This week in our MHC Life Series, we hear from Lyubomira Marinova, a Legal Assistant in our Financial Services team. Lyubomira chats about her career journey, her favourite thing about her role and a typical day for her.
Tell us a bit about you and your career journey to MHC – what inspired you to get into this career?
Even when I was in secondary school, I knew I wanted to do something related to working with people. I also knew that I wanted to study abroad. The idea of meeting new people, the thrill of exploring a new country/culture on your own… So, my top choices were law, journalism, or psychology.
In the end, I decided to go with law and after three years in college, I knew that I wanted to further concentrate on human rights. I went to London and did my master’s in human rights, which then brought me back to Bulgaria in 2011, where I worked as a researcher for a local NGO. However, as I missed Ireland, in 2013 I decided to come back and explore my law degree further. What actually inspired me to get into this job is the fast pace, the knowledge you acquire on a daily basis and the fact I could help people.
Favourite thing about your role?
My role is quite diverse in general. I do quite enjoy the challenges that my role comes with and the trust my team has in me. A lot of it has to do with the variety of things I do as well – from the transaction management aspect of series issuances, to managing trackers, liaising with clients and colleagues. I also enjoy the thrill of meeting tight deadlines and being able to provide an excellent quality of work to my team and our clients. However, my favourite thing about my role has to be my team and our work dynamic. Feeling valued is such a great aspect of any job and I am grateful for that.
Talk us through a typical day for you
I usually start my day at around 8:00am with checking email, responding to urgent queries, and trying to plan my day in advance of going to the office. I try to prioritise and fit in everything that I have planned, but also give myself some time for unexpected tasks. I then get to the office and a proper day of work begins. One aspect that I missed during the pandemic was getting to see my team and other colleagues in person, grab some coffee and just catch-up. After I finish work, I usually go to the gym or out for a run or a long walk down Sandymount Strand/Booterstown and then settle in for the night with either a book or a good TV show/film.
If I wasn’t a legal assistant, I would be...
I would probably be a travel journalist. Imagine travelling for a living, going to amazing places and exploring different cultures and traditions… or possibly a teacher.
Have you ever met anyone famous?
When I was working as a researcher in Bulgaria, I met and briefly worked with the late Jack Greenberg – he was an American attorney involved in several key human rights/civil rights cases, including the famous Brown v. Board of Education, which ended segregation in American schools back in 1954. As I recall studying the Brown case in my first year of college, I felt this was a privilege and an invaluable experience for a 23-year-old newly grad. A couple of years back, I also met Aidan Gillen in an elevator (yes!) and as I was so excited, I proceeded to give him a short TED talk on his filmography. I really hope he doesn’t remember me…
What's your favourite place you've ever visited?
I would say this has to be Japan. I travelled through Japan back in summer 2016 and I do not think I have ever been more fascinated with a place, culture, people, vibes… Rural Japan has some of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen, it is incredibly picturesque. And then walking through Tokyo is the polar opposite, yet it felt strangely calm. As someone who is quite adventurous, I also enjoyed everything from Japanese street food to the traditional tea ceremony (chanoyu), cat cafes, nightlife... I would like to go on an Antarctica expedition cruise next, or maybe to Mongolia…
