Women Supporting Women: Career Advice for Tough Times
Boundaries, bravery and being your own best champion – as the market gets tough, a group of industry's leading women share the advice on how to best advocate for yourself in precarious times.
Money’s tight, the political climate is less than progressive and the spectre of AI hovers over all of our jobs like a very thirsty digital Sword of Damocles. In 2026, International Women’s Day hits kinda different. But in community, we find strength. Linking arms with women from across the industry, we asked seasoned adlanders from music to production to creative and media to share insights, advice and inspiration for navigating career progression as a woman in a precarious market.
Photo by Vonecia Carswell on Unsplash
Your Network Is Your Net Worth
Louisa O’Connor, managing director:
The journey over the past few years from being a very happy do-er and second in command, to MD, especially through a period of huge disruption and uncertainty (2020, anyone?) made me realise three key things:
Anchor yourself to commercial value – visibly. In tougher markets, no one cares how you feel, they care what you do. Revenue and margin and your impact on them are king. I learned to tie every major initiative to one of those two levers. Not ‘this is the right thing to do’, but ‘this expands our offering which will lead to X revenue’.
Your network is your net worth. In downturns, opportunities move sideways before they move up. The people who know your capability across departments, client accounts or past connections become your advocates when new needs emerge. This works for opportunities linked to your personal progression as well as your businesses progression.
Separate visibility from validation. Earlier in my career, I equated recognition with praise. As MD, I see it differently. Visibility is about being associated with outcomes that matter to the business. Validation is nice; visibility is strategic and is what will ensure your continuous recognition and survival when times get tough.