Business Innovators Radio - Kelly Bagla, ESQ., CEO of Bagla Law Firm, APC

Episode Date: December 17, 2024

“Grab the world by the pearls! It’s yours for the taking!”Kelly Bagla has been nominated as the top CEO of 2024. Her integrity is exemplary, setting a standard for ethical business practices. With over 20 years of experience, she has become a cornerstone of the San Diego County business community, providing not just legal services but also creating jobs and fostering economic security.Kelly’s commitment to teaching high-net-worth individuals and business owners how to protect their businesses proactively demonstrates her dedication to empowering others.Clients affectionately refer to her as “Queen of Business Law®” a testament to her unparalleled guidance and expertise. Kelly Bagla embodies the qualities of a top CEO—innovation, leadership, and a deep commitment to making a positive impact on both the business world and the community at large.Kelly Bagla’s involvement in San Diego’s prestigious organizations reflects her deep commitment to serving the community through her law firm. She actively supports veterans, offering them a 20% discount on her legal services as a gesture of gratitude for their service. Her pro bono work with the Veterans Chamber of Commerce demonstrates her dedication to supporting those who have defended the country.Kelly’s love for dogs is evident through her support for Last Chance At Life, a rescue and adoption organization. She regularly donates to help dogs find loving homes, especially those in need of medical care. Her passion for animal welfare aligns with her belief in giving back to the community and making a difference in the lives of others.Through her involvement in these organizations, Kelly Bagla has shown that her commitment to service extends beyond her legal practice, making her a respected figure in San Diego’s community.Kelly is the author of six books, including the New York Times Bestseller, “Go Legal Yourself!®” Each of her books and multiple enterprises has been designed to empower business owners in pursuit of the American Dream.Beyond her role at Bagla Law Firm, Kelly is a multifaceted entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of three additional businesses that advance her mission to inform, equip, and inspire entrepreneurs worldwide. Kelly knows the challenges, risks, and responsibilities of being a business owner. She has a dual perspective of running businesses from both the entrepreneurial and legal angles. She knows first-hand how to mitigate risks, avoid lawsuits, and safeguard assets. As Kelly affirms, “I believe it takes an entrepreneur to understand the needs of an entrepreneur!”Kelly is madly in love with her Marine husband, Brent, and their 3 beautiful dogs!Learn more: https://baglalaw.com/Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saundershttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/influential-entrepreneurs-with-mike-saunders/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/kelly-bagla-esq-ceo-of-bagla-law-firm-apc

Welcome to Influential Entrepreneurs, bringing you interviews with elite business leaders and experts, sharing tips and strategies for elevating your business to the next level. Here's your host, Mike Saunders. Hello and welcome to this episode of Influential Entrepreneurs. This is Mike Saunders, the authority positioning coach. Today we have with us Kelly Bagla, who's the CEO of Bagla Law Firm. Kelly, welcome to the program. It's wonderful to be on the show, Mike. Thank you. Yeah, I'm excited to talk with you because I talk with people from all walks of life, all industries, and, you know, when you have someone that is the CEO of their own firm, there's a story there. Why did you get into the legal profession? Why did you decide to go out on your own? So I want to hear all about that and some of the skills

and lessons that you've learned along the way. But get it started with your story and background. How did you get into the legal profession? Well, let me start off by saying that I'm the baby of seven, Mike. So my mom and dad definitely enjoyed each other. All of my siblings decided to go into the medical field, but not me. No, I then decided, no, I want to do law. Didn't have anyone in the family that did law, didn't know anyone that did law. I decided that's what I wanted to do.

My dad is an entrepreneur, and so I followed in his footsteps. And so I've had the wonderful experience of having education under my belt in both countries, England, where I was born and raised, and also here in the US. And Mike, I have to say that it literally takes an entrepreneur to understand the needs of another entrepreneur. I wasn't just given everything. I didn't just wake up one day and I had a thriving law firm. You know, every stone was put together. Every brick was laid by me.

And the fact that I had to pave the path for my clients that are entrepreneurs, it's a wonderful way for me to pay it forward, to give back. And I believe that I had to go through those hard times. So I could help as many entrepreneurs as I can because I'm actually standing on that platform where we do help entrepreneurs, not Mike, just from a legal perspective, but I've realized that over time I've literally become a counselor in business to these entrepreneurs too. And it really does take a legal mind coupled with a business mind to make sure that one, you're standing on a solid legal foundation and two, that you're going to thrive as you grow and again, you are going to

be supported. But, you know, life kind of throws so much at you. I had the privilege and I was quite blessed to start up my legal career with the largest international law firm in the world at the time, Mike. I absolutely loved my time that I was putting in 15, 16, 17 hours a day, learning from the best. And then it got to a point where I'm thinking, this isn't going to be for me. Yeah. If I can actually make money for someone else, why can't I do that for myself? And today, it's been 20 years that I've been practicing, Mike. And I have loved, loved, loved every single moment of it.

