GA Artist Feature: Sunny Eaton

Sunny Eaton

“My adventure was more than just my desire to travel or to be free from the constraints of doing the same thing every day. It was for more than a bucket list item. It was for more than just, me.

It was for you.

You – who are unable to be single or do anything alone.

You – who don’t know who you are because you are scared about getting out of your comfort zone.

You – who have daughters and are inadvertently raising them to be hyper-concerned about being a victim.

I’m not brave. I’m not fearless. I just refuse to let those emotions rule my thoughts. I believe in overcoming all obstacles, and that means the “what ifs” of life and in adventure.

To make decisions based on extremes doesn’t just put boundaries on where your feet go, it limits your mind and more importantly, your heart.

The spirit of my adventure was to harness the influential women of the past to empower the fearful women of today. I did it to challenge you to say, “Why can’t I?””

— Veronica Remsbottom

Sunny Eaton, Esq., born in 1976, at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. Raised by a mother made of steel and high hopes.

Education:
Bachelor of Arts (BA), Psychology Major – Ball State University; Juris Doctor (JD) University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law

Bio:
Sunny Eaton was predestined to follow a winding path, ultimately becoming what she was always meant to be: an attorney and a nomad photographer. Moving around a lot throughout her childhood, she went to high school in Germany, and Tennessee. In previous iterations, Eaton has been a family therapist, a foster parent recruiter, a behavioral science specialist in the Army and the Shoney’s mascot bear.

These days, Eaton is a criminal defense attorney, a partner at Eastside Legal in Nashville, Tennessee. Prior to that she was an attorney with the Nashville Public Defender’s office, a position she held with pride, and the place where she began to understand how much about life, and the world, she had yet to understand. She learned precisely how vitally important it is to shed light on the realities of people, and truths of their stories, beyond the surface narratives of a case summary or statistical representation.

Out of a constant, pounding desire to discover these truths, and to live a life less ordinary, Sunny has been living life on the road since 2015, traveling by car down the Pan-American Highway through Mexico and Central America, with her wife, Karin and their dog, Gracie. South America is next on the docket.

A love of adventures and an obsession with the details of the world around her, have naturally led her to a passion for photography. Eaton considers herself an average photographer who has stumbled into a world of extraordinary subject matter.

She photographs the world around her as she sees it. Not the poverty-stricken, violent Central America burned into our brains from media sensationalism, but the current realities: the people, the beauty, the everyday ordinary existence of a misunderstood, highly underrated region that she just can’t get enough of.

The social justice warrior in Eaton has not allowed her to simply travel and turn her back on the issues facing people at home. It was most surprising to her that she was unable to do so. Out of a need to be involved, to do something, anything, while on the road, Eaton formed The LGBT Legal Relief Fund (www.lgbtlegalrelieffund.com), an organization that connects LGBT individuals and families with supportive, knowledgeable attorneys willing to help them obtain legal protections at a discounted or free rate. The Fund, when able, assists with filing fees, adoption home studies and additional legal costs.

Sunny Eaton is currently compiling a book on women of the road, a study of those who travel and adventure regularly across borders by car, motorcycle and bicycle.

Website and Social Handles:
www.vagabroads.com
IG: @thevagabroads
photo gallery (constantly changing and updating): www.vagabroads.smugmug.com
FB: www.facebook.com/vagabroads

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Bender making history as Grimes County’s first female district attorney

From The Eagle authored by Kelan Lyons:

“Andria Bender will be sworn in today as Grimes County district attorney, making her the first woman in the county’s history to rise to the position of top prosecutor.

Gov. Greg Abbott announced Bender’s appointment Friday, filling the seat left vacant by Tuck McLain, who was the county’s district attorney for more than 22 years before being appointed Oct. 1 as judge over the county’s first Court at Law.

“It was a surprise to me when the phone call came,” Bender said of the good news that kicked off her weekend, the culmination of an interview process that began in September after she applied for the job. “‘I love Grimes County, and I’m happy to serve them.'”

