Colleen Gostick is Managing Partner of Buckles Solicitors LLP. She was the youngest, and first ever female, partner appointed in the firm's 200-year history. She is responsible for 110 members of staff and was named the Institute of Directors' East of England Businesswoman of the Year 2006.

"Women can be their own worst enemies at times," said Colleen. "They can give up too easily, and tend to take setbacks and criticism personally rather than treating them as a natural part of the learning curve."

Colleen is someone that hasn't given up easily when times have been tough, and has reaped all the benefits that hard work and determination can bring.

Feature:
You don't have to behave like a man to get to the top
The ET's Jemma Walton talks to some of the most powerful women in Peterborough, 19 September 2008.
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In addition to her job, Colleen sits on both the steering group of the Peterborough Regional Economic Partnership, and the Board of the Greater Peterborough Partnership, is Honorary Solicitor for the Citizens Advice Bureau and a judge for both our own Evening Telegraph Business Awards and the East of England Businesswomen Awards.

Married with two children, she is proof that if women have confidence and determination, they can take the best jobs.

She took only four months maternity leave with each of her two children – partly because her husband's diagnosis with multiple sclerosis meant the mantle of family breadwinner had passed entirely to her, but also because she was determined to carry on with her career and to keep building on what had already been achieved.

"It was a wrench to leave the children, of course, but I was determined to keep working – I had completed six long years of hard training and had achieved an early partnership in a very traditional and male dominated firm; I felt I owed it to myself not to give up.

"I love work – the challenges it brings and the personal satisfaction I gain from it. It can be difficult juggling everything, but it is possible to get the work life balance right – I have never missed a sports day, music recital or a school play. It's not the length of time spent at your desk that matters but the quality of what is achieved.

"Things don't have to be perfect, they just have to work. I very much believe in flexible working, and that it's not necessary to look or behave like men to succeed in a man's world."