Greyson Goody (15:40):

Yeah, he’s great.

Maria Monroy (15:41):

He’s — very few people have met him.

Greyson Goody (15:43):

Yeah.

Maria Monroy (15:44):

People think he’s not real, but you have met him.

Greyson Goody (15:45):

I’ve seen pictures and I’ve, I’ve seen him in the flesh.

Maria Monroy (15:47):

We’ve had dinner.

Greyson Goody (15:47):

Yes.

Maria Monroy (15:48):

Yeah.

Greyson Goody (15:48):

We have, he’s awesome.

Maria Monroy (15:49):

At TLU! Thank you. Yes. Thank you.

Greyson Goody (15:51):

Mm-hmm.

Maria Monroy (15:52):

But you’re both super nice.

Greyson Goody (15:54):

There’s a little yin yang there though. So if you’ve ever been out with Taly, she can get a little fiery after a few drinks. She —

Maria Monroy (15:59):

Yeah, yeah. She’s,

Greyson Goody (16:00):

She has some fire inside. She —

Maria Monroy (16:02):

It can come out, but it’s still cute when she does it.

Greyson Goody (16:04):

Yeah, it is, it is really cute. Little five-foot-two thing, getting all fiery.

Maria Monroy (16:06):

Yeah.

Greyson Goody (16:07):

But yeah, there’s still yin yang. There’s a, there’s a play there, too, for sure. You know, we balance each other out quite a bit. We’re very good about that.

Maria Monroy (16:15):

So what’s it like working together?

Greyson Goody (16:18):

Oh, it’s fun. It’s really fun. So she — kind of how we have it structured right now, um, is she does all the pre-litigation stuff right at the firm. So she’s always doing demand letters, she’s meeting with clients, she’s, you know, setting up doctor’s appointments. If things get into litigation, I might step in and, you know, send some discovery or I’ll send, you know, send a demand. Not a lot of her cases are in litigation, so, you know, maybe 5 percent of my time is, you know, focused on litigating her cases. But for the most part, we’ve been really lucky, because when her cases get into litigation, they just tend, they tend to settle. So that’s kind of how we split it up. She, you know, she has questions for me at times about, you know, “Hey, what should I do in this situation?” “Oh, send a public records act request,” and we just bounce things off each other all the time. So it’s, it’s been great. And it’s, I, I’m just super proud of her, because like I told you, she has built this whole thing. It’s been all her building Goody Law Group. Now she’s got her own office. She’s, yeah. It’s, it’s so cool to watch.

Maria Monroy (17:21):

And you guys had a baby?

Greyson Goody (17:23):

We did have a baby. We have an eight-month-old now.

Maria Monroy (17:26):

Wow.

Greyson Goody (17:26):

Yeah.

Maria Monroy (17:27):

Time flies.

Greyson Goody (17:27):

Time flies. And it’s the best thing in the world, as you know. You have three, right?

Maria Monroy (17:31):

I do. Yeah.

Greyson Goody (17:32):

You have three. Yeah.

Maria Monroy (17:33):

Yeah. I remember when she told me. I guessed she was pregnant. Do you remember?

Greyson Goody (17:37):

I do remember.

Maria Monroy (17:38):

Really?

Greyson Goody (17:38):

You’re the first person.

Maria Monroy (17:39):

Yeah.

Greyson Goody (17:40):

You were the very, and that was really early. That was like two and a half, three months. And you were like, “Wait, are you?” How did you know?

Maria Monroy (17:46):

I don’t know. I always know. People think I’m crazy, but literally, I can tell when someone’s pregnant.

Greyson Goody (17:51):

That’s amazing.

Maria Monroy (17:52):

Yeah. If I know them.

Greyson Goody (17:54):

Yeah.

Maria Monroy (17:55):

Not if it’s like a random person. Like I can’t tell.

Greyson Goody (17:57):

Mm-hmm.

