Law for Conscious Leadership: A Chat with Kelsey Jae
By Mya Parr, January 2026
How One Boise Attorney is Redefining What It Means to Practice Law With Intention
Boise is full of small businesses that care deeply about their people, communities, and impact. But ask any founder, and they’ll tell you: doing meaningful work can be isolating. How do the people who want to make the world better actually find each other?
That question surfaced immediately when I sat down with attorney Kelsey Jae, founder of Law for Conscious Leadership. Before we even got into her story, she said something that lingered in the air long after:
“Help us find each other.”
And in many ways that’s the heart of her practice: helping mission-driven people find support, find clarity, and find each other through law that feels human.
A Career That Didn’t Go as Planned.. In the Best Way
Kelsey didn’t grow up dreaming of becoming a lawyer. In fact, her career started with a completely different vision: she wanted to be a senator. She earned a JD and a master’s in public policy with dreams of tackling environmental issues, civil rights, and drug war politics.
Then life, as it tends to do, had other plans.
After graduating she landed at a prestigious corporate law firm in Boise. Kelsey quickly discovered the limits of trying to change a company from the inside. “I thought I could shift things by helping clients be more sustainable,” she said. “But if they’re not asking you for that advice, they don’t want to hear it.” Her bosses supported her interests–as a hobby. But they also made it clear: the firm’s clients weren’t looking for a speech on social responsibility.
Five years in she felt drained, misaligned, and questioning whether she even wanted to be a lawyer at all.
So she left.
Not for another firm.
For dog walking.
For bartending.
For teaching homeschool kids about trees.
For rediscovering who she was without the resume.
“All of those experiences helped me realize that I needed to live on my own schedule,” Kelsey stated. “For my mental health and for the life I want.”
Building a Practice That Feels Like a Conversation
In time, clarity found her. She helped launch Warm Springs Consulting, co-founded the Vervain Collective, and did bits of legal work here and there. And eventually in 2016, she launched Law for Conscious Leadership with a clear intention:
To serve values-driven, sustainability-oriented clients, on her own terms.
Instead of trying to convince traditional firms or clients to care about the environment and social impact, she’d work directly with people who already do. She took the lead to create a space that prioritizes relationships, not in the networking sense, but in the human sense. She wants to know what her clients value, what they fear, what they're building, and why. Many are purpose-driven founders. They don’t need a lawyer who bulldozes. They need one who listens.
“If you’re not taking their emotions into account, you’re not giving them the full service,” she told me.
The Battle of Becoming a B Corp (and How to Know if It’s Right for You)
One of the most defining chapters of Kelsey’s journey was becoming a certified B Corporation. She wanted to be Idaho’s first B Corp law firm, not for bragging rights, but because the model matched her values.
“They kept rejecting me,” she said. “And I knew how much impact work I was doing.”
As a solo attorney, the standard B Corp metrics didn’t fit. She had no employees. No office footprint. No conventional sustainability policies. Just meaningful, un-boxable work. The rejection poked at old perfectionist patterns, “it cracked open my whole ‘gold star’ mentality, this need to be told I’m doing a good job.”
Eventually, with the help of a B Lab assessor, she reframed the process. She created a spreadsheet documenting her last several years of legal work categorized by what groups she served and what impact that work enabled. Through demonstrating the ripple effects of her services Kelsey earned certification.
“It’s expensive. It’s time-consuming. It’s not for everyone,” she said. “But for me, being the only certified B Corp attorney in Idaho sends a signal. Before clients even meet me, they know we’re aligned.”
For business owners curious about B Corp, she offers the advice of starting with the free assessment and don’t overthink it.
“Just answer it off the top of your head, it’s not a commitment. It just shows you where you already shine, and what you might want to document.”
Still, even if certification never becomes the goal, the reflection itself can be valuable. “You learn a lot about your business,” she said. “And you get clearer on what matters to you.”
Her bottom line:
Whether you certify or not doesn’t determine your worth. The real question is whether the process supports the kind of impact you want to have and whether it feels aligned with your values.
Success Measured in Humans, Not Headlines
When asked about moments that affirmed she’s on the right path, Kelsey doesn’t point out awards or accolades. She talks about people.
She lights up talking about the Snake River Seed Cooperative and how she helped transition it from a single-member LLC into a worker-and-farmer-owned cooperative and benefit corporation.
“It’s real local food when the seeds themselves are local,” she said. “Working with them from the beginning has been so rewarding.”
For Kelsey success is simple: Did her client achieve their goals and did it happen in a way that aligns with everyone’s values? “That’s what feels good,” she said. “That’s what I’m seeking.”
On Intuition, Community, and Showing Up Where It Feels Right
Kelsey loves conferences and professional communities solely when she feels called, not out of obligation but out of alignment.
“If I feel called to go, something good usually comes out of it… and if I’m forcing myself, it rarely goes anywhere.”
She believes in timing. In readiness. In following the places that feel expansive rather than draining. “My career is one piece of who I am,” she said. “I’m me all the time. I can’t do work that counteracts my values.”
So, What’s Next?
Kelsey wants 2026 to be a year of connection, she wants to meet more people, especially younger founders on the edge of their own big chapters. “I remember how hard it was,” she said about her own early years. “I want to support people who are where I was.”
And in true plot-twist fashion, she’s also currently obsessed with… Rugby.
Yes. Rugby.
And decluttering her life, of course, to create more space for whatever comes next.
A Call to the Conscious Leaders (Pst… Pick Up!)
Kelsey hopes small businesses, cooperatives, and mission-driven founders continue finding each other because that’s when the magic happens.
“Listen to what I say,” she smiled. “Because if I’ve said it publicly, I probably mean it.” Above all, she wants people to know they’re not alone. There are professionals who understand their values, sensitivities, and desire to do good in the world.
And she’s ready to meet more of them.