Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannon Montgomery.
Shannon, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I usually say my story isn’t all that exciting or anything special. But when I sit back and think about it, it has been a bit of a different road. I’ll try and be short here because I could probably talk about this for hours…
I always knew I would go to college and get some kind of post-graduate degree. I attended the University of Florida where I settled on a degree in political science. I had planned to one day become Secretary of State. But, that plan was eventually replaced by my desire to work in sports. When I realized it was a little too late to change my major to something sports-related, I thought well… I’ll just go to law school first because sports agents typically need a JD or an MBA. So off to law school I went.
Throughout this entire time, I had what I call strong affinity, others might call an obsession, with the gym. I was a gym rat from age 15 and nothing, not even law school could get in the way of that.
While in law school I did all of the things I thought I needed to do in order to get the job in sports. I interned (for free most of the time) for big-time agents and even an arena football team. But when I graduated it wasn’t enough. So I settled or a job at a mid-sized law firm as a “real” attorney. It wasn’t that fun. My firm was fine, the people were great, but the work left something to be desired. After all, I had never wanted to be a lawyer.
I was still deeply into health and fitness, in fact, it was probably the only thing keeping me sane. In 2014 I started to compete in bodybuilding then powerlifting, and I started an Instagram where I documented my love for fitness. I eventually began to include things from my personal and work life and people realized I was an actual working attorney. So I started getting questions in my DM’s asking for help on one thing or another. I realized there was a need for lawyers in the fitness space. One thing led to another and I got my first fitness influencer client and here we are now! I went out on my own in January of 2018 and I haven’t looked back since.
Has it been a smooth road?
It was anything but smooth. No one wanted to give me a chance to prove myself in sports, and because I had spent most of my time trying to get sports experience no one wanted to give me a chance in the legal industry either. I had to struggle to find the right position as an attorney. And while I am very grateful for the opportunities I was given at the firms I worked at, the work was never challenging enough and I wasn’t able to work with the types of clients I truly wanted to work with. It became pretty clear to me a few years into my career that I would eventually need to go out on my own one day if I planned to work as an attorney long term.
I am also currently facing challenges being that I am licensed in Florida and California but I live here in Houston. I have a virtual firm so I can work for my clients in those states from anywhere in the world. However, not being licensed here means I have to be very very careful with how and to who I present information to when it comes to the law. A lot of what I do is federally regulated but even still, the fact that I live in a different state than I practice has proven to be much of a challenge than I had originally thought it would be.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
At Montgomery Law, I focus primarily on intellectual property. I help my clients grow and protect their brands through trademarks and copyrights.
I work with entrepreneurs in all kinds of industries but I guess what I am known for is being the “fitness” lawyer. The majority of my clients are fitness and health and wellness businesses and influencers. I am lucky because I am able to work with people who spend their life trying to help others get and stay healthy. I love working with fitness influencers and fitness brands because I speak their language. I am a competitor and a self-proclaimed gym rat. My clients and I have the same mentality when it comes to everything in life. It takes a certain level of mental toughness and dedication to be a competitor and my clients know I bring that into my work.
A lot of what I do for my influencer clients is similar to the type of work I did while working with sports agents. So in a long roundabout way, it’s almost like I accomplished my goal of becoming an agent. It just looks slightly different than I thought it would.
I think I am most proud of two things. One, I am very attentive and responsive to all of my clients. If I had a dollar for every time a client told me it was so refreshing how quickly I got back to them on something I could almost retire. I think lawyers have a bad reputation for being hard to get in touch with and I never want that to be the case with me. Two, I have been able to figure out a way to work that allows me to have a sliding scale for fees so I can offer help and services to clients that previously didn’t think they could afford to work with an attorney. Most of the time people are afraid to work with attorney’s, or they don’t know how one can help, or they simply feel like they can’t afford it. But, in my business, I have been able to help so many small businesses and personal brands afford legal services and set themselves up for success.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
YES! I love Houston and I think if you’re a small business, a start-up or just entrepreneurial at all Houston is the spot to be right now. I moved back here after having lived all over Florida for almost 11 years and I couldn’t be happier with my decision to relocate. Houston is such an affordable place to live and the culture here is awesome! It really is a melting pot of people and personalities. There is no shortage of things to do, and people to connect with.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.montgomerypllc.com
- Phone: 281-798-8778 (direct) 832-374-8504 (office)
- Email: shannon@montgomerypllc.com
- Instagram: LiftingLawyer and MontgomeryLawPllc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/montgomerylawpllc/
Image Credit:
Brittany DeJesus photography (professional headshot), NPC news online.
Suggest a story: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
