She's one of Britian's most high profile business brains - providing expert financial advice to the Government, is executive vice chair of West Ham football club and Lord Sugar's key aide on The Apprentice.
But Karren Brady admits her huge success has come at a cost to her personal life and at 47, Karren - who famously only returned to work just days after having her daughter Sophia, now 20 – has always wrestled with her guilt over being a working mum.
She says: "When I was pregnant twenty years ago, work/life balance didn't exist and you just had to get on with it.
"But that is why I am so pleased that things have changed, and you have got a generation of women where they can take time off and they are expected to take time off and it doesn't seem to be a huge barrier.
"I have spent my whole life going from the boardroom to sports day and you always feel guilty. There is no magic formula and you have to accept you can only do what you can do. But out of all the titles I have, "working mother" is probably the best one because my kids and my work are the two most important things to me. I would never give up either.
"It is a juggle and it can be difficult but I am through the other end."
But now Karren – who also has son Paolo, 18, - is now looking forward to focusing on her marriage to football manager husband Paul Peschilsoldio.
She says: "I am not dreading the empty nest syndrome - I am actually looking forward to spending more time with my husband. We have been married 21 years and we have an awful lot in common. I get very little time off so every minute is invaluable for me."
Karen reveals she empathises with Katie Price's recent decision to step down from her role on Loose Women to concentrate on her marriage and home life following her husband Kieran's affairs in 2014.
She admits: "When you have a young family it is tough. Katie has young children and it's hard to hold down a career and a relationship.
"Like Katie, most working mothers will tell you that the last thing on their list is themselves and we spend our whole lives on a guilt trip juggling work with home commitments."
And as pregnancy rumorus continue to surround Cheryl, Karren - who worked with the singer on the celebrity version of The Apprentice in 2007 - says she would be a great mum.
She says: "I think she is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen and she is beautiful on the inside as well as the out.
"She has had a few turbulent years but she has got a good mum herself and I think she will be a great mum too."
In 2006, Karen had a life-changing experience when doctors discovered she a brain aneurysm and she had a 30% chance of dying. After doctors successfully operated, she now embraces life more than ever.
She says: "You can spend your whole life looking over your shoulder worrying but I have the view of whatever will be will be.
"Since the operation, I have no balance and I find it hard to even stand still and if the floor is glass then I am all over the place. In fact anywhere that it's not solid ground, then I find it hard to balance."
I've spent my whole life going from the boardroom to sports day – I always feel guilty.
Karren, who is 5ft 6in and weighs 9 ½ stone, is the fittest and lightest she has been in years, which she attributes to a healthy diet and from walking up to two miles a day.
She says: "I have met people in the street who say, 'You look like Karren Brady, but she is fat.' But I don't care. I am happy with the way I look; it's not something that drives me mad.
"Some women are a bit insecure and they tamper with their looks. But if you want to have surgery, that's what you should do. I want people to think about what I have achieved and not what I look like... Although I have to say that I am certainly the best looking person on The Apprentice panel!"
Watch Karren on The Apprentice every Thursday at 9pm on BBC One and BBC One HD.
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