On February 20, 2026, Crisp Experience members from across the country gathered in Orlando, Florida, at the inaugural 2025 Crisp ELEVATE Conference for a transformational day of elite training, powerful networking, and celebration.
The room was packed with operations managers, marketing professionals, executive assistants, client-facing teams, and emerging leaders. These are the professionals who execute the vision at the country’s top law firms. These are the driven, talented team members who turn strategy into reality.
Throughout the day, the energy only compounded. World-class speakers delivered actionable frameworks. Peers who truly understood the unique challenges of law firm operations sparked new connections.
As the exciting event drew to a close, Crisp Head of Coaching Strategy Jessica Mogill took the stage to name our newest Crisp Experience MVP. This professional demonstrated the most significant transformation over the previous year and embodied an unwavering commitment to continuous improvement and excellence.
We’re happy to announce the 2025 Crisp Experience MVP: Rachael Leadbetter of Cook, Barkett, Ponder & Wolz!
About the Crisp Experience Program
Crisp Coach is the premier law firm growth program for firm owners building businesses that can lead, scale, and win. For years, these firm owners asked the same question: “How can my team learn what you’re teaching me?”
The answer: Crisp Experience.
Crisp Experience is a coaching program designed specifically for supporting team members at Crisp Coach law firms. They’re the operations managers who keep the firm running smoothly, the marketing professionals who translate strategy into successful campaigns, the executive assistants who keep everything on track, the intake specialists who convert leads, and the emerging leaders gearing up to take the firm to its next level.
After years of empowering attorneys with proven growth strategies, the Crisp team discovered that firms rarely fail from lack of vision alone. Instead, firms often stumble because they don’t have the right people in the right seats with access to the right tools.
Crisp Experience equips these professionals with advanced leadership frameworks, proven operational strategies, and the mindset tools they need to evolve their efforts. The program offers specialized tracks for marketing, operations, executive support, client-facing experience, and leadership development, ensuring every team member receives training tailored to their unique role and challenges.
When a law firm owner joins Crisp Coach, they gain access to world-class growth strategies. When they invest in Crisp Experience for their team, they ensure those strategies actually get implemented. True success requires all of these components working together so you can go further, faster, together.
About the 2025 Crisp Experience MVP Challenge
At Crisp, we believe growth deserves recognition. That’s why the Crisp Experience MVP Challenge was born.
Every month in 2025, Crisp Experience members competed in growth-focused challenges and were encouraged to document their transformations. These weren’t theoretical exercises. Instead, members implemented real strategies, measured real results, and shared their journeys with their peers.
Hundreds answered the call, and the competition was fierce. The winner with the most significant transformation would receive our grand prize: an all-expenses-paid dream vacation and the ultimate title of Crisp Experience MVP.
Three finalists emerged from the hundreds who competed:
- Rachael Leadbetter of Cook, Barkett, Ponder & Wolz
- Kali Rees of Simpson Law Firm
- Lisa Eckstorm of Jimeno & Gray, PA
These individuals refused to coast. Instead, they rewrote the playbook on what it means to be a true game changer. Their video profiles, which premiered throughout the ELEVATE Conference, revealed remarkable stories of personal and professional transformation.
At the close of the conference, Rachael Leadbetter was announced as the winner to roaring applause from her peers.
Meet Rachael Leadbetter
Before joining Cook, Barkett, Ponder & Wolz, Rachael Leadbetter spent a decade working in fire and EMS. After 10 years in the emergency response industry, she knew how to stay calm under pressure and follow procedures that could mean the difference between life and death.
But when the Florida law firm approached her with a new challenge, she stepped into unfamiliar territory.
“We want to grow. We want to streamline our processes and procedures,” the firm’s leaders told her. “We don’t have that. Can you help us?”
Rachael said yes. But internally, she struggled with a feeling that haunts many high performers.
“A struggle that I’ve always had is the imposter syndrome,” she reflected. “I didn’t feel that I had the knowledge to speak on this.”
The Challenge
Cook, Barkett, Ponder & Wolz needed transformation. The firm had talent and ambition, but three decades of doing things “the way we’ve always done it” had created inefficiencies that held them back.
“It was hard to get everybody to conform to one way of doing things because everybody had done it the same way that they wanted to do it for 30 years,” Rachael explained.
