So Much To Say: A Legal Podcast For People

Even when a risk feels calculated, it’s still a risk. 

In this mini episode, Megan Senese shares a memorable story about skydiving on her 18th birthday, and how it became a lasting lesson about control, fear, and the moments in life when all you can do is jump.

Who this episode is for:
  • Anyone standing on the edge of a big decision
  • People trying to calculate every outcome before moving forward
  • Lawyers, professionals, and creatives facing uncertainty
  • Anyone who needs permission to act without guarantees

Episode takeaways:
  • Why even “well-planned” risks can spiral out of control
  • How trying to manage every variable can give a false sense of safety
  • What happens when circumstances force you to move forward anyway
  • Why action, not certainty, is often the turning point
  • A reminder that courage doesn’t always mean feeling calm

A different way to think about taking risks:
  • You can set all the criteria, and still lose control
  • Risk doesn’t disappear just because you planned for it
  • Fear doesn’t mean you’re doing the wrong thing
  • Sometimes there is no perfect moment or exit strategy

Stay Connected:

If you want a partner to share ideas with or to walk you through a big decision, we’re always here for you. Connect with us here. 

Love So Much To Say? Let us know! Drop a review, give us 5 stars in your favorite podcast app, and tell us what made you laugh, think, or just go “yep, that’s me.” Every review helps us reach more awesome humans who want to make legal…well, human. 

Creators and Guests

Host
Jennifer Ramsey
Host
Megan Senese

What is So Much To Say: A Legal Podcast For People?

Welcome to So Much To Say: A Legal Podcast For People. Where we explore behind-the-scenes of work, law, life, and everything in between. We're your hosts, business development and legal marketing coaches, Jennifer Ramsey and Megan Senese, and we're here to showcase the human side of the legal world, from marketing and consulting to the very real struggles of balancing work with being human. This isn’t your typical, dry legal show. We're bringing you real stories, candid conversations, and smart insights that remind you that outside of being a lawyer or legal marketer - what makes you human? So whether you’re navigating billable hours or breaking glass ceilings in a woman-owned legal practice, this legal podcast is for you. Stay human. Stay inspired. Namaste (or whatever keeps you human). 

You are about to do something super risky, and you decided that you would do this risky thing so long as certain criteria happens.

Welcome to Minis with Megan on So Much To Say: A Legal Podcast For People.

I went skydiving on my 18th birthday because I wanted to do something wild and risky, and I wanted to be free. I had a pretty restrictive childhood, and so the moment that I had the opportunity to literally jump out of an airplane, I took it.

And that doesn't mean your risk-averseness goes away. And so for me, I was so excited to jump out of an airplane. But I also told all of my friends that I was doing it and said goodbye to them just in case I died. You know, I also went with my boyfriend at the time and had all of this criteria that I wanted to ensure wouldn't happen when I decided to take the super big risk.

The criteria was I wanted to be together with my high school boyfriend and I didn't wanna go last. And the reason I'm sharing the story is because perhaps you know where this is going. You are not in control all the time of the risk you're going to take. It was completely out of my hands and the, the story that I love to tell.

And now I'm sharing it with you, is that we go on my 18th birthday so I can jump out of an airplane with my high school boyfriend and everything is going great and we get there and the weather is shit, so we have to reschedule. So it was not looking super comfy, cozy to come back. But I did it. So I make all of my phone calls.

I'm going skydiving tomorrow. I, I hope I see you, and if I don't, I love you and goodbye forever. Very dramatic on my 18th birthday, and the day finally comes, me and my high school boyfriend go to jump out of an airplane and we watch the video. I sign my life away still with the criteria that. I really didn't wanna be the last one jumping out of this airplane.

And I had gone with a group of other, other people came with us as well, and they separate you based on weight, which again, didn't know because I'm dumb. And 18, and me and my boyfriend got put in a group with a bachelor party, which means that typically the majority of the people we were going to be jumping with weighed more than I did at 18.

And they put you in by weight with the heaviest in the back. So I was going to be the very last person to jump out of this airplane, which is exactly what I didn't want to happen. But this point, we are already in the plane and there's nothing I can do about it except just. Try to enjoy the ride, which is insane thinking about it.

Now that I know what it feels like to have jumped out of an airplane, I wanted everything to go smoothly. And so now you're loaded into this tiny airplane with a bunch of guys on a bachelor party. Saying some choice things, particularly to the groom, don't be such a, well, they used other words, but don't be such a girl.

Don't be scared. There's only one girl on this airplane, and look how cool she's being. But in fact, I was not being cool at all. They just didn't know. So the moment comes for our jumping out of the airplane and my boyfriend happens to be the first one, and he goes to open this like garage door of this airplane so we can jump out and the door gets stuck.

And so I was not feeling super confident about our. Departure finally gets the door open, the instructor says, wave goodbye to your girlfriend, 'cause you're probably never gonna see her again, which I thought was great. And out he goes. And one by one by one I watched every. Guy jump out of this airplane until I was the last person in the airplane.

It's this completely empty airplane. It has no seats in it. You're literally crawling like a little crab until you get to the door. A seen amount of air kind of blowing in your face. The first thing that you have to do if you've never been skydiving, you're connected to an instructor, so you're not completely by yourself, but you're with this stranger who and attached in this very close, intimate way, the first thing you have to do is dangle your feet on the edge of the airplane and.

There's no turning back. You cannot change your mind. Now, this could just be a, a, a tactic or a trick, but the pilot tells you we calculate our gas based on weight. We only have enough gas to make one trip up, so you have to jump out of the airplane. And so you waddle over to the edge of the door and all of a sudden the instructor says, on the count of three, we're gonna go one, two.

And then, and then we went. And it was a rush, obviously, like you've never felt before. And it was amazing. And it was happening so fast. It, it is kind of hard to even to say like, and then I was able to enjoy it. It really wasn't until. The parachute opened and we were gliding around that I could relax and it did feel like, okay, I had finally done it.

So all of this is to say, sometimes even when you feel like you're going to make a calculated risk, it's still risky. And obviously there's not a lot that you can do and you can't control every single thing. And the only thing you can do is jump.