She Built Her Own Law Firm After a Toxic System Tried to Break Her | Difference She Makes
Release Date: 02/08/2026
Legally Clueless
What if you’re not unrealistic… What if you’re remembering what’s possible? In this week’s Mid Week Tease, I unpack something that stopped me in my tracks during my conversation with Natasha Ali on Difference She Makes. She said, almost laughing, “I think I’m a little delusional.” But what if that “delusion” is actually optimism bias? What if it’s self-efficacy? What if it’s the power of possible selves? In this episode, we explore: Why representation recalibrates what feels possible The psychology behind optimism bias (and why it helps women take bold...
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For years, Keziah Mumbi was told her pain was “normal.” At 12 years old, she began experiencing extremely heavy periods, severe cramps, vomiting, fainting, and anemia. She was going through an entire pack of pads a day. She stained her school uniform. She was sedated from pain. She missed classes. She lost jobs. And still doctors told her: “You’re too young to have endometriosis.” “It’s just hormones.” “Every woman gets cramps.” “It will stop after you have a baby.” In Part 1 of this powerful story on the Legally Clueless Podcast, Keziah shares what it was like to...
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Are you shrinking yourself to feel safer, more lovable, less intimidating? In this episode of The Mid Week Tease, Adelle reflects on the quiet ways women, especially African women, make themselves smaller in their careers, relationships, and ambitions. Inspired by her recent conversation with Ruth Tanui on Difference She Makes, this episode explores: The psychology behind the confidence gap Why women hesitate to apply even when qualified The social conditioning that teaches girls to be excellent but not intimidating The myth of “scaring men away” with success How to build confidence by...
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In Episode 364 of the Legally Clueless Podcast, Kenyan stand-up comedian Rahab Kihuha shares Part 2 of her story, a powerful continuation that explores sobriety, motherhood, womanhood in male-dominated spaces, and what it truly means to heal holistically. In this episode, Rahab reflects on navigating the comedy industry as a woman, performing while pregnant, confronting patriarchy on and off stage, and choosing sobriety as an act of self-preservation. She opens up about becoming a mother, finding community, re-learning how to feed her mind and spirit, and arriving at a place of deep...
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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,...
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What if “treating yourself” isn’t indulgence but a psychological necessity? In this week’s Mid Week Tease, Adelle reflects on how she’s learned to intentionally place joy into her life, especially around birthdays. From solo stays by the pool with poetry and silence, to beach days and bicycle tours, this episode explores why joy deserves to be planned, not postponed. Drawing from personal ritual and psychology-backed research, Adelle unpacks why joy plays a critical role in emotional regulation, resilience, and healing, particularly for women who have been conditioned to survive...
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In Episode 363 of the Legally Clueless Podcast, Kenyan stand-up comedian Rahab Kihuha shares Part 1 of her powerful story, a deeply honest journey through grief, addiction, mental health struggles, and the unexpected role comedy played in her survival. Rahab opens up about losing her father, using alcohol to cope with pain, feeling emotionally unseen, and how stepping onto a comedy stage for the first time helped her transform shame into laughter. What began as a way to numb pain slowly became a form of healing and a path toward purpose. This episode explores: Grief and how it shows up in the...
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In this episode of Difference She Makes, we turn our focus to policies, the internal rules that determine whether institutions protect people in practice or only on paper. Adelle Onyango is joined by Zikhona Ndlebe, a South Africa–based judicial governance expert who has worked at the heart of policy reform within the legal system. Zikhona helps us understand why policies are not just administrative tools, but powerful mechanisms that shape culture, accountability, and safety, especially for women. This conversation unpacks how sexual misconduct has long existed in legal institutions even...
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Pregnancy and postpartum don’t just change a woman’s body they change her mind, her strength, and her sense of self. In this episode of For Mannerless Women, Adelle Onyango is joined by Winnie Okoth, elite CrossFit and Olympic weightlifting athlete and coach, for an honest conversation about postpartum realities we rarely prepare women for. Winnie shares her personal experience navigating: Postpartum panic attacks and mental health struggles Grieving the body and strength she once had Training, coaching, and showing up while feeling disconnected from her body Postpartum injuries women are...
info_outlineLegally Clueless
Pregnancy and postpartum don’t just change a woman’s body they change her mind, her strength, and her sense of self. In this episode of For Mannerless Women, Adelle Onyango is joined by Winnie Okoth, elite CrossFit and Olympic weightlifting athlete and coach, for an honest conversation about postpartum realities we rarely prepare women for. Winnie shares her personal experience navigating: Postpartum panic attacks and mental health struggles Grieving the body and strength she once had Training, coaching, and showing up while feeling disconnected from her body Postpartum injuries women are...
info_outlineIn 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.
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