She is well-known in business circles as a tough chick who knows how to talk turkey. And no one-doubted that Karla Lacey-Minors was being groomed for great things at Bank of Butterfield where she was promoted to senior vice president, and moved slowly but surely into more managerial roles.

So it will come as a surprise to many that this businesswoman is leaving it all behind - job, career and Bermuda - to pursue her passion - writing.

"Bermuda has been good to me," said Karla. "And it is hard to leave - so many people here mean so much to me. But it is a decision I must make."

Ms Lacy Minors has sold her house and, after finishing up her work at the bank, will this week follow her family out to their new home in California, where most of her close family lives.

Karla said that the moment of truth came to her because of September 11. She and her family had travelled to New York to see Michael Jackson in concert the weekend before the terrorist attacks, and even took pictures of the Twin Towers - leaving a day before all hell broke loose and they went up in smoke.

"That day made us all sit up and take stock," she said. "It made me and my family look at what was really important to us."

Karla, who was brought up in California but whose family is Bermudian (her mother was one of the Usher girls and Karla left the Island when she was just three months old), had been visiting Bermuda on holiday since she was a small child. But when she landed on December 30, 1987, following the man she loved the only people she knew were her grandmother and a handful of relatives.

"When I came to Bermuda I gave myself six months to see if a relationship I had started would take me anywhere," she said. "That was 16 years ago."

Since then she has become a well-known face through her television work, her column writing, many published articles, her children's book, charity work and not least, her business nous.

She also married the man she came to Bermuda for in the first place, Desmond Minors. The couple have two lovely children, Grae, 11 and Dia, eight, and bought a family house in Southampton.

"When I came back I had no expectations, I didn't know anyone and I was basically starting out from scratch. Eleven days later I took up a position as creative director at Triminghams... and the years have flown by."

Since then she has produced and hosted the weekly style show `Style! Bermuda', ran her own company Look Ltd. and worked as an events specialist.

Her big break in the business world came when she worked as BTC's assistant vice president of corporate communications. During that period she gained her public relations stripes by dealing with an intense period of employee unrest and strikes as the sector deregulated.

From this difficult post, she was snapped up by Bank of Butterfield in 2000 as vice president of marketing and corporate communications, where she dealt with the public side of difficult issues facing the bank and saw the change over in senior management.

She was then promoted to senior vice president, human resources and communications, and took on a much larger role in helping mould the future of the bank.

While climbing the corporate ladder, Karla dealt with family problems and eventually divorced her husband. But the couple could not live without each other and the family they had created together, and got back together again only eight months after the divorce went through.

They were cautious, dated for a while, and travelled together as a family to strengthen old bonds - and just this year re-married in a quiet ceremony.

But she is now leaving her career behind and turning her back on the corporate world in favour of her passion - writing.

Now she says it is time to leave and go back to California.

"My whole family is there, in Sacramento, my mother, my stepfather and two brothers and my father lives nearby in Savsalito.

"We will live just next to my mother, so she can see the children every day - that is, if she wants to."

Karla is proud of her achievements in Bermuda and said she has found it hard to leave all the Island has given her behind.

"After September 11, my husband and I realised there were two things that had changed us. One is you never know what is going to happen, so you have to do what you want to do and do it now. And the second thing was it made us look at our families more. It made me want to do what I had always wanted to do, and look at what I had always wanted to be. So it was then that we began to plan our move."

The house in Southampton is sold, another bought in California, and the couple's two children are now at school in the US, and appear to have settled in well.

Karla has hung up her corporate suits, and changed them for a writer's quill. She expects to take a year out to write two books - one fictional and one motivational - that she has been meaning to write for years.

"I am leaving to pursue my passion, writing," she said. "Bermuda has blessed us, so I can afford to take a year out. Then we will see where we go from there. I will miss the people of Bermuda. Bermuda has been good to me and doors have opened up to me here. I would not have had the opportunity to do many of the things I have done had it not been for Bermuda and the good people who have become my friends and colleagues."