29 Trial Lawyer • Spring 2022 “What now?” McCall anticipates she has bad news, when usually she’s thrilled to see her. It dawns on McCall she hasn’t had a glass of water all day. Just seeing Valenzuela reminds McCall of the healthy habit that is drinking water. Accept help Autonomy, pride, self-rel iance, strength. These are all reasons we might not be comfortable reaching out or asking for help. But have you ever learned anything well without help from others? Even if that help is from the author of a book you read or a leader on a virtual platform. Or maybe the flip side is also true. Maybe we’re saturated with “advice” from others and overwhelmed by things that seem to work for others but not for us. Either way, there is help, in whatever area you seek. It will be supportive and help you sustain the life-long health you seek. We both use the Beachbody On Demand fitness programs. It’s trainers’ fitness advice and, most importantly, it’s encouragement to stay committed to a program. It gives us a platform to return to when we neglect our routine. We suggest you consider asking for help, from a friend or a professional or a program, in whatever way you feel comfortable, to find the what and the how for you to build healthy habits until you get into a routine that works for you. Try something new Valenzuela started running for the first time in late 2008, just a couple of months after giving birth to her fourth daughter. She had just spent her 20s having babies. She was ready to find a way to focus on herself and boost her selfesteem. She was the heaviest and most out of shape she had ever been in her life, and she was determined to become fit. She had also just been challenged to a family friendly, but mostly competitive, “biggest loser” contest by her then sisterin-law. After a few weeks of simply walking 20-30 minutes, one day she just started jogging At first just one to two miles. One day she found herself outside with her babies strapped into the double jogger, running up and down Canyon Creek Road — and by the time she was done, she had jogged over three miles. Valenzuela kept running and the pounds started shedding. She became so obsessed with running that she soon signed up for her first organized race (Race for the Roses in the Spring of 2009). She was looking good and feeling good, but at one point she just hit a plateau. Monica had lost 52 pounds and running was no longer working to lose weight, but the bottom line was she felt great. Onward and upward Valenzuela andMcCall are teammates in the true sense of the word, constantly pushing each other at work, and in their healthy habits and asking their teammates to join in the project. The discipline of the two go hand in hand and fuel each other. They are confident that without each other and their healthy habits, the project of practicing law and managing a law office would not be as fun or as sustainable. Kristen West McCall is partners with Randy Pickett and Brendan Dummigan at Pickett DummiganMcCall, 210 SWMorrison St., 4th Floor, Portland, OR 97204. They specialize in catastrophic personal injury, products liability, third-party workers’ compensation claims, medical malpractice and nursing home negligence. She is an OTLA Guardians member at the Guardians Club Plus level. You can find her at kristen@pdm.legal or 503-223-7770. Mónica Valenzuela is the firm manager and senior legal assistant at Pickett Dummigan McCall, 210 SWMorrison St., 4th Floor, Portland, OR 97204. She can be reached directly at 503-575-9613 or monica@pdm.legal.
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