City Lawyer Turned Poet - Orin Begum - S2E24

Published: July 13, 2020, 3 a.m.

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This week on the Legally Speaking Podcast, our host Rob Hanna was joined by Orin Begum.

Orin has attracted high profile media attention for her poetry work from the likes of the BBC. She currently works as a corporate finance lawyer for Clifford Chance in London.

Orin stumbled into poetry at the University of Oxford as a way to address her experiences of being a South Asian Muslim woman in a predominately white middle-class university.

Orin regularly performs at the Yoniverse Collective\\u2019s \\u2018Golden Tongues\\u2019 poetry night. Her poetry is inspired by the struggles and strength of South Asian women, her experiences with colourism and body shaming in her own community and the complications of growing up as a 1.5 generation immigrant in a council estate in East London.

Orin also works with various social mobility charities as a mentor to help increase access to the top jobs in the City for people of colour and those from less privileged socio-economic backgrounds.

Orin never for a single second thought that she would ever end up as an Associate at one of the leading international law firms. What Orin has managed to achieve is inspiring!

In this episode, we discuss:

  • Applying for training contracts and overcoming rejections
  • Transitioning from trainee to associate
  • Sitting in Aviation, Shipping and Rail finance team\\xa0
  • Orin's passion for poetry and where her inspiration comes from\\xa0
  • Overcoming social barriers and persevering
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