Part 2 – From ‘Educating the East End’ to Harvard Scholar – An Interview with Josiah Senu

Nicole Wise

In this inspiring interview, Josiah Senu discusses his journey so far, battling imposter syndrome, his motivations, and his career ambitions

Starting at Harvard and Building Start-ups

Having secured his Harvard offer, Josiah arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the summer of 2019 to begin what he described as “one of the most rewarding experiences” of his life. He was deeply inspired by the people he met, whose backgrounds and achievements he felt were far more impressive than his own. The Harvard environment, like nowhere else, pushed students to pursue activities alongside their legal studies and created a group of people who have a wide breadth and depth of academic abilities and knowledge. At the end of the academic year, he reflected that if he did not become the change-maker Harvard pushed him to be, then he would have failed in fully utilising his Harvard experience.

Since then, Josiah has had the opportunity to realise his passion for business, working at one of the fastest growing FinTech start-ups in Europe, SaltPay, growing from 10 employees when he joined at the start of summer, to a current figure of over 500 globally. Josiah gained experience in both the Legal department and the M&A and Strategy team, working in areas ranging from private equity, venture and funds to contract negotiations – a working lifestyle he compared to that of a principal investor at a bank or partner at a law firm.

Whilst in America, he harnessed Harvard’s innovative mindset and created his own start-up, Savi, a food decision-making app aimed at helping people find the best places to eat in 30 seconds or less. From his experience, Josiah summarised what he has learnt and his advice for budding entrepreneurs:

1. Find good people: Your vision should align with your team members, and they should understand the goals of the business. Commitment, particularly at the early stages of any business is heavy, therefore individuals need to be willing to do anything and everything, and to solve a variety of problems that may not necessarily fit under a designated role.

2. Know the industry well: There is no substitute for speaking to the customer. An in-depth understanding of the industry can help you gain investors by proving that no-one else is attempting to solve the problem you are trying to fix.

3. Change is the only constant: Do not fixate on one idea or path, adapt with the environment. You want to be the person setting the trend, not the trend setting you.

Dealing with Imposter Syndrome

Despite his impressive achievements and continued success, Josiah admits that positivity and motivation can waver, especially when faced with imposter syndrome. To stay motivated during these periods, he outlines his two grounding philosophies. Firstly, that hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard. Secondly, he cites the domino theory, namely that successful people only need to knock over one ‘domino’, and they will begin to see other dominoes fall in its wake.

Josiah views his first published legal article as his ‘starting domino’, and believes that his continued success if the result of his initial hard work that opened doors for him early on. Taking inspiration from a talk by Saj Jetha, he stresses that, despite the restrictive and negative nature of imposter syndrome, it can be turned into a source of humility and contribute to a growth mindset. For Josiah, moments of personal doubt should be seen as “opportunities to self-reflect, recognise the achievements you have made up until that stage and ask: how can I be better? It starts with you. If you believe in yourself, then others will believe in you too.”

The Importance of Social Mobility

Josiah recognises that imposter syndrome is often a product of social inequality, and he is a passionate advocate of social mobility. Throughout his own journey, he was constantly aware that he hardly ever came across a barrister that ‘looked like him’. The lack of diversity and accessibility for those from underprivileged backgrounds in professional fields is discouraging for young people, often putting them off from careers before they have even decided to pursue them.

Josiah is keen to address this and has already made a start through his role as Deputy Chair of the Alumni Leadership at the Sutton Trust, and contributions in podcasts and articles on the subject. He asserts that social mobility policy should not focus on the ‘opportunity gap’, as it has since the 1970s. The failures of this policy can be clearly seen when we consider that the number of minority members in the judiciary is the same today as it was at the time of implementation decades ago.

Reshaping Policies

Instead of focusing on the opportunity gap, Josiah recommends a shifting of focus to creating equal outcomes between individuals from varying backgrounds. One effective route is increasing the exposure and immersion in extra-curricular opportunities for students from underprivileged backgrounds, to improve their ‘social capital’. This term refers to the mannerisms and inner functioning of the corporate culture, such as dress code, speech and networking, that are exclusive to those with contacts or experience in professional services.

He cites Newham school, who have successfully sent five students on fully funded scholarships to America as a positive example. Furthermore, to foster equal outcomes, employers and academic institutions need to focus on ‘contextual recruiting’, ensuring that they are measuring individuals within their context, not assuming an even playing field.

Whilst in the long-term we push for institutional reform and increased inclusivity to ensure people from disadvantaged backgrounds have a fairer chance of obtaining a career within the legal profession, we must find a way to help individuals within the system as it stands. One important way Josiah advocates for immediate is implanting a growth mindset amongst young people; the belief that they can achieve anything through hard work. This principle, he has noticed, is much more prominent in the US and could play an important role in tackling imposter syndrome in the UK.

The Law Hub’s View

Josiah Senu is a clear example of what it is possible to achieve with a growth mindset. Pursuing prestigious career paths will inevitably lead to significant challenges, and these challenges will typically be even more difficult for individuals starting off with a relative lack of social and material capital. Josiah, despite coming from an underprivileged background, and as a black male attempting to break into a white, male, and middle-class dominated field, has already made considerable strides in his journey to become a commercial barrister. In doing so, he has demonstrated that, through consistent hard work, focus, and self-belief, it is possible to overcome even the most difficult of obstacles.