Ex-City lawyer in an adrenalin job

Claire Morton enjoyed her training contract at Ashurst, but on qualification left the firm to open the UK office of an Australian “experience agency”.  We spoke to her about moving out of law and about her wish to make adventure sports more accessible to the masses.

mtl: Hi Claire, please can you start by telling us about your legal experience.

Claire: I studied law at Birmingham University, and then took a gap year before doing the LPC at the College of Law.  I found my degree very interesting though would say that I was undecided about the idea of a career as a solicitor. Going to law school and accepting a training contract allowed me some time to think about what it was that I really wanted in the long term, as well as getting some valuable professional training.

My training at Ashurst was excellent, I worked with some great people, and I really enjoyed it.  If I hadn’t been approached with the opportunity to start Adrenalin in the UK, I would definitely still be working for Ashurst and I am sure I would be enjoying it.

mtl: So what was opportunity that you were offered?

Claire:  Before I started at Ashurst, I went to India and Africa and ended up in Australia completely broke. I decided to make some money packing parachutes at a skydiving centre near Sydney. Around the fire one night I started talking to the guy who is now my business partner: during my travels I had decided to set up some kind of adventure club, and he had done exactly that in Australia.  

Before Adrenalin approached me to set up their UK office, my plan had been to set up an adventure club in my spare time and employ an administrative assistant to manage it day to day using my salary from being a lawyer. I had developed a logo and brand, and was about to develop the website when I got the call from Australia. Over the Christmas period before I qualified I was in Sydney and I met the Australian directors in their beautiful boatshed offices and we started seriously discussing the possibility of me setting up the UK office of Adrenalin. 

mtl: What does Adrenalin Experts do and what do you do for them?

Claire:  I am the operations director of Adrenalin’s London office and as such I do a bit of everything. Adrenalin use carefully tailored experiences to create results for businesses. That could be by inspiring workforces to greater levels of productivity, increasing team cohesion, enticing people to buy products, or cementing a relationship with a client: it’s all about the experience. As such we work in five main areas: company incentive trips, teambuilding, corporate hospitality, promotional prizes and what we call Adventure Services, which is really the most ‘Adrenalin’ part of what we do. Despite the name, our projects do not (normally) involve anything remotely extreme!

A large part of our business in the UK is organizing team events. For example we were recently asked to improve teamwork and communication amongst a group of investment bankers. Rather than take them into a classroom and get them to imagine they were stuck in a toxic mine field with only a piece of string and a ten pence piece (the typical teambuilding events which I hate!) we decided to take them to a motor circuit and get them to work as a proper motor sport team. They had some facilitation from a trainer at the circuit and then put it into practice, while also having the excitement of driving some fantastic cars. The result was fantastic: the team was buzzing, they felt rewarded, and the lessons they had learnt were reinforced in their memory through the experience. Teambuilding doesn’t have to be painful!

In October 2007, we are introducing three new specialist programmes that we have developed with a training consultancy called Innergy, called “Real Teams”.  We are giving people the chance to have a taste of what we do on 19 October when we are running a Real Leadership programme. Covering how to manage, motivate and retain your workforce, it is very relevant to lawyers at the moment! If anyone reading this wants to come along they should get in touch with me. 

My work is always very varied; for example I am currently at the planning stage for a large James Bond themed Christmas party for a property investment company, and am also putting together a pitch to promote a forthcoming Paramount film release. We are also putting together the business plan for my original idea: an adventure club for those who would like to get out there and try some fantastic adventure experiences.

mtl: What do you enjoy most about your new job and is there anything you miss about law?

Claire:  I really like Adrenalin’s attitude that nothing is impossible. Everyone is very creative in the company and it is fantastic coming up with a seemingly harebrained idea, but then working out a way of making it possible. I found that a massive change from being a rather risk-averse lawyer. 

Also, every day is different. I spend a lot of my time problem solving, speaking to people on the phone that are doing very cool things, and pitching and presenting ideas to clients. Sometimes I am helping to deliver teambuilding events, other times I am working out how many skydivers we can drop into Bunhill Field near Liverpool Street station...  I am working in a world that I always wanted to be part of. 

My legal training has been very useful, although obviously somewhat limited as I left on qualification. I think being a lawyer teaches you a way of thinking which is incredibly valuable, and it gives me some kudos that I will always have.  The main things I miss about law are the people I worked with, having a secretary, IT support, an accounts department… and obviously the money is greatly missed! Running your own company makes it difficult to take holiday, and it can easily take over your whole life. A year after I set Adrenalin up I made a conscious decision to readdress the work-life balance as I ended up working longer hours than my lawyer friends.

mtl:  Any advice to lawyers, given your own experience? 

Claire:  Everyone interviewed on this website says this, but think really carefully about what you want to do and don’t leave law on a whim.  Talk to people who have done what you are planning to do.  There will be times when you will be way outside your comfort zone, which although good can be slightly terrifying.  Running your own business really is the epitome of pushing yourself and if you are setting up your own business it is going to be a long term state of affairs.  You might reach an age where you don’t want to any more, and you might rather just be employed.    

I think it is terribly important to “scratch the itch” though - if you have always wanted to give it a go setting up a business then I think it would be awful to be always thinking “what if?”  Just be aware that it is really hard – I found the first six months very tough although things are now going very well.  Make sure you work out whether you can really exist on very little money to start with.  Being self-employed is less glamorous than people say it is.  Make sure you are really committed to the long haul… 

Ultimately it is incredibly rewarding though and, although I have certainly had moments when I thought about going back to the law, I have learnt so much in the last 18 months that I do not regret my decision to leave.  I feel really driven by my work and am very passionate about it.

mtl:  Thank you for your time Claire.

You can see more about Claire's company here www.adrenalinexperts.co.uk and here

www.realteams.co.uk.

If you know any other ex-lawyers who have gone and done something interesting or unusual with their lives then please get in touch.

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