Maria Monroy: (17:58):
But I had a feeling, I was like, “Are you pregnant?” And she was like, “Fuck.”

Greyson Goody (18:00):

 

Maria Monroy (18:00):

She’s like, “No one knows.”

Greyson Goody (18:01):

That was literally before we even told our families, I think.

Maria Monroy (18:05):

I know, no one knew.

Greyson Goody (18:06):

Yeah.

Maria Monroy (18:07):

And then I kept taking her drinks ‘cause no one knew. So I was like —

Greyson Goody (18:08):

Mm-hmm.

Maria Monroy (18:09):

“Here, I’ll take it.”

Greyson Goody (18:10):

Yeah, yeah. But no, it’s been great. I mean, the baby girl is like, you know, I always thought I wanted a boy until we had a girl. And I’m like, I’m so freaking in love. I mean, it’s, it’s such a cool thing having a baby girl. And um, I just wish we would’ve done it a little bit sooner.

Maria Monroy (18:25):

Really?

Greyson Goody (18:26):

Yeah.

Maria Monroy (18:27):

No, things happen when they’re supposed to happen.

Greyson Goody (18:28):

Yeah. Yeah. That’s true.

Maria Monroy (18:30):

So tell me about this place in Wyoming.

Greyson Goody (18:34):

Well, um, you know, so I’m from Jackson Hole originally. It’s like the best skiing in North America, maybe the world, arguably. It’s really, really —

Maria Monroy (18:42):

I’ve never skied. I’m scared to, so

Greyson Goody (18:44):

Have you ever been to Jackson Hole?

Maria Monroy (18:45):

I’ve never, no.

Greyson Goody (18:47):

Okay.

Maria Monroy (18:48):

I’ve never been to it.

Greyson Goody (18:49):

So’s gorgeous. You would really like it. I mean, it’s, it’s surrounded by mountains, big mountains, you know, 14,500 feet high. Um, you know, it’s outdoorsy, you know, camping, all that good stuff. So Jackson Hole is, is very expensive. Okay.

Maria Monroy (19:00):

It sounds expensive.

Greyson Goody (19:01):

So I can’t afford getting something in Jackson Hole. Uh, believe it or not, it is the, I wanna say it’s the highest income, the highest gross income county, Teton County, in the entire country.

Maria Monroy (19:11):

Really?

Greyson Goody (19:12):

So more so than the East Coast. More so than like Greenwich, like, it, it’s the highest grossing income in the entire entire country.

Maria Monroy (19:19):

Huh, interesting.

Greyson Goody (19:20):

It’s cuz there’s a lot of billionaires that kinda, like, move in there. They just come in, in the summer. Um, but we couldn’t afford anything in Jackson. So,

Maria Monroy: (19:34):
Not yet.

Greyson Goody (19:35):

Not yet, not yet. But about 45 minutes southeast of Jackson, there’s this little town called Bondurant. It used to be called Little Jackson Hole. So Jackson Hole is in this big valley surrounded by mountains. It’s about 6,000 feet elevation. This is up higher, at about 7,500 feet elevation. And it’s just sort of a smaller little valley. Um, we got a twelve-and-a-half-acre ranch out there.

Maria Monroy (19:43):

That’s amazing.

Greyson Goody (19:44):

It’s got a house on it. It’s got a big barn, uh, right on the backside of the ranch. The Hoback River runs through it. Um, so it’s, it, it’s always been my dream. And in fact, you know, every year at Simon Law Group we have, like, our group retreats, and I remember, I think it was like seven or eight years ago, we were talking about, like, our goals, you know, moving forward. And I said, “Look, I want houses in the places that I love so that I can go back and forth and I can work from there.” And I said, “I want one in LA, of course. ‘Cause we work here.”

Maria Monroy (20:22):

Right.

Greyson Goody (20:23):

“I want one back home in Wyoming and I want one in Costa Rica.”

Maria Monroy (20:25):

Costa Rica?

