Top row, from left, Catherine Bannister, Chief Strategy Officer at TBWA\Raad and Salwa El Meniawy, Chief Financial Officer at TBWA\Raad; Bottom row, from left, Claudinia Harper, Director of People at TBWA\Raad; Romy Abdelnour, Head of Communications at TBWA\Raad; and Muriel Lechaczynski, the Chief Growth Officer at TBWA\Raad.To mark International Women’s Day 2025, women in leadership positions at TBWA\Raad huddled together to share their personal journeys with each other, reflect on difficulties faced as leaders, and have a healthy discourse on support systems while reflecting on ways to ensure that wins are celebrated and challenges are overcome collectively.
Campaign Middle East was offered the opportunity to ask deeply personal questions and listen in to the organic discussions that ensued between the leaders.
Sharing her personal take on navigating biases and stereotypes in the workplace, Salwa El Meniawy, Chief Financial Officer at TBWA\Raad, said, “The challenges I face are not just professional but deeply personal as well. As a woman – and a mother of two young men – I’ve spent years juggling spreadsheets, managing deadlines, school projects and last-minute ‘Mom, I need this for tomorrow’ grocery runs all in the same breath. Honestly, balancing a corporate budget and a household budget should qualify as an advanced degree.”
She added, “This juggling act has highlighted the need to challenge the stereotype that women cannot excel in high-pressure environments. I realised that while the finance sector may have its biases, my multifaceted life as both a professional and a mother gives me a unique edge. I’ve learned to channel this experience into my leadership style, using it to empathise with colleagues and build more inclusive teams.”
The leaders also shared their take on challenges that – at the time – felt insurmountable and the mentors that helped them along the way.
Romy Abdelnour, Head of Communications at TBWA\Raad, who made the leap from a ‘free-spirited creative career’ to ‘reporting to a CEO’ in a corporate environment opened up about her story.
“As someone who was shy and introverted – and who had never previously reported directly to a male boss – I faced an extra layer of challenge. I quickly realised there was no way to move forward without speaking up. Determined to succeed, I pushed myself out of my comfort zone, built my confidence, and went all in,” Abdelnour said.
But things weren’t all hunky dory once that decision was made, she adds.
Abdelnour explained, “It was a lengthy process filled with obstacles, late nights and plenty of overthinking, but it proved worthwhile. Along the way, I learned discipline, patience and the importance of setting clear goals and KPIs. My ambition had no limits. Most importantly, I discovered that true progress requires giving it everything you’ve got.”
Sharing how a mentor supported her at the right juncture, Catherine Bannister, Chief Strategy Officer at TBWA\Raad, shared, “About five years into my career, I was working as part of a strategy department and each of us was given the chance to have several sessions with a coach. It was one of the best and most useful experiences of my life. The coach was a very charismatic and empathetic lady who had been in the agency world for many years and had had different leadership experiences and roles.”
“Through these sessions, she helped me to understand that success is an incremental thing, it is about putting one ‘foot’ in front of the other and moving forward. That there are no ‘do-overs’ so make considered decisions. That sometimes things are often grey i.e. thinking about things in very ‘black and white’ terms or extremes just isn’t how it is. These ‘lessons’ have stayed with me and have influenced my life and career. Although this happened 25 years ago, this experience has been seminally influential, and I would easily say that she has been my greatest mentor,” Bannister added.
The group of leaders were also asked about the difficulty of having open and honest conversations, the need to embrace vulnerability, authenticity and transparency – including being honest with ourselves, as well as the people we work with.
Claudinia Harper, Director of People at TBWA\Raad, said, “Leading with vulnerability and authenticity has profoundly shaped my team’s culture. By openly sharing my own struggles – such as balancing leadership with being a mother to a young child – I’ve seen my team feel more comfortable articulating their own boundaries and prioritising well-being. When leaders show up as their full, authentic selves, they give their teams permission to do the same. This creates an environment of psychological safety, stronger engagement and, ultimately, better performance.”
