Story & Lesson Highlights with Natalia Polukhtin of Scottsdale, AZ

We recently had the chance to connect with Natalia Polukhtin and have shared our conversation below.

Natalia , so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. Would YOU hire you? Why or why not?
That’s a tricky one. From the position of an employer, probably, not. I know that I am too opinionated and dominating in operational processes to follow a lead. I think my brain is just wired to analyze and generate solutions, not to follow a direction from above.
Having said that, I treat each initial interaction with a prospective client as a job interview, where I apply to be hired. And from that prospective, I firmly believe I am an ideal “hire” for a right person, somebody who is not willing to compromise on work ethics, competence, and transparency in communication.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
When first introducing myself, I usually avoid identifying myself by profession, but rather talk about the impact I make. My “punch line” is “I help people build their lives where they truly want to be, not just where they happened to be born.” As a practicing attorney, I see my mission in assisting foreign business owners, investors, and professionals of the extraordinary skills in transferring their talents, assets, and knowledge to the U.S., the country with historically the utmost appreciation for global outreach.
My law firm runs on a motto “Think Global!” As a team, we built our brand on serving the most skillful, entrepreneurial, and resourceful immigrants who see their American journey as an opportunity to create something meaningful, mutually enriching, and having a potential of leaving a global footprint, whether it would be from contributing a capital to improve American infrastructure, or bringing their professional expertise to the R&D sector.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Decision to go to law school came to me at the pretty advanced stage of my initial professional pursuit. I had a PhD in Journalism and Mass Communication and always sought that I was destined to advance an academic field. Then, I had to handle my own immigration case. That was a transformative experience that helped me realize how selective the system can be and how much difference legal representation can make.
But even after getting my law license and spending over a decade practicing law, I never feel disconnected from my background in communication studies. I am always fascinated by the ways cultural messages are transmitted across the borders, and I always approach every case as an opportunity for a storytelling.

When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
I would say “pain” is a bit too dramatic of a word, but I think my experience would resonate with many immigrants who question whether their accent may be holding them back in the professional pursuit. Even after spending nearly 25 years in this country, I occasionally get a comment on my accent. Ironically, the comments that are almost passive-aggressive in tone, usually come from the immigrant community. It took me some time to realize that these type of remarks is a sign of very painful insecurity in those people.
Therefore, I feel importance of telling people that my accent has never prevented me from getting a degree, representing clients in the court, running business, making appearances at the national TV, and presenting at the conferences. Once you realize that something that may be perceived as a flaw is, in fact, a sign of resilience, everything is possible.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I strongly believe in social commitment any business, no matter how big or small, should have. Several years ago, I became involved with different organizations promoting attorneys’ ethical responsibility. I am a Vice Chair of the National Ethics Committee of the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association and I also serve on Ethics Advisory Board for the Arizona State Bar. To me, it is not just a personal involvement, but also a part of the identity of my law firm. I am totally willing to sacrifice some time to advance the profession and connect to the like-minded colleagues.
Legal field is rapidly changing in the U.S. American lawyers just recently started to learn that practice of law is also a business, and this shift in a paradigm brings lost of changes in perception of what legal service providers can and cannot do. I feel very privileged by all the opportunities I get to assist in crafting the ethical balance between the integrity of legal profession and entrepreneurial considerations.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. If you retired tomorrow, what would your customers miss most?
It may sound out of place for someone who comes from the legal field, but I believe that my wit and my sarcastic sense of humor will be missed the most. Going through the complex legal process is lots of a stress, no matter how prepared and equipped you are. At Global Practice, we believe that having someone by your side who helps you ease the tension and occasionally joke about inadequacies of the system, helps our clients in navigating the maze.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.globalpracticegroup.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/visalaw_us?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MW94ZHNiNXhsdWJ2NA==
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalia-polukhtin-970a442a/