Greyson Goody (20:26):

In Costa Rica. ‘Cause I’m a big surfer and I love, I really love Costa Rica. It’s kind of like —

Maria Monroy (20:30):

I’ve never been, so —

Greyson Goody (20:31):

You have to go.

Maria Monroy (20:31):

I, I, we plan on it. Yeah.

Greyson Goody (20:33):

Yeah. So I’m, I got two of the three now and, and with COVID, everything has gone remote. So I can just go out there and I can work. I got Starlink satellite and then, you know, go snowmobiling or do whatever it is that I want to do for the day.

Maria Monroy (20:46):

Yeah, that’s, that’s awesome.

Greyson Goody (20:48):

It brings me back to my roots. It really does.

Maria Monroy (20:50):

Yeah.

Greyson Goody (20:51):

Yeah. And I’ve, I’ve heard you’re looking out there too.

Maria Monroy (20:53):

Not looking. I just inquired with Taly. I said, you know, “What does that look like?” ‘Cause we would love to have a place for the kids to just be like more in touch with nature.

Greyson Goody (21:05):

Mm-hmm.

Maria Monroy (21:06):

And not, like, always in a city.

Greyson Goody (21:07):

Yeah.

Maria Monroy (21:08):

But my dream is, like, I want an apartment in New York City. Like, that’s what I want.

Greyson Goody (21:10):

Really? You’re a big city girl, huh?

Maria Monroy (21:11):

I love city. Yeah.

Greyson Goody (21:12):

Yeah, yeah. Because you lived in Mexico City, right?

Maria Monroy (21:14):

Yeah.

Greyson Goody (21:15):

Or do you still live in Mexico City?

Maria Monroy (21:16):

No, we moved to Vegas.

Greyson Goody (21:17):

Okay. That’s right. Yeah.

Maria Monroy (21:19):

Yeah, I don’t know how long I’ll last. So —

Greyson Goody (21:21):

Yeah, well you’ve got to, you’ve got to get that decompression sometimes, because you’re in the city all the time. You know, high anxiety, high energy all the time. Honestly — So the last case I tried, I, it was, like, three months, September 28th through December 17th.

Maria Monroy (21:30):

Jesus.

Greyson Goody (21:31):

And it was up north in San Mateo County. So I was, like, out of the house. I was taking two flights every week. As soon as we got done, literally right after closing arguments, I was like, “Peace out,” flew to Wyoming, put my feet up right next to the fire, and we just chilled for, like, two weeks, and it was the best decompression that you can get.

Maria Monroy (21:57):

Yeah. For me, this year I really wanna focus more on, like, my health in general.

Greyson Goody (22:01)
Mm-hmm. ,

Maria Monroy (22:02):

What are some things that you do to de-stress? Cause you have a, a high-stress job, I’d argue.

Greyson Goody (22:09):

Yeah, no doubt. I, you know, de-stressing. I think for me, um, just doing some of the things I’m passionate about. Surfing, um, you know, getting out to Wyoming, working out, uh, yoga, you know, we have a sauna. There’s a, honestly, there are a lot of things that I sort of —

Maria Monroy (22:28):

You have a sauna?

Greyson Goody (22:29):

Yeah.

Maria Monroy (22:30):

How uh, hot does it get?

Greyson Goody (22:32):

Oh, it gets like 195 degrees.

Maria Monroy (22:33):

Okay.

Greyson Goody (22:34):

It’s hot. It’s hot. And so, like, I’ve taken these things that de-stress me, and I’ve kind of tried to build them around me so that I have a lot of opportunities to de-stress. You know, I come home late, take a sauna, um, I get up early, I go work out, you know, I kind of try to get those endorphins going. I get done with a long trial. Maybe I’ll go out to Wyoming. Maybe I’ll go see some friends in Montana. ‘Cause I went to school in Montana. I’ve got a lot of friends up there. Travel. Um, it, it’s one of those things when you have a stressful job and you’re working really hard, you’ve got to — you have to force yourself to take the time off.

