What does it take to build a business from a kitchen table, fund it by driving Uber at night, and grow it into one of Connecticut’s most recognizable brands?
Brooke Goff joins In Good Company to share the story behind Goff Law Group and the lessons she’s learned about leadership, resilience, marketing, and entrepreneurship along the way. From overcoming early obstacles to building a culture-driven organization, Brooke explains why the traits many people view as disadvantages can become powerful competitive advantages.
It’s an honest conversation about betting on yourself, building differently, and staying true to who you are as your business grows.
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This podcast is produced by Connecticut Wealth Management, LLC, a registered investment adviser. This content is for educational purposes only and is not intended as personalized investment advice. Some guests on this podcast may be clients of the firm. Their participation does not constitute an endorsement of our services, and all discussions are focused on business insights rather than personal financial matters. Investing involves risk and past performance is not indicative of future results. Please consult with your financial professional before making any financial decisions.
Episode 4 Transcript:
Introduction: Beyond the Billboards
Denis Horrigan: All right. Hello, and welcome back, everybody, to In Good Company. Thanks for coming back, and thanks for being here if it is your first time. Our guest today probably does not need any introduction. She is ubiquitous across Connecticut. If you have driven anywhere, you have probably seen her smiling face. She is on television, she is on radio, and she is kind of a legend in Connecticut now.
So Brooke Goff is obviously our guest today. Today we are going to go behind all of that marketing stuff, the billboards, the TV, and the radio. We are going to hear Brooke’s story: how she got to where she got to, why she got to where she got to, and what she is going to do next.
Brooke, I really want to welcome you. I am excited to hear your story about how you have built this juggernaut of a law firm, and I really appreciate you taking some time out of what I am sure is an extremely busy schedule. So thanks, Brooke.
Brooke Goff: I have a 13-year-old son, and if you want to give him that intro, I would appreciate it, because I am the least cool person he knows. I am the uncoolest. So any time you want to talk to him, I will happily hook you up with his cell number.
Denis Horrigan: No, you are a legend. You have become a legend in a short amount of time. I cannot wait to hear the story. It is very cool.
Brooke Goff: Awesome.
Kevin Leahy: Brooke, let’s jump right in if you do not mind. You founded the firm in 2017?
Brooke Goff: I did, yes.
Kevin Leahy: What was the plan? Can you take us back?
The Origin Story
Brooke Goff: I can. I was in law school. I always knew I wanted to run my own company because I did not feel like anybody did it the right way. Especially in the law, I felt like people always prioritized profits over people.
I grew up in poverty, and I was a kid not very different than most of my clients or most of the people I would meet. I did not feel like the lawyers I would see on commercials or on TV could really identify and connect with people who were like me, a normal person.
I knew I wanted to create my own company. I grew up in a little town in upstate New York. When I was in junior year, we had that meeting where you tell your guidance counselor what you want to do, and they make sure you are on the path. I told her I wanted to be a lawyer. She said, ‘Women do not usually do that.’ That was my answer, and that was in 2004.
Kevin Leahy: Wait, that was not 1950?
Brooke Goff: Exactly. It was upstate New York. You were supposed to be the milkmaid, have tons of kids, or stay at home. The woman being the matriarch of the house was not really a thing there, especially at that time.
Coming into this world, I thought, if I am facing this, what other women face this? I wanted to have a firm made up predominantly of women, women who would get way more opportunity with me than anywhere else.
Building the Business Plan
Brooke Goff: I was in law firm practice management, which is an extra course you can take. It was a way to get credits and finish it off. The assignment for the year was to design your business. I thought, I have been thinking of this for 15 years. I can do this.
I went in and started designing it all. I will never forget that class. I took all my thoughts and threw them on paper. It was so freeing for me because these were all things I had thought of as I got older, as I got into certain circumstances and situations, and as I met people. I had just never written them down.
