Founder Extraordinaire Gay Gaddis on her Unique Company, T3, and Inspiring Professional Women

For a female entrepreneur seeking an inspiring role model, one doesn’t have to look further than Gay Gaddis, Founder and CEO of T3 (The Think Tank), the largest advertising agency independently owned by a woman in the United States.

Gaddis has become known as a vocal leader on entrepreneurship topics through her abundance of speaking engagements as the brand ambassador for T3, Chair for The Committee of 200, and contributor on Forbes.com.  If her resumé doesn’t already impress you, spend more than a minute with her, and you’ll inevitably walk away with a “girl crush” on this driven and inspirational dynamo.

Shortly after entering the massive, imposing wooden doors of the Austin, Texas headquarters of T3, which is housed in a historical building once used for the Texas Medical Association, you can feel the energy and creative vibe permeating from the open, modern space.  It has a unique feel, and Gaddis’s creative and energetic personality seems to peek out from every nook and cranny.

History and innovation are woven throughout this modernized building that now has state-of-the-art technology, communal spaces to promote collaboration,  and remnants of Texas history, such as the large gold frame mirror that originally hung in Austin’s oldest operating hotel, the Driskill.   Up an original marble and iron staircase I climb to a small conference room.

Known for her energetic personality and impeccable fashion sense — helped by her daughter who’s a professional stylist — Gaddis bounces in with a large smile and vibrant ensemble:  power heels by Michael Kors [we’d expect nothing less!], a graphic print Clover Canyon blazer, bold colored silk blouse, and tailored ankle- length leather pants.  [They’re the same leather leggings that I happen to own, but in a contest of “Who wore it better,” she’d surely win.]  Ms. Gaddis sat down to talk about her journey that started 25 years ago.

25 Years Ago:  “This Company Got Started from Me Getting Mad”

As with many entrepreneurs, Gaddis didn’t set out to launch her own business.  A graduate of the University of Texas with a Fine Arts degree, she was working at an advertising agency in Austin, after having spent almost 10 years in both marketing and advertising.  “It was the late 80’s, which was a really bad time for Texas.  The real estate market had crashed.  We were cutting budgets; people were leaving.  It was tough. We had to cut people.”  Thus, Gaddis pulled together a team of trusted colleagues to build a new go-to-market strategy for the agency to stay nimble and counter the failing economy.

“We started to build a business plan on a new way to do things, and a strategy around how to position ourselves and what kind of clients we should go after.  We were going to do award-winning, “get-your-attention-creative,” but it had to be backed-up with results.”

After presenting the new strategy to the board and president of the agency, the future of T3 was unwittingly set in motion: “We had an advisory board, and the president was there.  A few hours after I’d presented the  plan, he came to my office and said,  ‘I know you’ve been working hard on this, but I’m not going to support your plan.  It’s not the direction we’re going to go.’  I just got furious.  I was mad, and humiliated, and really invested in this thinking, and very upset that they decided not to move forward with this.  So, I decided, ‘I’m going to quit.’”

After a discussion with her husband, and assured of his support, Gaddis says, “I just marched down the hall and quit.  And I said ‘If I can’t do this here, I’ll go somewhere else.’”

Launching a Business: “Failure was not an Option”

In 1989, Gaddis, who, in her own words, was “broke at the time with three kids running around and debt on a house” and fueled by “desperation,” but more importantly, a mentality that “failure was not an option,”  cashed in her IRA for $16,000.   She took the funds and then launched her own agency with a strategy of “results-driven” advertising.

This was helped, she says, by her personality type:  she is a student of Myers-Briggs – a personality assessment designed to measure how people perceive the world and make decisions, and realized that she sees patterns, connections and potential opportunities to connect.  “It’s what is called a ‘Master Connector,’” she explains.

At this point in the interview, Gaddis went on to tell us, in her own inimitable rapid-fire way – with lots of bite-sized pieces of wisdom – about her path to success.

What were your two biggest challenges in the first five years of T3? 

• • • Being recognized.  We were such a small company.  Austin was a sleepy town back then and I used to apologize: “I know we’re from Austin, but we have big ideas and big thinking.”
    • Keeping up with everything.  I had to wear a lot of hats.  I was doing my own books at the time.  I didn’t even have a computer — I just had my stupid electric typewriter!

What’s behind T3’s unique company culture? [It focuses heavily on family/life issues.]

• • • I understand people have a life outside of here, and I want them to have that,  but I also want them to come in here and be all in, so I do everything I can to support that.  I respect people and I really care about people.  I want the best out of them.  I’m hard on myself and I expect them to be hard on themselves and push themselves, so it’s a culture of respect and giving people opportunities to grow.

What’s the “T3 and Under” Program?

• • • The T3 and under program started 20 years ago.  I had four women in the office, and they all got pregnant within the same 3-4 months.  Which is wonderful, but the business hat on me started to get worried: ‘What if they don’t come back?  We can’t let them all leave.’  So, I said, why don’t we just let them bring their kids to work?  I talked to each of them one-on-one, and they all decided to at least try it, and it worked.  We’ve had 87 babies since then – from both male and female employees.

Explain for readers what the Committee of 200 is? 

• • • “C200 was a very well-kept secret for a long time,” states Gaddis, who was elected the organization’s Chairwoman in January of this year, and who is working to bring it further into the forefront.  The Committee of 200 is an invitation-only organization comprised of successful women entrepreneurs and corporate leaders. [We here think of it as synonymous with SharpHeels, or as “the ultimate Stiletto Network”!]
    • Established in 1982 by a handful of the most powerful women in business, C200’s primary mission is to foster, celebrate and advance women’s leadership in business.  With more than 400 members who collectively generate more than $1.4 trillion in annual revenue and employ more than 2.5 million people globally, it has also awarded more than $1.5 million in scholarship awards since its founding.

What advice would you give to young women entrepreneurs?

• • • One of the most important things a woman will ever do is choose who will be her life partner.  You have to find someone willing to let you have your career, and who supports you and really cares about your career almost more than you do.  I know from experience.  I was once married to one of those who didn’t want me to succeed, and now I’ve been married for over 25 years to someone who does support me.  My husband Lee has been a great mentor.  He’s the only person who’s been able to talk to me straight, and he encourages me to take risks.  He’s a big introvert, but he lives vicariously through me.
    • Another piece of advice:  This is a race; this is a game, and you have to be up for it, mentally and physically.  It takes that spirit: “I’m going to just go that one more mile, and I’m going to push myself just that one more step.”
    • That said,   you have to take mental breaks from all of it.  I used to abuse myself a bit, but I’m now really comfortable with taking a 3-hour break when I need it.  I weed in my garden and I’m able to just really think through things.  You have to take breaks.

What’s next for you? 

• • • Right now, I’m excited to be chair for C200.  There are a lot of things I want to do there.
    • I want to continue to empower people here at  T3, and continue to grow here as well.
    • Lee and I have thought about creating a foundation for entrepreneurs.  I write for Forbes about entrepreneurs, who, if they’re successful, can create jobs for other people. So supporting entrepreneurs is a big thing for me.

And one last insight into this audacious advertising pro:  Gaddis is always on the move, flying to events and her offices in New York, San Francisco, and Austin, and a known fashionista, with a love for new up-and-coming couturiers, designer shoes and a huge weakness for Gucci Bags, but a true Texas woman at heart.  To wit: Her birthday recently passed… her husband asked if she wanted a Gucci bag or a dump truck …and she got the dump truck, proving her heart and home will always be in Texas at her ranch duly named the Double Heart Ranch.