Former Teen Mom Now Helps Other Teen Moms in the All-Female Law Office of Lauren Medel
Liz Becerra is moving up in the world, literally.
The front desk manager for The Law Offices of Lauren Medel, the new space for the all-female law firm is upstairs on the second floor of 1813 Balboa place in Oak Cliff. Liz is thrilled to be there, and happy to help every client who comes through the door.
Managing a busy law firm can be overwhelming for some, but Liz has been managing a busy life since her high school days. Pregnant and single, she maintained a 4.0 average throughout her high school years--which included an after-school job--all the while she was raising an infant as a teen mom.
Born in Monterrey, Mexico she came to the USA when she was four years old. Liz was raised in West Dallas, where she still lives, although a move closer to work—Oak Cliff—could happen one day soon.
One of seven children, and now the mother of four, Liz has a lot of people she can call for advice and support: brother Jaime, 39; Oyuki, 37; Susie, 36; Ana 34; Aaron 22; and Felicity 15.
Liz dreamed of being an oceanographer and marine biologist when she grew up. Soon after she had her 1st child she wanted to be a nurse, and then eventually a bilingual teacher.
A Pinkston High School graduate with a 4.0, she didn’t have time to walk with her class because she graduated early in her 1st semester of '95 and went straight to work. She also took some college courses at Mountain View, but along the way she’d met her soul mate: Jeanenne Tubbs. They were acquaintances in high school, then re-met through social media as adults.
Liz is the proud mother of four children. Oldest daughter Briana is 24 and is engaged to Aurelio Aguilar; they have two daughters, Liz’s “Beautiful grandbabies” five-year-old Alyssa and one- year-old Aubrey. Son Rodolfo is 21 and has Liz’s two-year-old grandbaby, Nevaeh. Her third child is 17-year-old Kristina, a junior at Nimitz High School and an outstanding softball player for the Lady Vikings. The “baby” of her four is eight-year-old the Karla who is in the 2nd grade at Heights Prep.
With six siblings, four children and three grandchildren, Liz has plenty of at-home experience raising a family and struggling through tough times. She says what brought her to work at the Law Offices of Lauren Medel was simply that, “I enjoy helping people and I love learning new things every day.”
When she’s not raising kids or grandkids, Liz admits she loves to play golf and escape to the movies. She once met Alan Thicke in California at LAX airport, “But I didn't take a picture,” although she wishes she had. She would have loved to have had comedian Robin Williams over for dinner, but now that that’s not possible her “if I could have dinner with anybody I wish” guest would be actress Julia Roberts or the Obamas.
She looks back on her toughest time, during high school, “when I had to juggle taking care of my oldest, and go to school and work.” Her slugging it through that time gives her great empathy for the young single parents she meets in the law office, looking for help. She credits her own mother, Margarita Becerra, for always helping her through her life, and “always having my back.”
Now Liz plans to look out for others who don’t have a mom to do that for them. “It takes a village to raise a child, and my family was my village,” she explains.
Looking ahead a decade, Liz says she’s not sure where she will be, except for “Happy! I may be here still working with Lauren, but I have always been a ‘go with the flow’ kind of person.”
Now, many years after her toughest ones in high school, Liz is moving up in the world—and taking her extended family with her.
Liz can be found in the new office space of Attorney Lauren Medel located at 1813 Balboa Place Suite 206 Dallas, TX 75224 or by contacting her at liz@laurenmedel.com
Judy Porter is a writer based in Dallas who features local heroes. She can be reached at judy-porter@sbcglobal.net