ABOUT ELLE

HEY BABES!

 

MY NAME IS ELLE AND I GO BY THE COUNSELLE™ [fka. ELLECOMMAWOODS]

I AM A #LAWHER [attorney, JD + LLM grad] and ENTREPRENEUR BY DAY, A CONTENT CREATOR + BEAUTY/FASHION ENTHUSIAST BY NIGHT + A [used to be lol] FREELANCE MUA ON THE WEEKENDS.

IN OTHER WORDS, I LOWKEY [highkey] LIVE A BUNCH OF COMPLETELY DIFFERENT LIVES LOL. 

FOR A LONG TIME, I HID ALL OF THE “NOT LAWYERLY” PARTS OF MYSELF BECAUSE I THOUGHT THAT I COULD NEVER BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY IN THE LEGAL WORLD IF I EMBRACED THE OTHER PARTS OF MYSELF OPENLY.

I MEAN LET'S BE REAL HERE -- I'M A BLACK, QUEER, WOMAN, FROM THE BRONX -- THE ODDS ARE ALREADY STACKED AGAINST ME WITHOUT ADDING HOT PINK OUTFITS, LONG ASS ACRYLIC NAILS OR CUT CREASE MAKEUP TUTORIALS INTO THE MIX [yes, I did YouTube makeup tutorials for a little while — long story, don’t ask lol*]. I JUST DIDN'T WANT TO GIVE PEOPLE ANY EXTRA REASONS TO BE JUDGEY.

BUTTTTTTT EVENTUALLY, I REALIZED A COUPLE OF THINGS:

1: I DON’T HAVE TO “LOOK A CERTAIN WAY” TO BE A BOMB ASS LAWYER [think about it — in the movie Elle Woods won a whole ass murder trial in a hot pink dress + matching open toed heels; she slayed in fashion + in the courtroom!];

2: I DON’T HAVE TO GIVE UP OR CHANGE EVERY ASPECT OF MY PERSONALITY + STYLE JUST TO “FIT IN” — MY LOVE FOR FASHION, MAKEUP + THE COLOR PINK CAN COEXIST WITH MY INTELLIGENCE + HAS NO EFFECT ON MY COMPETENCE;

3: I DON’T HAVE TO BE GOOD AT OR DO JUST ONE THING — I CAN HAVE + DO IT ALL IF I WANT TO. PERIOD.🤷🏾‍♀️

 

NOW OBVIOUSLY I DON’T THINK I’M GOING TO CHANGE THE WORLD [*especially not the legal world*] WITH THIS BRAND — BUT WHAT I DO HOPE I CHANGE IS THIS IDEA THAT WE MUST TO FIT INTO THIS “MOLD” OF WHAT A LAWYER COULD AND SHOULD BE, CAUSE THAT’S HELLA TIRING ANDDDDD WE CAN'T PAY ANY BILLS WITH PEOPLE'S OPINIONS 🙃🫠

AT A MINIMUM, THROUGH THIS BRAND, I HOPE I'M ABLE TO PROVIDE BOMB ASS PRODUCTS THAT'LL ALLOW YOU GUYS TO EXPRESS YOURSELVES WITH MERCH THAT SAYS SOME OF THE SH*T YOU THINK BUT ARE SCARED TO SAY AND LOOK CUTE WHILE DOING IT!

I WANT YOU BABES TO BE COMFORTABLE AND CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO BE AND DO WHATEVER THE HECK Y’ALL WANT TO DO, NO MATTER HOW “UN-LAWYERLY” IT IS. THE MORE UN-LAWYERLY, THE BETTER!

 

BESIDES THE MERCH, I’M GOING TO BE BLOGGING ABOUT A BUNCH OF STUFF — INCLUDING MY JOURNEY TO LAW SCHOOL, MY STRUGGLE TO DO WELL WHILST COPING WITH PHYSICAL + MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES AT THE SAME DAMN TIME, HOW I MANAGED [and I use that word real loosely lol] TO BALANCE MY SOCIAL LIFE WITH BEING A FULL TIME STUDENT + WORKING, MY STRUGGLES WITH THE BAR EXAM AND SO MUCH MORE — BASICALLY, SH*T IS ABOUT TO GET REAL LOL.

THANK YOU FOR JOINING + SUPPORTING ME ON THIS JOURNEY! LET’S BE UNCONVENTIONAL AS HELL TOGETHER!

xoxo,

THE COUNSELLE™

💕

 

[ps. follow me on instagram @thecounselle + @thecounsellecollection

on twitter + pinterest @counselle

on tiktok @counselle]