inance Minister Paula Cox tells of entering the Bermuda political arena, why she followed a law career and admits she holds aspirations to one day be the Island's Premier, in the latest issue of Caribbean magazine SHE.

Ms Cox was profiled in the region's only magazine of its kind by Pat Phillip Bassett, who writes business features every week for

In the article, Ms Cox, 45, said unequivocally she was keen to one day lead this country but she will bide her time.

Ms Cox, who balances leading the all-important Finance Ministry with being a corporate counsel for leading Bermuda-based insurer ACE Limited, said: "For someone who loves politics and the art of politics, to be selected and chosen by the people as their Premier would not just be a stellar achievement but the pinnacle of success."

But she hastened to add: "Having said that, I respect the office of Premier. No one need watch their back because of my ambitions. I am an advocate of due process. Everything has its time."

Ms Cox's successes to date and future political aspirations will be read about around the Caribbean with SHE publishers telling the bi-monthly magazine is the Caribbean's only magazine for women created and published in the region.

SHE Caribbean's prime audience is women between the ages of 25 and 45, and SHE conservatively puts its readership at 100,000 readers. Those readers are not only in the Caribbean however, with the magazine being distributed outside of the region to areas with large West Indian populations including the US, UK and Canada. The magazine is expanding distribution to include the British Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Turks & Caicos, Luxembourg, France, Belgium and South Africa.

Ms Cox is featured in the March/April issue of SHE along with profiles on leading women figures in the region, as well as articles on topical issues ranging from fitness and health to beauty, to love and relationships, and more.Telling of her first foray into politics, Ms Cox said she was honoured when the PLP selected her to run as their candidate in a by-election after the death of former Opposition Leader Frederick Wade.

"Not only was I running in the seat of a giant and a leader of the PLP whom I had tremendous respect and affection for, but I was selected against the odds when there were other male candidates who were in the running," Ms Cox said in her SHE interview.

By getting into Bermuda politics, Ms Cox followed in the footsteps of her father, former Finance Minister the late Eugene Cox.

No one would argue that Ms Cox has done well, through stints as Education Minister, Labour Minister and now Finance Minister ? and that great things are still to come, with her being widely regarded as a good candidate for Premier when the time comes. But she tells Ms Phillip-Bassett it wasn't always so. "I was seen as a reserved, shy and soft-spoken female. One always has to be wary of judging by appearances," she said.

Ms Cox went on to say that such sexism, as well as racism, was something not confined to politics, but also something that she had experienced in the private sector. "I believe that as a black woman, and because I am not a tall person, I encountered a certain amount of condescension especially in an environment which seems dominated by a white male power elite," she said.

She praised her family for teaching her to "never accept other people's limitations of me or my abilities".

As for deciding on law as her career, that came after ruling out a career in journalism.

"To me, there seemed there were no limits on what you could do if you have legal training as your foundation," she said.