May is International Wellness Month. For lawyers, wellness can’t be overemphasized. The American Bar Association investigated the mental wellness of lawyers, and the findings were worrying. They revealed “disproportionate rates of chronic stress, depression, and substance use among lawyers and law students.”
Some solutions that the professionals from the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law implemented to ensure good mental health were going to therapy, being in a community, and engaging in therapeutic activities.
Lucy M. Ocharo has brought all these solutions together and practices them religiously. As a result, she’s become an example of making strides toward threefold wellness in the spirit, soul, and body.
I had a conversation with her, and this is her story.
Enter Lucy: Lucy Ocharo’s Legal Career and Love for Nature
Lucy M. Ocharo is an Advocate of the High Court, a certified Financial Services Risk Manager, a holder of a Global MBA, and currently the Legal Counsel & Policy at EED Advisory Ltd. She is visionary and ambitious.
Connecting the dots backward, her tenacity landed her a spot as an intern at Anjarwalla & Khanna. Getting a place at one of the best commercial law firms in East Africa is no small fete.
“Back in Kenyatta University (KU) where I studied my undergrad, I won a moot court competition. Consequently, Anjarwalla and Khanna Advocates offered me an internship position through a letter. I never knew who they were.
At first, I was hesitant to accept the internship because the firm specialized in commercial law, yet I saw myself practicing environmental law because I’m passionate about the environment and climate change. However, my mentor, Mr. Muriithi Wanajau (an Advocate too -who I like to say has practiced for almost as long as I have existed on earth), told me to accept the offer and go for the internship. He advised the firm would be a massive endorsement when I add it to my CV and I should strive to be there for as long as I could.”
Lucy initially planned to intern at Anjarwalla & Khanna for three months, or at most, the maximum six-month duration the firm offered interns. But the three months ended up being six years.
She remembers fondly a sentiment from a senior associate she worked closely with who described her as a “closer.” In corporate speak, a closer means she executes and completes projects, a trait she continues carrying throughout her career journey.
The fast-paced environment she met there and thrived through prepared her for the other roles she later took on. Anjarwalla & Khanna taught her to deliver on tight deadlines and complete projects. Each project was exciting and came with its distinct lessons and experience.
“One of the things that I seem to enjoy in my career is the high that comes with organizing, executing, and seeing projects completed,” she says.
While at the firm, she was seconded to SWVL’s legal department. SWVL is a NASDAQ-listed public transport technology services company. Her favorite memories working at SWVL include being part of the legal team handling SWVL’s NASDAQ listing and expansion in different countries.
After SWVL, Lucy joined Care Pay Limited, a health insurance selling and claims settling company, where she was the Legal Counsel & Privacy in Kenya. Some of her favorite memories here included working on the privacy statements and terms of service for a regulated service in insurance in the face of the new data protection regime. She also negotiated contracts with providers and payers in the insurance sector and actively participated in corporate governance.
In 2024, she joined EED Advisory, a consultancy firm focused on WASH, Energy, and Climate Change. She is the lead on ESG matters, provides in-house legal support, and works on the legal aspects of projects in the firm’s three sectors. In the long run, her love for nature and passion for environmental law came full circle with her role at EED Advisory. As someone passionate about Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) she loves observing nature and finds ways businesses can contribute to conservation as they look at the non-financial pillars.
Experiencing Nature Through Biking and Hiking
Although Lucy may not have had an opportunity to practice environmental law from the onset, she made up for it by experiencing nature by venturing into the great outdoors to unwind. Besides her passion for the law, she’s also passionate about biking, and sometimes, these biking trips turn into hikes. Her heart beats for the beautiful views to be discovered on two wheels.
While biking may seem extreme to some, fear is one thing Ms. Ocharo doesn’t struggle with. If she does, it motivates her to challenge obstacles. Consequently, Lucy has climbed the Aberdares Ranges, Mt. Kenya, and Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Her first hike was to Mt. Longonot in 2021. She went on the hike as part of a group of the biker community after they collectively agreed to ride their bikes to the mountain for the hike and back. Besides hiking, Lucy enjoys exploring the great outdoors while riding her adventure bike. Keep reading for details on how she discovered her love for riding.
