Deborah Spranger has her mom to thank for helping her find her niche in corporate law. After graduating from college, Spranger, who had wanted to be a lawyer since she was 5, said she originally had plans to continue straight on to law school but decided, due to her mother's influence, to take a break and get a job instead.

“My mother made a comment one day. She said, 'you're staying in academia because otherwise you wouldn't be able to hold a job,'” Spranger said. “So I got a job in manufacturing and stayed there for five years.”

She moved up the ranks in the half-decade on that job and learned she had a knack and a passion for the corporate world.