Hot 100 career quiz: Bakers’ Karen Guch

What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee?

Being told in no uncertain terms by one of the first partners I met (before I’d even done any work for him) that I knew nothing!

It was a fun time though. I was terrified and excited and so acutely aware of how much I didn’t know all at the same time. All the experiences also seem magnified because it was all new – when I did something right/good, it was so exciting and satisfying yet when I didn’t it, was crushingly disappointing. Sounds exhausting, thinking back on it now.

I do remember one time being sent to court for some motion hearing, and I spent about two days fretting about it, rehearsing the four lines I was supposed to say, not sleeping the night before being so worried I’d mess it up. I went to court the next day and when it was my turn I stood up to begin my spiel and the magistrate just postponed it before I uttered a word. That might be why I didn’t become a litigator.

What is the wisest thing anyone ever said to you (and who said it)?

“If you have any doubt, don’t do it” – that was my dad. I haven’t always adhered to that but I’m pretty sure it has saved me from many a disaster I could otherwise have gotten myself into over the years.

I also had a wonderful South African client who once said to me “The big shots are only little shots who have kept shooting” – I’ve always remembered that.

Who (for better or worse) has been the most influential person in your career? Why?

It sounds so trite but I have actually been really lucky to have had lots of very supportive people along the way helping me shape my career, and I think you always need these mentors or supporters to spur you on, especially in a firm like ours.

I was never one of those lawyers with a 10-year plan right out of law school. My main concern was to get a job then once I did that, it was to do a good job. I was more the “let me do a good job and see what happens” type of person. But there were always individuals along the way who helped me craft a path – from giving me the confidence to try to achieve more, believing in my partnership prospects and making me run at it, encouraging me to get on to the various committees I have been on, where I have been able to contribute and learn so much more than just how to do a deal. Having people I trust (both personal and professional) encourage and nudge me along and also steer me away from making horrible mistakes has made all the difference. There have also been some more “challenging” people along the way who have made me more steely than I might otherwise be naturally, and they have also helped me because you do need a bit of a backbone in this job!

I know I haven’t answered your question… but I don’t think I can name one person. Different people have done different things (good and bad) to help/influence me and they have all mattered.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to get to where you are/do the job you do?

Not to stress and worry about everything all the time, especially the small stuff – there will be lots of small stuff. Work hard. Ignore the politics. Find people you can trust, stick with them and listen to their advice. Find out what you’re good at and what you’re not. Have fun with the people you work with – clients, colleagues and counterparts. You won’t enjoy everything about the job but you must enjoy some of it.

What’s your best friend from law school doing now?

I had two – one of them works for the Grosvenor Group in Hong Kong and the other works for Kimberly Clark in Atlanta. They must have learned something I didn’t.