What first drew you to starting your business?

My (too) honest answer would be that it was probably watching Ally McBeal as a teenager and being dazzled by the seemingly glamorous lifestyle and exciting court dramas. My more serious answer is that I was encouraged by my Dad, who was a lawyer in the North East area for over 35 years – I was able to see through his work that it was a challenging but fulfilling and well-respected long-term career. As a child visiting London I remember boldly stating that I wanted to be a lawyer with flats in London and Paris; I am pleased that I have achieved two-thirds of that dream!

What is the best thing about being in your current role?

The best thing about my current role is seeing the immediate impact my recent promotion to Partner has had on juniors at Marriott Harrison and women in other professional roles. I have already been asked by a junior female colleague for advice on how to “make it” to Partner and a number of different people/organisations have asked me to speak about my career to date. This gives me the drive to keep going, even on bad days.

What's your advice to other women entering your career?

I would advise young lawyers to focus on what they want from their future career and try as far as possible to stick to that aim, to set boundaries and say “no” more often (whether that is saying no to events/clients or to doing “office housework”), and to find what makes you content and energised and do that as much as possible (e.g. networking with brilliant women at WIBN!).