Skip to content

065 Developing Professionalism and Executive Presence as a Lawyer – An Interview with Krystin Hernandez Part 2

In this episode, Christina Martini and Krystin Hernandez discuss: 

  • Qualities that define Krystin’s professionalism vision and who she is as a leader. 
  • How to bridge the differences in professionalism and leadership in regard to multigenerational workplaces. 
  • Challenges in maintaining professionalism in your personal brand. 
  • Maintaining professionalism, even when you’re comfortable and have a strong relationship. 

 

Key Takeaways: 

  • Everyone is just a human – the human element of our business is just as important as everything else. 
  • Take time to appreciate the differences in each generation and understanding why each is the way it is. 
  • Every interaction you have with everyone you are connected to is shaped by your interactions, good and bad. 
  • Behavior change is hard, it is a struggle, but keeping it top of mind, being self-aware, and not being overly critical of yourself is the best approach to facing those challenges. 

 

“You can be empathetic, you can be genuine, you can be helpful, and you should be all of those things as a leader when you’re talking to your colleagues or people on your team. It’s really about keeping the subject matter to a certain level of professionalism and things that matter in your organization.” — Krystin Hernandez 

 

About Krystin Hernandez: Ms. Hernandez is Senior Counsel for McDonald’s Corporation, the world’s leading global food service retailer with more than 36,000 locations globally, serving approximately 69 million customers in more than 100 countries each day. More than 80% of McDonald’s restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent local business men and women.  

 

Ms. Hernandez provides legal advice and counseling relating to business and commercial transactions pertaining to McDonald’s supply chain, equipment, operations, government relations, finance, antitrust compliance and commercial transactions. She also conducts training on various topics, including antitrust compliance and internal best practices for McDonald’s business teams. 

 

She has been practicing law in-house at McDonald’s since July of 2010. She began her practice in McDonald’s real estate, negotiating leases for special venue restaurant locations, such as museums, malls, airports, tollways and military bases. She spent three years in the corporate commercial group advising clients and negotiating supplier agreements relating to equipment and restaurant building materials, followed by two years supporting US franchisees in their franchising agreements and business operations, before returning to her commercial practice in a new role including support for McDonald’s sustainability, marketing and intellectual property functions.  

 

Ms. Hernandez is licensed to practice law in Illinois. She received her BS and JD from the Illinois Institute of Technology and Chicago-Kent College of Law after being accepted into its Honors Scholars program which offers an undergraduate and a law degree in six years and a full-tuition law school scholarship. Ms. Hernandez became the first student to complete the program in five years. She also serves as the chair of the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Chicago’s Diversity Summer Internship Committee. Ms. Hernandez grew up in Chicago, Illinois and graduated from Loyola Academy. 

 

 

Connect with Krystin Hernandez: 

LinkedIn: Krystin Hernandez 

 

Connect with Christina Martini: 

Twitter: @TinaMartini10 

Website: www.paradigmshiftshow.com 

LinkedIn: Christina Martini 

Email: christinamartini.paradigmshift@gmail.com 

 

 

 

Show notes by Podcastologist: Chelsea Taylor-Sturkie 

 

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You’re the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

 

About the author, Christina Martini

For nearly 25 years, Christina (Tina) Martini has been an intellectual property attorney practicing in BigLaw. Tina is a partner at the law firm McDermott Will & Emery and focuses her practice on domestic and international trademark and copyright law, as well as domain name, Internet, social media, advertising and unfair competition law.

Leave a Comment





Scroll To Top