My Career: Lawyer and entrepreneur Yvonne Tchrakian

Did you always want to be a lawyer?
Yes. When I was two and a half years old, my family moved to Los Angeles from Kerry. One of my earliest memories was my aunt in LA saying to me, “Yvonne, someday you are going to be a lawyer or a doctor”. I believe she got that in my head. Then when the O.J. Simpson trial was on when I was around 11 or 12, I would come home from school and be glued to it. I even remember where I was when the verdict was announced. I always thought I’d be a criminal lawyer but ultimately went the corporate route.

In college, I studied… Law and History through Arts in Galway. I studied hard in secondary school, but I didn’t get the points to do straight law. I then did a Bachelor of Law in Galway and a Masters in Commercial Law in UCD.

My most formative work experience was… starting out as a paralegal in a top five law firm. It was 2008 and I didn’t get any interviews for a traineeship. However, I didn’t give up on my goal of working for a top five law firm and, after getting the paralegal opportunity, worked my way up. I remember feeling so out of my depth in the beginning. One of the first transactions I worked on was the attempted takeover by Ryanair of Aer Lingus. We acted for Ryanair and seeing Michael O’Leary in action was phenomenal (as well as slightly terrifying!).

My first real job was… selling lemonade on the corner of my street in LA. I believe all jobs can shape you! When we moved back to Ireland, my aunt took me to all these tradeshows selling “crystals” for plants (they were like colourful nutrients for plants). I learned the art of sales and how to connect with people.

The most invaluable thing I learned early on in my career was… to use your connections. Your connection might help you get the interview and then it is all up to you. Sometimes all you need is a foot in the door and a chance. I was given my chance in 2008 when a partner in a law firm (also from Listowel) said he would review my C.V. The next day he offered me a job on his team as a paralegal. The rest is history!

A common misconception about what I do is… that I go to court or negotiate contracts all day – I don’t. I practice corporate law so I am generally not in the court room and negotiating contracts is only a small part of my role.

My main responsibility in work is to… make decisions based on the risk. We can get advice from outside legal counsel but they will not understand the business like the internal legal team. So, we have to take that advice and make the call.

Do you have a career mentor or someone you look up to/seek advice from?
I am a big fan of Sara Blakely (the founder of Spanx). When I have doubts about my ability, I will go to a podcast she is on, look at her social media page or go back to the Spanx story book. I connect a lot with her as she is very focused on mindset and is a big believer in manifestation and affirmations.

The biggest risk I have taken in my career so far is… probably leaving the security of a (relatively) safe job in a law firm for a more uncertain future in industry, where your career can turn on actions that are entirely outside of your control. Ultimately, I chose to move and am very glad that I did! Later in my career, I also turned down a general counsel role in an Irish public company to stay in the running for a job as Head of Legal, EMEA for a fitness/tech company. This was a risk that, looked at narrowly, did not ultimately pay off as the company then got acquired and the role was gone! However, I have no regrets as, shortly afterwards, I worked with an Irish entrepreneur for a year and learned so much about the ins and outs of business (like how to file a VAT return), which has been very useful to my own side business Pause.Penny – a new mindset movement brand!

I wake at… around 5:30am each morning during the week (though I am of course only human and have my off days!). Maybe 7am on the weekends. As I have four kids (a four-year-old, two-year-old and seven-month-old twins), I need some space and time to myself before the chaos begins, so I generally try to wake before them! I have always been a morning person.

The first thing I do every morning is… check my emails and then social media. I know this is terrible and so bad for the brain. I am going to work on this!

My morning routine is… to get up before my four kids, make a coffee, write down one thing I am grateful for, do a workout or go for a walk, prepare breakfast for the kids before they wake up (unless it’s a complex breakfast like porridge that I wait for my husband to make when he gets up) and then get the kids up!

I can’t go to work without… my AirPods! I am a huge podcast fan – I love anything science-based like Huberman Lab or inspiring like The Entrepreneur Experiment or Diary of a CEO – which motivates me on the way to work.

