The Verdict Is In: Attorney Sharon Tasman Beats Cancer and Fulfills Her Entrepreneurial Aspirations

Transcript

Speaker 0

Sharon Tasman graces us with her presence on this episode. Sharon is a wealth of knowledge in, many things, ballroom dancing, law, big law, small business, a lot in the medical, and health, world for sure. So, she's the founder of HT Biz. So she's a small business owner She's been an attorney for thirty years, and she was a pleasure to chat with. In the last ten years, she's owned her own company. And she really focuses on small business and providing services, legal services for technology health and life sciences. Businesses. And, man, her one of her mottos is it's never too old. It's not too late. She talks about a Turkish proverb about, you know, if you're going down the wrong path, it's always the right time to turn around. And she's done several pivots in her life. She is a cancer survivor. She her high school, graduation gift was a stage four, ovarian cancer diagnosis. She was, you know, those are her her words as far as her her way of viewing it, but and then both of her parents died of cancer as well. So she's, dealt with. In fact, she was actually more recently diagnosed with a less serious version of cancer. So she's absolutely faced a lot of health challenges in her life. And and, Man, she's a she's a she's a ball of energy. She's got a ton of information. She, in her own words, geeks out on a lot of different topics. She has a lot of programming, experience as well. So the hard part here was she's just an expert in too many fields, and it's really you know, not that we weren't focused, but, man, she's just, could go down any rabbit hole and provide value. And I know that's exactly what you're gonna get from listening to this episode.

Speaker 1

Welcome to the from adversity to abundance podcast. Are you an entrepreneur or aspiring entrepreneur, then this show is for you. Each week, we bring you impactful stories of real people who have overcome painful human adversity to create a life of abundance. A life of abundance. You not alone in your struggle. Join us and you will experience the power of true stories and gain practical knowledge from founders who have turned poverty into prosperity and weakness into wealth. This podcast will encourage you through your health, relationship, and financial challenges so you can become the hero in your quest for freedom. Take ownership of the life you were destined to live. Turn your adversity into abundance.

Speaker 0

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Speaker 2

I'm doing great. It's the wonder of time travel we age backwards.

Speaker 0

Absolutely. We're gonna get into some technology and maybe you've invented that that technology or something. But, yeah, talk to us a little more. Obviously, you know more than I do about you're up to today? Talk to the listener out there who's unfamiliar with you. Who are you and what are you up to today?

Speaker 2

So as you said, my name is Sharon Hazman, and I've been a technology business and life sciences lawyer for more than thirty years, and it does shock me every time I say that. And for the last ten years, I've actually had a small firm that I founded after working in big law and big corporate for, you know, the first fifteen twenty years of my law career. And what I like about having the small firm, which is HD Biz Law, is we are able to focus on for our larger, larger clients mission driven companies that feel good to work for, but also the flexibility to work with solo and small businesses because I truly believe that law shouldn't only be for big companies. It's more important the smaller you are because you can't afford to take as much risk. So my personal mission is to make law not scary and to help solo and small businesses realize that contracts are their best friend.

Speaker 0

Love that. It's really good. Yeah. So you're you're able to provide your your you have more control over who you work with than you did ten years ago. Sounds like

Speaker 2

And the rates and the rates that's it.

Speaker 0

Sure. Absolutely. No. And and our listener out there is is is primarily an entrepreneur or or budding entrepreneur who, you know, I work with attorneys all the time, and so I definitely see the the need for sure. And and that's awesome that you're kinda bridging that gap between, between law and small business.

Speaker 2

And and that's that's really the goal is it's it's my passion project is to help, especially women and members of the bipoc community to level up because it, you know, we do have to work a little harder. There's there are some barriers to overcome, but also for all entrepreneurs, no matter what type of business you're in, you just have to protect yourself. And there are some things that kind of catch people backwards, even big companies and small companies really need to get it

Speaker 1

right the first time if they can.

Speaker 0

Absolutely. I love it. So we're gonna drill down into what you do, you know, a little bit later, we're gonna drill down in some more specifics. Let's jump back into your backstory. Obviously, the podcast is called from adversity to abundance. So you and the listener know that we're gonna talk about some adversity that you faced. And, In your case, we've we're gonna focus on on health and and, some major health challenges that you've overcome. So I'll let you take it away. Where do you wanna start?

