From Trauma to Tenacity: Andrew Delory's Journey Back to Life and Law

Summary

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Podcast Summary:

Next On Scene: The Human Behind The Brand
Episode: "From Trauma to Tenacity: Andrew Delory's Journey Back to Life and Law"
Host: Jaclyn Zukerman Delory
Guest: Andrew Delory
Release Date: November 19, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode features a candid and heartfelt conversation between host Jaclyn Zukerman Delory and her husband, Andrew Delory—an accomplished real estate attorney, brokerage owner, father, and trauma survivor. The discussion delves into the real, often messy journey behind Andrew's professional and personal legacy, exploring how traumatic events, mindset shifts, and raw self-reflection shaped his values, career, and approach to fatherhood. Listeners are offered inspiration and practical wisdom on building a lasting impact—rooted in authenticity, vulnerability, and the willingness to grow.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Entry into Real Estate Law

• Background & Unexpected Path
  Andrew shares that he never intended to join his father’s real estate law practice, but the 2009 recession shifted his trajectory:
  • “When I graduated from college, it was the recession, 2009, and I couldn't get a job. So I got a job working as a paralegal in a law firm and very quickly realized that I really wanted to be a lawyer and not a paralegal.” (00:35)
  • He describes balancing night law school with working days, ultimately joining and remaining in the family business:
    • “15 years later, here we are together.” (01:08)

2. Life-Altering Trauma and Its Impact

• Surviving a Traumatic Brain Injury
  Andrew opens up about suffering a traumatic brain injury and the subsequent period of reflection and realignment:
  • “You have to do, like, an inventory about your life just in general. Like, what am I doing? What choices am I making? Who am I spending my time with?” (01:42)
  • The experience forced him to reconsider his purpose and priorities, leading him to focus on building “something that was helping me accomplish my goals rather than just kind of going through the motions of life.” (02:03)
• Gratitude and Second Chances
  Andrew reflects on survivor’s guilt and the opportunity to change:
  • “When you get a second chance… sometimes I feel like you don't even deserve it… but I just feel like I owed it to myself. I owed the people in my life to change my decisions for the better.” (02:50)

3. Redefining Success and Family Priorities

• Parenthood & Balancing Roles
  Andrew, now also a father and soccer coach, speaks candidly about the challenge of balancing professional ambitions with being present for his family:
  • “There's just never enough time in the day to give like a hundred percent to either of those things.” (03:48)
  • On prioritizing time with his son: “You can't hang out with your kids at midnight. Like, and I don't want them to go through the whole day without seeing their dad.” (04:21)
  • He embraces “late nights and stressful and hard work” to ensure he’s there for the key family moments:
    • “I'm not willing to miss those, those windows of time.” (05:10)
• Continuous Reflection and Growth
  Andrew shares that life’s challenges evolve, but the lesson remains:
  • “You just get kicked… down in life all the time and you have to pick yourselves back up… That's a never-ending battle.” (05:36)
  • His daily metric for fulfillment: “You're giving your time and your energy to the things that are important and valuable to you and that bring you fulfillment.” (06:13)

4. Self-Care and Personal Development

• Recognizing Self-Neglect
  Andrew admits neglecting his own wellbeing:
  • “My bucket is so full of giving to you and giving to the kids and dog and to work. Like, I put myself on the back burner.” (06:28)
  • His next chapter is about “growth and in care and positive thinking and gratefulness and gratitude, like for myself and my own health as well.” (06:47)

5. Overcoming Mental Blocks and Showing Up Authentically

• Getting Comfortable on Video & Social Media
  • On pushing through discomfort:
    • “You're going to look like an idiot the first two times you do it. You're going to say the wrong thing. You're going to watch it 10 million times and criticize yourself.” (07:23)
  • Practical tip for building confidence:
    • “I like Instagram stories because they're short. I do them in one take and they're gone in 24 hours… That was a good way to really help me get the confidence.” (07:40)
  • Social media is where Andrew finds his clients:
    • “That's where I get to be the most authentic. That's what my clients like... they come in and it feels like we already know each other and I've never even shaken their hand before.” (08:09)
• Advice for Others
  • On starting out: “Put the selfie camera on and do an Instagram story for 20 seconds when you look like crap. And, like, just be confident to post it up. And then, you know, the next day it's easier to... do it again.” (08:50)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "You have to do, like, an inventory about your life just in general. Like, what am I doing? What choices am I making? Who am I spending my time with?"
  — Andrew Delory, reflecting on his injury and realignment of priorities (01:42)

• "You can't hang out with your kids at midnight… I'm not willing to miss those, those windows of time."
  — Andrew Delory, on dad-life and presence (04:21, 05:10)

