If you’re wondering what the formula to success is take the advice of 52-year-old entrepreneur and founder of Moosa-Duke Solicitors, Mehmooda Duke, who says "there is no other secret to success but hard work”. The medical negligence specialist has also been awarded this year an MBE for her services to the legal profession and female entrepreneurship.
Originally from Blackburn, Mehmooda’s legal career began in 1992. The first 10 years of her career in the medical negligence field saw her defending the NHS and GPs. In 2002 Mehmooda made the decision to set up her own law firm, which coincided with her moving to Leicester. Before her legal career, Mehmooda was a teacher for a year but decided to re-train as lawyer, she says “in my family there were a lot of teachers, and not any lawyers. I knew I wanted to do something different and more challenging, although teaching is challenging – I needed a different kind of challenge”.
With a vision and desire to succeed, building her empire was not an easy task but nevertheless one which she was set out to achieve. The entrepreneur who classes herself as a perfectionist told Asian Voice, “Once I give myself a target and goal, I’m going to carry on until I get there. My motivation came from the fact that I set out to make a success of this and I’m not going to stop until I’ve done that."
And so, in a small flat in the city of Leicester at the age of 36 Mehmooda began laying the foundations of her law firm Moosa-Duke solicitors – leading specialists in medical negligence claims. “I did everything by myself, from cleaning the toilets and to answering the calls," she said. "I’d greet the clients and then switch over when they’d ask for me."
Inevitably Mehmooda faced many challenges. “I didn’t know a single soul, when I moved to Leicester and that was very difficult, getting clients was obviously the hardest thing and I was completely by myself." In a world where women are constantly told what to do and follow the standards of society, Mehmooda’s decision to embark on this journey single handily does not only break barriers but also serves as an inspiration and motivation to others who are thinking to start a business on their own.
As new as she was to Leicester, so was she to the world of business. “I wasn’t a business woman, I had to learn about business and negotiating a lot of things”, says Mehmooda on the early challenges she faced. She added, “The biggest challenge was getting to know people, and so what I did is put a great big advert in the yellow pages, so that’s how I slowly built it up and I began networking”. Throughout this all Mehmooda’s mantra was that all she was going to do was a damn good job.
Mehmooda who says her team and staff is what keeps her now motivated says the advice she would give to others is to “work damn hard, you think having your own business is going to give you freedom, yes somewhere down the line it does, but in the beginning there’s no freedom."
As the first female Asian president in 155 years of the Leicester Law Society, Mehmooda is undeniably an inspiration to many women. But for her, first inspiration has always been Khadijah, the wife of Prophet Muhammad. “She was in a world of men a phenomenal business woman, she’s a historical figure and has always been my inspiration for that. My mum is one of my inspirations too, she always just worked so hard and was so professional about everything."
Her role as the first female Asian president has allowed her to pave the way for other Asian women and as a prominent figure in the legal world. Mehmooda has helped many people whether it be through offering internships at her law firm or getting people involved. “If you’re a woman in a leadership space, my mantra is pull up the next woman behind you,” she said.
Last year, Mehmooda alongside her brother and daughter climbed the Mount Kilimanjaro - the highest mountain in Africa, to raise money for a charity ‘Healing little hearts’. To see their journey and donate visit: https://www.totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/kili4healing
Mehmooda concluded by saying, "Being a woman means, being a daughter, a sister, a mum, a wife, an employee, a business owner, a leader, anything you choose to be – and knowing that you have a voice and that you are enough."