Maria Monroy (23:07):

I think a lot of lawyers are really bad at that.

Greyson Goody (23:09):

Mm-hmm.

Maria Monroy (23:10):

I’m bad at that.

Greyson Goody (23:11):

Yeah. I’m bad at it too. Really.

Maria Monroy (23:14):

It doesn’t sound like it.

Greyson Goody (23:15):

I try. My — no, I really try my best. But even, you know, my father-in-law, he’s out in Wyoming right now. He’s like, he’s like, “Dude, just, just leave. Just take four days, just come out. I know you want to come out.” I’m like, “I, I literally can’t right now. I literally am stu — you know, I’m getting ready for my next trial.” So I think that a lot of younger attorneys should start trying to do that. Particularly —

Maria Monroy (23:26):

Make it a habit.

Greyson Goody (23:27):

Make it a habit. ‘Cause you know, when I was a younger attorney, when I first started at Simon Law Group and in the firm that I was working at before, I had had this feeling like I always have to be working. Right? Like, “Hey, I’m getting paid well. I, I need to be working on these cases.” And when you’re an attorney, it’s like, there’s never gonna be a shortage of work. I don’t care how many cases you have, you can always do something more. But you have to come to that conclusion and that, you know, that final — you’ve got to take some time off. You have to. Force yourself to. Otherwise you’re going to burn out. You’re not going to like your life, you’re going to turn to alcohol or whatever.

Maria Monroy (24:12):

Well that’s super, super. I mean I think that’s, it’s a known thing that in the legal space —

Greyson Goody (24:16):

Mm-hmm.

Maria Monroy (24:17):

That’s a huge issue.

Greyson Goody (24:18):

It is. It really is. So, you know, try to do other things.

Maria Monroy (24:22):

And you’re vegan or did I dream that?

Greyson Goody (24:25):

Yeah, I am. Yeah. Taly and —

Maria Monroy (24:26):

I know Taly is.

Greyson Goody (24:27)
I’ve been vegan for four years.

Maria Monroy (24:28):

How’s that going?

Greyson Goody (24:29):

It’s amazing. It’s absolutely amazing. You know, we did it as a, um, New Year’s resolution. We were just going to do it for a month.

Maria Monroy (24:32):

Wow.

Greyson Goody (24:33):

We were like, “Let’s just see, you know, let’s just see how it makes us feel.” ‘Cause I was — this is kind of goes back into the stressful thing. I kind of had high blood pressure. Um, I was having some issues where I’d go get physicals and they’d be like, “Dude, you need to, like, de-stress, like, eat less red meat, eat less, you know, cheeses and dairy.” And so we said, “You know, let’s just do it for a month. Let’s see how we feel.” So we did it for a month, and then it just kind of caught on. And we’ve been that way for four years. Although I did relapse, like, about a month and a half in.

Maria Monroy (25:10):

Did you? What did you eat?

Greyson Goody (25:12):

I did. So I actually remember I was at a deposition in, like, Culver City, and I was coming back on PCH and I was, like — cheese is so addictive. Like, cheese is really addictive for me.

Maria Monroy (25:19):

Oh, yes.

Greyson Goody (25:20):
And I’ve always really liked cheese. And it had been like six weeks and I’m like, “I haven’t had any fucking cheese. Like, I gotta get some food. I gotta get some food.” I was really hungry. So I stopped by Taco Bell, And I didn’t get any meat. I didn’t get any meat, but I got, like, I got, like a, a cheesy Gordita crunch with no meat. I got, like, nachos, and —

Maria Monroy (25:43):

How did, did you feel afterwards?

Greyson Goody (25:44):

I felt terrible. I felt like a, I felt like a drug addict. I seriously felt like a drug addict. And I was in my car and I ate like half of it. I was like, “Ugh!” And I, like, threw it away.

