Mpho Lebepe is a living testimony that hard work pays off
The 29-year-old started from the bottom and worked himself up to where he is now the director of his own law firm.
POLOKWANE – Mpho Lebepe is a living testimony that life is what you make of it.
The 29-year-old director of Lebepe & Associates Inc is of the belief that if you have a dream, you need to work tirelessly to reach it and be prepared to face challenges. Lebepe is a University of Limpopo graduate who told BONUS he dropped out of school for a while and got a job as a labourer at a construction company.
“My parents were going through a divorce and I failed my classes, so I decided to drop out and try something else. A year later, I decided that it was not what I wanted for my life and decided to go back to school,” he explained. He completed his LLB degree but struggled to find a law firm to complete his articles.
“It was difficult, I used the door-to-door approach. I used to see my former school mates become candidate attorneys and get admitted and here I was, still struggling to do my articles.”
Lebepe decided to approach a law firm where he had submitted his CV five times before to submit it one last time, after which he was immediately interviewed and it went well.
“I sailed through the interview but there was no space at the firm at the time. I asked if I could volunteer and the law firm registered me for my articles,” he said. In 2019 Lebepe was employed by the firm as an associate attorney, but he tendered his resignation last year and became a Bolt driver to raise the money to start his own law firm. He used the interaction with the clients he drove around as a network opportunity for his law firm.
“I would distribute my business cards and give overview consultations to potential clients during these trips. This was how I got my first few clients.” He recalls the days when he just started and had to do everything himself. He was the messenger, tea boy, director and any other roles that were needed to run a law firm. He currently employs two staff members and looks forward to growth.
Lebepe takes the struggle he went through to complete his articles into consideration and he looks forward to open the door for other young competent graduates from disadvantaged backgrounds. “I have to emphasise that we won’t look at just the background. We want people who are competent who will be able to join us a few years down the line, since our law firm is still relatively new at the moment,” he explained.
