Happy International Women’s day. To celebrate, we are sharing some insight from CEO and founder Kathryn Byberg, who talks about what it’s like to be a woman in PR, the importance of women in leadership roles, and what Little Leaf is doing to ensure that it not only helps to empower women, but is investing in them as well.
An introduction to Kathryn.
After spending almost a decade directing PR and MarComms at luxury sex toy brand LELO, and its sister brands Intimina (intimate health) and FOREO (beauty tech), Kathryn Byberg took her in-depth knowledge of the wellness world and her little black book of contacts to create Little Leaf Agency – the world’s leading sexual wellness PR agency. She is also passionate about sustainability and strives to support brands that are making the world a better place. When she’s not working she loves spending time with her family, hiking, paddle boarding in the summer and snowboarding (badly) in the winter.
So tell us about why you set up Little Leaf agency.
I set up little leaf two years ago after starting my family, and having children really highlighted for me the importance of flexible working. I had always wanted to start my own PR agency, and recognising that sexual wellness is truly a growing market, so doors were opening for the agency from the get go. I’ve been working directly in PR and coms for quite some time after training as a journalist, and so the time just felt right.
We now have a wonderful agency that offers all of our employees flexibility and which focuses heavily on female wellness. I am proud that we only work with brands are ethical, have sustainability at their core, and who are actively trying to make the world a better place.
It’s very important to us that we don’t just talk about female empowerment, it is a core element of our ethos that Little Leaf also invests in women. 95% of our team are women, we are able to invest in them internally and offer adjustable working. We are proud to be investing in female sexual wellness, working with brands that are empowering women, and it’s something we are passionately supporting in the work that we do.
Investing in women-founded businesses clearly pays off, as client LuInLuland had received a nomination for Sexpert of the Year at the 2023 Xbiz Awards, Momotaro Apetheca founder Lindsay recently featured in Vogue and Rebecca Alvarez’ brand Bloomi launched in more than 1000 Target stores and luxury department store Saks this year. We are very proud to be working with these empowering women-led brands throughout their journey.
Why do you think that is it important that women are in leadership roles?
It is my experience that women bring a unique understanding and attitude to the work place, particularly when there are other women around. Many women exit the workforce or shift to part time when they start families and it can be difficult to juggle, so it’s important to have female leaders that can give flexibility.
Particularly in the female wellness space, an area that has been underrepresented for a long time, it’s great to see so many female leaders shaking up the industry and changing the narrative that for so often has overlooked women. Many of the brands we work with are female-founded and there are some really inspirational women who are pushing boundaries and are providing and have better options for our sexual wellness. It is important that we ourselves drive the change forward.
What challenges have you had to overcome?
One of the big challenges Little Leaf faces is that we have clients all over the world so we juggle all of the time zones to accommodate communications and meetings. It’s a great issue to have because we love working with these incredibly diverse and passionate brands, and it does allow for flexibility within our employee’s work time. Personally, as well I am a busy mom with children ages 5 and 3 with an Ex-pat family, so having my own company allows me the flexibility to thrive where otherwise I may have had to take a step back.
What words of encouragement would you give to female entrepreneurs?
If you believe you can do it, then just do it! I had dreamt of having my own PR agency for the past 10 years it was something I always talked about and it took the realisation that I couldn’t go back to my full time job after having kids so that was a really big push to get Little Leaf set up and started.
Take the jump and go for it. It’s not easy, but if you believe in your skill set then just do it!
