Losing My Virginity

So, uh, you know, I, I was always drawn to entrepreneurship because I think it's a ultimate, um, tools for empowerment.

So, you know, I remember reading the book by, uh, Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin, which was called Losing My Virginity.

[laughs] Oh, yeah.

And he explains...

We actually, when I say we, my business partner, Paul and I, we left college determined to set up a business.

We had read Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson.

And he set up a business, a student magazine.

That's how we started.

I used to think that having a general counsel gig in a big company was the aunt's pants, that it was completely secure, it was a stable pathway.

I, I do a lot of work with a number of lawyers who are either in private practice or in-house who say, "I wouldn't wanna do something different 'cause I've got this great secure job." And I just say, "Oh my God, there's nothing secure about your job whatsoever." There was a book I read many years ago by Richard Branson, Losing My Virginity, I think it was called, and he talked in that book about having seven different forms of income.

And when my role was made redundant at Brookfield, I suddenly thought, "What the hell am I gonna do? I'm a great GC in this space, but what am I gonna do now?" And then I remember reading this book and thinking, "Okay, let's go out and find seven forms of income." And a friend of mine, Holly Ransom, said to me, "That doesn't mean get seven full-time jobs, Claire." I accept that it didn't mean get seven full-time jobs, but it feels at times that maybe I did go and get seven full-time jobs.

But really, that stage in my career, when I was in my late 40s, was, looking back at it now, it was a blessing in disguise because I got to think really deeply about my values and what was important.