My legal life: Emma Levin, Mina

I grew up in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. My mum worked at the local job centre and my dad in a factory. I chose a law degree because I was ambitious, hard-working, liked to write and loved a challenge. I didn’t know any lawyers, but I had the backing of two amazing women – my mum and my history teacher, Miss Cooney.

At 18, I’d failed three things in my life – my driving test, Spanish, and to get into Oxbridge. I was heartbroken, but thankfully my disastrous Oxbridge interview didn’t put me off. I went to Durham and got my law degree.

Training at a magic circle law firm was my next adventure. I loved having a big cohort of other trainees (and my wonderful secretary) to share the experience with. Intelligence is a given; to thrive you need resilience, confidence, people skills and to play to your strengths. I’m quite the night owl and I’d had a couple of temporary jobs in customer service. I was surprised at how useful these things became. In terms of seat choices, it’s true that you don’t know what you’ll like until you try it. I was sure I wanted to be an employment lawyer, but doing a corporate seat changed my mind entirely.

In the final seat of my training contract, I went on secondment to Barclays. I knew almost instantly that I wanted to be in-house. I found the work engaging, the team was a great culture fit and my work/life balance was much better. I ate healthier, my social life improved and I even trained for my first half marathon.

A mentor at Barclays described in-house life as like being a GP of the legal world. You need to be good at building trusted relationships, handling and prioritising a significant workload, and identifying and managing risk. It’s rewarding but it’s not for everyone; the law firm partners are the surgeons!

'Being a GC is a step change but the culture at Mina is phenomenal. Employees really do work harder and smarter when they’re given independence, encouragement and responsibility'

And then Covid hit. On a bit of a whim, I’d decided to move to a cottage at the seaside a few months before. I was living alone without any close friends or family nearby and was working remotely. It was tough, but it forced me to re-evaluate what I wanted in all aspects of my life.

I moved from Barclays to Condé Nast. This was mostly because I couldn’t think of anything more exciting than working for Vogue and Vanity Fair but I was also ready for more variety and a new challenge. I’d applied for a corporate in-house role, but after the interview Condé Nast offered me a role supporting the technology, commercial and procurement functions. It was a learning curve changing specialism and sector at the same time, but I don’t regret it. I’m definitely in favour of career zig-zagging.

By the end of 2021, I was ready to move back to South Yorkshire. Sheffield has the excitement of a city but is close to my family and the Peak District. I have a car, a house and a dog and it takes 15 minutes to get to work in the morning. Bliss.

I’m a few months into my first role as general counsel in Sheffield. I work part-time at Mina, a start-up offering an award-winning payment solution for electric vehicle charging. I’m also a consultant two days a week with UniHomes, a trusted platform for students to find all-inclusive accommodation.

Being a GC is a step change but the culture at Mina is phenomenal. Employees really do work harder and smarter when they’re given independence, encouragement and responsibility. I have much more control over when and how I work. It’s incredibly rewarding to work for a business that I feel so invested in and to directly inform strategy.

I enjoy working across two separate companies. I like the variety and have learned so much. My advice would is to be upfront about what you can and can’t achieve, to not be afraid to lean on others and to ensure you still have time to switch off. It’s also crucial that those you work closely with are on board with a part-time working arrangement.

Social mobility remains incredibly important to me. I mentor at least one student every year and have supported social mobility initiatives at various organisations. I would like to do more, especially for those students outside London that sometimes feel forgotten about. I’m back in Sheffield now so watch this space.