The Surprising Gift of Going Away
“September is the other January.”
I hope you’ve had a good summer and, if you have children or caring responsibilities, managed the epic juggle well - and maybe even timed your holidays with the sunshine. Unlike me, who did exactly the opposite! When we went away, the weather turned. Typical.
That said, one of our trips was to the glorious Highlands of Scotland, where rain is to be expected - and the breathtaking scenery makes up for it a hundred times over. I also made a discovery: much as I wanted to like whisky… I really, really don’t.
Coming home always gives me perspective. I think that’s one of the best parts of a holiday - you suddenly see your “normal life” from a different angle, instead of being stuck in the weeds. This time, I even made a list of all the things around the house I’d been blind to while running two businesses and looking after two children:
Why have we lived with that broken kitchen cupboard for so long?
Has there always been that much mould in the shower?
Why have we kept all those coats which don’t fit anyone anymore?
And the patio… it looks like a scene from The Last of Us.
Sorting through these little irritants has been surprisingly satisfying - and I’d encourage you to do the same, whether you’ve had a summer holiday or not.
Now here we are in September, with four months of 2025 left. I’ve set some new goals (and abandoned a few ones from January which no longer seem to fit). I love the back-to-school energy of this month and I’m using it intentionally to get clear on where I want to be by the end of the year.
One of my goals for the remainder of the year is to be more intentional about charging clients properly, including keeping a close eye on scope creep and getting money on account to discourage those who aren’t serious about instructing a lawyer.
That’s why I’m really excited about our next Female Lawyers’ Club roundtable on fees and billing on 2 October 2025. We’ll be sharing the best and worst practices for getting paid for the work we do. These roundtables have become one of my favourite parts of FLC - a truly safe space to talk honestly about this career called law, swap stories, and share tips to make life easier.
If you’d like to join us, you’ll be very welcome - just click here to join Female Lawyers’ Club. If you can’t make the session live, don’t worry. They’re all recorded (except for the networking sessions) so you won’t miss out.
So - what are you going to do with the rest of 2025? If nothing else, why not treat yourself to a new pencil case and sprinkle a little back-to-school magic into your week.
Me pretending that I like whisky at the Talisker distillery
Enjoy the rest of the week,
Rachel