Meet the team… Layla Taylor

In our latest ‘meet the team…’ we introduce you to Layla Taylor, an Associate in our London office. Layla joined HCR from an in-house law firm servicing a firm of insolvency practitioners. She shares something new she’s learnt about herself in the last three months, and where she’d live if she could be anywhere in the world.

What reality TV show would you most like to be on?

I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here – but a non-celebrity version. I would love to take part in the challenges and experience living in a jungle.

Are you a morning person or a night owl?

Absolutely one million percent a morning person. I usually wake up at around 5am. Call me crazy, but this is “me time”. I enjoy waking up before anyone else in my house is awake so that I can have time to myself and exercise.

I generally spend a lot of my day doing things for other people, so it is a time that I very much enjoy. The only time I don’t enjoy a 5am start is if I have been out the night before. It would be nice to enjoy a lie in, but my body clock, along with my children, do not allow for it. I have no idea what sleeping until 8am or beyond feels like.

What’s something new you have learnt about yourself in the last three months?

Apologies, but the answer to this question is not work-related! I have been focusing on increasing the speed of my 5km runs recently, and I have learnt that I am quite fast at running when I really try.

My current outdoor 5km run time is 24 minutes and 17 seconds. I am competing in the Turf Games in February 2025, so my next focus is to get this down to 23 minutes over the next few months. Surprisingly, it takes months of practice to increase my speed and therefore decrease my time, which can be rather frustrating.

If you could live anywhere in the world for a year, where would it be and why?

If I could live anywhere for a year, it would be Egypt, and I would of course take my children with me. I am half Egyptian and although I have basic conversational Arabic, I wish I knew more. I have also not exposed my children to enough of this side of their culture and, again, I wish they knew more.

So, I would live there for a year so that we could fully immerse ourselves in the culture and become fluent in Arabic. Egyptian people are some of the kindest people around which is bonus, and the food is excellent so another added bonus. Basically, I love Egypt and I miss it and I wish I had more of it in my life.

If you had 25 hours a day, how would you spend the extra hour?

I would love to answer this question by saying having a walk outside or spending some extra time with my children or getting a facial. The reality is, I would probably spend it doing housework!

What’s the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

Feel the fear and do it anyway!