Victoria Sears

Can you tell us a bit about your career journey so far?

I began my career at Mills & Reeve as a trainee solicitor and qualified into the commercial disputes team in 2014. Fairly quickly, though, I found myself becoming more interested in the business side of things - how the firm works, who our clients are, how we develop those relationships and how we articulate who we are as a business.

An opportunity then came up in bids, and it felt like the right move for me. I moved into the marketing team as a bids advisor, and that role gave me a fantastic grounding in the firm. It was a real crash course in understanding what we do, who does what and how we talk to each other and our clients about what sets us apart.

Whilst doing that role, I became increasingly involved in our innovation strategy, particularly how we drive change through the business. I started as an innovation champion and later took on the role of comms lead on behalf of that group, helping drive how we engaged the business on being more innovative. That eventually led to a newly formed role focused more formally on innovation, where I was tasked with people engagement: thinking about how we build the behaviours, mindset and culture needed to drive change. Three babies later and a wide variety of experiences across the firm have led me naturally into my current role in learning and development, where I focus on bringing strategy to life through our people.

How would you describe the culture, and what does it mean to you in your day to day work?

Openness is a big part of my day-to-day experience. I feel able to speak honestly about what’s working well, what could be better and where we can stretch ourselves further. I feel heard, both within my team and more widely across the firm, and that makes a real difference.

Collaboration is also something I think we do really well. We’re a complex business, with lots of different teams, priorities and perspectives, but there’s a real effort to bring the right people together and make sure work is shaped collectively. That doesn’t mean everyone can always be involved in everything, but there’s a genuine intention to get the right voices into the room and create outcomes that reflect a wider firm perspective.

Care is another important part of the culture for me, both personally and professionally. I’ve experienced a lot of care in terms of support for my development, but also in the way people recognise that we all have lives, responsibilities and challenges outside work.

And when it comes to ambition, I think the firm recognises that it looks different for different people and will support that. Ambition isn’t always about wanting to fly up the ladder in a linear way - it can mean developing new skills, supporting a different area of the business, working with new people or contributing in another way. I think that wider understanding of ambition helps people find a version of success that feels right for them and encourages them to open up those conversations with clients to find the same.

What advice would you give to someone shaping their own career at Mills & Reeve?

I’d say: explore what interests you and don’t be afraid to knock on doors. If there’s an area you’re curious about, or something you think you could contribute to, speak to people and get involved. In my experience, people are very likely to welcome that and help you explore it further.

Not every opportunity exists as a formal role from the outset. In my case, my first innovation role grew out of work I was already doing informally because I was interested in it. That won’t always happen, but in a business that’s constantly evolving, new opportunities do emerge.