Ruth Cartwright on her new role, the gender gap and finding business opportunities
The first six months in a new role can be daunting for any seasoned media professional, but as managing director at Active International, Ruth Cartwright reaches this milestone, she reflects on how she has handled the challenge of her first 100+ days.
Cartwright has a strong media background, having spent over four years as investment director at Sky and over ten years on the agency side at Dentsu Aegis Network and Maxus (now Wavemaker) before this.
Now she brings her experience to Active International, a global corporate trade company owned by Active Media Services, and focuses her efforts on securing and driving growth as well as setting the strategic direction.
Sitting down with The Media Leader, Cartwright reveals the principles which underpin her leadership strategy and business foresight.
The right timing
Having left Sky in early 2025 and starting at Active International in September 2025, Cartwright notes that timing was essential to taking this role.
She says: “It aligned really quite nicely because I was looking for a role that I could be really stretched in but also one that was interesting and where I could have that autonomy around being a managing director.”
In reflecting on the differences between this role and previous ones, Cartwright highlights how they are “quite immediate”, and although Sky and Comcast were “similarly fast-paced businesses” at Active International, she is “very much identifying opportunity” and “looking where we want to grow.”
Cartwright also highlights the level of responsibility that comes with the role, noting that this is “not something I’ve experienced before.”
Empathetic leadership style
In any leadership position, partial success hinges on the relationship built with the team. Cartwright depicts this as “half the battle.”
She says: “It’s really difficult if you haven’t got people’s trust or respect, and it’s difficult to move the team in the right direction and certainly when you join a new business.”
However, Cartwright reveals her strategy around this.
“I’ve been really conscious to meet every single person in the team, spend time with them, understand them not just from the role that they do, but from a personal perspective as well — what drives them, what’s their circumstance, what’s their background,” she says.
This, in leadership, is what Cartwright defines as the differentiator of success.
Another pillar within this is being honest about expectations.
Cartwright underlines how she shares her objectives with her team: “I’ve been really clear about this, this is what I’m being held accountable for, and then how this cascades down into everyone else’s positions and responsibilities day-to-day,” she says.
“I think the team has found it really useful because all of a sudden you’re talking about the same things, same goals, expectations, and it’s really helpful.
Also crucial to the mix is leading with resilience.
Cartwright says: “When you’re in a business that is very fast paced, having the ability to make decisions, act on them and stand behind them is really important.”
Identifying opportunities in an unstable market
Cartwright addresses the fundamental nature of corporate trade in complementing agencies, clients, media plans, and pitches.
“There’s a really interesting dynamic where people are executing their media plans, but paying in a different way,” says Cartwright.
However, for Cartwright, there are more opportunities in 2026 to push corporate trade to the centre of conversations.
She says: “There are far more conversations needing to be had around how we support agencies and clients within the digital and content spaces.
“We’re in a space where economically the country and the world is sort of contracting. There’s a lot of consolidation from agency and marketing budgets are being cut — we’re all in the same space where we have to buy the same for less.”
Former Sky executive Ruth Cartwright joins Active International
Addressing the gender gap
Cartwright is one of The Media Leader’s Top 50 Women Gamechangers in TV, and the gender gap in corporate trading is evidently an issue close to her heart.
Reflecting on its impact, she states, “It’s something that has followed me throughout my career,” and that she felt it especially when returning from maternity leave.
“I was progressing in my career, I went on maternity and came back, and the workplace and the roles were not accommodating,” she reveals.
To Cartwright, flexibility around maternity and paternity is crucial.
The absence of female role models was also impactful, with Cartwright highlighting “there weren’t any women traders looking up, so I couldn’t ever see myself, or envision myself in those roles.”
Cartwright describes it as a responsibility to retain female talent and to “put her hand out” to help other women succeed in the same space, especially when considering who will step into her role.
A balance of voices is also critical for securing the success of a business, and Cartwright points to the better performance and results of businesses where this exists.
Looking ahead
Cartwright outlines how one of the next challenges will be managing the integration of AI into day-to-day workflows, which she reveals is part of her objectives.
However, she emphasises that this must be handled carefully and responsibly. She maintains that awareness is needed around whether AI complements or adds complexity to a situation.
“It needs to add value and should always take a human lens,” Cartwright adds.
Considering what success in this role would look like in another 100 days, Cartwright says: “My aspiration would be that I’ve been very clear strategically about what I want to deliver and that I’m already on that path.”