It was the most freeing experience to create this business plan. I thought, holy cow, that is Goff. I did not have the name at the time. I thought Law Office of Brooke Goff was too isolating, and I thought it was disrespectful to the people who would work with me. It is not just my law office if I have other lawyers working with me. Maybe Goff Law Firm, maybe Goff Law Group. I did not know what it was going to be.
I got an A in the class, but the professor said one thing to me that was the most honest, truest statement any entrepreneur can say to another. He runs a smaller firm in Connecticut. He said, ‘I was going to ding you on one thing, and I did not.’ I asked, ‘What?’ He said, ‘There is no plan in here for how you are going to run the business and be the head attorney. You are doing everything.’
I said, ‘You have never met anybody like me. I can do it all. I do not need sleep. I need some food. I am Type One diabetic, so I need insulin. I need a Peloton bike. Those three things are all I need. I need my kids to be okay, and I am good.’
Taking the Leap
Brooke Goff: I left that class with my business plan. I was working for a firm at the time, and I had been there for years, about seven years. I went to the firm owner and said, ‘I want partner. I have done everything in this firm. I have built the firm. I brought in some of my ideas. I helped build the firm. I want partner. I want 50/50. I will give you a buy-in. I do not care that I am a young lawyer. I am going to grow this thing to the moon.’
He said he did not want to partner. At one point he said he did not want to partner with a woman, but then he said he did not want to partner. Whatever it was, it was probably the biggest mistake he has ever made. I gave him notice the next day.
I was a brand-new lawyer out of law school with four trials scheduled. I had never tried a case before. I gave him a long notice, about five months, and I finished out. I got a little bit of trial experience. When I left, over 200 clients came with me to the new firm because in Connecticut we have to ballot clients when you leave if you are the main attorney on the file, and I was the main attorney on all the files.
Goff Law Group was born. The plan was there was no plan. Eventually there was going to be a plan. I incorporated my business on my way back from a cruise to Bermuda. We were pulling into Bayonne, New Jersey. We did not have service on the boat, and I was with my wife. I said, ‘I am going to do it.’ I hit complete, and Goff Law Group was incorporated the second I pulled into port from Bermuda. I think it was June 17, 2017.
Growing Beyond a One-Person Practice
Kevin Leahy: Was the plan then that this would be bigger than you, bigger than a one-person shop? Denis and I started our business with seven of us, and I probably should not admit this, but we never saw past seven people. We are at 75 now, but we changed our plan a thousand times. It sounds like you saw this thing getting big early. Is that fair?
Brooke Goff: What I saw myself doing was taking a small firm and blowing it up. That is the world I was in. But then I hit the point of, why do I not just blow myself up? And that is what I did.
To be a successful entrepreneur, number one, you cannot fall in love with your own ideas, and number two, you have to be able to pivot on a dime. I do not think any of us can ever anticipate the growth, the rate, the timing, or the percentage. We can anticipate what we want, but typically when you are spending the most money, the growth is not there yet, and when you back off or spend less, that is when you grow.
I knew I was not a one-man show. I am a collaborator. My true talents are in collaboration, team building, and leadership. I also do not feel personally that solo attorneys can best service clients. I am a big firm. I have more equity, more assets, more ability to hire employees, more benefits, and access to things like AI and other resources before everybody else can get them. Strength is in numbers.
Sometimes building the team is the worst part of being an entrepreneur because you have to manage people and optics. But it is also the most rewarding thing, because you watch people grow, elevate themselves, and challenge themselves in ways they never thought possible. You are creating that environment and that success for them. I think I have about 70-something people right now.
The Early Years: Risk, Sacrifice, and Survival
Denis Horrigan: How did you start? You started off and it was just you.
Brooke Goff: At my kitchen table in my apartment in West Hartford. I had 20 grand.
Denis Horrigan: Right. Now you have equity, capital, and employees. But you did not then. Were you just eating ramen for the first several years as you were building it?
