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San Diego Lawyer Magazine: "Some
More of the Most Interesting Lawyers We Know"
November/December 2001
Watch out, Emeril Lagasse. San Diego
securities attorney Tom Stieber is bringing a little "Bam!"
of his own into people's homes. Stieber abandoned his full-time
legal career to lead a unique entrepreneurial venture that
sends professional restaurant veterans into the homes and
businesses of busy attorneys, professional athletes, and working
families. He chronicles the challenges attorneys may face
in running a non-legal business.
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Tom Stieber
always had a penchant for combining the creative and the
pragmatic. As an aspiring third-grade cartoonist, he asked
his classmates to cough up cold, hard cash for the privilege
of owning one of his original drawings. It was his first
stab at developing a practical and beneficial arrangement
for multiple parties. He was becoming part entrepreneur,
part budding lawyer. |
Many years later, after law school, he landed
a job with a fast-growing Internet start-up company that embraced
the prevalent 1990s optimism of limitless opportunity. As
in-house corporate and securities counsel, he had free reign
to develop his academic abilities into specialized areas of
practical expertise. Like most attorneys, he used a broad
range of problem solving skills to deal with a wide range
of situations.
Stieber also endured the challenges of a
rigorous work and travel schedule that limited time for sleep
and exercise, tilted the balance of personal and processional
life, and eroded the ability to maintain healthy long-term
dietary habits. Most attorneys tolerate such inconveniences,
but heavy restaurant takeout food was not an acceptable replacement
for Stieber's formerly healthy diet. He began a quest for
finding a personal chef to help increase his quality of life.
After his surprisingly daunting search for
a chef, Stieber realized that the personal chef industry lacked
(legal) quality and education standards. In July 2000, Stieber
and a former classmate incorporated Big City Chefs. Now Stieber
meets unique professional and personal challenges. Legal work
often takes a back seat to financial, marketing, or business
development concerns. While this required some getting used
to, the overall mix of activities was a welcome challenge
to Stieber.
Stieber's schedule took a change for the
better. Although he may spend much of a Saturday working,
he has time during the week to exercise, nurture creative
outlets, and cook for himself. He has completed a residential
landscape project for his family, expanded his repertoire
of classical piano, and has taken minor stabs at composing
and writing.
Stieber is quick to point out that starting
a company is not a panacea for attorneys who seek to improve
their quality of life. "The challenges that attorneys
face in leaving the green pastures of law firms for the shadowy
canyons of business ownership may be vast, but the rewards
of managing a company like Big City Chefs have been even greater
for me. Integrating a greater variety and mix of personal
and professional tasks into my daily activities creates a
finely interwoven emotional and physical tapestry that improves
my concentration and energy, expands my problem-solving abilities,
and maintains my intellectual interest in my work, thereby
preventing burnout and reducing stress," remarks Stieber.
To contact Big City Chefs, call toll free
at (866) 321-CHEF.
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