Maria Monroy (25:53):

And the guilt. The guilt.

Greyson Goody (25:54):

And it was guilty. It was so, I was so guilty. I didn’t even tell Taly. I didn’t even tell her.

Maria Monroy (25:58):

Does she know now?

Greyson Goody (25:59):

She knows now.

Maria Monroy (26:00):

Oh, okay.

Greyson Goody (26:01):

Like, like a year and a half later I was telling somebody this story about how I relapsed, and she’s like, “You never fucking told me that you relapsed. What is this?” I’m like, “This is why! You’re upset about it. And I was guilty.”

Maria Monroy (26:12):

Um, I was worried you were telling me before Taly.

Greyson Goody (26:14):

No, no.

Maria Monroy (26:15):

I don’t want her to listen to this like —

Greyson Goody (26:17):

She knows by now.

Maria Monroy (26:18):

Okay, good.

Greyson Goody (26:19):

She knows. I, I have a lot of, and I’ve got a lot of guilt when it comes to eating. I’m a sh — I’m a sweet tooth, too. So like, if there’s can — I can’t have candy in the house ‘cause I’ll eat the entire bag. Literally. And then I’ll like —

Maria Monroy (26:30):

Did, did you see the Girl Scout cookies?

Greyson Goody (26:31):

Don’t tell me that. I can’t, I can’t know that. I can’t know that.

Maria Monroy (26:35):

So wait, back to the uh, high blood pressure.

Greyson Goody (26:37):

Yeah. Well you know what? So when we went vegan, um, my blood pressure dropped like 20 points.

Maria Monroy (26:38):

That’s crazy.

Greyson Goody (26:39):

After about a year. So I get physicals every year. Now, I got no issues. I have no like high blood sugar, no high blood pressure, everything. I mean, knock on wood, everything right now is looking really good. And I’m still as stressed as I used to be, so.

Maria Monroy (26:57):

Oh yeah. It’s just, it’s, it’s tough. Like one of the things I’ve started to do — and I’m a huge fan of Huberman. I don’t know if you’ve ever listened to this podcast Huberman Lab?

Greyson Goody (27:07):

No, I haven’t.

Maria Monroy (27:07):

Oh my God, you have to.

Greyson Goody (27:08):

I will.

Maria Monroy (27:09):

So he has this non-sleep deep rest meditation. It’s really yoga nidra. But I think he didn’t wanna call it that because, you know, people get weird about yoga, but it’s this meditation you do. You don’t fall asleep. Although sometimes you almost fall asleep, but it, like, restores you. So, like, during, especially during conferences or, like, days like this where I’m like, go, go, go.

Greyson Goody (27:33):

Mm-hmm.

Maria Monroy (27:34):

And then I have a break, I’ll do it.

Greyson Goody (27:35):

Yeah.

Maria Monroy (27:36):

And then you like feel energized afterwards.

Greyson Goody (27:37):

I love that. And, and actually, so there was, it — there’s a similar thing that we used to do in law school, and I don’t really do it anymore, but I should. Um, actually, our, our bar professor who was teaching us how to get ready for the bar was — And he said almost the exact same thing that you did — was like, “Hey, if you, if you lay down —“ So if you lay down flat, and then you do a sort of meditation where you go from your toes all the way to your head, head —

Maria Monroy (28:00):

That’s, that’s what they do.

Greyson Goody (28:00):

Is that what they do?

Maria Monroy (28:01):

Mm-hmm.

Greyson Goody (28:02):

And this is exactly what he told us. You, you just relax your toes, relax your heel, relax your ankle, and then you move all the way up. Eventually you’re gonna get to a very relaxed state, and if — you only need to do it for 15 minutes —

Maria Monroy (28:14):

Yeah, no, it’s —

Greyson Goody (28:15):

You pop up and you’re like, “Wow, I have so much more energy.”

Maria Monroy (28:17):

Yeah, you can Google it. It’s like, it’s a ten-minute thing. He has it on YouTube, it’s free.