Speaker 2

So I I will start it graduation in high school. So I originally had planned to be an engineer. My mom started programming in the nineteen she was like one of those hidden figures women. My brother started programming. They taught me when I was twelve, and I was totally on the of, I'm going to become a programmer, and that's what I'm going to do with my life, except my graduation present from high school was stage four cancer. And when involved a lot of chemo and a lot of treatment. And that kind of chemo when you are young and your brain is still developing actually can affect your brain. So my ability to do higher math processing was affected. Logic wasn't affected. Overall, IQ wasn't affected. My ability to learn foreign languages wasn't, but higher math processing was. So staying on the scientific computer programming at a top engineering school path was not exactly the right path. It it took me the first two years and I'm getting admittedly a seventeen on an exam, which which no. Thirty five was passing or thirty seven was passing, but you know, I just realized it just wasn't where I was going to go.

Speaker 0

So I Mhmm.

Speaker 2

I first switched into business programming because you have to pivot when life throws things at you. And that's Mhmm.

Speaker 1

You know,

Speaker 2

I think that's been the biggest lesson of my life overall, which is One, you're never too old and it's not too late, which is more now.

Speaker 0

Mhmm.

Speaker 2

But another I think it's actually a Turkish proverb, which is no matter how far you've gone down the wrong path, turn back. You know, it's never too late to turn back and to change gears. And I think That is, I think, a key trait for me that I was able to embody early on. In fact, and a cousin gave me that quote on a piece of paper when I was going through this. So it's really stuck with me, which is you have to be able to be nimble and move. Yeah. Now the health thing kind of always was there because when you have that much chemo, you have side effects kind of for the rest of your life. Sure. But So

Speaker 0

yes. So paint that picture as far as, just what what that looked like. I mean, and again,

Speaker 2

I'm I'm an I'm an open book. So, I started coughing. The doctor thought I had bronchitis, then I kept coughing and thought he had asthma. He thought I had asthma. I started throwing up. He thought it was the medication. He stopped the medication. He was still throwing up. So He pressed on my stomach, and this is true, but slightly funny. He said, is there any chance you could be seven months pregnant and not know it? And I kind of hauled off and slapped him slightly indignantly and said, I have a three point nine five GPA. I know if I ever had sex And I'm just like there's just it was not possible unless it was the immaculate conception. I was, you know, the ultimate good girl in high school.

Speaker 0

Mhmm.

Speaker 2

So it turned out that the tumor was so big. It was compressing my lungs. It had shifted all my organs around. And when I had the surgery, it was ten inches and seven pounds, which is why he thought it was the baby. So that yeah. I I ended up ending up having a year off before I went to school. I had chemos in the hospital for for weeks at a time, and I got out, and I was determined to try to go to engineering school, but Mhmm. It it became apparent that wasn't necessarily the right call, but I was determined. And I still think of it as my alma mater. It just Mhmm. You know, that much chemo and back then the

Speaker 1

Sure.

Speaker 2

The side effect drugs basically were things that knocked you out and it was like being on, not narcotics, but

Speaker 0

Yeah.

Speaker 2

Tranquilizers almost all the time. And it takes time to get out of your system.

Speaker 0

Sure. Gotcha. No. That's that's I mean, wow. So, yeah, that's

Speaker 2

So I ultimately ended up graduating with a degree I changed schools halfway through. I worked for a while for GE as a programmer. I was good at it. I didn't love it. I mean, I'm very glad I have the skills to be a programmer.

Speaker 0

Sure.

Speaker 2

Because logic wasn't affected just math. And at an engineering school, you had to have these really high level math class.

Speaker 0

Speaker 2

had taken some business classes. I had taken some law classes, and I loved them. So I'm like, okay. Let's go. So I switched. And that was the first, you know, sort of overcoming adversity part beside the physical health and getting through it.

Speaker 0

Sure.

Speaker 2

It was Well, this isn't how I thought my life was gonna go now what?

