Sara D.

 
Happy to mentor
Happy to be contacted

About me

Sara D.
History
History
Undergraduate
Goodricke
1987
United Kingdom

My employment

Self Employed
United Kingdom

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Ex lawyer, now management consultant to (1) legal services sector and (2) social impact sector (charities and social enterprises)

My advice to students considering work

Be realistic. Be practical. Be prepared to graft hard. Be prepared to start from the bottom every time.

My advice about working in my industry

In the legal industry - academic prowess will not be enough. In the charity/social enterprise industry - you are not the focus, the beneficiaries are. In the management consultancy industry - what you do today is likely to be out of date tomorrow. So get used to change and get used to testing new ideas.

What I do

I own Firm Beliefs which is a management consultancy supporting those in the legal services sector (solicitors, barristers, managers, and the new types of legal services providers such as ABSs) and the social impact sector (charities and social enterprises). We help them navigate the future challenges that each sector faces.

How I started my business

I was a solicitor for many years, specialising in business disputes and environmental law. I realised that lawyers would need critical business and management skills if they were to survive so I did an MBA. We then expanded from helping law firms to helping charities and grew from there.

What inspired me

The knowledge that we always need to keep learning new skills and techniques as the world changes so we need to too!

Skills I use and how I developed them

All sorts of skills are used. New ones and old ones. Being practical. Keeping up to date with theories. Testing the theories. Developing new ones when the old ones are no longer relevant.

What I like most

Being the master of my own future by running my own business.

What I like least

Never having a steady income although even employed people cannot rely on that any more.

What surprised me most

That every job and role I have had has always been useful for whatever has come next.

Next steps...

If you like the look of Sara’s profile, the next steps are down to you! You can send Sara a message to find out more about their career journey. If you feel you would benefit from more in-depth conversations, ask Sara to be your mentor.

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