While it would be easy to joke about the skills that a dual Muay Thai and kickboxing world champion might bring to commercial litigation, solicitor Sammy Brown says the applicable skills are mental not physical.
Sammy, who recently started a new role with Sunshine Coast-based Axia Litigation Lawyers, lists the importance of teamwork, resilience and discipline as some of the skills she learned in her sporting career.
“I’m big on having a supportive team,” she said.
“If you’re in the ring having a fight and you don’t trust the people in your corner that they’re giving you the right information or they’re not working with you, you’re pretty useless.”
Now armed with an honours degree in law and studying towards a masters specialising in commercial litigation and dispute resolution, she describes her journey to the law as an interesting one.
With an active sporting background that drew her to working as a personal trainer, Sammy was introduced to Muay Thai and drawn to the discipline and the athleticism of the training.
Her competitive instincts soon took over and the ring beckoned. Sammy quickly moved through the ranks.
However sporting success brought with it some career challenges.
“When I was fighting, we didn’t earn much money and I had to think, ‘what job can I show up to with a black eye’,” she laughed.
Her solution was an electrical apprenticeship and she was on the verge of completing that when she was invited to appear in a reality-based tournament program overseas.
“So I went off and travelled the world to fight, which was pretty exciting to me,” she said.
“Not so much for my mum’s blood pressure.”
Kickboxing and Muay Thai provided Sammy with several years of travel opportunities, and two world titles amid a sea of regional ones. Incredibly, she also found time to start a business marketing degree at QUT.
Not long before graduating, Sammy won her second world title and was awarded the Vice Chancellor’s scholarship, providing the opportunity for further study. While considering studying either sports psychology or law, true to form Sammy made her choice based on which was harder.
“And then once I started studying, I absolutely loved it.”
Despite her sporting achievements, Sammy was initially reluctant to include them in her legal resume.
“It’s funny, I didn’t think I would get a job, as I assumed there would be this preconceived stigma about a ‘rough fighter’,” she said.
Fortunately, a gym partner was a lawyer who encouraged her to include her combative extra-curricular achievements.
“He said, ‘no one’s going to bat an eyelid about the fact you’re a fighter, they’re probably going to like it because it’s going to show that you’ve got resilience, you’ve got dedication and you can achieve things by putting your mind to it’,” Sammy recalled.
“Which is really nice because I really thought it was the opposite. I’m finding that no one actually cares.”
Sammy’s new boss, Adam Brown, confirms it was her fighting qualities that stood out to him.
“Sammy’s achievements are impressive, but what stands out most is the mindset behind them – discipline, focus, and resilience,” Adam said.
“We’re proud to welcome her as our newest team member, and those qualities align strongly with what Axia stands for.
“She’s exactly the kind of person who lifts the people around her – and we know she’ll be a real asset to both our team culture and our clients.”
While now retired from the ring and six years into her legal career, Sammy is excited about her new role, but the lessons from the ring endure.
“This place is phenomenal, the amount of knowledge here that you can absorb, I get so excited about learning from everyone else,” she said.
“I have an old theory, you never want to be the best in the room because if you’re the best in the room, you’re not getting better.
“I applied the same with Muay Thai, if I was sparring and if I was the best one there, I’d have to go somewhere else and train, because you need to improve somehow.
“And this place is full of knowledge and full of exceptional solicitors, so I’m pretty excited for this next chapter.”
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