My research is concerned with understanding the career trajectories of senior female executives in professional services, focusing on the impact of dark or toxic leadership and the prevelance of female bullying. Emergent evidence gathered from narrative accounts points to the perpetuation of organsiational barriers which have the capacity to derail careers and lead to a systemic loss of skilled and capable females from the talent pipeline. I have a protean (portfolio) career as a part-time researcher in academia, and as an examiner, alongside serving as an executive director in professional services, and also as a NED on the board of a MAT.