Despite these notable hiking exploits, Ms. Ocharo is careful to disown the title of a hiker, yet she does a lot of hiking. “I’m not a hiker, but every so often, my body craves a hike, the clean air and quiet found at high altitudes, oh, and the walk in nature. It helps me blend with nature and keep off screens. Laptops and phones dominate our lives largely because we need them to work or stay in touch with each other. Additionally, sometimes, I encounter a mental/creative block and can’t find solutions to some problems. I have found that hiking and going outdoors helps me to break that block and problem-solve,” Lucy notes.
The wellness benefits of exposure to nature are undisputed. A 2021 study published on the National Institutes of Health’s website established a link between exposure to nature and improved cognitive function, brain activity, blood pressure, mental health, and sleep. The findings from this study were based on evidence gathered from experimental and observational studies over the last decade.
Back to Lucy, her greatest exploit as a “non-hiker” was in April this year when she ventured into the Himalayas, reaching the Lobuche Camp on Mt. Everest (Lobuche is 6km below the famous Everest Base Camp) in Nepal. It’s a testament to her relentless pursuit of what she loves: the great outdoors. She narrates the incredible, unforgettable views she encountered at Everest. “I would advise anyone to visit Everest in the Himalayas; for one, the terrain has cherry blossoms in many colours – I am yet to find them in Kenya. Second, picture this: the water is consistently clear both upstream and downstream having a beautiful green colour kinda like what we find at Ngare Ndare, throughout the mountain. Imagine that picture!”
Of course, going to 5364 meters above sea level is a huge achievement, but it comes with its scars. She just came back a month ago and was down with what she terms a “proper chest infection.” Which she has since fully recovered from.
I asked her why she chooses extreme fitness/ outdoor recreational activities instead of being conservative and engaging in activities such as swimming, music, or movies. She fondly refers to her grandparents as her biggest inspiration. Her grandparents are fit and healthy in their old age, so, they challenge her to do what she can now to ensure that she has a healthier life when she grows older.
“My maternal grandmother is fitter than I am. She walks all day monitoring and managing tea farms without getting exhausted. Grandma is so full of life that one day she asked me to teach her to ride a motorcycle. But my mom gave me a stern warning not to even think of risking her mother’s life by letting her sit on a bike let alone learn to ride one,” she hilariously narrates.
How Lucy Started Biking
Lucy was the Legal Representative for the Private Bikers Association of Kenya in 2021/2022 and an active member of the Inked Sisterhood Association (the largest inclusive female private biker group). So, how did she become a biker and join the association?
While pursuing her undergraduate law degree, she happened to be the only child who could drive at the time, which meant her parents would send her on errands. Since they were not around often, she would drive her siblings to different weekend activities and occasionally do school runs midweek. Gradually, the taste and love for driving fizzled out.
When she graduated, she decided to train on how to ride motorcycles, started to ride for fun, and eventually, due to the excess traffic, it became her preferred means of transport.
Her first bike bought in September 2019 was a “beautiful blue Suzuki Gixxer SF 155, christened ‘kadudu’ by my riding buddies then, since I had the smallest bike in the group this has since changed, Ahem.”
Lucy was voted as their Legal Representative from 2021 to 2022 by members of the Private Bikers Association – an association of private bikers that brings together bikers from all groups, across the country for safety and to champion their needs. As the legal Representative, Lucy used her position and expertise as a lawyer to champion the rights of two-wheelers, including preparing a memo to City Hall to allow private bikers who commute to work to ride into the CBD.
Lucy is a safety champion and encourages everyone to ensure their safety as they enjoy the adventure on two wheels. During her tenure as the Representative, together with her colleagues at the time, she negotiated a memorandum with Amref that would allow more bikers to take on evacuation covers to facilitate their in-case-of-emergency response. “I am happy to see the benefits enjoyed to date.”
Besides going on hikes, she has greatly toured Kenya and beyond: riding her bike from Nairobi to Kigali and back (during an around L. Victoria ride), gone to L. Turkana, L. Baringo, L. Victoria, Moyale, Garissa, and toured the coastal region in Kenya (Malindi, Diani, Msa) and Tanzania (Dar Es Salaam). She continues to discover the East Africa region on two wheels.
She embodies the never-give-up attitude and is a tenacious go-getter.
Lucy’s format for wellness all-round
From Lucy’s story, you can see that wellness is not achieved passively. Every person has to take an active role in getting better and finding healthier ways to take a break, de-stress, or cope with life. Her proactive approach to wellness suits her body and personality well.
According to her, although perfect wellness is impossible, our actions set us up on the path to wellness in all spheres and somehow can prepare us with healthy ways of coping when life eventually happens.
