MHC Life: Phillippa Lloyd

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

Whilst always interested in law, my initial career plans were centred around sport. I went to Loughborough University with the main intention of focusing on hockey and seeing how far I could make it. I originally wanted to be a scuba diving instructor but was informed by my parents, in the strongest terms, that I had to obtain a degree first.

Beset by injury I was somewhat forced to consider a more 'traditional' career and completed a year's conversion course to law, in the UK termed a Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL).

During my GDL I lived in London with three trainee solicitors. Following each of their journeys convinced me that, whilst I was in the right sector, I didn't necessarily want to be a solicitor at that time - I was still very involved in hockey, by then on the coaching side, and perhaps hadn't quite come to terms with the idea that it wasn't in my future. Legal tech, which was just starting to become more mainstream, appeared to provide the perfect solution. It allowed me to work within law, if I ultimately decided to go down the traineeship route, but also gave me other options were I minded to pursue a different path.

I joined a legal tech firm with a focus on dispute management and hearing services, before moving into the world of eDiscovery. I was ultimately persuaded to return to my first firm with the dangled carrot of a role in Singapore and I lived and worked there for 3 and a half years from early 2019.

I moved to Dublin for my husband's career last year, initially on the premise of a 2-year stint however, settling quickly, we decided our departure date didn't need to be so rigid. At that point it was no longer viable to continue working APAC hours remotely (2am starts are only really possible with an end date!) and I joined Mason Hayes & Curran in March of this year.

Career highlight?

Having the opportunity to live and work in Singapore. Project managing some very interesting and notable cases across the APAC region, involving some equally fascinating people along the way.

Talk us through a typical day for you

I'm very much a creature of routine/habit, as the wider Project Management team will attest to, so bear with me!

I wake up at 5:45am, go to the gym or for a run between 6-7am, I eat the same thing for breakfast every day and then head to the office.

Depending on the projects we have running, and for which department, my day can be varied. There are certain specific tasks I do every day whilst other matters require me to be more reactive depending on particular requests from clients or internal stakeholders.

90% of the time I eat the same thing for lunch every day (again with the habits). Then, unless it's raining (I'm steadfast in my routine but haven't fully lost it just yet!), I'll go for a walk and listen to a podcast. I lived in Singapore through COVID and during its height we were only allowed out once a day, I used to walk everywhere to make the most of the freedom; it stuck when I moved over to Dublin.

After work I'll generally workout again, depending on what I've done in the morning I'll do the opposite in the evening in terms of gym or run, light session versus hard. I'm currently training for Hyrox which is a fitness competition taking place soon.

I grew up with a family rule that if there was live sport on we had to watch it so I don't watch a whole lot of 'normal' TV - useless in any quiz for film/tv rounds! If I'm in of an evening there will definitely be some form of sporting event on in the background, be it football, cricket, horse racing etc. Otherwise, I'm a massive foodie and my husband and I are slowly making our way through various must-try lists and restaurant recommendations.

Favourite quote?

"Second is first of the losers". Potentially a little eyebrow raising but it reminds me of a very particular memory from my childhood which makes me smile; these days it certainly helps with the reasoning behind my early mornings!

Have you ever met anyone famous?

I once had post-hockey match teas with Ed Sheeran as his now wife Cherry played for an opposing team in my league. I only realised he was there halfway through the game when I suddenly clocked him stood next to my dad. I spent the rest of the match wondering what on earth they could possibly have in common as they chatted away non-stop.

I also have a photo of me and my sisters with Shane Warne, the great Australian cricketer, which was taken by Dougie from McFly; it’s a long story!

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