Congratulations, Erika Tremblay!

Join me in extending heartfelt congratulations to Erika Tremblay on her well-deserved promotion to Accreditation & Compliance Manager! Since joining Lawline in April 2022 as our Applications & Approvals Coordinator, Erika has rapidly ascended to a management position, with the Attorney Compliance Coordinator now directly reporting to her. We spoke with Erika to dive into her journey and future aspirations. Continue reading to hear what she had to say! 

• Can you share your career path leading up to your recent promotion? We’d love to hear about the roles you’ve held, key experiences and any turning points.

While completing my Master's in Public Administration, I worked at the college in the Student Life department. I loved working with students but the position was a Graduate Assistantship so after graduating I started looking for jobs in the nonprofit sector. While searching, I worked at a local orchard our friends had bought. There were not a lot of positions in nonprofits, but there was a lot of competition. I started to think about what else I could do and remembered how I loved working in Higher Ed.

Soon I was the Admissions office coordinator at Mercy College. I was the first face students saw when they visited the college and even when they went to class, but I also organized the office, made processes, and even learned how to help students if admissions counselors were busy. I quickly was promoted to a Graduate Admissions counselor role. I loved helping students learn about the school, get their applications in order, and get accepted, especially in the competitive programs, but once the students started their programs and my job was over, there was a gap in resources and the students needed more guidance. There was a whole department of undergraduate advisors, but there was no one to go to for Graduate programs.

One night I walked up to a woman crying in the hallway. She was so confused about her program. She didn’t know what courses to take or in what order and the program director wasn’t helping her. After giving her all the information I had, I drafted an email to my director and the director of the advising department. I pitched the idea of a Graduate advising team and in a matter of months, I was a Graduate Advisor helping them to build a graduate advising team. It was not easy and there were a lot of turnovers, but I held out for 2 years. I was the director of the graduate advising team and I had 5 counselors that I was managing across three campuses. I’m so proud of the resilience I had in that position. I built a strong team and we were helping students, even with caseloads of 500-700 students each.

The one thing I found that helped me each time I was promoted to a higher role was that I had learned to do more than just my job. I was able to do the job of other counselors, my colleagues in other departments, the IT department, and even my managers. I was the go-to person for every type of question. It’s great for showing initiative and being able to cover someone, but I also realize, looking back at the culture at the college, that this contributed to becoming burned out. I knew the students were relying on me and when they couldn’t get help somewhere else, I would step in to help. I couldn’t rely on the rest of the departments to do their part. They wanted to get more students and retain them at higher numbers, but the quality of service was keeping that goal out of reach.

After 6 years at the college, a recruiter friend found the Lawline position and she shared it with me. She knew I was tired, overworked, underpaid and the compassion fatigue was getting to me. Even from my first interview, I could tell that Lawline was the culture I had been looking for. I decided it was time for a change and became the Applications & Approvals Coordinator here at Lawline! I love that this company values communication, transparency, and teams that work towards the same goals. 

• How do you envision your new role impacting both our team and Lawline’s future? Are there specific goals or initiatives you're excited to pursue?

My new role aligns with the growth Lawline is pursuing in CLE Accreditation as a Service. I envision a growing accreditation team, with more B2B customers using our team to support their goals. I’m always working towards the goal of organizing the accreditation and reporting processes to be as efficient and transparent as possible. I’m also hoping to work towards making things easier on customers, especially for the states where our customers frequently need to self-apply. I’d love to have a more streamlined self-apply process, to make customers happier, all while saving on application costs. I’m excited to collaborate with different departments more often and I’m especially excited to see where CLE as a Service leads us and how we can build a reputation as accreditation experts!

• Looking ahead, what are your long-term career goals and how does this promotion align with them?

I never liked the word “career.” My generation always associated it with being at one job for a long time; an attorney who does different jobs, but is always in the legal field, or a doctor who dabbles in different areas but is always in the medical field. As my experience shows, I didn’t have a specific field in mind, or a specific position. My skills are adaptable and I like to go with the flow of where life leads me.  A job is a huge part of your life. Most days, we spend more time with our colleagues than our family and friends. So my life goal is to be happy, to be fulfilled, and to always be growing and learning. That being said, I suppose my experience over the last 15 years does point to a passion for education. I enjoy helping people, providing resources, and making something in their lives easier, like attorneys Continuing Legal Education!