Yes, we’re a female led agency. No, we aren’t “soft.”

There is a stigma around women in business, whether that is we are “soft” and can’t be leaders, or it’s we can’t possibly understand the different elements of running a business.

I call bullshit.

Leighway Consulting started in 2024, yes under a different name at the time, but it was launched with the premise of being a female led agency. A place where strong women come together to support other business owners. Even the ones who carry a stigma around women in business. Muahah. I do enjoy proving people wrong.

I actually think women can be absolute powerhouses, not just in business, but in life too. And not in a fluffy quote on a pink background kind of way. I mean in the real moments. The pressure. The responsibility. The times when everything feels like it is wobbling and someone needs to stay steady enough to fix it.

Strong women in business usually have a story.

We have navigated rooms where we were underestimated. We have had to justify decisions more than once. We have been expected to prove competence before we were even given the opportunity to demonstrate it.

That shapes you.

It builds resilience. It builds emotional intelligence. It builds a backbone. It sharpens your instinct for people and situations. You learn to read between the lines quickly. You learn to sense when something is off before it becomes a full blown problem.

Being female led does not mean we are soft. It means we are perceptive. It means we pay attention. It means we understand that behind every business challenge there is usually a human one sitting underneath it.

When a client rings and says, “I think something’s gone wrong,” we are not flapping. We are thinking. Where is the breakdown. Is it process. Is it communication. Is it expectation. Is it cash flow. What needs tightening. What needs fixing.

We do not panic. We do not blame. We do not disappear.

We fix it.

There is a real strength in leading with both clarity and care. Many of us have balanced careers, families, health battles, loss, doubt and still delivered. That lived experience translates directly into how we run this agency.

Our client relationships are not transactional.

We are not here to send a content calendar and tick a box. We are here to be the call you make when something fucks up.

When your systems fall over.
When a team member quits unexpectedly.
When cash flow is tighter than you are comfortable admitting.
When a launch does not land the way you planned.
When you realise you are the bottleneck and you do not know how to step out of your own way.

That level of trust is not built on being agreeable. It is built on being solid.

It is built on understanding numbers. It is built on knowing operations. It is built on holding boundaries. It is built on being able to look a client in the eye and say the thing that needs to be said, even when it is uncomfortable.

Sometimes that truth is you do not need more leads.
Sometimes it is your pricing is wrong.
Sometimes it is you are the problem.

And because we lead with strength rather than ego, we can say those things with conviction and still have our clients feel supported, not attacked.

Female led does not mean fragile. It does not mean emotional in the way people try to weaponise that word. It means we care about the outcome. It means we care about sustainability. It means we care whether your business can survive if you take two weeks off.

When you care that much, you show up differently.

You build structure. You create accountability. You make space for founders to admit when they are overwhelmed. You do not shame. You solve.

Strong women shape businesses the same way they shape their lives. With intention. With clarity. With standards.

So yes, we are a female led agency.

We are empathetic.
We are strategic.
We are direct.
We are occasionally sweary.

And when something goes wrong, we are exactly who you want in your corner.

Not because we are soft.

But because we are strong enough to hold the pressure and smart enough to fix the problem.