And again, it hasn't been a walk in the park. It's definitely been work. And the fact that I built this, Mike, and the fact that it's able to support my other two businesses. So I am a CEO of three businesses. and they are all created to support entrepreneurs. I've written six books and again to support entrepreneurs. And the reason why I thought I had to do it, Mike, was because, one, I'm a foreigner here. I wasn't born and raised here.

However, I'm living my American dream and it's alive and well and it's kicking and I'm here to tell people that they can live their American dream too. If this foreigner can do it, why can't the Americans that are born here? do it, right? So that, go ahead. You know, a couple things that jump out when you were given that introduction, which is just spectacular. You know, your 15, 16 hour days was grueling. You decided to go out on your own to maybe have a little more work life balance. But I bet you that you learned such powerful skills and knowledge and work ethic from that. So that was a great foundation. And then the second thing you've said over and over here is, you know, I'm an entrepreneur. I support

entrepreneurs. Well, what if you still work for a corporate type legal firm and you had a entrepreneurial client, your message and your support wouldn't be as vibrant to them because you don't really walk in their shoes. So the fact that you are a CEO of several businesses and when you work with an entrepreneur business owner, they know that you've been there, done that and have the battle scars to prove it. Absolutely. 100%. When someone asks me, what should be looking at? You look for in a business attorney when we're hiring, the number one thing I always tell them is make sure that they are actually a business owner, that they have walked in the shoes that you're going to walk. Because again, they're not just going to be your legal counselor. They're going to be

your business counselor too as you're growing. And that's the type of relationship you really want to create with an attorney that's been there and done it and does it on a daily basis. But you're absolutely right, correct, Mike. So let's talk a little. bit about your book because a six-time author is spectacular, but I, being in the business, recognize New York Times bestseller is quite the achievement. So the book is go legal yourself, know the legal life cycle of your business. So tell us a little bit about what readers will learn in your book. Absolutely. They are going to learn crucial points. As we, as individuals, we go through a life cycle of our own. We're born, we're raised, we become established, and then

eventually we pass on. Your business is going to do the same exact thing. However, it's going to go through a legal life cycle. And what is it that an entrepreneur needs to look out for from a legal perspective in the startup phase? What about the growth base as you're growing? What documents do you need to put in place? What do you need to look for? Say you're putting a board together or advisors together. You're trying to attract investment. You're trying to make your company look attractive. So how do you do that? So all of that is discussed in the growth phase. And then there's the established phase, Mike, which is really beautiful to be in. At this point, your company should have owned its own trademarks, its slogans, its own assets. And then eventually,

the exit phase. And what is it that you do in an exit phase? And how many different ways are there to actually exit a business? So it's a wealth of information for any entrepreneur who doesn't necessarily want to go to law school, but yet they want to read something that literally is not legalese. I did write it from a perspective of an entrepreneur rather than a warrior too for my entrepreneurs out there.

Yeah. Well, I think that's the actual art form is taking something that's very, very high level and putting it into the words where someone can actually get it. And I know that there's a lot of examples out there. I've heard some people say that if someone back in like, I don't know, the early 1900s wrote a letter to someone and said, I apologize up front for this long letter. I didn't have the time to make it short and concise. Meaning, when you have your thoughts and you want to convey them to someone, it takes some effort to really make it understandable. And I think it was Albert Einstein that said, if you can't explain what you do to a 10-year-old so that they get it, you don't understand it well enough. So I love that you make that point that you take the legalese out of the book.

Thank you. Yes. Legal itself, Mark, is quite intimidated. and especially for the ones that have never ever done this before. And so we try to take the legal, you know, the scary stuff out of legal and talk to them at a level where they'll understand, listen, I'm an entrepreneur, I've done what you're about to do, happy to guide you. And so they ease up and it truly is about just understanding the basics.

Because when you decide to go into becoming an entrepreneur, it's not only yourself that you're putting up, risk. If you're married or you're in a relationship or you want to be married and have children, you're literally putting your family at risk too because as an entrepreneur, not only your company gets sued, but you get sued plus your spouse might get sued, say she's making more money than you. So it really needs to be a very important decision. The entrepreneur needs to get enough information in order for them to actually step into this world, talk to other entrepreneurs, and find the right support team, such as a great CPA and a great corporate attorney. So when you're talking about that legal life cycle and you sit down with a new business owner,

entrepreneur that says, teach me, where is the first place that you start and what are the typical maybe mistakes that you have seen people make that you need to zone in on and fix right away? The first part that I start on is I'll ask them, what is the big goal? Because if I don't understand, I won't be able to guide you. The type of legal structure we put in place, it's not just for today. It's actually for tomorrow and years to come. So the very first question I ask is, what is your big goal?

