But will Tina Lee Robles’ YouTube channel help or hinder her barrister dreams?
A trained dancer, a former Pussycat Doll tribute, a Global Pageant contestant, a signed part-time model — Tina Lee Robles has no doubt led an interesting life.
Her next stop? Legal London, the commercial bar to be precise. And, much to the delight of her social media fans, she’s documenting her journey with a behind the scenes look at life on the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC).
But does City Law School student Robles — who goes by idylle doll on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook — think that her, often very personal, vlog will help or hinder her barrister dreams? Legal Cheek caught up with her to find out.
For former Brazilian samba dancer Robles, her most popular social media outlet is YouTube. The purpose of her channel, she explains, is to share her “knowledge” and “passion” for Louis Vuitton, law, culture and philosophy — but it’s her law school-themed videos that have sparked our curiosity.
For all her crazy career history, she paints a very realistic, relatable picture of life as a struggling BPTC student. She tells her “humble”, but respectable, YouTube following of 1,200 subscribers that “nothing can prepare you” for the course, and this is a message that continues through her recent three-part series of law school vlogs (linked here, here and here).
It’s a noble venture, but is it something that prospective employers will look upon favourably? Robles herself told us that she is “well aware of how private and traditional the legal world still is”, which doesn’t quite fit with the personal nature of her videos (one of which includes a rant about how “annoying” it is that BPP law students have more time than City students for their exams and revision period).
However, as the University of Wolverhampton graduate rightly points out, times are changing, and in the social media age having a vlog is more common and acceptable than it has been previously. She explains:
[A] vlog would only potentially hinder my legal career aspirations if my content was considered inappropriate or distasteful by the Bar Standards Board and the legal world alike. However, I do take care not to create content that may offend the masses so that my vlog has less of a chance of hindering my career progress.
And, when it comes to her modelling and performing background, she echoes the same sentiments. She believes that this is not relevant whatsoever to her legal career, because:
I’m not the first person to not come from Oxbridge stock and most certainly not the last. There are more and more brilliant barristers from all different backgrounds coming out of the woodwork and as long as we maintain what is expected of us to represent the bar, then I don’t see why employers would have a problem.
She added:
I believe that my unconventional background and experience has taught me interpersonal skills and a type of work ethic invaluable to my success as a future barrister!
It can’t be easy juggling a popular YouTube channel and intense BPTC studies, but at the moment she’s managing. She does admit, however, that it’s getting more difficult with her growing audience.
But don’t assume her channel and her studies are totally disconnected. A quick scan of Roble’s videos and you’ll see she’s big on luxury fashion brands like Louis Vuitton — and guess what area of law she wants to go into? She told Legal Cheek:
The commercial sector of international and European Law has always been of major interest to me as well as having a love for distinguished brands such as Louis Vuitton due to their extensive history and craftsmanship. Therefore, my ultimate career aspiration is to litigate in internationally related disputes as a member of the legal team for a leading fashion house.
Maybe her YouTube channel is as much an exercise in demonstrating commercial awareness as it is a hobby? Certainly she appears to have found a niche and is specific about what she wants. And often the first step to getting what you want is to know what you want.
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