Welcome to my Blog!

Before you sign away the next few minutes of your life, there are two things that you should know:

1. I will keep this post under 6 minutes to avoid the legal bill.

2. I love to chat.

So anyway, hey!

I am Yvonne Akpofure, a 25 year old trainee solicitor working at a challenger bank in the City. I am a British born Nigerian and soon to be part of the 3% of lawyers in the UK that are of black origin (a statistic that still surprises me every time I read it over). For the most part of my life, I've grown up in Surrey and venture to the city for day to day work (pre covid) and to live my best life on the weekends (June 21st, here we come). Outside of work, I absolutely love baking, getting dressed up, and sipping on a strawberry daquiri on a beach with my besties (yes, lawyers do more than read books and wear suits!). I’ve been keeping myself busy during the pandemic with more baking, daily exercise (to balance out the copious amounts of sugar), and renovating the new flat my best friend and I just bought together (covid made us do it!).

Despite the challenges faced by everyone during the pandemic, I think that for myself, it has been a key year for personal growth and development. Between landing a training contract after years of perseverance and buying my first home, I’ve really started to believe in the power of the universe and that everything you are striving for will come at the right time. It hasn't been an easy ride, but I've learnt that persistence, patience and timing are just some of the key components to achieving your goals. Knowing what I know now, I think that my 18 year old self could have really benefitted from having a few candid conversations with someone in my current position.

So here I am, spilling the tea on all things career, lifestyle and everything in between. After all, sharing is caring, right?

If i'm honest, I don’t really have a specific agenda I want these blogposts to follow and although I would like to add value to those in the early stages of their legal career, I have so many other interests that (hopefully) those outside of the industry can still relate to. I think a key reason behind starting this blog is to show people that you can be part of the corporate world and still be diverse, engaging, personable, and love a bottomless brunch on the weekends. Despite the stereotypes that society may pressure you into conforming too, I am growing to learn that being your true authentic self is priceless and should never be compromised.

I also cannot deny that I just love to chat and my best friend could definitely do with a break from listening to me ramble on about god knows what day in day out. I think she may be a few conversations away from putting our flat back on Rightmove if I open my mouth one more time during Sunday football. I almost don’t think she quite realised what she was getting herself into when she agreed to go halves on a mortgage with me, but here we are (just 34 years and 9 months left to go hun, hang in there).

On a more serious note, if I can inspire, uplift or crack the smile of anyone who decides to sign away the odd 5 or so minutes of their life each week reading my blog, then I guess putting these confessions down on a bit of paper is serving its purpose.

So if you’re still reading, I suggest you get comfortable.