Medghyne Calonge

Medghyne Calonge is a certified Florida Mediator, Arbitrator, Notary Public, Certified Human Resources Professional, and Paralegal based out of Tampa, Florida. After completing her Bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, she went on to obtain a Master’s in Business Administration with a concentration in Human Resources. With a passion for helping others, she is now the CEO of Judicial Legal Services LLC. The firm provides family mediation, legal document preparation, and public notary services. When she is not working, Medghyne enjoys spending time with loved ones, traveling, dancing, particularly leading dance fitness classes, and volunteering to name a few.

Where did the idea for Judicial Legal Services come from?

I feel compelled to help others, it’s always been a passion for me. I love the feeling I get when I am able to help someone. As a mediator, which is our primary service, my job is to help find a solution for all involved parties. An attorney has to be on one side or the other and their goal is to work for the best outcome for their client. With mediation, you are an outside person, bringing the facts to both parties and suggesting a resolution through reasonable and logical compromises that helps everyone. A lot of mediation cases are for family situations, like divorce or custody. I think coming to an amicable solution and equitable settlement of all issues that everyone will benefit from is much better, especially for the children involved.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

Right now, I am still in the process of building up the company. The LLC was created earlier this year and I am doing some mediations, but I am not full-time quite yet. I am spending a lot of my day working on making connections and marketing. The website is still in creative mode. I am networking with local attorneys so they will know where they can refer clients to particularly for family mediation. It’s a lot of the background and administrative details that mostly fill my time at the moment, but it’s so important at this stage to make sure I clearly iron out all of those necessary details in order to better prepare for success.

How do you bring ideas to life?

I am a very visual person. I often take notes at meetings to better organize ideas and next steps. I create project lists for myself to follow up on, and also keep an updated schedule for everything – for proper balance. When new ideas come to me, I will research as needed, and find out how to best implement it. I find it a lot easier to break big plans down into smaller parts so that I can successfully execute the final result.

What’s one trend that excites you?

I love makeup and fashion and enjoy seeing the various new fashion trends, though I don’t model anymore, I still greatly enjoy the art of makeup application and watching a good fashion show! As an Avon representative, I love to share my passion for skincare and beauty with others. Anyone who is interested can purchase various beauty and skincare products directly on my store’s website at http://www.avon.com/myavon/mcalonge. I am also a fitness and nutrition guru, and love learning as well as sharing my passion for fitness, nutrition, and everything wellness with others! I am always excited to share some of the nutrition products that I market to others, and invite anyone who’s interested to go to my store’s website directly at http://elites4fitness.goherbalife.com/en-us

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Maintaining a well-balanced and healthy lifestyle with a great emphasis on meditation has helped me to be more productive. With meditation, I apply reflection time to review the past week’s performance and focus on what I want, as well as need, to work on in the upcoming week all while keeping an open mind to generating new ideas and plans where needed. It’s very important to be flexible, especially as an entrepreneur because you have to be ready for any outcome.

What advice would you give your younger self?

There are quite a few suggestions that I would give to my younger self; but the top three that come to mind, would be to focus on fewer projects at a time, to better understand the importance of my capacity and worth, and that it’s okay for my plans to change over time.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

I believe that it is ok to be alone sometimes, some people don’t agree and feel that they have to be around a group of people all of the time, and that if they take time for themselves, that they are somehow being lazy or unproductive. I believe that it is okay and at times even important to spend time with yourself and be really, truly comfortable with who you are; whether that time is spent in meditation, self-pampering, and or in prayer. I firmly believe that to be true!

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

As an entrepreneur, one thing that I do religiously and would recommend to others is meditation and working out! In addition, creating necessary reflection time which I believe is crucially important to review the past week(s) performance and or details and focus on what works in planning for the upcoming week(s).

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

Being open-minded and focused has been a great strategy for me. The company is still young, but I have already had to reevaluate and make changes to what I had originally expected to happen. The timeline has had to change because of outside factors. Obviously, with a global pandemic continuing, things have been pushed and moved more than I would like. Yet being open-minded and flexible have been great factors in working through some of those challenges while remaining focused on successful growth.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

Finding the best location for my office was more challenging than I had expected. I wanted to be somewhere I thought would be more convenient and accessible for clients to get to, but the cost is also important. I initially had a vision in my mind about where and how I would want my office space to look. Eventually, I had to realize that starting in a smaller space is ok when starting out. After all, I can always expand as we grow. So, I finally found what I felt was an ideal location and will look into other options as we grow.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

I would recommend starting small, becoming the best in whatever concentration you focus on, then give yourself time to expand. Trying to jump in too fast can have an adverse effect.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

I would have much preferred to say the spa; but the most recent $100.00 I spent was on household items. Nothing too spectacular, but it was a good use of money because everything I purchased was necessary and useful.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

My calendar is the most important software that I use to help me stay productive. As a visual person, I keep my calendar synced and up to date, which helps ensure that I stay on track in maintaining a healthy balance of my professional and personal life. It’s truly a great productivity tool, of which without it, not sure I would be able to successfully keep up.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

One book that comes to mind is The Power Of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale. I am a firm believer in positive psychology and always try to look for the positives in every situation, so reading this book was an inspirational delight in reaffirming my faith and my belief in the importance and overall power of positivity!

What is your favorite quote?

“Stay positive, and don’t ever give up” is a philosophy that I firmly believe and live by. I believe that no matter the challenges, there is always a solution. It may not necessarily be what you expect at first; but staying positive helps to keep you in that positive mindset.

Key Learnings:

• Stay positive
• Find time for meditation and reflection
• Be mindful and grateful
• Persevere with Determination!