Ralph Cooper Jr., Business Development Manager at Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP

Ralph Cooper Jr., the very first guest on the podcast, returns to help mark 20 episodes of The BD Catalyst. Ralph came to business development from sports reporting, and admits he spent a lot of his early days feeling like an imposter. Ten months into his role as Business Development Manager at Benesch, he talks about how that changed. He approached BD the way he approaches football. He stayed curious, asked the obvious questions, and built a record of what works, ultimately coaching attorneys from his own experience and the experiences of others. He's currently helping associates build the same confidence through Benesch’s career advancement plans, a process where associates envision their future years before most lawyers start thinking about it and Ralph helps show how BD gets them there.