Brooke Goff: I did not take a paycheck until year four. My wife was paid well but not paid what she should have been paid for what she did. Her male counterparts were making multiple times what she was making. We were able to pay rent or the mortgage, but I had to pay people.
In personal injury, I do not make a dollar for about six to nine months on a case. You land the client, but then there are six to nine months where the client’s case has to resolve before I get paid. They do not pay me a retainer, as they should not. There is a process in place for this. I knew there was going to be a real tight 12 months.
All those cases came over with me from the firm, which was helpful, but that attorney tried to hold them up so I could not take fees. I had to make it work. I was driving for Uber and Lyft at nights.
Driving Uber to Make Payroll
Brooke Goff: The hair is this short for a reason. It got to be too much of a pain to style it in the bathroom of the courthouse in the morning. I would kiss my son, who was only a few years old, maybe three or four, and then I would leave around 9:00 or 10:00 at night. I would sign in and drive through the night three to four nights a week.
If I could do more, I would. I would drive until I had a court hearing at 9:00 a.m., and most mornings I did. Around 8:00, I would button up, go to the courthouse bathroom, and change. I always had a suit in my trunk. Then I was in court. It was like I had two personalities: the Uber personality and the attorney personality. But I was able to pay my employees, and I never went without satisfying payroll.
Kevin Leahy: Any accidents while you were an Uber driver?
Brooke Goff: No. But people always think, ‘You drove for Uber, that is a great story.’ The best part of the Uber situation was the conversations.
Lessons from the Back Seat
Brooke Goff: I lived in West Hartford at the time, and a lot of executives were going to the airport. I would pick these guys up at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning to make an early flight, and I would pick their brains about the businesses they were running.
I would ask them, ‘How do you get benefits? Who do I call? Health insurance seems like a concept where you get benefits, but who do you actually call? What is normal with IRAs? What is contribute versus match? How do you get a line of credit? What do you need?’ My parents are uneducated. I had nobody to call and nobody to talk to.
I joke that I am going to write a book about it one day. I probably had north of 30 conversations with different executives. They were so into the fact that I was telling them my story and telling them what I was doing. They would say, ‘Good luck,’ and then keep talking. Some of the best lessons I still use came out of those Uber rides with those people. I was just a young kid from upstate New York. I had no idea what I was doing.
Kevin Leahy: Do you ever bump into those people? Do you ever see your professor who you submitted your business plan to? I imagine there is a level of pride some of these folks have when they see your billboards or see you on TV.
Brooke Goff: I am on the board at Quinnipiac now, where I went to law school. The professor I referred work to, so that is pretty cool. Two of the people I drove for as Uber passengers have hired me as their attorney. They said, ‘You do not know who I am.’ I said, ‘I have no idea. Tell me.’ Then they told me. They said, ‘Let me see what you have.’ Luckily, they were cases we did well on.
Everything in the world of entrepreneurship is a full-circle moment. You just do not know when that circle is going to close.
Entrepreneurship Is a Full-Circle Journey
Denis Horrigan: The grit you got from upstate New York created this tough entrepreneur, and you built your board of directors in an Uber.
Brooke Goff: Basically, yeah.
Denis Horrigan: There is a book there for sure.
Brooke Goff: It was an experience. I am proud to say in 10 years I have never missed payroll.
Denis Horrigan: I am picturing the people who were in your Uber now driving by and seeing you on the billboard with Mike Tyson and Jared Goff and thinking, ‘Wait a second. I think that was the woman who drove me to Pratt.’
Brooke Goff: Maybe they do, maybe they do not. The story I tell is not just my story. It is a collaboration of stories. When we retire and tell our stories, for somebody to say it is my story is unfair to a lot of people. It is a compilation of people’s stories that create one big one.
They did what every business owner should do, which is pay it forward and give somebody an ear and a minute of your time. I think every entrepreneur is probably a 30- or 40-minute Uber ride away from building something really great. People just will not give them the time.