Speaker 0

Yeah. Yeah. Well, talk to because I also am very different story, and I I didn't have to deal with that. That adversity for sure, but I did transfer schools in in college. And and, so, you know, I I know from that standpoint what it's like to kinda navigate when should I be persistent and put my head down and work through this this hard time, this adversity versus this is the wrong path as you as you mentioned in the the Turkish proverb, and I should back up or chain or pivot. So I know there's no one size fits all answer, but for the listener, how do you navigate that, whether it's in your personal life or professional life?

Speaker 2

You know, it's interesting as I faced her probably younger than most people have to face major life decisions, but it it's sort of it was the voice that was in the back of my head for a while that I was trying to fight against because I'm very competitive with myself. And I and I just wanted to be normal. It was my way of coping was I just wanna be normal. I wanna be able to push through and do the things I was going to do. And it took a couple semesters. And in the last semester, the the I was there two and a half years, is what did it for me was I got this seventeen on an exam Mhmm. Which was the best I could do, which was really shocking to me because I had a you know, ninety nine average when I had math in high school, and now I had a seventeen. And I couldn't do better. And I cried a lot for a couple months because it really at that point hit me and it was, what do I do? I went to work for a few months through a co op program, still stayed up at college, and thought about the classes that I had had I had had a business law class, and it just made sense. And I liked it and I went, well, okay. I like this. It makes sense. I had an a in it. I'm good at it. My dad was in business. So I knew that I didn't need to stay at a top engineering school if I was gonna be a business major. So I looked around. My parents were in Maryland, university, Maryland, is a great school. So I transferred to University, Maryland and went into business, but also still kept doing the computer classes. So ended up of about a year and a half. Sorry. A degree and a half, but split between business and computer science. Which in the end was a great combination.

Speaker 0

Sure. Yeah.

Speaker 2

And then I went to work again, this time for IBM and I went Yeah. No. Still don't love it.

Speaker 0

Yep.

Speaker 2

Went to work for MCI. Went. No. Still don't love it. And I want, again, sitting down and thinking, and and part of it really is, it's paying attention to that little voice. If you Yeah. Let yourself get quiet. And I realized I'm about to sound woo woo and a little sin, which is which is never who I used to be, but I am now. It is you have to you have to give yourself the space to hear the voice to know when it's time to change. Yeah. You might fight against it, and I did fight against it for a while. But I got reminded of the no matter how far you've gone down the wrong path, turn back.

Speaker 0

Mhmm. Yeah. That's really good. That's I mean, that's great advice. And it's very easy for, especially the entrepreneur out there, not to take time or to create that space. You know, I I read a book about, I forget what it's called, but creating that intentional space for thinking, like, actually blocking off on your calendar time to think. And I can't say I've I've executed that well, but that creating that space is critical. To be able to reflect because how else are you gonna look at the big picture to make those high levels kind of strategy decisions that are actually more important than how do I put out this this fire today?

Speaker 2

And and, actually, over the last couple weeks, I've actually been coming back to exactly what you said is I'm not giving myself enough space, the realizing that I'm not doing the thing I need to do as well as I should. So I'm I've been saying, okay. Now in the middle of the day, I just need to take fifteen minutes.

Speaker 0

Mhmm.

Speaker 2

Turn off the electronics. Go you know, leave my office. Maybe if it's a nice day, go for a walk outside. No headphones, no phone, no music, and just listen to myself. And it's it's almost not even active listening. It's if you just let your mind clear The answers are there. Especially as we get older, we've experienced enough. It's just you have to give your brain the space to pull the things together from different parts of your body. And that's really what intuition is. It's your brain making the connections on information that may be stored in disparate places in your brain and pulling it all together.

Speaker 0

That's really good.

Speaker 2

You know, I did a pivot you know, it was four years ago when I said, I really wanna focus more on helping solo and small businesses. How can I how can I do that more? It's I did the same thing when I said, I need to rebrand the name of my law firm. It was the health and technology law firm. I always did business law, but it wasn't obvious. So when I chain when I added this focus, I knew that I needed to do something. So it was elevate the business part to make it more obvious and to move with the times. Yeah. So that really is the thing, which is once I realized, you know, programming, it just I worked for a couple different places, knew it wasn't for me. I was good, but it didn't make me go yay. I said, okay. I had more some more law classes as part of my undergrad. Went to my labor law professor, and I said, would you, by any chance, write me a reference for law school? And she cracked up. And she said, well, I always knew you'd be a lawyer. You were just fighting it.

