The barrister turned business woman Nisha Katona
Nisha Katona
Graduate: LLB (Hons) Law
LJMU Chancellor Nisha Katona graduated from the university with a degree in law, became a Barrister for 20 years, before changing career and pursuing her dream to be a restaurateur.
The business woman and now television presenter explains how throughout your career doors may open for you, they just might not be the ones you expect.
We're celebrating our students and alumni and their moments where timing, opportunity and their talents aligned.
You graduated from LJMU in 1995. Why did you choose the university?
Well interestingly I started studying psychology at a different university and hated it. There were far too many numbers for me. So I started working at a solicitor's office and absolutely fell in love with it. I came to meet an academic at LJMU called John Cooke from the School of Law and I thought ‘actually this is where I want to be and I’m going to study law here.’
Did you have any moments in your career, when you thought you might go down one path but ending up going down another?
My life has been littered by doors that I thought should open and they didn’t. I wanted to study medicine, and I didn’t get the grades twice, and I remember thinking, what is going to happen in my life. I started studying psychology and then changed to studying law and then I was a barrister for 20 years, which was the best job in the world and then I ended opening restaurants, so these inadvertent doors do open, they just might not be the ones you expect. You’ve just got to have hope, keep your eyes open and just know the right path will make itself known to you.
Was there a pivotal person or moment that changed the direction of your career or life?
Yes actually in one of the chambers where I used to work, there was a clerk and he was a nightmare. And I remember going home to my mum, age 40 and talking about it with her and my mum said ‘well why don’t you look into doing your Indian cooking classes’ and so sometimes it is the person that have scotched your path that can make you reassess and think, ‘do I want to do this anymore?’
What has been your career highlight so far?
Well what has been amazing is that I’ve almost had two careers, the first being a barrister and there’s nothing quite like your first case, where someone has watched you and thought I want her to represent me, or defend me, so that itself is just a great moment.
But then my big highlight with Mowgli, was getting that appreciation from the food world for what started as this little kebab shop, to then opening Mowgli, and the restaurant business model that is has become.
Overall, the greatest career highlight is actually not feeling like what I do is work. I look forward to my job, enjoy and feel like it is a hobby. That’s the best that I could hope for any of our students.
Nisha is LJMU’s first alumni Chancellor. She graduated from LJMU in 1995 and became Chancellor of the university in 2021.
