Students interested in a legal career are often warned that lawyers have an overwhelming workload that results in long hours and high stress. Legal Studies alumna Stefanie Krantz (’89), however, is proof that one can have a satisfying and successful legal career as well as a healthy lifestyle.

As a disability rights attorney and owner of KrantzWellness, a health coaching and Reiki business, Krantz has been able to answer the demands of her career and avoid the stressful, unhealthy lifestyle associated with it.

“Over the years, I noticed that so many lawyers and other professionals would work long hours with high stress and that this lifestyle often resulted in poor health and quality of life,” Krantz says, “At the beginning of my career, I faced some health challenges. Through my own commitment to my health, I was able to find my way through these struggles and became deeply interested in helping others improve their health and wellness.”

Following this realization, Krantz attended the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and became a certified health coach. She then went through extensive training to become a Reiki practitioner.

Currently, she admits that she wears “two professional hats”: one as a disability rights attorney providing legal services for people with disabilities, and the other as the owner of KrantzWellness providing health coaching programs for individuals looking to reduce stress, improve their health and create more balance in their lives.

Krantz’s work as a lawyer and health coach has allowed her to both advocate for and empower her clients. Her success in these realms, she says, stems from the opportunities and experiences she had at UMass.

Beyond the classroom, where the focus on critical thinking and questioning helped to form the way she approaches her work, Krantz took advantage of the extra-curricular opportunities and externships at UMass, which developed her interest in public interest law.

Ultimately, Krantz believes that UMass best prepared her for her career path by encouraging her to find her niche in a large community and challenging her to find her passion.

“UMass offers so many types of opportunities and the process of finding your place and identifying activities that interest you is such a valuable life skill,” Krantz says, “I still remember sitting with my advisor, Professor D’errico, discussing why I wanted to pursue a career in the legal field. He challenged me to really own this decision and to figure out why this is something that I wanted to do. These lessons have been invaluable as I pursued my professional goals.”

Krantz advises students to take advantage of the wealth of educational and professional opportunities available at UMass, particularly the connections that they can make:

“For both of my careers, the best advice I can give is to make connections…I credit these connections with obtaining a public interest legal job in Western Massachusetts. It is also important to research your market well and to make as many connections as possible. I find that the best marketing is by word of mouth from people who know you and respect your work.”

Overall, through the multitude of academic and professional opportunities as well as the great sense of community at the university and in the Legal Studies major, Krantz believes that UMass prepared her for her career path and attributed to her success by teaching her how to have a passion for her work.

“Without a doubt, I attribute my success to deeply believing in the value of my work in both disability rights and KrantzWellness.  When you approach work from this place, doors open.”

- Maire Callanan '14