Elena Stein Puts People First at Dyson

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Before becoming an attorney with more than a decade of expertise, Elena Stein was drawn to people-focused jobs. In her formative years, she was a track coach and worked as a bartender and waitress. She would later go on to volunteer for mentorship programs and sit on several mission-centered boards.

Today, Stein serves as general counsel for the Americas at Dyson where she prides herself on being a leader who puts people first.

“When you work in-house, your role is to support the business. You have to understand that there are going to be a lot of different personalities across your leadership teams—you’re going to have to work in a manner that’s efficient for these individuals, for yourself, and for your team,” she says. “My experiences in previous roles helped me broaden my horizon to different personality types and hone my ability to talk to different people.”

Now, Stein serves not only as a strategic partner for all legal services in the Americas, but also as a legal advisor for the senior leadership team and a manager of the legal team members in her purview. With each hat she wears, she places the needs of others at the forefront, a trait she credits to the growth of her team.

“When you understand your business clients, who they are, how they work, and what they need from you, it allows you to clearly assess what they need from their legal team to be successful,” she explains. “From that point, it makes it very easy to understand how to upskill, mentor, and develop.”

Recently, the professional growth of Stein’s team has coincided with the company’s geographical expansion in Latin America, including in Brazil and Colombia. Being part of the expansion has been not only fun, informative, and fast-paced, but also one of the GC’s proudest moments at the company, Stein shares.

“We pride ourselves on the ability to change gears swiftly, accurately, and efficiently. My experience has taught me how to do that.”

Elena Stein

“Anyone that knows Dyson knows that we’re always looking to solve the problems others ignore; we’re always on the horizon of something new and exciting. Being part of that culture and knowing the work we put in fosters this type of engineering excellence is very exciting,” Stein says.

Stein was born and raised in the Midwest to a father who worked in corporate real estate and a mom who worked as a nurse. While her earliest interests were in science and medical fields, Stein was drawn to the law.

“Maybe it was the complexity of it. There’s an intended clear line of what to do and what not to do, but my interests were in the complexity around understanding and interpretating the gray areas,” she says.

Inspired by a dare from her father, Stein went on to sit for the LSAT and to attend the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law. After graduating, she spent the early parts of her career advising on legal issues relating to startups at Cayova before touching a wide array of legal matters as an associate attorney at Heiderscheidt Law Offices and Plante Moran. From there, she worked in-house at Claim Toolkit where she advised claims professionals. When reflecting on that journey, Stein believes nothing could have prepared her more for the fast-paced role she holds today.

“Working with startups isn’t too dissimilar than the role I’m in now in terms of the day-to-day expectation to adhere to a quick pace and be able to shift directions quickly,” Stein says. “We pride ourselves on the ability to change gears swiftly, accurately, and efficiently. My experience has taught me how to do that.”

After joining Dyson in August 2021 as senior legal counsel, Stein rose the ranks quickly. She was promoted to associate general counsel of the Americas December 2022, and by April 2023, she was interim general counsel. By October that year, she stepped into her current role. She credits her ascension to an ability to build key relationships.

“As smart as she is, I’ve always been struck by Elena’s leadership and charisma,” says Ross Weisman, partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. “People gravitate to Elena, and it makes her easy to follow. She’s calm, cool, and collected, and she inspires immediate confidence. I’m not surprised by her ascension at Dyson, a company that searches for young talent.”

“Depending on the nature of the company’s legal team, you should have solid relationships with each member of the leadership team. This environment creates an open-door policy,” she says. “That way, you’re more likely to be brought in on strategy conversations, and it’s easier to give high level guidance that allows us to plan effectively.”

Stein’s advice to young professionals is to focus on building and maintaining strong business relationships. “You don’t know how your business clients’ impression of you will impact you, for the good or bad, further down the line,” Stein explains. “When you maintain a positive and lasting impression, you’re speaking to your dedication to work product and ease of workability; every interaction is an opportunity to advance your career goals.”

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