Greyson Goody (28:20):

Mm-hmm.

Maria Monroy (28:21):

And it’s similar to that, although there is, like, some breathing, and he kind of jumps around a bit. But his whole point is, like, you can control your nervous system.

Greyson Goody (28:30):

Yeah.

Maria Monroy (28:31):

So you can actually, like, bring it back down. And I have found it to be — I actually had my 10-year-old do it with me once.

Greyson Goody (28:37):

Oh, wow.

Maria Monroy (28:38):

I was like, “Okay, you’re gonna do this. Just listen to the prompts.” And he was like — he, he opened his eyes. He’s like, “Oh that was so relaxing.” And he loved it.

Greyson Goody (28:44):

I love it.

Maria Monroy (28:45):

So, like, I think he’s actually done it a few times now.

Greyson Goody (28:48):

Well, and that’s great. So your 10-year-old likes it. For any trial lawyers that want to do that stuff, that’s super important, being a trial lawyer. We talked about being nervous earlier. You know, you can — if you have the ability to control your breath and control your heart rate, that will bring down your anxiety. That will make you a lot less nervous. And I always try to do that when I go into trial and if you, like, you’re a witness, you’re gonna be on the stand, and you were, like, freaking out. ‘Cause most witnesses are like, “I’ve never testified in front of a jury. I’m freaking out right now.” I try to kind of lead them through sort of a little breathing technique that will do something similar to that and bring down their anxiety. ‘Cause if you slow down your breath, you slow down your heart rate, then you slow everything down.

Maria Monroy (29:28):

Absolutely. So Huberman talks about this, uh, breath where you fill your lungs. So you breathe through your nose —

Greyson Goody (29:35):

Mm-hmm.

Maria Monroy (29:36):

And then when you’re, like, full, you take another quick, uh, inhale, and it’s, like, it’s tough, right?

Greyson Goody (29:42):

Mm-hmm.

Maria Monroy (29:43):

And I think you can even do it twice. I can’t remember if he says once or twice, and then you let the air out through your mouth. And that — they’ve done studies, that is what will relax you the fastest. If our listeners could only remember one takeaway from this conversation, what would it be?

Greyson Goody (29:58):

As a young attorney, learn how to de-stress, and make that a habit early on in your career. You will thank yourself later.

Maria Monroy (30:06):

Awesome. I love how we got to discuss how important it was to have those mentors. And even if you’re afraid to go and try those cases, and just getting better at it, and then having that confidence in yourself now that you know that if a client hires you, that you feel good about that.

Greyson Goody (30:25):

Yeah. I would want me as your trial lawyer.

Maria Monroy (30:26):

Yeah.

Greyson Goody (30:26):

Yeah.

Maria Monroy (30:27):

I love that.

Greyson Goody (30:27):

Yeah. And I, you know, it’s funny you have the, this negative self-talk, particularly as a young trial lawyer when you don’t know what you’re doing, where you’re like, “I’m not good at this. I’m not very — I’m not gonna be the best one for this. I’m gonna fail.” You know, once you get to that point and you realize, “Hey, I am the best one for this job.” It, it’s really liberating.

Maria Monroy (30:45):

Yeah. I love that.

Greyson Goody (30:46):

Yeah. Thank you.

Maria Monroy (30:46):

Well, thank you so much for coming today. I appreciate it.

Greyson Goody (30:49):

Thanks for having me.

Maria Monroy (30:49):

Thank you so much to Greyson Goody at the Simon Law Group and Goody Law Group. If you found the story valuable, please share it with someone you want to see succeed, subscribe so you never miss an episode, and leave a five star review. It goes a long way to help others discover the show. Catch us next week on Tip The Scales with me, Maria Monroy, president of LawRank. Hear how the best in the business broke out of limiting beliefs, overcame adversity, and built a thriving, purpose-driven business in the process.