Speaker 0

Speaker 2

told my mother, and she said, I've always despised lawyers, but I think you'll make a very good one. Twitcho is like, thank you, I think.

Speaker 0

You're right.

Speaker 2

But, you know, what I do now, it's not pardon me out there to the types of lawyers who do these things. I do what I feel like is very clean law. I don't need another shower at the end of day. I never go to court. I'm not using kids' wishbones. I'm not chasing ambulances. I'm helping businesses build solid foundations on helping companies with good missions Yeah. Achieve their goals safely. You know, I I represent a research foundation where they research solutions and cures for diseases that have such a small patient population that the big companies won't touch it because it's not as profitable. That's true. A a bunch of guys from the, you know, the FANG, Facebook, Apple, etcetera.

Speaker 0

Mhmm.

Speaker 2

One of them one of their daughters had one of these diseases. And he got all of his friends to help him start a foundation. And I'm very excited because they're getting ready for clinical trials. So it's like something that feels good at the end of the day. Mhmm. And

Speaker 0

Speaker 2

could never have done it working in big law. Week law, again, knowing when to change. Yeah. Big law was hugely valuable to me. You learn You don't learn how to be a lawyer in law school. You learn how to learn.

Speaker 0

Right.

Speaker 2

When you go to a a big law firm, the the training is extraordinary. And and I loved it, but I also knew that listening to the voice Yeah. Over time, rates rose. Clients had to get bigger to match the rates, and you become a strategic missile. That wasn't for me. As you can tell, I'm very shy, and I'm not outgoing at all, And I don't like people, sarcasm. I missed when I was a younger attorney and my rate was lower I could work with a client over a longer period of time and really get to know them.

Speaker 0

Sure.

Speaker 2

And which enabled me to head things off at the past. Because I could see things coming. So

Speaker 0

Yeah. I get that.

Speaker 2

I started my own practice because that gave me the control.

Speaker 0

Sure. I love that. Yeah, absolutely. We had a an an attorney on the show recently seth Bradley. Don't worry. He's not a competitor. Different different type of

Speaker 2

You know what? There is enough work for everybody.

Speaker 0

Absolutely. But he spoke similarly about the his, I guess, big law He's a securities attorney, but

Speaker 2

Mhmm.

Speaker 0

You know, it it his experience at the big law firm gave him a lot of valuable tools and and learnings, if you will, that he's now, you know, using in his own practice. So but although I in a bit, I wanna talk more about the the transition for sure, you know, professionally because that's I'll make it, you know, blanket judgment, you know, not all attorneys are make great business people. And so I'm curious to get that some insights there from you. Before before we get there though, let's talk. I know you've dealt with some more health specific health related challenges within your family. Let's let's talk about that a bit.

Speaker 2

Absolutely. So in my family, we're evidently mentally genetically blessed but medically genetically cursed. I come from a cancer cluster family, although I was the first. My father got cancer and passed and then so did my mother which that part wasn't a surprise. It's very difficult to manage that while working. For my father, I was still a big law. When my mother got sick, I had gone to a client for a couple of years to see if I liked that side of things, And then I had decided to open my practice. You know, one of the pieces of advice I always give people who are thinking of starting their own business, you know, making the leap from an employee where you have someone who takes care of taxes and all those things to employer. When you're a solo, it's all you. And what I tell people is you really should bank about a year's worth of salary and living expenses before you make the leap. Whether that means, you know, starting your job at night while building savings, your new job, while you still have your regular day job, or just putting every spare penny you can into saving so you have that one. You're cushion.

Speaker 0

Yeah.

Speaker 2

And fortunately, this was a case of I did, as I said, not just, you know, do as I say, not necessarily as I do. I did the right thing too because I started my law practice and then about a month later, my mom went out of remission Mhmm. And got cancer for the fourth time.

Speaker 0

Wow.

