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#INSPO FOR YOUR CREATIVE SIDE-LIFE.
Stuck in a career where your creativity is stifled? Lawyer and DJ, Eitan Stern, shares how he channels his creative spark.
‘A few years ago I went to a talk where the presenter spoke about his version of creativity. It wasn’t art or music; it was his ideas. As a young and restless attorney wearing uncomfortable shoes and a hoodie, the moment struck me. Society had told me that I wasn’t a creative, but in a legal career it was creative thinking that made you successful. This was all very confusing. So on that day, I decided that I was a creative after all, and I began to act accordingly.’
Finding a niche
‘I embraced both my creativity and my legal work, allowed the two to merge, and opened Legalese, a legal practice that catered specifically for creatives and musicians. As it turned out, I wasn’t the only mixed bag in town. There were other lawyers like me – and, more than that, there was a whole world of new business owners who wanted to celebrate their creativity instead of hiding it. We call them entrepreneurs, and the successful ones disrupt industries, become role models and make millions. They also do it wearing hoodies and watching their favourite bands on the weekends. So we began to service them too.’
SOCIETY IS ALWAYS THERE WITH ITS VIEWS AND OPINIONS… BEING A CREATIVE AND A PROFESSIONAL ISN’T ALWAYS EASY.
Balancing act
‘Today I live a split life. From 9 to 5 (or even 6) I’m Eitan from Legalese: the respectable lawyer who smart people come to when they have a problem to solve. I draft shareholder agreements, speak on the radio, manage staff, express legal opinions and am under a unique amount of pressure to get things right. Then come evenings and weekends, when I’m Eitan from Jews For Techno: my loft is littered with odd musical instruments, I DJ funk music and throw the odd party. I co-run a moto polo league and am an aspiring axe-thrower. For a while I was part of a yo-yo club. I go to festivals. I write whenever I can: stories, ideas, even songs. I have creative outlets which are too embarrassing or shady to share.
I have worked hard to embrace the two sides of me: the lawyer and the DJ. Most days I create enough space for the two to co-exist, but where I feel happiest is in the Goldilocks Zone, where they exist together. Like when I was the on-site lawyer at Rocking the Daisies, or when I looked up at an event and noticed a safety disclaimer on the wall which I had written. When we launch a new legal product into the market and see what previously didn’t exist, now exist. When I get to be unashamedly me. When I don’t have to hide, either behind a suit or a hoodie.’
That DJ lawyer
‘Society is always there with its views and opinions. And being a creative and a professional isn’t always easy. Many people want you to choose one or the other, and some days I also believe I should. But I’m 32 years old, I own a legal practice, and I get invited around the country to DJ parties. I have employees, friends, colleagues and a community who speak my language. I’m “that DJ lawyer”. And I’m totally cool with that.’