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If You Can’t Find a Spouse Who Supports Your Career, Stay Single

From Harvard Business Review authored by Avivah Wittenberg-Cox:

“I was at a dinner with eight highly successful professional women recently, ranging in age from 35 to 74. Their stories were typical of research I have been conducting on dual-career couples. One had just been given a huge promotion opportunity in another country, but had struggled for several months to get her spouse to agree to join her. Another had decided that to save her marriage, she would take a yearlong sabbatical and go back to school, giving the family some balance and a breather from two high-powered jobs. A third had tried to work part-time for her law firm but quickly realized she was being professionally sidelined. She opted for a doctorate instead. Her husband continued his career.

This experience underlines the conclusion I’ve drawn from years of research and experience: Professionally ambitious women really only have two options when it comes to their personal partners — a super-supportive partner or no partner at all. Anything in between ends up being a morale- and career-sapping morass.

This is the reality of the half-baked transition we are in when it comes to women in the workplace. The 20th century saw the rise of women. The 21st century will see the adaptation (or not) of men to the consequences of that rise. The reality is that the transition is not smooth and the backlashes will be regular, but the benefits are potentially huge.”

 

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Mother, lawyer and leader: How one lawyer aced flexible working

From Lawyers Weekly authored by Tom Lodewyke

“Catherine Brooks (pictured) is a principal specialising in workplace relations at Melbourne-based law firm Moores.

Ms Brooks said she was teary when she told the other principals at the firm about her pregnancy, as she was worried that, like many other women, she would miss out on future leadership opportunities.

However, the response was unexpected.

“One of the principals said something to me which has stuck with me every day: ‘Catherine, you’re not dying, you’re having a baby, you’re still a leader, you won’t lose out on opportunities’,” Ms Brooks told Lawyers Weekly.

With the support of her firm, she was able to stay in touch with her team while on parental leave and transition into an effective flexible working model when she returned.”

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4 Reasons You Shouldn’t Be So Hard on Yourself When You Screw Up at Work

From The Muse authored by Thomas Oppong:

“Millions of people are obsessed with perfection. This obsession makes it difficult to make a decision without wasting too much time analyzing every detail.

Don’t get me wrong, it pays to get things right. But when you can’t launch any idea because you don’t have the perfect one yet, or you can’t show your work to the rest of the world because you haven’t perfected the product or service, something’s wrong.

Author and Playwright George Bernard Shaw sums it up perfectly:

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.

You will make mistakes, hurt others, and get hurt. Big ones, little ones, ones you can fix, and others you can’t. Seriously—you’re going to mess up at some point, no matter how proactive you are. It’s inevitable.

Unless you do nothing.

So, stop chasing perfection. Screwing up is part of life and success—the more you experience it, the better (within reason, of course). It’s hard to achieve something worthwhile when you play it safe.”

 

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How To Beat The Mid-Semester Law School Blues

From Above the Law authored by Kerriann Stout:

“In my area, it is almost that special time of year where it starts getting dark at 3pm and 52 degrees is considered to be warm. Even if it isn’t about to get cold and dark where you are, you are reaching the half-waypoint of your semester. That probably means your workload is increasing. Not only are you preparing for classes, but you now have legal writing assignments due, outlines to create, and exams to prepare for as well. This can be overwhelming, and a little depressing, to even the most well-adjusted law student.

But, you don’t have to let the semester win. Here are six ways you can take care of yourself and keep your head in the game.”

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26 Years Ago, America Started Talking About Sexual Harassment Thanks To Anita Hill

From The Huffington Post authored by Amanda Terkel:

“In the past year, more and more women have been coming forward to talk about how powerful men have used their high positions to sexually assault and harass them. What the accusations against President Donald Trump, former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly and movie producer Harvey Weinstein have shown is that this behavior is pervasive, and it is often covered up for years by people who know what’s going on.

