What I Wear to Work: Thandi Maqubela

As a lawyer, mother and content creator, you have to wear a lot of different hats. How do you stay true to your own style while still meeting the needs of all of these?

This is a really well-timed question as I’ve recently been thinking about my personal style and how I’d like it to evolve to meet me where I’m at in life. I think wearing these different ‘hats’ is influencing where I’d like to land on this. Being comfortable is key to me as my view is that confidence naturally flows from that. My job requires me to move between meetings while working in the office, chairing meetings and giving presentations, and I want to know that I look and feel good while doing these things, while also being able to move freely and not be pulling at my dress or thinking about how the tailoring sits on me. Equally, having a toddler requires a certain level of agility because they move so fast and you have to be able to keep up! 

 What does a typical day look like for you?

I can’t say that my work life is typical, as no day is the same on that front, but I love the job for this very reason—it keeps things exciting. I do, however, like to stick to a routine in terms of how I start the day, as it sets the tone and gives me energy. I’ll start with some form of a workout, either a run or lifting weights. I find that I get my best ideas or solutions while I’m out running. I like to block out the first hour in my diary (not always successful!) to deal with emails that have come in overnight given that I work with the US quite a fair bit, but this time also helps me get into the mindset of what I have in my diary for the rest of the day. If I have any time left over in that hour, I’ll force myself to tick a couple of things off my to-do list. My day then tends to consist of client negotiations, internal leadership meetings, catch-ups with my team and stakeholder management. At least once a week or fortnight, I’ll set aside time to think and work on the strategic aspects of my career progression, and that ticks along while working on my day-to-day, but I find if I don’t dedicate time to do it, there’s a risk of getting distracted with things that won’t support the trajectory I’d like to be on.

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