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An Unexpected Message for Ambitious In-House Lawyers . . . from a Story About A Fisherman

An Unexpected Message for Ambitious In-House Lawyers . . . from a Story About A Fisherman

Heather Stevenson
June 18, 2025

Hi there! It’s Heather Stevenson.

Happy Wednesday and thanks for being here! Here’s what’s covered in today’s issue:

The story of the fisherman and the businessman.
The unexpected lesson from that parable.
Links I think you’ll love.
And more.

Let’s dive in.

Deep Dive

The Parable of The Fisherman and Businessman Contains a Lesson for Us All

Have you heard the parable about the fisherman and the businessman? It’s adapted from a story written by German author, Heinrich Theodor Böll.

The story has a powerful primary message. But beyond the primary message, there is a more subtle but equally important lesson for ambitious in-house lawyers. That’s what this newsletter issue is about.

The parable been written and re-written, but the following is one version (skip ahead here if you’ve already heard it).

The Fisherman Story

One day, an American businessman on vacation was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village. He looked out and noticed a fisherman rowing his boat to shore in the afternoon sun. The fisherman docked his boat and hopped out, resting his fishing pole on the side.

Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The businessman complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The fisherman replied, “only a little while.”

The businessman then asked why he didn’t stay out longer and catch more fish? The fisherman said he had enough to feed his family and to sell some to support their other immediate needs.

The businessman then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

The fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a nice afternoon nap with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my friends. I have a full and busy life.”

The businessman scoffed, “I am an American Investment Banker with a PhD in business management, and I could help you. You should spend more time fishing in deeper waters, and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the money you make from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats; eventually, you would have a fleet of fishing boats.

“Instead of selling your catches of fish to a middleman, you would sell directly to the processor and eventually own your own production plant for canned food. You would control the product, processing, and distribution of fresh fish to thousands of people. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA, and eventually New York City where you would run your expanding enterprise.”

The fisherman asked, “But señor, how long will this all take?”

To which the businessman replied, “15-20 years.”

“But what then?” The businessman laughed and said, “That’s the best part!

When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions.”

“Millions? Then what?” The businessman said,

“Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”

The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, “Isn’t that what I’m doing right now?”

When you read that story, who did you relate to more?

The Fisherman, living a simple, peaceful life?

Or the Businessman, dreaming up ways to maximize potential?

If you're anything like me, or most readers of this newsletter, my guess is it’s the Businessman.

That’s certainly who I see more of in myself. I am in a building phase of my life.

I want to create impact and do work that matters. I enjoy leading a high-performing team. I work hard to grow, earn, and contribute at a high level.

And while I hope never to be as arrogant as the businessman in the story, I’m unapologetically ambitious. If you’re still reading, I bet you are too.

The fisherman parable reminds us not to chase growth for its own sake. It asks whether the life we're striving toward is actually all that different from what we already have—or could have now, if we slowed down enough to notice. That’s an essential reminder.

But it doesn’t mean ambition is pointless. It doesn’t mean we should stop building.

Personally, I am not building or growing just to build or grow. You probably aren’t either.

I want to make more positive impact, on the people around me and on the world. I want to earn because money creates not just stability and flexibility for me and my family, but also the ability to positively impact the world around me. I want to learn more to become more effective at my job, for the joy of it. I am even more willing to do what it takes, because I enjoy what I do day to day and who I get to do it with.

People like us aren’t trying to escape to a quiet seaside town where days are slow and nights are spent playing guitar with friends. Maybe we might want that one day. Maybe on our hardest days, we even dream we could escape now. But when it comes down to it, that’s just not what we want. At least, not yet.

Still, I think the story holds an important lesson for us.

The lesson isn’t that we should all quit our jobs and go fishing. Or that we are pointlessly building when by slowing down, we could already have everything we want.

It’s that we can and should be clear on what we want our lives beyond work to look like—and build lives that include those things now, while we also build our careers. Not just someday.

So, here’s the question I think is worth considering:

What is your version of the Fisherman’s life that you can live right now?

Not as a replacement for your ambition. But as a reminder of all the things that matter beyond and more than work. So that you can intentionally make space for those things and build a big ambitious life that includes both the successful legal career, and the joy and fulfillment of everything else that matters in life.

Here’s mine:

I want to look out at the ocean and jump in regularly.
Spend summer weekends at the beach.
Run outside on beautiful days.
Take afternoon walks.
Sit outside with a good book.
Share long, slow, laughter-filled meals with people I love.
Tuck my son in every night, for as long as he’ll let me.
Grab lunch with a friend just because.
Spend slow, cozy evenings at home with my husband.
Mentor junior lawyers, especially women.
Chase big adventures that remind me how lucky I am to be alive.
Explore wild, beautiful places that make me feel small in the best way.
Push my body until I’m breathless and proud.

None of this means I want to stop working.

It means I want to keep building, while living a life that is rich and fulfilling in ways that have nothing to do with being a lawyer.

So pause and reflect: What does a big, beautiful life look like for you?

If you take a moment to think about it, I’d love to hear what comes to mind.

In a future issue, I’ll share some of the small but intentional ways I make space for mine.

That’s it for today.

But before you go, here are three links I think you might enjoy.

Each week, I share content from across the web that will help make your life as an in-house lawyer better. Let me know what you think of the ones below.

Why LinkedIn Actually Matters as a Summer Associate - Jonah Perlin, a Georgetown Law professor (and a friend of mine), is writing a newsletter specifically for summer associates this year. The advice is absolute gold. Much of it applies equally to junior lawyers, like this piece on building your digital network early.
A Truly Ridiculous Take on Work-Life Balance [Sharing for the Comments] - This Instagram post from mega-influencer Alex Hormozi is intentionally provocative. I strongly disagree with his take, but the comments are worth a read. They’re a good reminder of just how important things like health, love, and community really are. Sharing because it’s worth reflecting on your own take, too.
On Using Exclamation Points in Work Emails - The discussion on this LinkedIn post is fantastic. As a profession, lawyers are increasingly embracing authenticity. And I’m here for it.

Thanks for reading! Look out for the next issue in your inbox next Wednesday morning.

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