Celebrating International Women’s Day – A Conversation with Caroline Doran

Hi Caroline, what would you say has inspired you to get where you are today?

I would say it’s the managers that I’ve had at work and the faith that they’ve had in me. I think sometimes I didn’t have that faith in myself so knowing that they supported me and wanted to send me on training courses really helped. I feel like I’ve progressed so much since I’ve been working at The Runnymede and that’s because of them. Also, seeing my team around me progress has been really inspirational. For example, we’ve taken on people without qualifications and have seen them do really well and often reach management roles, which I think is pretty amazing.

What words of wisdom did female relatives share with you when growing up?

I was always told to work hard and not expect things to be simply handed to me. Also, to never let anyone tell me that I was not good enough, to be proud of everything I achieve and to know my value.

Who is your female role model?

That’s a tricky one! I feel like I should be giving you the name of a powerful businesswoman or something but I won’t be cliché. For me it’s the great female managers that I’ve had throughout my career. They’ve all had an incredible work ethic and I’ve tried to adopt their traits and absorb their great management techniques.

Has there been a moment in your life where you’ve felt proud to be female? If so, what was it?

I have been participating in Karate for over 35 years – competing and now coaching. Over those years I have often been the only female in the club, or at least, women have been in the huge minority. Over time this has changed and I now see so many females taking part and succeeding. I am proud when students compliment and thank me as their coach – not because I am female but because of my ability as a coach. When I was younger and competing there were no separate male and female categories – I had to fight in the boys’ events – so winning these was always a proud moment for me as a female!

What advice would you give to your 20-year-old self?

I would honestly tell myself to do exactly the same in terms of career. Pick the same career and venture down that same path. I worked my way up from the bottom and I think that gave me really good grounding. I didn’t expect things to just fall into my lap and that gave me a strong motivation to work hard. So in terms of advice, I would say to continue working hard, and if you prove that you can do more than your job, you’ll be noticed and rewarded. Having said that, I think I would also tell myself to be more confident in my ability and truly believe in myself!