I Juggle a Legal Career With My Own Kitesurfing Business

What came first for me, the law, or kitesurfing? It was probably kitesurfing, but I quickly found a way to fuse the two.

I first started kitesurfing through a university club, every year we would travel to Tarifa (the Mecca of kitesurfing) in Spain for an annual get-together and there would also be events and competitions throughout the year in the U.K. Once I started working on my training contract however, the kitesurfing was somewhat neglected, but it’s always been a passion of mine and I’ve tried to maintain a balance through using my holidays to kitesurf.

Having a legal skill has really helped with starting up our kitesurfing business – from being able to independently draft basic agreements, to structuring business decisions and of course being able to network with our target market. I also have a business partner who has been in the kitesurfing and superyacht industry for more than 10 years, so together we work pretty well as a team. My business provides bespoke kitesurfing services to superyacht owners and yacht charters, with us organising everything from kitesurfing lessons, crew recruitment and instructor training, to equipment sales. Kitesurfing from a yacht requires specialist knowledge and experienced instructors, so we focus on taking the hassle out of all the logistics.

Being a lawyer at Vario has really helped me juggle the two things. My working hours and work patterns are also more predictable than in private practice, so I try to use the mornings and evenings to catch up on emails, do research or just have a chat with my business partner. As kitesurfing can be seasonal, I try to take on placements in the winter for three to six months, which allows me the flexibility to take a few months off in the summer to focus on the kitesurfing season.

I’m always harassing colleagues to try the sport, but I did also set up the first ever kitesurfing club at Linklaters. I’ve found that the social side of the sport and organising trips from early on in my career has definitely helped me to build confidence, and to stay calm in lots of different situations. It’s also provided a really healthy outlet from the time-to-time stresses of legal life.

My top tip for lawyers who are struggling to pursue their interests outside of work would be to dig deep and think about what you’d like to achieve. Don’t be afraid of having interests that might not align with the traditional way of working. Being able to work as a legal consultant has really changed the game for lawyers; we are in a privileged position of being able to have some job stability and flexibility while exploring other passions – isn’t that the millennial dream?!

I think most lawyers will also be surprised by the breadth and the quality of work on offer through consulting. Some people think that you take a ‘step down’ in that regard, but it’s just not the case. The range of work available to corporate lawyers is huge.

Rajal Patel is a corporate lawyer at Vario from Pinsent Masons and runs a kitesurfing business – The Superyacht Kitesurf Concierge.