Young Entrepeneurial Council

A few years back, Gay Gaddis climbed Mount Kota Kinabalu — the highest peak in

Malaysia measuring close to 13,500 feet. Before she set out, she had no idea what was

ahead. But she didn’t over-analyze the opportunity, and instead took the challenge head-

on, much like her approach in business.

In 1989, with a U.S. recession in full swing, Gay worked for an Austin advertising firm

that was holding its ground but looking for new ideas to keep it moving forward. She

developed a new business model that combined creative advertising with scientific

measurement. When the CEO failed to support the plan, she quit the agency and started

T3 with two employees and a $16,000 IRA. She trusted her gut, began the “mountain

climb” and never looked back.

Today, T3 is the largest independent advertising agency owned by a woman in the

country, with offices in Austin, New York and San Francisco. As a collaborative

think tank, T3 works with clients including Microsoft, UPS, JPMorgan Chase, Pfizer,

ConocoPhillips Lubricants, Facebook, Ford, Coca-Cola, Livescribe, The Macallan and

AirCell.

T3 is widely recognized as a dynamic company — the agency was a pioneer in digital

marketing, an early leader in online video and is currently one of the U.S. leaders in

mobile.

Gay speaks around the world on marketing issues, innovation and entrepreneurship. She

is a strong voice on how small business can help fuel job creation around the world. Gay

has addressed groups at Harvard, Wharton, The New York Times Small Business Summit

and the Global Summit of Women. She has traveled with the U.S. State Department to

mentor small businesses in the Baltic region and Middle East. And in October 2010, she

was in China mentoring business students at Fudan and Tsinghua Universities.

Gay is a member of the Committee of 200’s (C200) governing board of directors,

one of the most prominent women’s organizations, and is on the advisory board of

Womensphere. Gay is a long-time member of the Texas Governor’s Business Council’s

executive board, and she was appointed to the Lower Colorado River Authority by the

Governor of Texas and served a six-year term. An avid philanthropist, Gay has served

on non-profit boards including: Helping Hand Home, Salvation Army, Headliners Club,

First United Methodist Preschool and the Arthritis Foundation.

Gay has been a contributor for PINK magazine and iMedia Communications. She writes

for and is quoted frequently in Adweek, Mediapost and DMNews, among others. Her

dynamic business acumen and T3’s corporate culture has also led to national recognition

and publicity. Gay was named as one of Fast Company’s “Top 25 Women Business

Builders,” Inc. magazine’s “Top 10 Entrepreneurs of the Year” and 25 Advertising

Working Mothers of the Year by Working Mother magazine.

A significant (and unique) part of T3’s corporate culture is the T3 and Under program

which allows mothers and fathers to bring babies to work for the first nine months to

help ease the transition into day care. Nearly 60 babies have participated to date! The

family-friendly workplace programs that Gay has created have been recognized by

the White House, “Good Morning America,” BBC World Service radio, USA Today

and “Nightline.”

Before founding T3, Gay started her career as a copywriter with The Richards Group.

She then served as public relations director for Baylor University Medical Center;

marketing director for Leadership Dynamics, a national management consulting firm; and

later became a partner at an Austin advertising agency. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts

from the University of Texas at Austin.

Gay and her husband Lee are parents to three: Ben, Rebecca and Sam who are all active

in the marketing industry. Together, Gay and Lee, who is also the COO for T3, run the

Double Heart Ranch where they raise Texas Longhorns. So when Gay isn’t leading T3,

she can be found leading a field of cattle or working in her vast garden where she grows