Five Minutes With a Female Founder: Meet Leah Palone

At 143PR, we're constantly inspired by the women building innovative companies, solving real-world problems, and redefining entrepreneurship. Five Minutes With a Female Founder is a blog series featuring quick but insightful conversations with female entrepreneurs. Through five questions, we explore what inspired them to start their businesses, the lessons they've learned, the challenges they've overcome, and the advice they have for other women pursuing their own ventures.

In this interview, we're highlighting Leah Palone, Fractional CMO and Founder of soulshine marketing. Leah works with founders and teams who feel overwhelmed by marketing—too many ideas, too many channels, and not enough clarity on what actually matters or works. She helps them move from reactive, scattered efforts to a clear strategy with a plan they can actually understand.

Here is Leah’s interview.

What motivated you to start this company?

I reached a point in my career where I knew I wanted to work differently. I still loved the work, but I wanted a more sustainable way to build a career and a life, one that gave me more ownership over my time and allowed me to be more present with my family.

At the same time, I saw a real need among growing businesses for senior marketing leadership that was flexible and practical. Many companies have strong people and agencies in place, but need someone experienced to bring everything together, set direction, and drive results.

A full-time marketing executive isn’t realistic for every business, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need that level of leadership. soulshine grew out of those two things coming together: wanting to work on my own terms and build a more sustainable career, while realizing there was a real need for the kind of experience and perspective I could bring.

What has helped you build trust with customers/clients?

Being willing to give clients my honest point of view—even when it’s not necessarily the easiest answer.

Marketing is noisy, and it’s only getting noisier. My clients don’t need me to constantly throw more ideas at them. They need someone who understands their business, can connect the dots, and can tell them what’s actually worth their time and investment and what isn’t.

I also operate as an extension of their team, with a real focus on the bigger picture. I’m not there to simply execute a list of marketing tasks. I’m there to help move the business forward, and I think clients feel the difference when you’re focused on the outcome, not just the activity.

What’s been the hardest part of entrepreneurship that nobody talks about?

I think it’s how intentional you have to be about building your own village.

In a traditional corporate setting, you’re constantly exposed to other smart people, different perspectives, new ideas, and what’s changing around you. When you run your own business, especially as a solo founder, you have to create that for yourself.

What is your one piece of advice for other female founders?

Stop assuming everyone else knows more than you do.

Someone will always have a bigger company, more money, a louder voice, or more years of experience. It’s very easy to assume that means they know something you don’t.

Trust the experience you’ve already built. Ask questions, stay curious, and keep learning, but don’t discount your own judgment. Some of the things that feel obvious to you are valuable precisely because you’ve spent years learning them.

Read more interviews in the series here.