Jumping into the unknown : Samantha Lowe of Concentus talks about her journey into the world of mediation and self-employment. 

 
 
This is the start of a series of blogs about my journey into the unknown world of starting up a business from scratch and becoming a self-employed mediator. I’m hoping you will enjoy my ramblings about starting from scratch, creating a brand, getting started, observing some of the best and holding my nerve….. 
 
From as far back as I can remember I always wanted to be a solicitor, cheesy I know but it is true. I was the first in my family to follow further education and wasn’t sure where to start to become a solicitor.  I love a list so I set myself a plan and off I went, my mantra was to “work hard and crack on”.  I got onto the treadmill towards qualification and ticked all the boxes as I went along. I graduated with first class honours [ tick ] , I trained in a TOP 100 commercial law firm [ tick ], I qualified into large commercial litigation team [ tick ] , I was promoted to associate early [ tick ] and then worked excruciatingly harder towards becoming a partner. By the time I was 31, I was listed in the national legal directories as the “one to watch” and partnership was just one more hurdle away. 
 
I am not using this blog as an opportunity to list my lifetime accolades to date but to highlight the hard and exhausting career path that many people take because that is what we think we are supposed to do. 
 
I sat in a meeting, whilst discussing the history of my figures to date for my partnership application, and thought was this what I really wanted to do or was I stuck on the corporate treadmill that I didn’t know how to get off? Could I ever use my skills differently, fluidly, flexibly and on my terms? Was I slave to the established career path of others? 
 
I put the thoughts to the back of my head, remember “work hard and crack on”. Doing something different wasn’t on the list! Then I fell pregnant with my beautiful daughter Rosie and re-evaluated everything. The time off from the working world gave me a chance to consider all the questions which I had been asking myself for a while.  
 
Rosie brought a brand new perspective to my life and also the opportunity to do something different. I decided to take the jump into the unknown world of setting up my own business and becoming self-employed. I have since been told many times that I am brave? Is it bravery or adrenaline driven, hormone boosted craziness? We can only wait and see… 
 
What was I going to do? I wanted to carry on doing what I love the most which is helping people and finding solutions to their problems. I loved my job, just not the environment that came with it. Could I still practice part time as a litigator whilst putting my focus into becoming a mediator with a view to doing that full time? How could I achieve this? Most consultant lawyers are retired partners and many mediators are doing it as a side line to being a partner or full time counsel. I knew first-hand how hard it is to find a commercial mediator in the North East with the skill set for contested trusts and estate litigation, my niche practice. But could I fill that gap? 
 
I looked hard at myself and my skill set.  What do client’s praise me for? Why do people instruct me?  I didn’t want to dive in blind thinking I could do this or that it would be easy. I am learning every day that it is far from easy, but I had to put the ground work in before I could even make the decision. There was no point going back into a firm and applying to be a partner as I would never have any time to focus on building my own mediation practice. So whilst up many a night with a new born, I started to answer those questions as best I could. I researched working as a consultant lawyer for firms in an agile and flexible way from home. I obtained testimonials from clients, counsel and other mediators to find out why they had instructed me and what they thought of my work, were my strengths transferrable to mediation? Key words arose time and time again, professional, expert, caring, understanding, tenacious, patient, empathetic, down to earth, good listener, steely edge and a problem solver. It was the confidence boost I needed. I contacted two high profile mediators who I have huge respect for and asked them the direct question, can I do this? Their immediate and encouraging responses gave me the boost I needed to go for it. 
 
So, covered in baby milk and surrounded by soft toys and putting nursery rhymes on you tube (don’t judge me), I sat down and for the first time in my life and wrote a real business plan from scratch. My aim: to become an commercial mediator with expertise in the contested trusts and estates arena and put the North East on the map for commercial mediation services. 
 
STEP ONE: Become accredited. Which course to choose? Could I spend a week in London away from Rosie? She was already a huge part of my journey. Of course I could not leave her, there was only one answer my 6 month old baby had to come with me and therefore so did Daddy day care too. After lots of recommendations, I booked the CEDR course and off we went to see the Queen, well Rosie and Mike did. Off I went to High Holburn ……..