Do you want to grow the company? Do you want to go nationwide? Do you want to go international? Do you want to hire employees? do you want stock options for your employees? So it's a bigger sort of a lot, a lengthier question, a lengthier interview at the beginning. So I understand where they want to go. Therefore, I can reverse engineer what I would like to put for them and then put a game plan

together for them, letting them know that this is where you're heading, this is the life cycle part of it, and this is what to expect going forward. Now, the biggest mistake, Mark, that I have seen over and over again is because of social media, anyone now can reach anyone around the world. So the very first thing you've got these influencers out there saying is just go out there and create an LLC, just create an LLC. Well, LLCs are not all equal and LLCs are not always the answer. What you should do is save up enough money and get your very first consultation with you. with a corporate attorney and ask them whether an LLC is going to be correct for you or not. And in fact, Mike, LLCs were only created to hold real property.

They were not created to be an active business. Over time, they've become a hybrid of sorts. So if you're going to go into business for yourself, you're going to be consulted and nothing else, you can consult on anything. You're never going to grow. You're never going to hire anyone. you're not going to bring in third party money. And LLC might be the right entity for you.

But it's not right for everyone. And so there's an additional cost for people that go out and come to me and say, I already have an LLC. There's always 100% of the time I have to redo it because it's usually the wrong type of LLC. You know, you bring up a really good point there because I have had people that I've interviewed before talk about patents, talk about trusts. and they, the good guests will say exactly what you've just said, hey, patents can, you know, having your idea patented can be a wonderful strategy.

Putting some things in a trust can be a wonderful strategy, but it is not a cookie cutter template solution for every single person out there. So don't hear this and go Google, I need to set up an LLC, click, click done, because it might not be the right solution for you. And it might not be set up the right way to, even if it is the right solution, it might not be. set up the right way to properly meet the needs that you have. Correct. 100% Mike. And there you go, spending additional costs, which entrepreneurs don't have at the beginning. Yeah.

Yes. That's huge. And you find out in business, it's called a sunk cost. You find out later like, oh, well, that's sunk. I can't get that back. And now I've got to spend more money to get what I should have had done right in the first place. So some of the services that you are providing, things like asset protection or corporate formation, escorp, C, corp, LLC, that kind of thing, what are some of the next steps that when you're working with a client once you've kind of determined that foundation? And I love the fact that you started with, I ask questions, I need to find out where they are, where they want to be.

But what is then the next logical step that you're looking for? The next logical step would be to make sure now that the company is being protected through drafting various types of contracts. After the formation and every business, regardless of whether they use it or not, every business must have a website just to one, for credibility and for two, people to look you up to see whether you exist. So we always make sure that there are the website terms and conditions, the website disclaimer, the website policy, privacy policies are already up there. So again, it's more of a as the company is growing, so is the legal protection for them. That's how we grow with the company. And at some point, Mike, the company might split into two, right? Say they're selling one product and they decide to go into another product. And each product has its own risks and what have you. So we'll do a corporate

restructuring at that time. And then the beautiful part about being a growing, having a company and growing with a corporate attorney that does asset protection is when the company or the company owner becomes and accumulates wealth, let's say around $5 million a soul, that's always a wonderful time to have a conversation about offshore asset protection. So we really do. When we talk about protection for our client, and Mike, you'll probably enjoy this saying because, you know, I was born and raised in England, so I've got the English accent. my clients actually have given me the title queen of business law and on the chessboard the queen is the most powerful piece on the chessboard and she can move in any direction just to say the

king the king is the most protected piece on the chessboard and for us our client is the king And so it's not about just here you go. We've formed your entity, God speak to you now. It's about what's next. You know, what type of client are you going after? Do you have the correct marketing material? And do you have your client agreement set up? And are you set up for success? So that's how we like to always make sure that our clients are always set up for success. If that's growth, if that's mergers, if that's offshore asset protection, we, again, Mike, if I I haven't shared with you. We love, love, love what we do here. You know, that comes through very clearly when you can speak to someone and just sense their passion and enthusiasm, it really, really comes through and it makes people feel compelled to want to learn more because you don't, I can tell this, you don't treat people like a number. You treat them like a human and a relationship.

and these days real is rare. Correct. Exactly. When someone calls our office, they will get a real person on the phone. And I promise you, they are the most kindest people that you'll ever want to talk to.

Usually, they're talking to people for about 20 minutes before there's ever a question asked. Yep, exactly. Well, I tell you, this has been really, really informative, just seeing how you are serving the business owner and entrepreneur clients with your specific skills and expertise, what is the best way that someone can learn more and reach out and connect with you and also pick up a copy

of your books? Beautiful. They can go to our website, baglerlaw.com. The easiest way to remember that is bagl-l-a-law.com. They can go to about section and under about, there's a book section. the books that I've written. And in fact, they can actually download a e-book completely free. And it was written for my international clients that actually want to do business in the USA. It's called Doing Business in the USA.

It's a wonderful little notebook for even the entrepreneurs that are thinking about starting a business here in the US. So I have that gift for you. And then there's a wealth of information there. I've written on every topic, a blog. that will be useful for you too. And then simply you can call us 760-579-6789. Thank you so much, Mike, for having me as a guest. Thank you, Kelly.

It's been a real pleasure talking with you as well. You've been listening to Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saunders. To learn more about the resources mentioned on today's show or listen to past episodes, visit www. Radio.com.