When the International Legal Technology Association opened its first brick-and-mortar office in Austin, Texas, in 2007, the space featured an unusual personal touch.

“We call it our wall of inner ILTA children,” says Executive Director Randi Mayes.

The photo collection “is the highlight of a central hallway in our workspace, and visitors never fail to linger and engage,” says Mayes, a founding member of ILTA who became its first employee in 1998. The photos are arranged in order of hire date; that’s Mayes at the front of the photo parade, in blond bangs and pigtails.

Sixteen of ILTA’s 18 staff are represented. “Some are immediately identifiable with their adult counterparts,” she says. “Others, well, not so much.”

The wall makes a great conversation piece and keeps the team connected to their past lives. “It’s a wonderful reminder of where we started, how much we have in common, and how much our life experiences have shaped us into the professionals we are today,” says Mayes.

(International Legal Technology Association)