International Women’s Day
What the Women of Laser Red Would Actually Tell You
International Women’s Day comes with a lot of noise. So this year, instead of adding to it, we asked every woman at Laser Red one question: what would you tell a woman just starting out?
No agenda. Just honest answers from half of the team who keep this place running.
Laser Red has been around for 30 years. In that time, the industry has changed enormously, but some things haven’t changed as much as they should. So here are some of the things that our team have picked up along the way.
Lisa – Front-end Development
Lisa started in web support at 21, looked at what the developers were building, and thought: I can do that. Ten years on, she builds front-end experiences that are thoughtful, robust, and accessible, right down to the details no one else notices.
She’s direct about the reality of working in a male-dominated field: you might feel like you have to prove yourself more, and having a thick skin helps. But her actual advice is simpler than that.
“Don’t try to shrink yourself to fit in. Being a woman can help you stand out. Use that.”
Steph – Marketing
Steph got into marketing by accident and has spent a decade doing it at pace.
“My favourite thing is that it’s always changing. It’s a constant dopamine hit.”
She’s also honest about the reality: you’ll walk into rooms where you’re the only woman, pitching for budget, with ideas that get questioned before they’re considered. Her response to that is to come prepared.
“The best strategies are built on data and instinct in equal measure. Always have an opinion. Come armed with options.”
Rachel and Kirsty – Finance
Rachel fell into finance with no qualifications and no experience, just a willingness to learn. Over a decade, she built her career from the ground up, studying alongside working. Her advice to anyone put off by the idea of finance as an industry: don’t be.
“It’s accessible, rewarding, and absolutely a space where anyone can thrive.”
Kirsty describes her job in a way that makes it sound genuinely fun:
“Financial statements have one correct answer. Things have to balance. When they don’t, I get to investigate and fix it, like completing a jigsaw.”
She’s also got the stats to back up the case for finance as a career: women make up nearly half of all finance roles in the UK.
“The door is wide open. There’s nothing scary about it.”
Victoria – Account Management
Victoria manages client relationships and is realistic about what that, and working in business more broadly, still looks like for women. You might have to work harder to be taken seriously, she says, and that’s worth being prepared for rather than surprised by. What she’d tell someone starting out: know what you’re good at, and don’t apologise for it.
“Your ability to connect with people is an extraordinary strength. Own it.”
Sam, Fran and Haritha – Project Management
Haritha describes project management like this:
“You know when a bunch of wires get tangled in a cupboard? I genuinely find joy in untangling them.”
Her advice for women is more pointed: imposter syndrome is real and common, she says, but the most useful thing she’s learned is that we tend not to give ourselves the same opportunities we’d encourage others to take.
Fran didn’t set out to be a project manager. She fell into it because of how her brain works: logical, organised, always driving things forward. Her advice is straightforward:
“Trust your instincts, and don’t be afraid to speak louder when you need to be heard.”
Sam’s take is practical: get experience, learn the jargon, understand the tools. Why it’s worth it?
“When you look at what’s been built, that pride is real. It’s a really lovely feeling.”
Sandii – Ops
Sandii has built a culture at Laser Red where people feel they can come to her with anything. She’s clear about what made that possible: treating empathy as a professional strength rather than a liability.
“When you lead with empathy, you build trust. When you listen properly, you create safe spaces.”
Her advice to women starting out is to lean into the qualities they might have been told to dial down: emotional intelligence, compassion, awareness of how people feel. In her experience, those are the things that make teams actually work.
Becca and Shannon – Marketing
Becca’s point is one of the more useful reframes in this piece: the thing that can feel like a disadvantage, seeing the world differently, being underestimated, is often exactly what makes the work better.
“You’ve lived a different life. Often you’re the very person the market is trying to reach.”
Shannon makes a point that sounds simple but isn’t:
“You can be girly, bubbly, positive and full of warmth and still have brilliant ideas. Still be sharp. Still command a room. The two are not in conflict, and don’t let anyone convince you they are.”
Charlotte and Lauren – Marketing
Lauren and Charlotte’s advice is brief and worth taking seriously:
“if there isn’t space for you, make space. And if you’re holding back a question because you’re worried how it’ll land, ask it anyway.”
Fin
This isn’t a curated list of success stories. It’s a snapshot of roughly half the people who make this agency work, who manage the projects, balance the books, build the products, and look after the people.
They’re good at their jobs. They also happen to be women.
That’s not the interesting part. The interesting part is what they’ve figured out along the way!
Want to learn more about working at Laser Red? Click here and see what its all about!