The Biggest Surprises of Entrepreneurship
Kevin Leahy: You made this business plan, and it sounds like you carried it out with some surprises. If we went back and compared that plan to how things went, what were some of the biggest lessons you learned for other entrepreneurs?
Brooke Goff: Honestly, I did not realize that entrepreneurs are so weak at marketing. I look at marketing as part of an overall business plan. If you do not have a good marketing plan, your business will fail. I do not care if it is getting out to BNI meetings. You have to have a marketing plan of some sort.
One thing that surprises me, which is to my benefit, is the copycat approach to marketing. Women were never on billboards, and now they are all on billboards. The absence of original ideas in companies that have been around a long time, especially competitors, has been the most surprising.
I always looked at a business as one big thing. You need the whole business plan, the model, an A plan, a B plan, and a C plan. I pulled from all those plans. There is some A in Goff Law Group, some B, and some C. It all came together, and it always works out in the end.
Another surprise was the lack of interest in commercial banks providing funding for startups and new companies. I could have had fewer nights eating ramen and fewer nights driving through the night. I had a great credit score, but they said the business was not old enough. I said, ‘It is not old enough because I am a new business.’ They denied me.
I went to a credit union, and they said, ‘We love you. Come in.’ They gave me a red-carpet experience. The big commercial banks, in my opinion, act like they will give you everything you need, and they do not. The small banks, community banks, and credit unions are the ones that are really in the corner of small business.
Employees are another surprise. Hiring is a whole different ballgame. One regret I have is that I did not get an HR generalist in place early enough. I was handling it, and I think I did a pretty good job, but it is a whole different world. Employees do not necessarily want to talk to the owner. They want to talk to somebody who is not the owner. They are not always going to be honest with you.
The last surprise is that it is very lonely at the top. I am a very strong mental person, but there were moments where I came to breaking points because when it rains, it pours. I used to think therapists were not useful. I now have a very good therapist I can vent to. Getting it all out allows you to manage it, process it differently, and come back stronger and better for your people.
Marketing, Branding, and Standing Out
Denis Horrigan: I want to go back to leadership and building a leadership team, but I also want to touch on marketing. You start out without money to spend on a marketing plan, and in professional services, trust and reputation are everything. How did you build a marketing plan that conveyed trust and helped bolster your reputation? Did someone help you?
Brooke Goff: No. That was all mine. To build trust, I do not think there is such a thing as a marketing plan that builds trust. You have to earn the trust. If you trust me because you saw my billboard, you are trusting me for the wrong reason. There is a difference between branding and direct-to-consumer marketing.
Direct-to-consumer marketing is when you want them to hire you on the spot. Branding is different. I was a kid from upstate New York. We did not have cable growing up. I came to Connecticut for college, and all these commercials were lawyers. The first Super Bowl I was here, there were a couple lawyers on the Super Bowl, and before and after it there were tons of commercials. They all looked the same: ‘Hurt in an accident? Call me.’
I remember thinking, this is not a real courtroom. There are not 12 jurors sitting there like that. What are these people doing? I asked myself what all these attorneys had in common because an entrepreneur’s mind is always moving. Anytime I saw an opportunity, or an opportunity to change my plan, I paid attention.
Kevin Leahy: So Brooke, let me interrupt you. That is undergrad? In undergrad you are already fixated on personal injury law?
Brooke Goff: I was fixated on being a lawyer, period, until I got to Connecticut. I realized personal injury very quickly. I wanted to be a lawyer since I was eight years old. I was told you get to fight with people and make a lot of money. It was a way out of poverty. Sign me up.
In undergrad, I was sitting with people from my dorm. We were talking about lawyer commercials, and I asked, ‘How do you know the difference between them?’ They said, ‘You just kind of know.’ I asked, ‘If you were hurt in an accident, who would you call?’ One said, ‘Probably the last commercial I saw.’ I thought, that is terrible.