She faced a classic operations challenge: create standardization where individualization had been the norm. She was expected to build processes where chaos had been accepted as “just how law firms operate.”
And she tried to do it all herself.
“When I first started with the firm, I wanted to learn how to do every job, every position,” Rachael said. “I felt that that’s what the team needed and that I could do it all.”
But before long, the weight of trying to be everything to everyone began to show.
“I quickly realized that that’s not the case because I found myself being short-tempered,” she admitted. “Little things became big things.”
The Transformation
Through her Crisp Experience membership, Rachael discovered frameworks and tools that would change everything for her firm. More importantly, she learned lessons about leadership that would change everything for herself.
She learned the power of delegation. The breakthrough came when Rachael realized she didn’t have to master every position at the firm. She needed to empower others to excel in their roles.
“I have learned how to delegate things. I have learned how to task different things out to individuals within the firm and allow them to grow in their role as well,” she shared.
This wasn’t just about lightening her load. It was about building a team of capable professionals who owned their responsibilities and continued to develop their skills.
She implemented a hiring funnel that actually works. One of the most impactful strategies Rachael learned from Crisp was how to build a structured hiring process.
“If I had to say one thing that I’ve probably taken from Crisp, it’s modifying their hiring funnel,” Rachael explained. “That has really helped us with our hires.”
The right people in the right roles make everything else possible. By improving how the firm attracted and selected talent, Rachael set the foundation for sustainable growth.
She built processes that actually get used. The real test of any system is whether people follow it under pressure. Rachael didn’t just create procedures; she created processes that worked so well that new team members could execute them successfully.
“We brought in brand new people that had no idea how to do the settlement process and we taught them through the processes that we had made,” she said. “It worked.”
She transformed the firm’s bottom line and client experience. The results speak for themselves. In the last two months of the year alone, Cook, Barkett, Ponder & Wolz brought in a million dollars in revenue on small pre-litigation cases.
“Not only did we bring the cash flow in, but we also got our settlements from a six-month procedure down to our goal of 90 days, which is now down to 30 days,” Rachael shared. “And we have increased our client experience so much.”
Think about that: The firm went from a six-month settlement timeline to 30 days. Clients got resolutions faster, the firm freed up capacity to take on more cases, and everyone experienced less stress throughout the process.
She discovered who she is as a leader. The most profound transformation happened internally. Thanks to her learnings from Crisp Experience, Rachael stopped trying to prove she belonged and started embracing her authentic leadership style.
“Personally, I would say that I have grown by understanding more about who I am and how I work and why I do the things that I do,” she reflected. “So, I can come into work every day and be the best leader for my team that I can possibly be.”
Where Rachael Is Today
Today, Rachael Leadbetter stands as the 2025 Crisp Experience MVP. But the award isn’t the destination; it’s validation of a journey that continues.
“Transformation is going to continue to happen,” she said. “I’m going to continue to strive to get better and continue to show that I really am a leader and that I am going to be successful in all that I do.”
The imposter syndrome that once held her back? It’s replaced by a quiet confidence that comes from proven results and continuous growth.
This is what investment in professional development looks like when done right. Rachael brought dedication and drive. Crisp Experience provided the frameworks, tools, and community. The firm gave her the trust and support to implement change.
The result is a transformation that benefits everyone. The team has clarity, clients have better experiences, and the firm has stronger cash flow and more efficient operations. Above all, Rachael has grown into the leader she was always capable of becoming.
Ready to Invest in Your Team?
Crisp Experience is designed to develop your A-plus players, and it’s exclusively available to Crisp Coach member law firms. This is a powerful, tailored training solution for your team and your one-way ticket to accelerated growth.
With Crisp Experience, hundreds of law firms are empowering their team members to specialize in their unique abilities and maximize effectiveness in their roles. Member law firms reap the rewards of investing in their A-players with Crisp Experience.
If you’re ready to be among the top 5 percent of firms in the country, submit your application for Crisp Coach today.
Learn more about the Crisp Experience program, and apply for Crisp Coach to take the leap.
Congratulations again to Rachael Leadbetter for this well-deserved recognition. We can’t wait to see how she continues to elevate her impact at Cook, Barkett, Ponder & Wolz!
