Name: Helen Ansell
Organisation: Octopus Energy
Role: Legal Counsel
Location: London
Trained at: Dentons
Year qualified: 2018
What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee?
This is a hard question – there’s several things that stand out for different reasons. My earliest vivid memory was being asked in my first week to call up a law firm in the Middle East to find out about a deal that I had absolutely no idea what it was. I was slightly terrified, but it was also a useful lesson because it made me realise early on that I was just going to have to get on with things.
What is the thing in your professional career that has terrified you or taken you out of your comfort zone the most?
Many of the things I’ve worked on at Octopus Energy have been pretty scary – partly because there have been so many “firsts” for me, and partly because the numbers involved in some of the deals can be quite scary if you think about it too hard. But I’m lucky to work in such a great team of people that even as the deals have got more ambitious over time, the scare-factor has remained manageable!
What is the wisest thing anyone ever said to you (and who said it)?
“You do you”. One of my best friend’s favourite phrases. I don’t think you can underestimate the importance of being yourself and of finding somewhere that embraces you for that. We spend so much of our lives at work that we need to be able to enjoy it, and being in an environment where everyone is happy and being themselves is so much more fun.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to get to where you are/do the job you do?
Carve your own path, and feel free to take your time getting there. The legal world can sometimes be a difficult place to inhabit, so it’s not a bad thing to experience some alternatives first. There’s a lot of pressure at university to go straight into law school, get a training contract and have everything mapped out. Even if that’s what you think you want in the long run, it might also be worth thinking about not jumping straight into that life.
I actually didn’t get a training contract at university (and not through choice!), and it was the best thing that happened to me. It gave me the opportunity to take some time for myself, to go travelling and then to work in an office role not in a law firm. I learnt so much in those years and gained a different perspective and understanding of the world – and I really believe if I’d gone straight into a law firm, I’d never be where I am now at Octopus Energy.
Career paths are sometimes wiggly, but if you trust your gut, you’ll probably end up in the right place.
What’s your best friend from law school doing now?
She’s still working in private practice and recently got promoted to senior associate. A lot of my friends from law school are still lawyers – I don’t know many escapees yet!
