Welcome!

Welcome to Athena Rising, the brainchild of Vanessa Singh Johannes & Marissel Descalzo, two white-collar defense and corporate investigations attorneys in Miami, Florida. There are plenty of blogs and podcasts in today’s world, but little to none address the “real” journeys of women in the law. Here, we hope to create a space where stories of successes, hurdles and growth are authentically, openly and honestly shared, for all to learn from and develop through. These include lessons on how we manage work and life responsibilities and our mental, physical, and emotional health in an ever-demanding world.

For quite some time, Vanessa dreamed of launching Athena Rising. After meeting Marissel and building a friendship, she realized that they shared a passion: the need for women to elevate other women.

The need for sharing our stories with and for each other has never been greater. We are witnessing great changes in the legal profession – indeed, more women than men attend law school than ever before; yet, more women in senior positions are choosing to exit the profession or take on different roles. We have personally found that much of our success (and sanity) has come from leaning on our fellow ladies in the law and hope that other women find a collective through this project. Rising tides lift all boats and, together, our voices and stories can help shape our future.

As you read our articles and listen to our podcast, please feel free to send feedback our way. Let us know if there are women you’d love to hear from or questions/topics you’d like us to focus on. We are excited to embark on this journey together and are grateful you’ve come along for the ride!