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Guy Livingstone

Guy Livingstone

United States

Hi, I escaped the city three years ago to found my own company in New York, moving from corporate finance law at a magic circle law firm to organizing mass participation running events around the world. If you're interested in joining me and my company, send me a message.

I'm looking for...

Escape Profile
Escape Profile

Ex corporate lawyer starts global events business

Like most bored corporate trainee lawyers, I was counting down the days until qualification, safe in the knowledge that my self confessed lack of interest in corporate law had precluded me from being offered a full time position. I was looking to do something, anything, that would take me out of my comfort zone, out of the glass box of the city, the vertical coffins of Canary Wharf... learning Arabic in Damascus, pro-bono law in Cambodia, venture capital in Sierra Leone... Arabic it was...

ESCAPED FROM

  • Professional Services

ESCAPED TO

  • Social Good
  • Consumer
  • Adventure / Travel

ESCAPE ROUTE

  • Start a business

Currently...

I am the co-founder and President of Tough Mudder LLC, a global events business based out of Brooklyn, New York.  We market and host 10 - 12 mile running events with obstacles in locations around the US, UK, Australia and Canada. 

In the last 3 years we have grown to more than 120 employees and offices in New York and London, and plan to open in Sydney and Berlin in 2013.

Before I escaped...

I spent two years working as a trainee at a magic circle law firm in London. The work was steady and uninspiring; the office culture supportive but drab; the role models at the senior level almost non-existent.  I knew I had to do more with my life.

Best advice...

  1. Just because you've given up the corporate job, don't expect the hours to go down - in fact I worked twice as hard for the first 24 months as I ever did as a lawyer.
  2. Don't work in a silo - do ask for advice from your friends etc, but at the same time, remember that this is your vision, your idea, and be very careful with what advice you listen to.
  3. Get a good accountant from the outset.

Useful resources and information...