Harper added, “Vulnerability strengthens credibility rather than diminishes it. When leaders openly acknowledge challenges, they build trust, create a culture of respect and make their teams feel seen and valued. This fosters stronger relationships, encourages buy-in, and leads to better collaboration. Instead of viewing a leader’s struggles as a weakness, teams are often more willing to contribute their own ideas, which results in more innovative solutions and improved outcomes.”
Adding to the discussion, Bannister said, “Authenticity, vulnerability and transparency come together and help to create trust, and trust is key to good leadership. The next level of leadership above you have to trust you, your leadership peers have to trust you, and your team and the wider organisation have to trust you. Vulnerability, authenticity and transparency are built on doing the brave thing, having people and the organisation’s best interests at heart. They are strengths, not weaknesses, in my view.”
Going beyond the narrative of ‘women need to support each other’ Campaign Middle East then raised a question of whether this truly occurs. We asked the leaders in the room how they challenge and inspire each other to reach bigger goals and how they celebrate wins together – both big and small.
Muriel Lechaczynski, the Chief Growth Officer at TBWA\Raad, responded, “I love that this question isn’t about how we support each other, but rather how we challenge and inspire each other. It reflects a positive shift – one that sees women leadership as a continuous journey rather than a destination. For me, the goal has never been about simply having a seat at the table, holding a title or contributing to a 50/50 gender ratio in leadership. It has always been about fulfillment – the relentless pursuit of learning, evolving, and discovering.
Lechaczynski added, “We push each other – not out of competition, but out of a shared commitment to making our agency the best place to work and to create outstanding work together. Today, five women hold leadership positions within TBWA\RAAD, and many more are on the rise. The ambition is collective, not individual. We talk. We exchange. We vent. We listen. We don’t forget to say ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’. We share our wins – because a win for one of us is a win for all of us. And then we ask, What’s next?”
Abdelnour shared her perspectives during the good times and the bad.
“We work together to bring ideas to life, and when our efforts succeed, we show a little extra love – often ending with a group hug. We challenge each other, but always with the goal of pushing one another further and ensuring that everything is as perfect as it can be. We don’t give up,” Abdelnour said.
She added, “During stressful times or difficult challenges, we lean on one another for support. We also make it a point to celebrate our wins – whether that’s a well-deserved ladies’ night out or a simple casual lunch. I believe we share a genuine bond, and I feel incredibly lucky to have it. It’s not always this way among women in the real world, but at work, we’ve created something truly special.”
Before the discussion concluded, the leaders pondered over the legacy they’re leaving behind. Harper boiled it down to three core areas: empowerment and impact, cultural and organisational change, and personal leadership values.
Harper said, “I want the women I’ve worked with and mentored to walk away with an unshakable belief in their own worth, capability, and voice. My hope is that they embrace leadership on their own terms – without feeling the need to shrink themselves or conform to outdated notions of success. I want them to know that they don’t have to choose between being strong and being compassionate, or between being assertive and being collaborative.”
She added, “I want to shape workplaces where diversity of thought isn’t just welcomed – it’s actively sought out. I want to leave behind work environments that support women holistically, recognising that leadership doesn’t happen in a vacuum but in the context of full lives, families and personal ambitions. By leading with vulnerability and authenticity, I aim to normalise a leadership culture where psychological safety, well-being, and inclusion are as valued as performance and results.”
Speaking about personal leadership values as part of a legacy being left behind as footprints in the sand for others to follow, Harper concluded, “The legacy I hope to leave is one of intentionality – intentionally creating space for others, intentionally mentoring and uplifting the next generation of women leaders, and intentionally challenging systems that don’t serve all people equitably. If I can inspire even one woman to trust in the value of her voice, to stand firm in her expertise, and to lead with confidence and authenticity, then I will have left behind something truly meaningful.”
