Brooks Pierce partner Justin Outling is featured as part of a new initiative from the University of North Carolina Greensboro that creates and disseminates informational web-based videos about high social mobility career paths to diverse middle and high school students in Guilford County, North Carolina.
In the videos, area career professionals in law, medicine and technology provide an unvarnished look at the pros and cons of each career path and the preparation necessary to succeed so that diverse students can better envision themselves in these careers.
“What drew me to the field was through my mother’s work in social services, at a young age, I observed an attorney provide assistance to someone who was in distress and I saw that was a really powerful and transformative thing in that person’s life and from that time forward I wanted to be in a position to help out people just like that attorney I saw as a child,” Outling says in the campaign video.
According to the initiative’s website, the steps necessary to enter careers – especially high-mobility careers – are not always transparent to middle and high schoolers contemplating life goals. This lack of clarity is often especially detrimental to Black, Hispanic, and potential first-generation college students who may lack the connections and informal career coaching available to other students.
“For students who are worried about whether they will fit as an attorney my advice would be for them to ‘simply go for it,’” he said.
Watch the campaign video featuring Justin Outling here.