I asked, how can I make it so that when people see my commercial, they ignore everyone else’s, and when they hire me, they give a better answer than ‘It is just a car accident’? Since we did not have cable growing up, the only things we saw at night were infomercials. I decided I would create mini infomercials, and nobody had done it. That is what I did.
I wanted to be different and memorable. I want people to hire me because they want me, not because they need me. A lot of people hire lawyers in need, not in want, and I think that is an awful relationship to have with a client. I want people to hire me because they choose me.
Building Trust with Clients
Denis Horrigan: I think you have built reputation and trust because your TV commercials and radio commercials give free advice.
Brooke Goff: That is how. You asked how to build trust and reputation. Billboards do not. Billboards are branding. I look at every 30-second commercial as an introduction to somebody. If you are a friend not from Connecticut, my name is Brooke Goff, and let me tell you what to do if you are in a car accident. You get 30 seconds.
Everyone in Connecticut has met me through my 30 seconds of what to do in a car accident, and people recite them in grocery stores. That is the difference between the advertising before and this. That is how you build trust. It takes time. Branding versus marketing.
Kevin Leahy: Does it get tiring going through the grocery store and people reciting your commercials?
Brooke Goff: People are really good about it. Believe it or not, the attention is not a driving force for me. I used to be able to hide in a baseball cap and have a quiet weekend, not so much anymore. The golfing commercial hurt me because people have seen me with the hat forward and backward now.
People are really great. When you build a brand and it is a success, the ultimate compliment is people knowing who you are and wanting to say hi. The best are, ‘My daughter loves you. Can I call her on Zoom or take a picture?’ You look at this 15-year-old girl who now sees a powerhouse woman, which I never got to see. Imagine what that girl is going to be able to do.
I always felt that if we can be the differentiating factor for one person, we have done our job. I like to think I am that differentiating factor for a lot of young women. Ask me if I get annoyed? No. There have been times where men get a little handsy, and that has been interesting, especially with my kids there. Other than that, people are pretty good.
Building a Brand People Remember
Kevin Leahy: That is heavy, to feel the pressure, if that is the right word, of young ladies looking up to you.
Brooke Goff: I am just myself. When you are not faking it, it is not heavy. All my billboards are my concepts. I find them entertaining and funny. I said I never want anybody else to be able to compete with me. How do I do it? I create Goff Law Group, and it is Brooke Goff. You can do whatever you want, but you are never Brooke. You do not know what is coming next, what I am doing, or why I am doing it.
Every entrepreneur needs to understand: take the things about you that set you apart from everybody else and capitalize on them. For me, it was being a poor, ignorant kid. The things that you think are your weaknesses, whether you are sick, Type One diabetic, a cancer survivor, or were given up for adoption, those things can be strengths in building a business because they make you memorable.
It is about figuring out how to capitalize on those things and make them your business. Do I make sure I stay within the lines because I know people look up to me? Absolutely. But none of us can be perfect. I show up every day for my clients, future clients, kids, and employees, and I think I do pretty well.
Investing in People
Kevin Leahy: Going back to building the business, many entrepreneurs wear all the hats in the beginning. You were the lawyer, marketer, HR person, and even Uber driver. Have you passed those hats to other people? Was it hard to let go?
Brooke Goff: No. You have to have the right people. You know when the right person is here. People hire out of necessity. I tend to hire out of what I need later, not what I need now, which is very helpful.
Entrepreneurs want to pocket as much money as possible early. I never lived that life because I never had any. Money here or there did not matter to me. Money was not the motivator, and I think that is what made the difference.
Where entrepreneurs get it wrong is they think investing in themselves is paying themselves. It is not. It is investing in other people to take things off of yourself so you can do the things that make you more money. The G-Wagon is not an investment in myself. That is because I live in my car and want to drive a nice car. An investment in myself is my managing partner, accounting department, HR, and partners.
