Ms Robinson had 12 years of executive experience before becoming a lawyer and working for MinterEllison – then left to set up her own firm two years ago with her business partner, Jessica Norris. 

She’s also the chair of the Queensland Academy of Sport advisory board, the chair of Tennis Australia’s National Gender Equality Task Force, the vice-president of Football Queensland, and former vice-president of Tennis Queensland. She said that having so many different roles and extracurricular activities outside of her legal career have positively impacted her as a boutique law firm owner and taught her many lessons along the way.

“My team at the Commonwealth Games, I encourage them to take on sort of voluntary directorships and things like that for a number of reasons. It’s an opportunity to give back, it’s fantastic skill development, it really helps people to understand what our clients think and feel and what keeps them up at night, and that’s always going to make you better at your job. It’s great from a networking perspective; it keeps you moving in the right circles.

“It’s not for everybody. It’s not easy, and you carry a lot of risk when you take on roles like this, and so you need to do it at the right point in your career, and you need to do it within an organisation where there is a natural fit,” she said.

“Tennis Queensland was a wonderful first directorship for me because it was a sport that I loved and enjoyed watching and playing. And it was a great group of people that I respected and got along well with, but equally, you could take on a directorship that had zero alignment and it could be the worst experience of your life, so I would definitely encourage anyone who was thinking about that as a bit of a pathway or as a bit of a supplement to their career, don’t rush into it. Wait for the right opportunity, and then you’ll thrive in that, and that’s when it can be a bit of a game-changer.”

Within the career of every legal professional, there’s an opportunity to give back, added Ms Robinson, who previously helped run the pro bono clinic at Bond University.

“If there’s a local club, whether it be a sporting club or an arts organisation, or anything that you’re interested in, volunteering in sort of management capacity if you’re a natural leader, which I think a lot of lawyers are, you’ll find you just sort of step in at the point that feels right now and just keep looking out for opportunities to take that next step,” she said.

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“It’s no different to how you would sort of move through a legal career. You get in, and you do the job that’s in front of you really well. You do what’s asked of you by your supervisors. Make them look good; they’ll love you for it and promote you for it. Well, it’s no different in sort of your non-executive directorship roles; you step in where feels comfortable or maybe slightly beyond comfortable, but not too much, and get in and do that well, and keep an eye out for what is the next opportunity and take that.”

Ms Robinson admitted that whilst she does have a problem saying no, her extracurriculars have helped her community whilst being extremely valuable experiences.

“I definitely don’t do it because I want to take on as much as I can. I think clearly I’ve got a problem with saying no, is probably the number one point to make,” she explained.

“One of the very first things that I did when I started at MinterEllison was caught up with the dean of the law school at Bond University, and one thing led to another, and the next thing you know, it was literally a back of a napkin conversation, and we’d come up with this idea of about a pro bono clinic because all lawyers are encouraged to give back.”

For those looking to get into extracurricular roles or directorships, Ms Robinson suggested jumping right in.

“I remember looking at the advertisement for directorships for Tennis Queensland and thinking, ‘Oh, that would be my dream role. I hope one day I’ll be good enough, capable enough to do that.’ And 12 months later, I was around that table and wondered why I ever thought I wasn’t ready for it because once the mystery of it was gone, I realised that I absolutely had some value to bring,” she said.

“So, I think – put your hand up, step in where it feels right. Sometimes there’s no rhyme or reason to that. It’s just a gut feel, but lean in, and who knows where it will take you? That’s kind of the fun part for me, is seeing how one thing leads to another thing and chance encounters and conversations with people.”

The transcript of this podcast episode was slightly edited for publishing purposes. To listen to the full conversation with Paula Robinson, click below: