• "In hindsight, I'm glad I stuck with it because now I feel like I have the language of science behind me which is super helpful when we have clients in the medical industry."

  • "It was largely assumed that their technical product was great; where often the focus was on the people and how trainable they were. One of the red flags was if a founder thought they knew everything."

  • "Once I got into law, I realised there was an expectation to "do your time". I was so used to the business world where you could be a CEO in two years if you hit your KPIs. In law, there seemed to be a culture of needing to do your 10 years before becoming a partner, which I found quite discouraging."

  • "This is a conversation I have with many lawyers who contemplate going out on their own. We're lawyers, we're capable in our practice areas, but being a business owner is an entirely different kettle of fish."

  • "In the first year, I counted over 300 coffees in my Google calendar. The structure was often two coffees a day, followed by a networking event in the afternoon. I didn't have massive budgets like other law firms, so I thought, "How am I going to get myself out there?" I had time, so I just bought everyone a coffee. It's amazing how much you can get to know someone in just an hour."

  • "You need to have a really solid business plan. You want to truly know your numbers. You need to prepare for the business to be your life. With law firms, you can't afford 10 failed startups; you have to get it right from the beginning."

  • "If you have good connections and show good leadership with the people in your circle, internally and externally, the money should flow as a product."

  • "Every client, my family, everything I have to do, whether work or private, has its own little cubby hole, and everything is just organised and compartmentalised."

  • "More lawyers are realising they don't need to be in a giant firm and wait 10 years to become a partner if they're confident in their practice area and can form good relationships with their community."

  • "Too often at networking events, you see clusters of young people or women who just keep to themselves, and I think, "You can't do business with each other".

  • "For young people wanting to get on boards, it should be to be part of making a bigger difference or representing their demographic. You’ve got to be on it for the right reason, not just to say you're a director. "

  • "If anyone feels pressure to achieve certain things by a certain age such as having a career, a husband, or kids by 30 - I'd say, "Is that really necessary?". Don't stop connecting. You never know, you might be sitting in a cafe in Europe and meet the CEO of a multinational who offers you a job in New Zealand."

  • "AI is going to impact so much of the grunt work we do. That tells me we're going to have to really boost our personal branding, because how else are we going to stand out from the rest of our service-based competitors? People will be picking those people that they can relate with, those with personal brands."