• "My clients gravitate to [my authenticity]. Like, he's like me, he's married, he has kids, he's struggling through things. Like, that's what my life looks like too now."
  — Andrew Delory, on connecting through social media (08:09)

• “Take me or leave me. Like, this is—no matter what, you're going to get me and you're going to get me unfiltered, authentically myself every day. And I'm not everybody's speed. And … that's okay.”
  — Andrew Delory, on radical authenticity (09:54)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:35 — Andrew’s entry into real estate law
• 01:42 — How surviving trauma led to life and priority shifts
• 03:45 — Fatherhood, work-life balance, and being present
• 05:32 — Pivotal moment for life change
• 06:28 — Realizations about self-care
• 07:20 — Overcoming mental blocks to “show up” on video
• 08:44 — Tips for building confidence with social media

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Connect with Andrew Delory

• Instagram/Facebook/Twitter/X/TikTok: [@DeloryLaw]
  (“Delory Law. D E L O R Y Law.”) (09:34)
• DMs are best for contact; Andrew personally manages his accounts.

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Tone and Takeaways

The conversation is open, relatable, and peppered with humor and honesty. Both Jaclyn and Andrew show the human side of brand-building: it’s messy, introspective, and sometimes painful, but it’s also marked by resilience, vulnerability, and a deep commitment to authenticity and legacy. Andrew’s candidness about trauma, personal growth, and the imperfect juggle of life and career delivers both inspiration and actionable advice—reminding listeners that our stories, even the hard ones, are our greatest assets.

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Transcript

[A]

Welcome to Next on Scene. I am so excited for the first official episode to be with my partner in crime, Andrew Delaure, who's been with Nexon Scene since day one. And now we're 10 years in and we're officially having a video show. Andrew, you are an amazing real estate lawyer. You own a brokerage, you're an amazing husband and dad, and I'm so excited to have you on. Thank you for being on today.

[B]

I'm so excited to be here. The new revamped podcast.

[A]

I know. So let's first talk about, like, how did you fall into the world of real estate law? Like, how did that even come about in your journey?

[B]

So my dad is a. Is a lawyer, and he, you know, focuses in real estate. Now. At this point in his career, there was never really my intent to work together with him. But when I graduated from college, it was the recession, 2009, and I couldn't get a job. So I got a job working as a paralegal in a law firm and very quickly realized that I really wanted to be a lawyer and not a paralegal. So then I started in law school at night when I worked during the day, and then I got laid off and I became, you know, working. I. I started working for my dad and then still going to school at night, and, you know, 15 years later, here we are together.

[A]

Unreal. So crazy. Time flies, huh? Yeah, I think We've been together 13 years, right?

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Yep. Crazy. So, okay, that aside, I want to talk and commend you for being open today and sharing, but part of your journey, you actually went through a traumatic brain injury. And with that, I feel like all the success that you have been through since that point, putting yourself through law school, like, the healing process, like, how did that shape you into the person you are today?

[B]

I think the biggest thing is, like, when you're fortunate enough to survive the type of injuries that I suffered, like, you have to do, like, an inventory about your life just in general. Like, what am I doing? What choices am I making? Who am I spending my time with? So it really made me reevaluate kind of who I wanted to be and what my priorities were and what my goals were for myself. And then, like, I was able to realign my life to something that was helping me accomplish my goals rather than just kind of going through the motions of. Of life and, like, being more concerned about whether I was having fun every day and, you know, change my attention span to what are my long term goals and what am I doing every day to help myself accomplish those.

[A]

I just commend you for sharing that because I think you're going to inspire a lot of people who go through traumatic things that you can show up and still be confident and inspire others and work day to day and love, love your life for what you have. Right. So I think that that's really important.

[B]

Yeah. When you get a second chance. You know, sometimes I feel like you don't even. You don't deserve it. You don't know why you got it. But, you know, I. I just feel like I owed it to myself. I owed the people in my life to change my decisions for the better. And, you know, the, the outcome of my whole life has been. Has been better as a result of the, you know, hard lessons I had to learn through that process.

[A]

I just, I commend you a lot. I think that's really inspiring. So now I want to go more to obviously balancing being a dad. This is a new part of your newer part life, which now you're also a soccer coach and we have an awesome furry daughter. And like, how do you. I mean, if there even is such a thing of like, work, life, balance. But, like, what advice do you have for dads or men who want to become fathers? Like, if they are concerned about their jobs and being good parents and all of those things?