Speaker 2

In three years. So I ended up pretty much not working at all. For the first year, I started my law firm. Wow. Which is not how anyone should start a business. But but you just don't know. You don't know what the future's gonna hold. And I had I had put away almost an entire year's worth of living expenses. I mean, I worked a little bit. Maybe maybe I worked ten hours a month.

Speaker 0

Make for

Speaker 2

the first year, which is it's not at all what I recommend. It's I I don't recommend starting and this is true. I and I don't mean to be glib about it. Don't recommend starting a business when somebody then gets sick. Now you never know. I I had a clue. It was possible because my mom had relapsed before. But I knew I needed to make the change when I made the change.

Speaker 0

Yeah. I

Speaker 2

was able to protect myself. But Right. If there are people listening and you are in the middle now, of a family health crisis or some other crisis. Hold on to your current job.

Speaker 0

That's good advice.

Speaker 2

If you are really desperate to start this second career started as a side hustle because you need the guaranteed income while you're dealing with health issues, whether it's a parent, a child, and for people in their, you know, thirties and forties, it it's the sandwich generation. You typically have kids and parents who are getting older. And you you have those responsibilities on both sides. Absolutely. Having that guaranteed paycheck is a good thing.

Speaker 0

Absolutely. I agree.

Speaker 2

You don't wanna add that extra stress of Yeah. Oh, where's the money gonna come from?

Speaker 0

Right. And then you're stressed and then you're not as good of a care caretaker for for your loved one, etcetera. It, you know, bleeds into other areas of of your life. Yeah. I can yeah. My my mother-in-law was sick for years. She passed as well. And and my my wife, I mean, was You know, it was, very taxing on my wife and her her sisters and the whole family. Just from a time and energy standpoint, let alone the emotional out of it. And so, yeah, I can't imagine my wife starting a business during that time at all. I didn't intend to. That's great advice. Yeah. Right here. No. Hindsight's twenty twenty. Right?

Speaker 2

Yeah. Hindsight's twenty twenty. I I and that happened one other time in my life. Yes. The hindsight being twenty. So after my mom passed, after I dealt with the estate, because I only have one other sibling, and my mom was an only child, and my sibling is not local at all. So I was the only local child. After I recovered from my body failing after all of that stress. I ended up from the stress of dealing with my mom and trying to start a business. I ended up in the hospital twice in one year with sepsis, because my immune system just collapse.

Speaker 0

Sure.

Speaker 2

Because I did not follow the number one rule, which is and I know the rule because I I mentor patients and families on this, which is the caretaker must take care of themself first.

Speaker 0

Sure.

Speaker 2

I I did not.

Speaker 0

That's really good.

Speaker 2

I did not. I ended up in the hospital twice. So after I recovered from that, recovered from dealing with my mom's estate. I went back to what has been my passion my whole life, which is dancing. And Okay. I used to go swing in ballroom dancing about five nights a week for the decade leading up to my dad first getting sick. And then from when my dad got sick, until my mom passed, I didn't dance at all for almost ten years. Maybe I went once a year.

Speaker 0

Okay. Mhmm.

Speaker 2

And I missed it, and I hadn't done anything for me because I had been the good girl. I did what society expected. Yeah. And I found a new dance coach and dance partner, and I might have for a year or two been more of a dancer than a lawyer. Just I just might have, which in itself wouldn't have been a problem, but then, of course, the pandemic hit right after him, like, oh, well. So

Speaker 0

Right.

Speaker 2

Again, fortunately, I had rebuilt some of my savings. Yeah. Because then when you have the pandemic Yeah. You never know what's gonna happen. And and Sure. And especially with everything that's going on for people out there. You know, the, unfortunately, COVID seems to be around for a long time. Right. It it's never gonna leave. It's constantly mutating. And unfortunately, there'll probably be something else after that, which is you just have to be prepared because you never know. You really, really, really, if you're starting a business, you have to have that year of savings available. Yep. No.

Speaker 0

It's It's really good advice. I I, I took seven years. I was, blessed in that I was able to work part time. I I worked full time for a while, for a Fort Meade at at for the, DOD, and then I switched I know

Speaker 2

that place. I know lots of people there.

The Verdict Is In: Attorney Sharon Tasman Beats Cancer and Fulfills Her Entrepreneurial Aspirations

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