The Hot 100 career quiz: TLB founder Electra Japonas

What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee?

I remember realising very early on that my strongest skill was being able to find efficiencies where others couldn’t. Whether it was by hacking Word to search keywords more quickly, to building no-code integrations between systems to automate some of our workflows I quickly became the go-to person within the firm for all time-saving activities.

That struck me because I’d just finished my legal studies and didn’t expect that to be what I became ‘known for’ among my peers but it also came naturally to me so I embraced it!

What is the thing in your professional career that has terrified you or taken you out of your comfort zone the most?

By far the most terrifying thing I’ve done is leaving, what’s seen as, the traditional route for a lawyer, and starting up my own business. There have been times where I have never felt so challenged and outside my comfort zone – I’ve thought about quitting hundreds of times!

Starting a business that is set to disrupt an archaic industry is not an easy task. But it’s without a doubt, the most rewarding thing I’ve done.

What is the wisest thing anyone ever said to you (and who said it)?

One of my old bosses said that ‘Life is not a race and if there’s one person you’re competing with, it’s yourself’. Particularly in the legal industry, it does feel like you’re made to compete from day one of your career – yet when you realise you can create your own path, on your own terms, you can step out of that ‘race’ and go at a pace you’re comfortable with. That doesn’t necessarily mean a slower path (starting a business has nothing ‘slow’ about it!) but it just means living on your own terms more and being more comfortable with breaking the mould as you see fit.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to get to where you are/do the job you do?

Just do it. We spend a lot of time in life deliberating on whether the next move is the ‘right’ one but I like to take a more ‘iterative’ approach. You can take a step in one direction and if it’s not the right fit, it’s not the end of the world. You can just go back to what you were doing or veer a slightly different direction until you find the right fit. We tend to think of our decisions as ‘final’ when in fact, they can be interim – and that’s ok.

What’s your best friend from law school doing now?

Most of my friends from law school have started up their own law firms in Cyprus which is where I’m from. This is very typical in the Cypriot legal market as lawyers are usually better off self-employed. This is probably why I started my own business too – it was always my aspiration to do my own thing even before I knew I’d be living in the UK permanently so I think I followed the path I’d envisaged myself going down at a very early stage in my career despite the market being quite different here.