I’m Mandy Rees, an expert in women’s leadership, organisational culture, and the invisible barriers that hold talented women back.
With 14 years’ experience as a commercial real estate lawyer at Eversheds Sutherland, I know the high-pressure world of professional services from the inside. I graduated with a 2:1 LLB (Hons) and a Distinction in the LPC from the University of the West of England and I spent over a decade navigating the demands of a top-tier legal career, eight of those years as a working mother.
Today, I partner with forward-thinking professional services firms, especially law firms, to help them retain, advance, and empower their female talent. My work focuses on identifying the cultural dynamics that often go unspoken, creating psychologically safe environments for honest dialogue, and delivering practical strategies that shift mindset and culture from within.
Alongside my work with organisations, I coach individual women, particularly those balancing the juggle of career and motherhood or wondering how family might fit into their ambitions.
My own experience of returning to full-time legal practice after maternity leave, while quietly battling postnatal depression, changed the course of my life. It taught me firsthand how hidden struggles can shape - and sometimes derail - even the most accomplished women’s sense of confidence, belonging, and leadership.
That’s why the spaces I create today are designed for women to show up as they are, without judgment or pressure. Because the way women support (or compete with) each other shapes everything: how we lead, how we work, and how we live.
This work isn’t about blaming men; most men are allies and partners in this journey. It’s about questioning the systems we’ve spent our careers trying to fit into - systems that were never designed with women in mind.
Real change doesn’t come from pushing harder or stretching ourselves thinner.
It comes from reshaping our workplaces, and recalibrating our own expectations, to support women in ways that are sustainable, human, and true.
When women feel safe to be real, and to support each other without judgment, everything shifts. Not just for them, but for the culture around them.
That’s how authentic leadership grows.
Not from constant striving, but from honesty, connection, and spaces where women are truly seen.
That’s the shift I’m here to create; in organisations, in conversations, and in the women who are ready to lead with bravery, grounding, and grace.
Recognition
I'm proud that this work - work rooted in connection, courage and real change - has been recognised by some of the leading voices in business and coaching.
These awards aren’t just a reflection of me, but of the incredible women I’ve had the honour to walk alongside - women choosing to lead differently, support each other more deeply, and reshape the systems they’re part of.
Winner – 2024 Solopreneur Award
Winner – 2024 Women’s Business Club, Customer Excellence Award
Finalist – 2024 Paseda360 National Coaching Awards (Mentor of the Year and Specialist Coach of the Year)
Finalist - The Great British Businesswoman Awards 2024 Entrepreneurial Sustainability and Impact Category
Finalist - Ladies First Network Awards 2025
Each recognition reminds me of the shift we’re creating - towards more human, sustainable leadership.
