Celebrating 30 Years — Female Founded

So let’s call out our own founder Leslie Akse, who together with Barry Imber, started Insite Design in 1993.

So much can and should be taken for granted for women-owners of business today. Seems ludicrous to think that a woman owning a business should face any more challenge than men — that women should encounter barriers, meet resistance from people, feel any ceilings or be dragging cultural concrete compared to their opposite binary counter parts. But the reality is that in 1993, there was loads of that bullsh*t, especially for a young 20 something woman without the right connections or cash.

There’s not enough room in a post to even scrape the surface of relaying the kind of sexism and resistance from the industry, clients, banking and suppliers that Leslie faced daily — heck even some friends made it tough through passive aggression, lack of support or belief in Insite actually being run by Leslie or being a real role.

But thankfully, things are better and equal today right? Ah, nope.

Sure, vanguards like Leslie and all the women in business before her pushed the needle to a comparably fantastic place today. But still business continues to surprise us in how systemically sexist it remains.

Through all she’s experienced, it’s un-surprising that the majority of our clients today are women-owned businesses and have been for years. Aside from being understanding and empathetic of the female-in-business experience, Leslie believes in what these people are trying to achieve and enjoys the unique perspectives, passions and drive that women bring to their brands.

And with our female clients, they know that in Leslie and the Insite team, that they have an ally — a group of people that truly get what women in business are experiencing and that we trust them, appreciate their sophistication and are inspired by them when so much of the business infrastructure out there still doesn’t support them.