Editor’s note: This is part of a series of Q&As with leading women in the legal profession, in honor of National Women’s History Month. They were conducted and written by the legal recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa.

Cynthia Gibson, executive vice president and chief legal and business affairs officer at Scripps Network Interactive, spent 20 years in private practice before making the leap in-house. “I felt as if I had done all that I could do in that arena,” she says. “I’d made partner, led a practice group and was on the management committee. I started wondering if I might be ready for a change.” She spoke with a number of close contacts about options to do something different, and one of those conversations led to talk about possibly joining Scripps Networks Interactive’s legal department. She knew the quality of the people and leadership at Scripps and really admired the entrepreneurial spirit of the business. In 2009, she joined Scripps’ legal team, before being named chief legal officer after participating in a nationwide search as the internal candidate.