In this episode, hosts April Abele Isaacson and Kimberlynn Davis along with the podcast’s producer, Kristina Travaillot, reflect on the first season of the Sidebars podcast and provide a preview of Season Two.
Sidebars, the first podcast released by Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, grew out of April’s, Kim’s, and Kristina’s shared recognition that underrepresented voices in patent law had many valuable things to say. A podcast seemed like the perfect platform to showcase trailblazing women and members of other underrepresented communities. The resulting 14 episodes of Season One created a tapestry of interesting, honest, and sometimes even raw conversations that never fail to move listeners.
In this episode, April, Kim, and Kristina discuss the many surprises they encountered in bringing Sidebars to fruition and the work that is yet to be done in their journey to help the practice of patent law continue to grow in diversity and inclusion.
Highlights include:
- The power of authenticity to awe and inspire (2:10)
- The unexpected value of launching a podcast in the middle of a pandemic (3:23)
- Realizing that there is more to say (8:18)
- Season Two’s focus on the realities of seasoned and rookie women patent litigators (9:11)
- Fostering an environment where everyone is a unicorn (11:14)
- Paying it forward by spotlighting and breaking biases (22:22)
- Tackling the self-editing that members of underrepresented groups impose on themselves (25:11)
- The shifting norms of acceptable behavior (26:25)
- Dealing with unfounded assumptions and taking back your power (31:25)
- Finding new ways to build bigger tables so many more people can have a seat at it (40:00)
- The difference that hearing actual voices makes (43:12)