In 1991, sexual harassment was not a thing people were talking about ― until Anita Hill, a reserved law professor, testified to the Senate on Oct. 11 about what Clarence Thomas had done to her when she had worked for him. Thomas was up for a spot on the Supreme Court, and he had the full force of the Republican Party standing behind him.

While women’s groups stood behind Hill, many men in the Senate ― at that time, there were only two female senators ― dragged her through the mud, questioning her credibility, whether she wanted it and wondering why she continued to work for Thomas if his behavior was really all that bad. Depressingly, those sorts of attacks are still pulled out when women today report sexual harassment.

Hill was also left out to dry by some Democrats who were supposed to be her allies. While they may not have gone after her in the way that the GOP senators did, they also showed extra deference to Thomas and left many women questioning whether they helped her as much as they could have. One of those men was Joe Biden, who was then chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

But Hill’s testimony also electrified women in the United States, who for the first time saw someone publicly calling out what so many of them endured in the workplace. She sparked a political movement that led to an increase in the number of women serving in Congress.”

 

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‘The RBG Workout’: 84-Year-Old Justice Might Put You To Shame In The Gym

From wbur authored by Carey Goldberg:

“In photos of the sitting Supreme Court, 84-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg looks tiny compared to her colleagues, but don’t be fooled: She is “TAN,” says her personal trainer, Bryant Johnson, and “by TAN I mean Tough. As. Nails.”

Ginsburg’s health has been a topic of discussion — and concern among Democrats — since President Trump was elected, but it’s particularly buzzworthy right now because of a new book by Johnson that’s officially out as of Tuesday: “The RBG Workout: How She Stays Strong…And You Can Too!” Also, because Axios reports that Trump expects to have the chance to replace her, commenting to an unnamed source, “What does she weigh? 60 pounds?”

Ginsburg may be more of a judicial heavy than a physical heavy, but once you see her workout, you’ll bet on her over Trump in a push-up contest any day. She does multiple sets of full-on, military-style push-ups. She does one-legged squats. She recently started doing planks. She is, it seems, an iron octogenarian.”

 

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#metoo is raising awareness, but taking sexual abuse to court is a minefield

From The Guardian authored by Amellia Gentleman and Joanna Walters:

“Global fascination with the fallout from the Harvey Weinstein revelations has focused on Hollywood, as well as parallel scandals in international sport and the music industry, but the #metoo stream on Twitter has dragged attention to less glamorous workplaces, highlighting how difficult it is for women to raise these cases, even in countries with strong legislation on sexual harassment.

The outrage has already prompted women in all sectors to seek legal advice about how to pursue sexual harassment claims. “We’re getting many more calls since the recent scandals; women are standing up in solidarity,” said Silvia Stanciu, an employment attorney specialising in discrimination for New York law firm Phillips & Associates.”

 

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Is Reverse Mentoring Right For Lawyers?

From The Lawyerist authored by Stephen E. Embry:

“Is reverse mentoring, typically thought of as having younger workers help and mentor those who are older, something that can work with lawyers and law firms?

The benefits for both sides could be enormous, especially considering the disruption in the legal profession, the onslaught of changes that will affect the manner of how we work, and the enhanced need for communication and understanding between generations. But how do we make it work?

What is Reverse Mentoring?

Reverse mentoring was first popularized by former General Electric Chairman Jack Welch, who directed GE to start using reverse mentoring to teach the use of the internet to its older workers by using younger workers as mentors. More recently, it has been put in place at Target and UnitedHealth Care.

Reverse mentoring recognizes the fact that by the time many workers reach their forties and fifties, they are just not as in touch with the future as younger people who approach things with fresher eyes, more open minds, and a more perceptive view of technology. Younger people who are new to the world of work also often have different social behaviors and backgrounds and can coach senior leaders on what the workplace should look like, what drives younger talent, and how to move forward.”

 

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