Marilla Akkermans, founder and managing director at Equality Media + Marketing is the next guest writer in the latest instalment of the IMAA’s Female Leaders of Tomorrow program, following on from last year’s series. Akkermans explores why mentorship matters and the lessons she hopes to pass on to the next generation of female leaders.
1. How did you get involved (and why) in this program specifically?
Equality is a proud indie and an IMAA member, so I’ve watched the Female Leaders of Tomorrow grow from its first cohort into what it is today. When the call went out for 2026 mentors, it was an easy yes. I’ve spent eight years building an agency designed to keep talented women in this industry, and this program compliments something I am truly passionate about, which is keeping women in our industry and providing them with the right support to succeed.
2. Why is mentoring women in the industry so important for its future success?
Because we’re still losing brilliant women right at the point they should be stepping into leadership. Women make up more than half of this industry yet hold less than 30 per cent of senior roles, and the MFA census has 18.3 per cent of media talent leaving the industry altogether with experienced women heavily represented in that number. I’ve called it the mid-career cliff, and it hasn’t gone anywhere.
Mentoring on its own won’t fix the structural problems but it does something policy can’t: it shows a woman what’s possible before the industry talks her out of it. The thing I love the most about the program is the real life lessons I can talk through with my mentee, I’ve made a million mistakes and not backed myself at critical times in my career, so if I can be that person for another woman that says: “you are worth it, and I believe in you” then I’m really proud.
3. Who are/were your mentors, and what did you learn from them?
I never had a formal mentor, which is a big part of why I said yes to this program. My cousin, Camille Hogeland, got me into the industry and was a huge support and mentor to me for many years and I’ll be forever grateful. Maybe it’s just me, but I also think mentoring wasn’t a huge thing 10+ years ago.
Generally, I learnt from watching closely and trying to be useful. I’ve been lucky enough to have some wonderful women that I have learned from that have spent time with me on the things that you can’t learn from a book, and that’s what I love about mentoring, guiding women with advice that isn’t always visible. I also think the shared responsibility of giving and getting in a mentorship is invaluable.
These days I feel like I have an unofficial advisory board: my leadership team, our clients and other indie founders keep me sharp and keep me honest.
4. If you could offer one piece of advice to all future leaders, what would it be and why?
You’re allowed to want it – and you’re allowed to say it out loud. I’ve lost count of the women I’ve watched do the bigger job brilliantly while quietly waiting to be noticed, because somewhere along the way they learned that asking for the title, the pay or the seat at the table was pushy. It isn’t. Name what you want to the people who can actually do something about it, and do it before you
feel ready, because ‘ready’ is a moving target. I started Equality with no idea whether it would work. Eight years on, with a team of 32, retention over 90 per cent and a leadership team that’s 80 per cent women, I can tell you confidence mostly turns up after you act, not before.
And once you get the seat, keep it simple. Work hard, say what you mean and share what you know. Clarity and kindness are leadership superpowers and cost nothing. Lastly, and it’s the bit I love about mentoring, always send the ladder back down, the industry changes when the women who climb keep building the way up behind them.
