The Firm continues to work with entrepreneurs in a variety of different industries and is well-suited for such engagements in part because of its Managing Member’s personal entrepreneurial experience. Ms. Campbell has been investing in real estate since 1994, when she started purchasing property in Maryland. Since that time she has acquired property in a number of different states, most recently venturing back to the South to purchase a rental property in Alabama.
In 2003, Ms. Campbell purchased a mixed-use property in Brooklyn, New York, to add to her Brooklyn real estate portfolio. “I am usually the GC (general contractor) on my projects, and this was no exception. I hired all the trades – from plumbing and electrical, to asbestos removal, to heating and air conditioning, to carpentry, painting and plaster. The process took almost a year from the time the plans were prepared and filed to the time the building was ready for occupancy. It’s rewarding to see a building go from ‘nothing’ to something really wonderful.”
Ms. Campbell maintains that the process is a marked contrast to the intangible nature of the practice of law. “With renovations, you can see, feel and touch the results,” she said.
Ms. Campbell also started investing in the Catskill Region of New York State in 2004. “Like any good investor, I go where the opportunities are,” she noted. “And the scenery is beautiful to boot!”
Ms. Campbell’s entrepreneurial experience doesn’t end with real estate investment. Founding the Firm has certainly proven her entrepreneurial strength. And among her other ventures, she had a theatrical production company in the 1990’s, and she now operates an on-line dating business available on the Web at www.FishInTheSea.com and a real estate brokerage business, which principally concentrates on the Brooklyn real estate market, whose listings can be viewed at www.BeginTheAdventure.com.
When asked how she manages to handle a full-time law practice and these other businesses, Ms. Campbell offered, “Sleep is not that important to me. Or perhaps I should say, I just don’t sleep as much as I should.” Ms. Campbell is a self-proclaimed master of time management, still making time for friends, family (including her dog, Alabama, now three years old) and the religious and charitable organizations to which she devotes time throughout the year, including, among others, United Hospital Fund, American Friends of Hebrew University and her synagogue, B’Nai Jeshurun.
“I believe being involved in the community and being culturally well-rounded makes me a better lawyer,” Ms. Campbell, an avid theater, movie and museum goer, said. “And being an entrepreneur myself, I can certainly relate to my clients’ business issues. They want practical solutions to their legal challenges, and that’s what my Firm works to deliver.”