Advice and Whiskey with Elizabeth Wente

Biz 417: How would you sum up your role? 
Elizabeth Wente: I just recently stepped into the general counsel position after Dennis Sheppard, our general counsel, passed away. We are still figuring out the best way for the legal team to adjust. Our general counsel had been there probably since the ’80s. He definitely left a massive impact on our organization, and they are not shoes that you can step into easily. I am going to have to grow into them.

Biz 417: I love how you phrase that—“growing into his shoes.”
E.W.: You know what, I stole that from my son. He said, “Wait, Mom, you took Mr. Dennis’ role?”And I said, “Yeah, I did, bud.” He goes, “Whoa, those are big boots to fill.” And I said, “Oh, we’re not filling. We’re growing into them.”

Biz 417: What is your favorite part about your job?
E.W.: My favorite part is probably the part that was the scariest to me initially. It is, I never know what’s going to hit my desk, and I never really know what my days are going to look like.

Biz 417: What’s a misconception people have about serving as General Counsel?
E.W.: There’s probably a misconception that the general counsel is supposed to know all things all the time. Part of what I think is important about my role is that if I don’t know something, I go get the resources to make sure that we are giving our people the best advice we possibly can. As Dennis used to say to us, sometimes you’re just playing the quarterback, right? You’re not necessarily running the team, you’re not scoring the touchdown, you’re just playing the quarterback.

Biz 417: What advice do you give younger women entering law or corporate leadership?
E.W.: My advice has probably changed over time. I just sat down with a friend who happens to be significantly younger than me, and she was battling with the work-life balance. How do you do all of this? And I said, “You first have to sit down and figure out what the definition of success is for you. Because if your success right now is that you need to be home with your kids more, then you need to set up a job that allows for that space.” If you’re going to have time away from your family or away from the things that interest you, you need to make sure you’re doing something you enjoy.

Biz 417: What habit helps you stay grounded during stressful seasons?
E.W.: I am not going to lie, a glass of pinot noir is going to be a good tool for me. I actually jumped on the weighted vest train, so that is helpful to me. I walk my dogs in the cold, and it’s like it’s my own cold plunge in the morning. I get on my snow bibs and walk the dogs at 5:45 a.m. with my weighted vest on. That certainly helps me kind of jolt myself into the day.

Biz 417: What’s one small change that made a big difference in your day-to-day work?
E.W.: I’m actually playing with AI, which is a scary thing for me to say. I’m not going to lie because I don’t know a ton about it. But it is going to change the way that our team runs internally and how we can service our people more efficiently.

Biz 417: How do you manage work-life balance as a parent?
E.W.: I call it blending because the balance doesn’t ever work for me. It’s never balanced, right? You can’t have it all at once. Figuring out how you blend versus trying to be all things to all people all at the same time. But it has proven to be challenging, running logistics of my 10-year-old and 12-year-old because they have more social lives than I do.