Kamilah Exum

Lawyer Coach | Wellness Coach

Kamilah Exum wins the Christina M. L. Bishop Award at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Kamilah helps define and achieve career create satisfaction.

For 20 years, Kamilah has guided attorneys and other professionals to build the skills necessary to achieve success at work, both in substantive function and in navigating workplace relationships. Kamilah’s goal is to help lawyers learn to tune into their inner wisdom in order to enjoy the careers and lives that they never thought possible.

Kamilah graduated with a JD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law. She is a certified Corporate Wellness Specialist, Positive Intelligence Coach, Life Coach, and Spiritual Coach.

During her time as a public interest tax practice group leader and later, as a SME at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Kamilah worked with a wide range of professionals, from bank presidents to law firm summer associates.  

While practicing law, Kamilah managed a pro bono mentorship program for attorneys at AmLaw 100 firms in Charlotte and Chicago. She liaised with partners in conducting formal training in both the technical and practical aspects of tax controversy cases and their management for associates. She also mentored these pro bono attorneys as they worked through their first cases as lead counsel, assisting with issues such as audit preparation and effective communication with clients.

At the Federal Reserve, Kamilah conducted multi-day workshops to further departmental fluency with the Community Reinvestment Act, while providing individual coaching to JD, MBA and/or CPA level bank examiners. She effectively navigated difficult conversations with C-Suite professionals at banking institutions and developed proficiency in fostering collective buy-in.  

In addition to coaching individual lawyers, Kamilah runs a boutique consulting firm dedicated to furthering the B Corp Movement’s impact.

Kamilah's Focus

Kamilah is a great choice for...

• Executive lawyers in small to mid-sized organizations ($75 million or less in annual revenue)

• Executive-track lawyers

• Government and service lawyers

• SMEs/in house counsel

• Individual contributors and leaders of small teams

• Junior attorneys and entry-level lawyers

• Recent law school graduates

• Current law students

• Traditional law students

• Nontraditional law students

• First-generation lawyers and students

• Prospective law students

She counsels on issues such as...

• Navigating difficult conversations

• Interpersonal relationship challenges

• Feeling stuck in your current position

• Creating a career you love

• Diversity, equity, including, and belonging (DEIB)

• Managing your workplace wellbeing – burnout, anxiety, etc.

• Finding purpose and meaning in your work

• Career planning

• Success in the workplace

• Developing confidence

• Getting unstuck and overcoming roadblocks

• Landing your dream job

• Aligning your work and your values

• Building a professional network

• Getting credit for your work/being visible when it matters

• Hybrid workplace challenges

• Understanding the career focus that’s right for you

Background in Law and Legal Hiring / Philosophy

Kamilah Exum

Kamilah graduated with a JD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law. She began her career practicing tax controversy law in a public interest setting, advancing to the equivalent of practice group leader. During this time, she acted as the hiring manager for attorney, paralegal and intern staff for the tax practice group, and sat on the hiring committee for other practice group leaders.  

 After seven years in tax controversy, Kamilah spent nearly ten years at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, becoming a SME in the Community Reinvestment Act.

Kamilah believes that every individual possesses the necessary intuition to achieve any goal they desire. But their inner voices, critics, and saboteurs are often louder and more familiar than that intuitive wisdom, and, consequently, that negativity run most people’s lives. Kamilah’s goal is to help clients learn to tune into their inner wisdom, while turning down the volume on the saboteurs, in order to enjoy the careers, and lives, they never thought possible.

Sample Associations and Affiliations

Professional Associations and Affiliations

• Certified Corporate Wellness Specialist

• Certified Executive Coach

• Certified Life Coach

• Certified Spiritual Coach

• PMP (inactive)

Bar and Court Admissions (inactive)

• Illinois and North Carolina

Speaking Engagements, Presentations, Panels, and Events

[coming soon]