Lyles keeps goals always in view

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Mary Lyles has a simple goal.

“My main thing I believe in my heart is that God put us on this Earth to be of service to one another, and I try to do that every day – to be of service, to be able to help, to be able to know that somebody is depending on me and it’s going to be done and they won’t have any questions,” says Lyles, administrative specialist senior at the Milwaukee City Attorney’s Office.

It’s an aim that has carried her from legal office assistant into the management ranks; her title of administrative specialist – the result of a very recent promotion – means Lyles will manage about 15 people.

The new job comes at a time when Lyles is also close to finishing her training as a paralegal; she expects to get her degree in December.

And she’s done it all while caring for her two children and chronically ill husband.

“It’s challenging, but somehow I end up on a dean’s list or a president’s list every semester.”

Besides, Lyles added, “I feel that everything happens through God. It’s just attitude and the way you look at life. I keep smiling.”

Her optimistic attitude took root in childhood, around the time she first showed interest in the law.

But it was an unconventional Christmas present that Lyles said really put her on her path.

“I was maybe 9 years old, and I wanted a typewriter for Christmas and my mother gave me one. I would go in the pantry and get the canned goods and type the ingredients off it,” Lyles laughed.

By her senior year of high school, Lyles’ time at the typewriter had led to a part-time job at a law firm and, eventually, work as a legal assistant.

“That’s where my legal career began,” Lyles said.

And while she’s excited about her new opportunity as a manager, Lyles said her biggest achievement is something most people might dismiss.

“It happens every day when I walk through these doors and I take care of my attorneys. Things I can do that they don’t have to do, and they don’t have to ask. I just have a service mind.”