I travel to work by… walking. Our family are big into health and fitness and we walk everywhere. I am about a 20/25 minute walk to work so it’s not far. I can also work from home, but I would rather be in the office to have that separation from the kids. Currently, I am on maternity leave and will be back to my corporate career in January 2024.

On an average workday I… think about everything! What’s on my work list, what appointments I need to make, the shopping, the laundry – everything! My husband will raise his eyebrows at the mention of shopping and laundry (unless the shopping has nothing to do with the household) but I do occasionally think about things that keep the house running too.

I start my working day at… 9am. However, when I am very busy, I will do some work in the morning before the rest of the house wakes up!

The first thing I do at work is… check if any urgent emails have come in from the team in the US that I need to get through before they wake up.

I usually spend the first portion of the day… without any conference calls or meetings. This is because the majority of the legal team are in California and my calls with them start around 4pm Irish time.

I break for lunch at… different times each day depending on how busy the day is and usually have a salad from Sprout or a Poulet Bonne Femme sandwich from Avoca when working from home.

The most useful business tool I use every day is… email. Then when there are too many back and forths on email, I pick up the phone. Keep it simple!

I save time by… getting enough sleep. I think we underestimate the value of sleep and think extremely long working hours are a badge of honour. Ultimately, if you get sufficient sleep then you are more efficient and productive and not just working on “auto-pilot”.

I rarely get through my working day without… thinking of something that I have forgotten to do for the kids (or my poor husband who has a chore list for me as long as my arm).

The best part of my day is… my morning to myself. If I can get an early morning dopamine hit with a workout, then I have more patience for the kids when they wake up and for any pressure at work.

The most challenging part of my day is… getting home for 5:30pm to let the childminder leave – 5:30pm Irish is 9:30am in California when the legal team is just starting their day there. Juggling the needs of the team in the US and the family needs can be a challenge but I block out 5:30pm – 7:30pm in my calendar (dinner time and bedtime) so I can’t take any calls.

I know it’s been a good day if… I don’t feel totally overwhelmed with work and family life. It’s a juggle, trying to function at a high level in your career as well as manage a house and kids. I am lucky to have an amazing childminder and also a husband who takes on way more of the household duties than me (I know that is rare!).

I usually end my day at… 9:45pm. My corporate work-day may end at 5:30pm, but then I am home to kids, dinner time, bedtime, house admin, and occasionally more corporate/Pause.Penny work.

I switch off from work by… 9:30pm. If I need to go back online between 7:30pm – 9:30pm, then I will, but I try to avoid it. Pre-kids, I used to work extremely long hours and be “on” all the time. It is just not practical or realistic anymore.

Before I go to bed, I’ll… always say a little prayer to Polly. Polly was born in May 2020 at 21 weeks. I still sleep with her blanket and think about her every single day.

I often prepare for tomorrow by… setting up my coffee machine, setting out my gym and work clothes and having my laptop ready to go at the door.

After a long work week, I destress by… I have four kids, I don’t get to destress at the end of the week! Work is less stressful than being a mom, 100%. The hardest job is being a mom! However, unlike when I was starting out in my career, I typically don’t need to work weekends.

The accomplishment I’m most proud of is…becoming the Company Secretary, Corporate Counsel and first European employee of an Irish incorporated Nasdaq listed biotech when I just turned 30. I remember being on the verge of saying no because I doubted my ability. But I took the role and it was the best career decision I ever made.

If you want to get into my line of work, my advice is to… work hard and use your connections. Speak to as many people as you can about what it is really like to be a lawyer.

I’ve just finished working on… weaning the twins and potty training my two-year-old! At the moment I’m working on my own podcast called All Up In Your Biz which is launching in September. In Season 1, I speak to Irish entrepreneurs that have recently launched a business or product and we discuss the highs and lows of being an entrepreneur, business tips and mindset.

pausepenny.com