Overview:
In this feature, Presence News explores what it truly feels like to be an industry leader in today’s fast-paced world. Through the perspectives of Lord Robert Newborough of Rhug Estate and Kristin Marquet of FemFounder and Marquet Media, the article reveals how modern leadership requires far more than expertise — it demands self-awareness, calmness under pressure, and systems that allow businesses to scale. Both professionals share how their early assumptions about leadership changed dramatically as they grew in their careers, offering readers a clear look at the evolving realities of leading in 2025.
Disclaimer: This article is a commentary featuring personal perspectives from two industry professionals. It is not an endorsement of any product, service, or company.
The question that we asked is: What’s it like being an industry leader now? Is it anything like what you thought it would be back when you were getting started?
Becoming an industry leader has never been a straightforward journey. For many, the path looks vastly different from what they imagined when they first stepped into their fields. Two accomplished leaders — Lord Robert Newborough, Founder and Owner of Rhug Estate and Rhug Wild Beauty, and Kristin Marquet, CEO of FemFounder and Marquet Media — shared how leadership has evolved for them and what it truly feels like at the top today.
Leadership Through Presence: Lord Robert Newborough on Grounding, Clarity, and Connection
Bio:
Lord Robert Newborough is a landowner and organic farmer whose portfolio spans retail, wholesale, renewable energy, carbon and crypto mining, and the Wild Beauty skin care range. Sustainability and added value are at the core of everything he does. Learn more at rhug.co.uk and rhugwildbeauty.com.
For Lord Newborough, leadership today is less about hierarchy and more about presence.
He explains that “balance comes from reflection and awareness,” two qualities that shape how a leader perceives any situation. These traits allow leaders to understand what people need in a given moment — a capability that strengthens connection and builds trust.
Modern leadership, he says, demands calm in environments that move faster than expected. With industries evolving at rapid speed, overwhelm becomes inevitable without a reliable method of grounding. To stay centered, he relies on simple daily practices that bring him back to balance.
With this clarity, decision-making becomes more aligned with long-term purpose and values — a necessity for anyone steering companies through today’s turbulence. For him, leadership isn’t about doing more; it’s about staying aware enough to do what truly matters.
Leadership Through Systems: Kristin Marquet on Scaling Smarter, Not Harder
Bio:
Kristin Marquet is a seasoned entrepreneur with 15+ years in PR, branding, and digital marketing. As the founder and CEO of FemFounder and Marquet Media, she helps women entrepreneurs grow their brands through strategic communications and scalable business structures. Learn more at marquet.company.
Kristin Marquet’s leadership journey looks markedly different from where she started.
In the early stages of her career, she was driven by perfectionism — overdelivering, customizing every service, and believing that hands-on involvement in every detail was the key to success. But leadership, she later discovered, wasn’t about doing everything yourself. It was about building something that could function, grow, and generate impact without constant oversight.
Her turning point came when she shifted her focus to scalable systems. She developed frameworks, tiered service models, and products that no longer depended on her direct participation in every transaction. That shift not only grew her business but reshaped her understanding of leadership entirely.
Today, Kristin defines true industry leadership as the ability to step back — allowing the right systems to carry the vision forward.
Two Paths, One Reality: Leadership Today Is Not What It Once Was
Despite coming from different industries and backgrounds, both leaders share a crucial insight:
Being an industry leader today is nothing like they imagined at the beginning.
For some, like Lord Newborough, leadership requires internal steadiness in a world that moves quickly. For others, like Kristin Marquet, it requires building external structures that allow a vision to scale sustainably.
Their experiences highlight a broader shift in what successful leadership looks like in the modern era:
Modern Leadership Requires:
- Emotional awareness and reflection to build connection.
- Calmness amid rapid change to make grounded decisions.
- Systems and scalability instead of perfectionism and overextension.
- A strategic balance between presence and process.
Industry leadership is no longer about being everywhere at once. It’s about knowing where you’re needed — and building enough stability, internally or structurally, to support everything else.
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