Entrepreneurs struggle with taking money from themselves to give to someone else. Newsflash: the money does not belong to you. You pay last. It is easy to spend money that technically does not belong to you yet. I grew up watching two parents make $30,000 a year and support four kids. Money comes and money goes. I believe when you do the right thing with money, it comes back tenfold.
Investing in good people gives you lifestyle, and lifestyle is priceless. When you are not working around the clock, it is priceless. People look at entrepreneurship and think the reward is money. The reward is success, and success does not necessarily equate to money out of the gate.
If you are an entrepreneur and have not hit the point where you are worried about who is going to get paid, your mortgage, the IRS, or your employees, you have not gone full circle yet. You have not hit rock bottom yet. A lot of entrepreneurs, especially with TikTok and everything else, think they know. They have no idea what is coming.
The Defining COVID-Era Decision
Kevin Leahy: Was there a particular moment or issue where you realized either you had a weakness or the firm had a weakness that you could not fill?
Brooke Goff: The defining moment of the firm was in 2020, when I made the most aggressive, riskiest decision I have ever made. When COVID happened and all the injury lawyers dropped their commercials and billboards, I bought them all under three-year terms at rock-bottom rates.
I was a new business. I did not have the money, so I probably bought $4 million of media for about $1.5 million. I did longer contracts because COVID was going to blow over. It was just a matter of when. I thought, either everybody will know who I am if the boat is still around in three years, including the truck driver and the mailman.
That was a defining moment because that is where people started saying, ‘Now we see her. Who is this person?’ Since that point, my firm grows between 15% and 25% a year, which is pretty insane. Growing 15% to 20% of $3 million is manageable. Growing 15% to 30% of $30 million is very different.
As an entrepreneur in my world, you are funding the growth. You are paid less. Celebrate the growth, yes, but you are funding it because you have not been paid for that growth yet. As the rewards go up, so does your risk. You have to have a strong mind and surround yourself with people who also have strong minds.
You need people who are loyal to you, but loyalty is not bought. It is earned. The decisions you make today are going to be imperative two years from now. If you do not have a marketing plan, employment plan, or business plan where your rewards come two to three years later, you are doing it all wrong. If they come early, celebrate. Most of the time they do not.
What’s Next for Goff Law Group?
Denis Horrigan: You have done so much building the business out: leadership team, accounting and finance, marketing, HR, and all these different things. What are you building to next? What is the next chapter? Are you creating a company beyond Brooke Goff?
Brooke Goff: That is a great question. The hardest part of being an entrepreneur is keeping up with the market and not being in denial about changes in the market that are going to affect you negatively. A lot of business owners say, ‘No problem, it has worked for me for years.’ It is not going to.
AI is coming for everybody. It might not be coming directly for you, but it might be coming for the people around you. In a law firm, I have adjusters I work with. I think AI is coming for adjusters. When you take the human element out of things, everything changes.
I also have new out-of-state firms coming into Connecticut. Do I think people should hire them? No. Do I think they are here because they saw Connecticut as a target? Yes. Do I think they are going to last? No. Connecticut is a different breed. People are educated here, and local means something. They want people they can go in and see.
There is a storm to be weathered, probably a four-year storm. I am asking how I can pivot and continue spreading my brand and recognition, while running my business the same way, and acting in Brooke’s way of making a better situation out of what is going on.
A lot of that involves expansion. I think solos will be hard to find in three to five years. Building the best, most powerful team I can and expanding so everybody understands what difference we bring to the table is on the list. Out of state, there are things we are looking at, but I refuse to expand if I cannot do it responsibly or the way I want to do it.
I also get contacted a lot about marketing. One of my passions is the marketing and the way I am able to market myself. There may be a boutique marketing firm in the future where I work with small businesses and companies and help them find their way.
Denis Horrigan: And diversify your revenue a little bit.
