The Hot 100 career quiz: My career feels like a series of terrifying decisions!

What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee?

My most vivid memories as a trainee actually centre around the friends I made during my training contract, from the first time I spoke to them at the Friday drinks trolley to the moral support they provided during tougher days. There was something very special about these friendships, as we made this scary transition from university into the “adult” working world and found our feet together. The legal world (and London) felt very big when I was a trainee, and I felt very, very small. I learnt from the very start of my legal career that the people around you make all the difference to your enjoyment of work.

What is the thing in your professional career that has terrified you or taken you out of your comfort zone the most?

My career feels like a series of terrifying decisions! When I was a newly qualified, I joined a US law firm, when US law firms were somewhat of an unknown quantity in the UK legal market (and had quite a scary reputation). At 4 PQE, I decided to move to Hong Kong and set up our office there. I knew I was on partnership track in London but I risked it all for a once in a lifetime opportunity. Several years later, I moved to South Africa and started an Africa-focused PE practice from scratch with no contacts or experience in the market. Even when I moved back to the UK, I didn’t want to join a traditional PE practice but looked for an opportunity to create something different – something outside of my comfort zone.

On a day-to-day level, my work covers such a breadth of different investment strategies in numerous jurisdictions that I am usually a little bit terrified by the amount I still need to learn. However, that challenge also gets me out of bed in the morning!

What is the wisest thing anyone ever said to you (and who said it)?

“Don’t wish away time” (my best friend, Adiba Osmani, said it to me).

Often when we are on a large transaction, we say “when it completes, I will do x, y, and z.” That is wishing away precious time. We say, “once I make partner, I will spend more time with x”. We book our next holiday immediately after we return from holiday, so we have something to look forward to. We are constantly wishing away time.

Ironically, at one of my firms, the famous line was “to leave our matters in such a state that, if we were hit by a bus tomorrow, someone else could take them over”. And so, we go about filing emails correctly, doing attendance notes, and so on, because we do not know what tomorrow brings. However, do we think about that prospect more deeply? Do we make sure that day (not the day after) counts, whatever we are doing?

What advice would you give to someone who wants to get to where you are/do the job you do?

• Own your career: constantly evaluate your career goals, targets and next steps. Your career needs to evolve and change as you, your circumstances and aspirations change. Do not be afraid of change.
• Seize opportunities: every meeting, every conversation, every job you do on a deal is an “opportunity”. You may not even understand the opportunity at the time, but there is one.
• Love what you do: you cannot work the hours we do, if you do not love the job and derive huge satisfaction from it. If you are not enjoying your job, “own your career” and do not be afraid of change (see point 1).

What’s your best friend from law school doing now?

We had a group of four best friends at law school and the other three left private practice at different points to embark on really interesting careers, including becoming a GC, a diversity and inclusion expert and a director in the special situations team of a large global bank. It goes to show you that there are many different paths you can follow post-law school.