Ross Franson pulled into the parking lot straight from one of his family’s farms, dust still on his boots, when we met at The Elbow Room in Fresno. Today, he’s the President of Woolf Farming: one of the Central Valley’s premier agricultural companies. But his career started far from the fields, in corporate law offices. Before taking over the family business, Ross was a lawyer.

As a kid growing up in Fresno, Ross dreamed of leaving. “I knew I wanted to get out,” he told me. Law was his ticket out. It was a path to something bigger. He studied political science at the University of Colorado Boulder before attending Santa Clara and UC San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings) for law school. Looking back, he admitted he wasn’t the most involved on campus and wishes he had been. “Get involved,” he said. “Join something, build relationships, do internships. The more you expose yourself to the field early on, the better you’ll understand if it’s right for you.”

After graduating during the Great Recession, Ross struggled to find work. Law firms simply weren’t hiring. So, he returned to Fresno to work at McCormick Barstow. A year later, he left for San Francisco to chase the “Big Law” dream he’d imagined for years at Hayes Scott Bonino Ellingson & Guslani, LLP.

At first, it seemed like everything he wanted—prestige, high-stakes cases, smart colleagues, and the pace of a major firm. But deep down, Ross already knew something was off. “I didn’t love the work,” he admitted. “Even in law school, even in my internships, I kept thinking it would get better at the next stage. Federal court wasn’t great, but maybe a firm would be better. The firm wasn’t great, but maybe being an associate would fix that. It never really did.”

He told me about nights out with his colleagues—young, ambitious associates grabbing dinner or drinks after a long week. Even off the clock, their conversations always circled back to clients, cases, and filings. “They lived and breathed law,” he said. “And they didn’t mind. They loved it.” That was the moment he realized that while he liked law, he didn’t love it. “You have to enjoy the work,” he told me. “If you don’t, you’ll burn out. The people who thrive in this field are the ones who’d still be talking about it at dinner, not because they have to, but because they want to.”

Ross eventually left San Francisco and returned home again, this time as corporate counsel for Woolf Farming. It gave him balance, purpose, and a stronger sense of fulfillment. “As in-house counsel, I could finally see the impact of my work every day,” he said. That role later led him to his current position as company president.

Ross’s story carries a simple but powerful piece of advice for anyone considering law: figure out if you really want to do it, or if it’s just what you’re telling yourself. Law school is expensive. The work is consuming. The hours are long. And if you don’t genuinely enjoy the process, no paycheck or prestige will make it worth it.

For me, our conversation reinforced what I’ve heard again and again from the lawyers I’ve met: passion is the foundation of success. Before you leap into law, or any career, make sure it’s something you truly love, not just something you’ve convinced yourself you should.