Brooke Goff: Yes. You guys know more about that than anything. The recommendation I would give to any entrepreneur in this market right now is: now is not the time. The political environment is not right. It is too expensive to operate right now. There are too many brazen people who have not lost all their money on bad decisions yet. Sit back and wait for your opportunity. Then go in. Work with someone first. Figure out what to do and what not to do.
That attorney who said he would never partner with me taught me what never to do, which is to shut the door because of some theory or because you value your opinion over somebody else’s. It was the best decision for me that anybody ever made because it put me in a position where I had to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.
Finding Advisors and Avoiding ‘Yes People’
Kevin Leahy: Your board of advisors used to be your passengers. You are not driving an Uber anymore. Where are you getting your help now? Who are you leaning on? Is it internal or external?
Brooke Goff: That is a great question. I have a fractional COO who I bounce a lot off of. It is the best investment you can ever make. She works in the personal injury space, and entrepreneurs get yes’d to death. She does not yes me to death. She will say, ‘That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard,’ or, ‘This works,’ or, ‘This is great.’
I listen to my people, including my employees. If my secretary has an idea, I am listening. Tell me how I can make this better. Tell me what it looks like from your lens. I am not answering the phones and sitting at the secretary’s desk, so I need that perspective.
My managing partner has a lot of opinions. We are oil and vinegar, which is the best thing you can ever do. Do not surround yourself with like-minded people. Surround yourself with people who have the same goal but would take two completely different roads to get there. That middle road where you come together is always the best road. Sometimes my road is best, but that middle road has scenery you do not want to miss.
I also have an HR consultant who works for a big company and works with my HR person in the office. I read a lot of books, especially about where things failed. I do not only want success stories. I want to see where companies failed, where my holes are, and what I need to patch before it spreads.
This will sound stupid, but some of the best advice I get is from my 13-year-old son. Sometimes you have to take yourself out of being the 39-year-old entrepreneur and ask your kid, ‘What do you think about this?’ Depending on his level of excitement, I pay attention. He once improved a billboard idea, I used his suggestion, and it was a great campaign.
Family will always side with you, so you need an unbiased person to run things by. When you are successful, everybody wants the connection for the connection or for the money. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is not identifying the yes people. You do not want to surround yourself with yes people. They are toxic because they confirm bad habits. Surround yourself with people brave enough to say no.
My managing partner tells me I have bad ideas every day, and I love her for it. I tend to think the ideas are good. She tends to say they are bad. Then we find somewhere in between.
Working on the Business, Not in the Business
Denis Horrigan: You have your fractional COO, HR consultant, managing partner, and executive assistant. Do you have an organized process to go to them and get feedback? We talk with clients all the time about working on the business, not just in the business. How do you structure that?
Brooke Goff: I put myself in a position where I only work in the business if I have the capacity to do it. You have to put yourself in a position where if I do not show up in a day, the business is still going to operate and be fine.
I work on the business 80% to 85% of the time and in the business about 20% of the time. My job is to make sure we grow, survive storms, and make sure all of my employees get better deals here, are treated well here, and get better benefits here than anywhere else. If I were working in the business all the time, that would be a detriment to them.
Kevin Leahy: Do you miss not working more in the business?
Brooke Goff: I do something a little different. I randomly pick up the phone and call clients. Even if I am not working directly on their case all the time, I miss the client contact. I have questions: Why did you hire me? What is going on? Talk to me about your injury. I have put myself in a position where I can still do that.
I will go to hospitals and meet clients for certain cases. I have never fully left that. I am a born entrepreneur. I could grow 20 businesses and sell them. I am lucky that I love the law because I think for the people of Connecticut, we do amazing work here. This business is my brainchild and my favorite obsession.
Purpose, Passion, and Impact
Kevin Leahy: It sounds like you love every aspect of it. You love being a lawyer, running a law firm, the marketing aspect, and mentoring your people. Is that fair?
Brooke Goff: Yes. I love being able to hold people accountable. That is my number one thing. I was an athlete, and everybody has a thing they love. My number one thing in this world is holding people accountable. I am either going to hold you accountable the easy way or the hard way, but they usually see the light at the end of the day.