[B]

I just. It's hard to explain, like, what it feels like to be a dad every day. Like, to have the pressure of feeling like you need to be the provider for your family and then at the same time trying to give your children and your family, like, the time they deserve. There's. There's just never enough time in the day to give like a hundred percent to either of those things. And you know, what I've really realized is, especially now that our son is. Has gone up, like, he's almost four already. And like, I feel like he was just born. So, you know, it's really helped me learn to slow down the work aspect of things a little bit and like, give him 45 minutes of time after school and then like, work late at night if I have to, to make up the work there. Like, you can't hang out with your kids at midnight. Like, and I don't want them to go through the whole day without seeing their dad. So I make it paramount that I'm around for them for the important times of the day, that they, they need me, they have the opportunity to see me. And, and you know, the, the trade to that is sometimes it's late nights and stressful and hard work. But like, I just. Being the dad and being a husband is, is my priority at this point in my life. And like, it's okay as, as a dad, like I said, it's the constant battle of, of being a dad. And I'm just accepting that if I, all I do is work right now and then my kids are 25, I'm gonna miss all these windows of time that I have with them right now. And I'm not willing to miss those, those windows of time.

[A]

And what was a moment for you that like, rocked your world that you were like, I need to change something. Like something in my life needs to change for the better?

[B]

Yeah. I mean, the accident for me, like that was a huge component of, of know, reflection of what led me to be in those kinds of situations and, and experience those kinds of things. But you know, there's many things in life, you just get kicked, you get kicked down in life all the time and you have to pick yourselves back up. And you know, it's. That's, that's a never ending battle. It's, it's always something new now it's developed now it's something related to parenting. It's something related to being a husband, something related to work. Like, there's so many, there's so many lessons to that. I just think that the most important thing every day is that you're doing something that makes you happy. You're giving your time and your energy to the things that are important and valuable to you and that bring you fulfillment.

[A]

I love that. So what's a takeaway today that you can start doing to make your day fulfilled here?

[B]

Going out? I think, like, what I'm dealing with right now personally is that I don't take very good care of myself. My bucket is so full of giving to you and giving to the kids and dog and to work. Like, I put myself on the back burner. So like my, my next chapter is not only growth and like those good departments, but also like growth and in care and positive thinking and gratefulness and gratitude, like for myself and my own health as well.

[A]

I love that. And then like now I, I want to commend you because you're showing back up on video and you're doing all the things like what mentally for yourself, do you have to tell yourself, like, I have to do this? Like, what, what advice do you have for people who are like, I need to do this. But there is this mental block from doing that because I feel like you've gone through it, like literally. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

I like, I just. In terms of getting on video, like, you just have to do it. You're going to look like an idiot the first two times you do it. You're going to say the wrong thing. You're not going. You're going to watch it 10 million times and criticize yourself. Like, one thing that I always makes me feel comfortable is I like Instagram stories because they're short. I do them in like one take and they're gone in 24 hours. So like, if I take video of something myself that like I have a thought or I'm like, I didn't expand on that the way that I wanted it to. Like, that's not an ever bringing piece of content that's always available to people. That was a good way to really help me get the confidence. And the other thing for me is my pipeline has come through social media because that's where I get to be the most authentic. That's what my clients like. That's. My clients gravitate to that. Like, he's like me, he's married, he has kids, he's struggling through things. Like, that's what my life looks like too now. And it's a good place for me to meet clients where they like, they come in and it feels like we already know each other and I've never even shaken their hand before. And they like, know all these things about me because they're like watching me go through life and experience things and that it's a very deep connection and it's something that you can't establish unless you just put the camera on and, and start talking.

[A]

I love the advice too of the short videos because I think it builds the confidence to then actually leave it on your like feed.

[B]

Yeah, it's about 15 minute. Video is so hard to accomplish. It takes so much perfection and you put so much money into it. Like put the selfie camera on and do an Instagram story for 20 seconds when you look like crap. And like, just be confident to post it up. And then, you know, the next day it's easier to. It's easier to do it again.

[A]

I love it. So I think I have everything that I need. Thank you. So how can people follow you? Get in touch, reach out, definitely.

[B]

So I'm at Delore Law on all socials. You can email, but just send me a dm. I run the accounts. That's the best way to get me winked in the camera.

[A]

Okay. So the dm. Keep spelling for people who might not know yeah.

[B]

Delore Law. D E L O R Y Law. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Twitter.

[A]

Twitter is X now, by the way. Thank you.

[B]

Instagram. It goes down to my Instagram store.

[A]

It does. And Andrew's not just he's hilarious. Like, you're gonna go there for some laughs as well.

[B]

So I just like, I try to make it entertaining, I try to make it educational but like, I have to be myself at the same time. Like, take me, take me or leave me. Like, this is no matter what, you're going to get me and you're going to get me unfiltered, authentically myself every day. And I'm not everybody's speed. And like, one thing I learned in my life is like, that's okay. The people that are meant to be with me and my clients and my friends, like, they're there with me.

[A]

So thank you. Perfect. That was so much better. I think I got to.