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Meet Courtney English, a trademark business attorney and founder of Upscale Law who specializes in helping small business owners and entrepreneurs navigate the complete business lifecycle from startup to scaling. With expertise in brand protection, trademark law, and business contracts, Courtney has built her practice around being proactive rather than reactive, focusing on preventing costly legal problems before they arise. In this episode, she shares her journey from a small farm town to building a thriving legal practice, while revealing the critical legal steps every business owner must take to protect what they’ve built.
This episode is essential listening for current and aspiring entrepreneurs, especially women who are considering leaving corporate careers to start their own businesses or those already running small businesses without proper legal protection. Listeners will learn the three foundational legal steps every new business needs, how to protect their brand from copycats and domain thieves, why contracts are non-negotiable, and how to advocate for themselves in business relationships. Armed with this knowledge, business owners should immediately assess their current legal vulnerabilities, conduct trademark searches for their business names, establish proper contracts for all services, and most importantly, shift their mindset from seeing legal protection as an expense to viewing it as an investment in their business’s future success.
️ Essential Business Formation Framework (02:36 – 04:54)
Trademark Search Process (06:01 – 08:24)
Contract Importance & Common Issues (09:35 – 13:14)
50,000 in settlement fees.
Branding Pitfalls & Social Media (14:30 – 16:50)
Personal Background & Education (21:43 – 28:31)
Legal Education & Mindset Changes (32:04 – 35:24)
️ Trademark Law Specialization (36:01 – 39:55)
Brand Takedown Process (47:06 – 50:19)
3,000 plus legal fees – cost-benefit analysis important vs. principle-based decisions.
Client Success Stories (52:44 – 54:49)
Networking & Business Development (57:13 – 01:06:18)
Target Client Profile (01:09:09 – 01:12:17)
Business Philosophy & Approach (01:13:25 – 01:15:56)
Content Notice
This podcast and all She Lift Project content represents the opinions of Cynthia Kirkpatrick and her guests. The content here is for informational purposes only, and should not be taken as professional advice – financial, legal, medical, or otherwise.
Views and opinions expressed in the podcast and across all She Lift Project media channels are our own and do not represent that of our places of work. While we make every effort to ensure that the information we are sharing is accurate, we welcome any comments, suggestions, or correction of errors.
“These are brilliant people. But they’ve been so hyper focused on their career path that they don’t have the greatest life skills. They don’t know how to manage their finances, they don’t know how to buy a house, they don’t know what to budget for.”
“What we’re really trying to create here is generational change. And when the kids are in our facility, seeing their moms doing this work, it shows them a completely different path. That, and to no fault of their moms. It just, it never seemed possible. So we’re possibility creators.”
“You can only lead as far as you’ve healed, because until you start to recognize that, you will perpetuate the same mistakes that got you there before, either yourself or the leader that you were under. And that’s why the healing part is so important, because it comes up again and you’re like, okay, wait, this is what this is.”
During COVID we realized that people wanted to have certain services and things basically in their home, but you couldn’t find an avenue where you could find a one stop shop that had everything offered and these people would actually show up.
“All of a sudden, it’s cold. I’m cold and I’m wet and. But my windows weren’t open. I’m like, oh, my gosh, this is not a drill.”
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We publish on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month.
