The CEO of the technology platform and network of chambers New Chancery Lane shares her passions and interests with The Brief

How do you like to start the day?

My alarm goes off at 6.30, by which point I'm usually awake but lying very still so that Thorn, my cat, doesn't get any ideas. I've only just trained her out of waking me by patting my face or combing my hair with her claws, so now the alarm is her signal instead. I head downstairs to feed her and Percy (my other cat), make a cup of tea, and sit on the bed for five minutes while she purrs in my face, delighted with the routine. I spend my working life challenging the way things have always been done, but at home I've lost that battle completely.

What's your favourite object in your office/home office?

I've never quite got over the magic of the coffee tap at Chancery Lane, but in Taunton I love the book swap table best of all.

Who is your closest colleague?

I'm lucky with all eight of our senior management team. Everyone is completely different, and our meetings can be hilarious because everyone sparks off each other, which is where our best ideas come from. I'd love to say "all of them", but I'll cheat and use geography: Daniel, our CFO, and I are both based at Chancery Lane, so we spend the most time together.

Do you have a favourite family heirloom?

My grandmother died last year aged nearly 102. A few months before, she gave me her grandmother's gold bracelet. It was so fragile and broken in so many places that it couldn't be worn, but it was important nonetheless. I'm eternally grateful to Alsal Watches, opposite the Royal Courts of Justice, who took on the fiddly and probably fairly risky job of restoring it. Now I wear it every day.

What's your favourite song of all time? "Islands in the Stream", the Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers version. About 25 years ago my husband and I were decorating our kitchen with a Best of Dolly Parton CD playing on a loop while we painted up ladders. A few years later it was the first dance at our wedding.

What's your favourite play?

I'm not a big musical theatre fan, but I love Cabaret. It's so dark, so funny and so clever. It's also imprinted on my brain: I was in a sixth-form production where I met many of my oldest, closest friends. At one of their weddings recently we ended the day singing round the piano, starting with "Maybe This Time", and our teens came flooding back.

Who's your favourite movie star?

Tilda Swinton, although she's more an artist than a movie star. She brings seriousness, elegance and grit to everything she does, and she's a style icon too.

What's your favourite book?

It changes all the time. Like a lot of people, I think Middlemarch is the perfect novel, but I'll read and re-read anything by Hilary Mantel, especially Beyond Black and Ink in the Blood. I've just finished Sarah Wynn-Williams' Careless People, her memoir of working at Facebook. If you're one of the few who haven't read it, it's my next recommendation. It's also become a great bonding experience in our Chancery Lane office, and we're all waiting for Daniel to finish it so we can have a proper chat.

What book are you reading right now?

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf.

What book do you wish you had written?

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. It's a huge commercial success that will be on A-level reading lists for a century. It takes a Victorian classic and rebuilds it for the modern world.

What's the greatest invention of all time?

The internet. It's a double-edged sword, and the unintended consequences of bringing the world closer together are hitting home right now. But I'll stand by it, because it levels the playing field like nothing before it. My career has been defined by what the internet makes possible for business. Without it, chambers would still have to cluster around the courts so their clerks could be first in line for work. The Barrister Group led the way in using technology to turn that model on its head, and we keep pushing the boundaries every day.

Is there a sport you wish you could play?

I've never been very sporty, but I'd love to be better at tennis.

Who inspires you in business?

Ocado. It had the vision to build the infrastructure that took the internet to its logical conclusion, and it held its nerve through years when the doubters said online groceries would never fly. It played the long game, and now most of us can't imagine life without it. That's what we're doing for the Bar: building the infrastructure it will soon wonder how it ever managed without.

In the office do you dress up, dress down or somewhere in between?

I love to dress up when I get the chance, but I save that for Chancery Lane. We're more casual on Taunton days.

Where do you go to relax?

There's a sunny spot outside my back door where I sit with a coffee, a newspaper and a cat, or just stare at the plants if work has been intense. Otherwise it's a run around Brockwell Park or a swim in Brockwell Lido, which never fails to reset my mind.

What country have you always wanted to visit?

Mexico. I love it, but I've only ever been there on business, so I've never seen it properly.

Besides your phone, what do you always have with you?

A tiny bottle of Prada Infusion d'Iris. My eldest daughter is called Iris, and when I lent her my scarf a few years ago she told me it took her ages to realise the smell came from a bottle. She'd assumed it was just how I smelled. I've never met anyone else who wears it, though there must be some out there.

What's the best part of your job?

The ideas that come out of solving problems as a group. VENTRiQ is the best example. A couple of years ago we realised we had effectively built a whole infrastructure of technology and operations that could securely and efficiently support thousands of barristers' practices. But chambers are exclusive clubs for a reason: identity, community, brand and reputation matter, and you don't want to scale beyond Dunbar's number (roughly the 150 relationships a person can keep up) and lose all of that. When small specialist chambers started asking us to support them behind the scenes, the penny dropped. We decoupled the shared back office from the things that make each chambers unique, so our clients can focus on what sets them apart.

How do you unwind after work?

Cooking. I find it easier to relax by switching activities than by collapsing on the sofa, so I like to improvise dinner with whatever's in the fridge. Last night I had a pile of green vegetables because I'd done the Ocado shop before remembering that two of our daughters were now away at university. So the three of us had broccoli and green bean lasagne.

Finally, what's your guilty pleasure?

Why should anyone feel guilty about pleasure? I don't even understand the question, which probably gives you the answer.

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