A heavily tattooed lawyer who hid her inkings for years now proudly shows them off and refuses to wear suits to help "humanise" the profession.<br /><br />Alice Stephenson, 42, has always loved tattoos and has ink covering her right arm, neck, chest and back.<br /><br />She was constantly told she "wouldn’t be employable" and it was "unprofessional" and felt forced to hide them for three years while working at law firms.<br /><br />But the mum-of-three, wanted to be her “authentic self” and took the plunge to set up her own law firm, Plume.<br /><br />Now she has ditched the suits and shows off her ink with pride to help “humanise” lawyers.<br /><br />Alice, the founder and CEO of Plume, from Bristol, said: “I felt like I was wearing this mask every day - both physically and mentally.<br /><br />“Tattoos really fed into that – I would always cover them.<br /><br />“If anyone ever caught a glimpse there would be some kind of sarcastic or defamatory comment.<br /><br />“When I started my business I thought I wasn’t going to cover up my tattoos.<br /><br />“I wanted to show I was being my authentic self.<br /><br />“My whole dress sense has changed – I visit clients in jeans and trainers.<br /><br />“I’m humanising lawyers.”<br /><br />Alice - who is now living in Amsterdam, Netherlands - took a long route into law after falling pregnant at 18 and not getting the grades she needed for her university course.<br /><br />After studying sociology, she worked in HR for three years before getting the funding for a law conversion course in 2007.<br /><br />Alice started her law training in 2009 before moving around law firms.<br /><br />She said: “I really hated it.<br /><br />“If I left at half five to pick up my children – people were frowning at you.<br /><br />“As a junior lawyer the expectation was that you are one of the last people to leave.<br /><br />“I felt uncomfortable.”<br /><br />Alice would wear a suit every day and says she would hide her tattoos and personality.<br /><br />She left in 2014 and started freelancing for businesses as an in-house lawyer before deciding to set up her own firm in 2017.<br /><br />Alice said: “I started it on my own – everyone thought I was nuts, they thought I would fail.”<br /><br />Alice also made the decision she was no longer going to cover up her tattoos and wanted to wear what made her feel comfortable – which meant ditching her suit.<br /><br />She even got her hand tattooed so there was no turning back.<br /><br />Alice said: “I’m breaking down barriers between lawyers and clients.<br /><br />“It set me apart from other law firms.<br /><br />“The suit – that’s all gone now.”<br /><br />Alice said her humanisation has made lots of clients want to work with her as it is “refreshing”, but she said there is still a long way to go.<br /><br />She said: "It’s still a mindset – that lawyers shouldn’t have visible tattoos.<br /><br />"That it is unprofessional.<br /><br />"I was always told – 'never have any visible tattoos or you won’t be employable'.<br /><br />"But you're painting yourself grey at the door."<br /><br />Alice said there are stereotypes of what a lawyer "should look like" and said people often see tattoos on women to mean they are promiscuous and heavy drinkers.<br /><br />She said: "I hired a trainee who had a tattoo on her foot and was told to wear a plaster to cover it up.<br /><br />"Some people wear long sleeve jumpers which can be uncomfortable."<br /><br />Alice says her tattoos don't impact her ability to be a lawyer or run a business - and wants to encourage others to feel "empowered".<br /><br />She said: "I could never go back.<br /><br />"I have got the best job in the world.<br /><br />"The industry is so good at alienating people that don't fit the bold.<br /><br />"We need more individuality and creativity."
