SHE MEANS BUSINESS | Insider's take on getting to the top of your career

We are speaking with Pauline Kiraithe, an HR director with decades of experience, about the dos and don'ts of building a successful career and rising through the ranks.

According to Pauline, the key to a successful career is taking ownership of your journey and being intentional about elements like learning.

She claims that those who take the 8-5 pm approach and do not go above and beyond are unlikely to succeed.

Regarding the challenges that women face as they advance in their careers, Pauline urged them to speak up, adding that they should not assume that their needs are known to decision makers.

She cites the case where she only realised how crucial a mother's room is for breastfeeding mothers when she got her own child.

"I asked the other mothers how they had survived without one and was shocked to hear the places they were expressing milk," Pauline says of her time as an HR director but not having realised just how crucial the mother's room was until she needed it.

For more on the dos and don'ts when scaling up the career ladder, watch She Means Business.