In this episode of Difference She Makes, we explore how professional excellence becomes a quiet but powerful form of resistance inside deeply gendered institutions. Our guest, Ruth Tanui, is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and the Founder and Managing Partner of Tanui & Company Advocates. Through her journey, from navigating hostile work environments to building her own law firm, Ruth shows us how competence, credibility, and consistency can reshape institutional culture from the inside. This conversation goes beyond representation. It asks harder questions about pay inequity, toxic leadership, confidence gaps, and the invisible rules women are expected to follow at work and what it takes to unlearn them. In this episode, we explore: • Why excellence, not just access, determines who is trusted and promoted • How toxic law firm cultures push women to shrink, self-doubt, or exit • The unspoken ways gender bias shows up in hiring, pay, and client trust • What it looks like to build a fair, human-centered law firm culture • Why culture often shifts faster in corridors than in courtrooms Ruth also reflects on the traditions she had to unlearn, the confidence she had to reclaim, and how mentorship and community sustain women navigating male-dominated professions. Before you watch, we want to hear from you: Where do you think culture shifts faster in the courtroom, in the corridors of institutions, or in everyday conversations? Share your thoughts in the comments. Difference She Makes is a six-part series exploring how African women are transforming justice, leadership, and power not just through policy, but through lived experience. Subscribe to the channel to catch the next episode, where we widen the lens to explore how mentorship, sponsorship, and solidarity sustain progress across generations of women.
