At The Access Group, the blend of professional growth and a strong commitment to an inclusive culture creates a unique workplace experience. Tiara Samuel, a solicitor qualified in England and Wales exemplifies this perfectly. Since joining Access in 2020, she has supported colleagues across the UK, EU, US, and APAC in commercial contract negotiations as well as contentious and non-contentious intellectual property and dispute resolution. Progressing rapidly from Paralegal to Trainee Solicitor, Tiara now serves as In-House Legal Counsel. Beyond her legal expertise, she was the original co-chair and helped to create The Access Group’s GRACE Network Steering Committee, which champions racial equality and drives initiatives to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion within the organisation.

We spoke with Tiara to learn more about her journey, her role at Access and the impact of the GRACE Network.

Can you share a little about your journey to becoming part of the team at Access Group?

Since joining Access in 2020, I have progressed from Paralegal to Trainee Solicitor and now serve as In-House Legal Counsel. I have been at The Access Group for four and a half years and this is where I started my corporate/commercial career, during the pandemic.

When I joined the company as a Paralegal it was also my first legal role, and this role was all about the opportunity to get exposure to the legal world and learn about the software/SaaS industry. Now I am a solicitor qualified in England and Wales supporting colleagues across the UK, EU, US, and APAC with commercial contract negotiations, as well as contentious and non-contentious intellectual property matters and dispute resolution. I was also the GRACE Co-chair from its creation in early 2024 up until the end of March 2025.

What key skills or experiences have had the greatest impact on your professional development to date?

Two of the most important skills that have impacted my professional development at Access are having a growth mindset and being able to work with different people. This approach and mentality is common at Access, and in my experience there is always room for a conversation about growth.

My aspiration was always to become a qualified solicitor and so I have prioritised having early discussions with my leaders about routes for growth and progression. This involved having in depth conversations about how to upskill my legal knowledge and understand how to support the business’ strategic work, so that I could align it to the right level of legal input. I also did my own research to drive the conversation about what I wanted my career to look like and asked questions to make sure I had an understanding about how to achieve my goals. I was the first person to go through The Access Group’s legal training contract programme and this has now evolved into Access having a more formal junior lawyer training programme in place.

As part of my legal training contract, I was able to learn from different members of our very talented and experienced legal team, who have a vast range of legal specialties and routes into the legal profession. This has enabled me to learn different negotiation, communication and advisory styles to be able to support different teams across the business with a variety of simple and complex legal challenges.

What inspired the creation of the GRACE Network and what does the name represent?

GRACE represents the Global Race Acceptance Community Ensemble and was formed with the goal of promoting multiculturalism at Access and creating a community group that focuses on race, culture, and ethnicity. This community group and network is open to all colleagues at Access. Whether an individual is from an underrepresented racial or ethnic backgrounds, or an individual wants to learn more about being and an ally, the goal is for all members to share the common values of wanting to support racial equality and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging at Access.

As the original Co-chair of The Access Group’s GRACE Network Steering Committee alongside Earl McFarlane, my goal was to ensure that individuals within Access felt like they had a community to talk openly about their cultures and how this influenced and impacted their life at work. I also wanted to create an avenue to elevate the voices of employees to make sure that topics that matter to the GRACE members are considered by the GRACE sponsors and the wider business.

What motivated you to take on the role of co-chair and how has it shaped your experience here?

Since being at Access I’ve built my own professional network around me to support me with day to day BAU questions. Alongside this, I have also been building my professional network to find a community within Access that can understand some of the challenges of being in an environment where not everyone is going to look like me, or come from my background.

I have used my own network to foster discussions on how to overcome those challenges, whether that has been facing imposter syndrome, making sure that my viewpoint and perspective is taken into consideration, or how to get the right mentorship. It can be so powerful to have that support from a community that is willing to listen or give advice, but who are also there to celebrate the successes. This is why I wanted to take on the role of co-chair of GRACE to help to build that community network for other people at Access who may not otherwise get that opportunity.

From my time as Co-Chair of GRACE I have been able to work with lots of new people across the business that have been fundamental in driving the goals of GRACE. I have also been able to expand my own network and been able to contribute to the creation of a space to drive important conversations at Access.

Can you share a moment or initiative you’re especially proud of from your time with GRACE?

At the end of March 2025, GRACE held it’s very first in-person event at The Access Group’s UK headquarters in Loughborough. GRACE welcomed Dean Forbes (named the Most Influential Black Person, The Powerlist 2025) for a fireside chat. Dean Forbes shared his inspiring career journey, highlighting why representation matters and reiterating the importance of taking a moment to understand another person’s perspective.

This was a celebratory occasion for GRACE and I was extremely proud to see GRACE evolve from an idea to it’s first in-person event within 12 months. This first event had just under 100 attendees and was also recorded for other GRACE members to catch-up on at a later date. Although I have stepped away from continuing as the Co-Chair of GRACE, I’m excited to see how GRACE will continue to flourish.

Through Tiara’s story, it is clear that The Access Group is not just a place to grow professionally, but also a community committed to positive change, making it a truly inspiring environment for employees who want to make a difference.