The environments that shape us
I’ve been lucky enough to live and work in a few big cities over the years, Sydney, New York and Los Angeles. Different markets. Different energy. Different pace.
But one thing has stayed consistent across all of them. The environment you’re in has a huge impact on how you grow, both professionally and personally. And it’s something people often underestimate.
You don’t just grow from the job you do
Early in your career, it’s natural to focus on the obvious markers. The firm. The title. The work. The next promotion. All of that matters, but it’s only part of the picture.
Some of the biggest shifts in how I’ve thought about my career didn’t come from formal meetings or carefully planned networking. They came from everyday interactions. Conversations you don’t set out to have.
In New York, I met high-performing people from all walks of life in the most ordinary places, the gym, the park, my local coffee spot, even my child’s daycare. We’d talk about family, work, business and leadership. Those casual conversations often challenged my thinking and gave me a different perspective.
Looking back, many of those people played a real role in helping me grow, not through advice sessions or introductions, but through small moments that made me look at things slightly differently. Big cities create more of those moments.
The impact of who’s around you
When you’re surrounded by driven, ambitious, high-performing people, it changes your baseline.
You start to see what’s possible. How others think about risk and opportunity. How senior people operate under pressure. How ambition actually plays out over time.
Standards rise. Expectations shift. What once felt intimidating starts to feel achievable.
Environment doesn’t show up neatly on a CV. You can’t easily quantify the value of being around people who are building businesses, leading teams, taking risks and operating at the top of their fields. But having seen lawyers move between markets, and having done it myself, I’ve seen how powerful that exposure can be.
People grow faster. They think more commercially. They back themselves more. Not because the city magically changes them, but because of what they’re exposed to every day.
This isn’t about chasing prestige, and it’s certainly not an argument that everyone needs to work in a major legal hub. Plenty of outstanding careers are built elsewhere. But for lawyers who are curious, ambitious and thinking long term, spending time in a big market can be a genuine accelerant, not just for your CV, but for how you think about your career and what you’re capable of.
