Leading with Purpose—Thoughts from the CEO: How Our Female Branding Agency Defies the Old Boys’ Club
I never set out to build “just another” creative agency. I set out to build a fairer world inside one: a female branding agency that could prove empathy and excellence belong together.
When I was around 18, I was doing my senior year in a design school in Finland. As a part of my final year, I needed to complete a half-year internship. Amazingly, I landed an internship at one of Asia’s biggest branding agencies — a dream opportunity. I secured a grant all by myself and flew to China, believing I’d learn what great design leadership looked like.
What I found instead was the opposite.
The company was owned by a loud, charismatic European man, the type who could sell confidence as currency. On my first day, I walked into a room of women crying in the hallway. They weren’t crying because of deadlines; they were crying because of him. He shouted, humiliated, and micromanaged his team daily, especially the women.
He didn’t even speak their language or didn’t want to bother to learn it. He’d bark in English while his translator tried to soften the blows. I remember the room’s layout vividly. His desk in front, his “favourites” beside him, and rows of employees facing forward like an audience to their own humiliation.
My 18-year-old self would surely be proud of what I’ve achieved today and of what Ainoa stands for.
I was 18, probably too young to properly realise how systemic this was, but old enough to know it was wrong. He called me a little girl and a waste of space in front of everyone on multiple occasions. He gave me impossible tasks, such as “find fonts for a European construction company,” with zero context. Then belittled me for not solving the tasks perfectly on the first try.
Never gave me any genuine feedback; no matter what I did, it was always wrong, and I never knew why.
He tried to make me work over 12-hour days to finish these impossible tasks. When I reminded him of my internship contract and working hours, he laughed: “Do you think those contract laws apply to you here?”. One night, I stayed until the cleaner found me crying in the back room and told me to go home.
That was my breaking point — and my awakening.
A few weeks later, I joined another company in China, this time led by a woman. The contrast was night and day. The atmosphere was calm, collaborative, and curious. No shouting. No humiliation. Constructive feedback and personal coaching. Work got done because people were respected.
I realised then that leadership style isn’t cultural — it’s a conscious choice. And that women often lead differently because we must.
Years later, after working in male-dominated companies around the world, I’ve seen the same pattern repeat: talented women talked over, dressed down, diminished. I was told not to wear heels because they made me taller than my boss. I was told to smile more, speak less, or vice versa. Too loud. Too quiet. Too much. Too little. Too bossy. Too submissive.
Always too something.
That’s why I built Ainoa — a female-founded branding agency and women-led creative studio that proves empathy is not weakness, and leadership can be kind, intelligent, and effective at the same time.
I’m grateful that I get to work with these bright ladies on a daily basis; they inspire me to lead better and do better.
What We Do (and Why It Works)
Ainoa is a female branding agency helping purpose-driven brands grow through brand strategy, visual identity, packaging design, and campaigns. We believe brands should connect emotionally in order to perform commercially.
We’re a small, women-led team of strategists, designers, and writers who care deeply about our clients’ impact. We specialise in psychology-driven branding, helping companies build clarity, trust, and conversion through empathy-based systems.
When clients come to us, they often say: “We’re tired of agencies that overcomplicate, overcharge, and underdeliver.”
We hear you. We built Ainoa to be the opposite: collaborative, transparent, and grounded in psychology and design science.
Our process combines emotional intelligence with measurable results:
Brand Strategy: clear positioning, messaging, and purpose alignment.
Visual Identity: timeless design systems that scale beautifully.
Packaging Design: tactile storytelling that moves from shelf to soul.
Campaigns & Content: creative that resonates because it’s rooted in truth.
Throughout our empathy-led processes, we’re redesigning how creative work is done. Without the complex and unnecessary hierarchy, pointless noise, massive egos and the burnout.
Built by Women, for Everyone
Women still navigate work environments designed without us in mind. The nine-to-five model was never built for women who juggle hormonal cycles, caregiving, or emotional labour on top of careers. Yet we’re told to “lean in,” as if leaning harder into imbalance will fix it.
At Ainoa, we build around the lived realities of our team. Flexible hours, neurofriendly processes and methods, and empowering through taking ownership. Open conversations about energy levels, boundaries, and well-being. Our structure allows creativity to flow with the human body, not against it.
We hire across backgrounds, give chances to women and minorities overlooked by traditional agencies, and collaborate with allies who share our ethics. While we welcome all genders, we are proudly women-founded, women-led, and women-operated.
Ainoa is one of the few creative agencies that specialise in empathetic marketing, bringing together neuromarketing and consumer psychology, data, creativity, and proprietary emotionally intelligent processes.
Why Brands Choose Us
Our clients are people who want more than just pretty pictures and empty promises. They want results that feel right. They chose Ainoa because we combine:
Empathy and Execution: Strategy built on psychology and human data.
Design and Depth: Beautiful design systems backed by behavioural logic.
Integrity and Impact: Ethical and strategic decisions and recommendations that strengthen brand trust and value.
Working with us means joining a network of purpose-driven businesses and women-owned brands changing how marketing is done. We don’t compete with the giants on volume; we outperform them on value.
How You Can Join Our Mission
You can support our mission in three simple ways:
Work with us. Let’s build your brand together — whether you’re a new business or rebranding.
Partner with us. Collaborate on joint projects; we want to win together with you.
Join our referral programme. Share our story, give others a discount, and earn rewards for each successful referral.
When you choose Ainoa, you’re not only hiring a female branding agency and a women-led creative team. You’re standing with every designer, strategist, and founder who was once told she was too much. You’re helping rewrite the rules of leadership.
A lot has changed, but some things haven’t. My passion for understanding humans has only grown.
From My Desk
I’m still that girl from Finland — curious, stubborn, hopeful. The one who sat in a dusty back room, wondering if kindness would ever have a place in business.
Now I know it does.
It built one.
So if you’re a founder, a marketing director, or a woman with a vision, I invite you to join us. Let’s build brands that care enough to stand out and stand for something.
Because when women lead, the industry changes.
And this time, we’re not asking for permission.
