MHC Life: Angela Freeman

Tell us a bit about you and your career journey to MHC – what inspired you to get into this career?

I’m living in Greystones with my husband, our two girls and our cat Vienna, who starred in last year’s MHC Pet Calendar! I joined the Corporate team in Mason Hayes & Curran back in 2015 after training in a smaller firm in Dublin. Why the law? Shows like Ally McBeal had an impact for sure. That coupled with the fact a friend picked Business and Law in UCD helped to steer me in that direction. I did a Summer Internship with another large law firm in Dublin between my Undergrad and Masters and after that I decided to go ahead with the dreaded FE1’s! I got some cool work experience in the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the DPP before starting my training contract and Blackhall in 2010.

Career highlight?

This definitely has to be advising on the sale of Kinzen to Spotify. The founders of Kinzen came into Mason Hayes & Curran in 2017 and signed their incorporation papers with me down in Room 1 at Reception. To work with them from that point right through to such a successful exit was a huge highlight. I was also just back to the office from maternity leave so it was great to dust off the cobwebs and get back into the swing of things so quickly.

Favourite thing about MHC?

The people. Mason Hayes & Curran is a genuinely nice place to work.

What was your first job?

If ice-cream qualifies as payment, then it was shelling peas outside of The Derg Inn in Terryglass Co. Tipperary when I was around 7 or 8! My first “proper” job was around 2007 when I worked in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Any nice anecdote of touching base with a contact in recent weeks that was well received?

Yes, I’ve been doing a Visual Legal Design Course over the last few months and as part of that, I have been creating client content using LinkedIn carousels. From that, a client reached out to me and offered to suggest me for some speaking events which was a great result.

Which sector do you work in?

I work in the Corporate department helping investors and start-ups with investments and funding rounds for Irish companies. I have a lot of experience with share and asset sales too.

Talk us through a typical day for you

My days start early with the kids, around 6am usually. No matter what time we seem to be up though, I always seem to find myself running late for the 8.24am Dart from Greystones to Grand Canal after doing the creche drop-off. I work from the office and from home during the week which is great for me because it’s a pretty long commute, about 50 minutes each way. I’m usually offline from 5.30pm until around 8.00pm and come back online after that to do a bit more work. I’m a night owl by nature and I find it’s easier to get more substantive work done then without emails and calls etc.

Favourite quote?

My favourite quote, verging on mantra since returning from maternity leave, is “Done is better than perfect because perfect never gets done”.

What tv shows have you binge watched recently?

Physical on Apple TV.

What books have you read recently?

I am using my commuting time between Grand Canal and Greystones right now to read “Anatomy of a Merger: Strategies and Techniques for Negotiating Corporate Acquisitions” by James C Freund but, I haven’t really had a chance to read much in the last while except Lucy Wolfe’s book “The Baby Sleep Solution” which I honestly must have read, cover to cover, over 5 times at this point.

Have you ever met anyone famous?

I met Chris O’Dowd recently while doing the morning creche run! He is living in Greystones for the last couple of months doing some filming nearby.