Yasmine Salem Hamdan
Protecting People and Their Business
Yasmine Salem Hamdan always knew she wanted to go into law, originally studying Criminology and Criminal Justice, but decided to focus her talents on the business sector after her first year at law school.While working as an intern during her first year at law school, Yasmine realized that a lot of the work was informal—over the phone or email, without ever really talking to clients face to face.
She wanted to be able to create relationships with her clients, and found she had a passion for businesses and the startup world.
During law school, Yasmine saw a multitude of different business cases she realized that could have been avoided and decided she wanted to help business owners be more proactive. She had never met a lawyer who focused solely on startups and entrepreneurs and decided to be the first she knew.
Starting from Scratch
After finishing school and passing the bar exam on her first attempt, Yasmine launched straight into creating her own firm. Through lots of research, reading, and meeting with others who had created their own firms, she slowly began to grow her business.Yasmine began her firm in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area, yet ended up moving to Waco to help her husband, Yousuf, open Texas Tires—an automotive company that provides almost anything the customer needs for their cars and focuses on serving the community. Between creating her own business, trying to find clients and moving to a new city, Yasmine honed her time-management skills-- one of the most important aspects, she says, of creating your own business.
“As far as the confidence to do that it was preparation, preparation is what allowed me to be confident and reaching out to other attorneys that were more seasoned, and hearing from them,” Yasmine said of how she was able to strike out on her own.
Her goal is to help people become more comfortable with the legal aspects of their business, and to encourage them to not be afraid to meet with a lawyer up front. She strives to create honest and open relationships with all of her clients.
Taking Charge of Your Future
As legal counsel, Yasmine focuses on assisting entrepreneurs with trademark prosecution for their brands and consulting with them. More than just providing legal assistance to her clients, Yasmine encourages creativity, knowledge and knowing yourself to ensure growth.
"I want to open their eyes to the opportunities out there and the possibilities that are out there … you know the reality that you can create if you are aware of everything that is out there,” Yasmine said.
Through her own business, she hopes to empower others in their businesses and to help people dream bigger.
Some of the advice she gives her clients is to always research what you are working on, be creative in your work, read about how others have made things work, but, most importantly, to know yourself—your strengths and weaknesses.
Yasmine encourages clients and businessmen and women in general to outsource in areas that may not be their strong suit to be able to give them more energy to focus on what they excel at.
A Community of New Ideas
When she moved to Waco, Yasmine knew she would need to find a space to work out of, to network, and to continue growing her business. She knew that she didn’t want a traditional office space, but rather somewhere with a community of people doing the same thing she was—creating their own business, and working for themselves.
"It allows for collaboration, exchange of ideas, and community in a career path that otherwise might not allow it … as a startup founder it is easy to have your head down,” Yasmine said.
When she found out about Waco Work, she said it was like “a breath of fresh air” from the other spaces she had seen. She felt the motivation, creativity, and tenacious spirit of the members and signed on almost immediately. Written by: Stephanie Jatnieks