Women's History Month: Fara Soubouti

In celebration of Women's History Month, Robinson Bradshaw is highlighting women from the firm throughout March. Meet first-year associate Fara Soubouti.

Describe what you do at Robinson Bradshaw.

As a first-year associate, I am spending my first year gaining legal experience in a variety of practice areas to decide what department I want to join and the work I like to do. I am grateful to be able to also incorporate pro bono work into my practice and to serve on Robinson Bradshaw's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee.

What do you most enjoy about your job?

Seeing my colleagues find solutions to clients' complex issues and helping my colleagues throughout that process. I also enjoy being able to say that I work with my friends.

What advice do you have for other women in the workplace?

Listen to your gut and speak up if you have an idea or question. Also, keep a running list of your accomplishments, big and small, because it will give you helpful insight into how much you have grown throughout your personal and professional life.

Who is a historical female figure you admire, and why?

Madam C.J. Walker is a historical female figure whom I admire because she was the first female self-made millionaire in America, a visionary, and an incredible philanthropist who did so much for the African American community. She saw a problem and solved it in a big way with her cosmetics empire, and she did all this during the Jim Crow era as an African American woman. She was determined, hard-working, innovative and brave, and she believed in herself during a time when society did not.

What is one lesson you've learned during the COVID-19 pandemic?

We all need to be patient and understanding with each other because we have no idea all the challenges someone may be experiencing. And we need to laugh more, like if someone cannot turn off a kitty filter they have on during a Zoom call. I also love to use Zoom's "reactions" buttons during informal calls to introduce moments of levity.

Tell us something about yourself that we wouldn't learn from your website bio.

I love training capoeira, which is an Afro-Brazilian martial art combined with music, dance and acrobatics. Capoeira is how I learned to speak Portuguese and play the atabaque drum. Capoeira also taught me how to look cool when I trip or fall because I have learned how to roll upon falling. If you are naturally clumsy like me, capoeira is the antidote.