I get to fight with people nicely and make relationships. I could have a beer with any adjuster. Then I get to call my clients and tell them life-altering news. They cry on the phone and say, ‘I can buy my daughter a trip. I can pay for my daughter’s college.’ What we do means something. A lot of entrepreneurs are always trying to find purpose. I found my purpose, and I love it. I built it, so I have the trifecta. I am very fortunate.
Denis Horrigan: I can feel your passion. It comes through in everything you do. You are not making widgets. You are actually changing people’s lives. That is pretty motivating. I am sure your kids are proud of you as well.
Brooke Goff: Grayson is not there yet. My three-year-old says she is proud of me every day, and I hope that never changes. I try to shield my kids from it. They will make their way. These are not going to be trust fund kids. Nothing will be given to them.
I tell my son, if you want to be a lawyer, that is great, but you are starting as an associate. You are making what everybody else is making. The people who have been here building this business are going to be your bosses. You are not just going to come in with a name. It is not fair to the people who killed it for you to take a kid who was born with the right last name and stick him in there.
Books, Learning, and Continuous Growth
Denis Horrigan: One last question, and then we will wrap. Favorite or most impactful book? For us, there have been a few: Traction and Good to Great are a couple of them. How about you?
Brooke Goff: That is interesting. I am looking at my Goodreads because I save the ones I read in there. I am a huge Goodreads girl. I like Traction, though I did not like it as much as you did. I would say there is a tie between two of them. The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Horowitz is phenomenal. I also liked Scaling Up by Verne Harnish. Who Not How had parts that were great, too, though it was a little dry for me.
I also like to read fiction a lot because I like to get away from it all at times. If you go on my Goodreads after this, you will see about a bajillion fiction books. I like to get lost. That is another thing I would tell entrepreneurs: get lost out of your life before bed. Do not watch TV.
Denis Horrigan: Except your commercials.
Brooke Goff: Except my commercials. Football season is coming, so you will see plenty of them during football.
Looking Ahead
Kevin Leahy: If you did not start a law firm, what would you have started?
Brooke Goff: That is hysterical. I lost a friend when I was 15 to a very rare form of ovarian cancer. She was 15. I said I was going to be a gynecologist so I could help people in that role. Full-circle moment: I said if law school did not work out, I would go to med school. My son broke his arm in baseball and had pins put in. When they pulled the pins out, blood ran down one, and I hit the deck. It is a good thing I did not become a doctor because apparently flowing blood makes me faint uncontrollably.
I always wanted to be an author, and I still am going to be. There are going to be books coming out. You will ask that question to somebody in five years, and hopefully they name my book.
Denis Horrigan: Brooke, I think you could be a coach. You are a jock. You talk about investing in people, paying it forward when you are successful, and betting on yourself. It sounds like you would be an awesome coach.
Brooke Goff: Retirement is going to be a really great thing for me, but not yet. I believe it is toxic to have one foot in and one foot out. I do not think that helps anybody. When I retire, it will be at a time when I know everything I have done is done. People can stay with businesses too long. You need to exit when you can no longer bring anything to the business. I have not even come close to that.
Down the road, I will be doing speaking and all of that, but I have a lot to do. Goff Law Group has not even started. You guys know who I am, but there are a lot of people who do not, and they are going to.
Denis Horrigan: We knew who you were on the surface from the billboards, commercials, and radio, but we are so grateful you gave us your time. Sorry about the technology challenges in the beginning, but I am glad this worked. This has been awesome, and I could talk to you for hours.
Brooke Goff: I have to tease you for it, obviously. But there is no need to be sorry. This was good. Thank you very much, guys. I appreciate it. If you need anything else, let me know.
Kevin Leahy: Awesome. Thank you.
Denis Horrigan: Thank you so much.
Brooke Goff: Thanks so much, guys. Have a great day.