Gay Gaddis

In 1989, Gay Gaddis founded T3 (The Think Tank), an innovative digital advertising agency that grew into the largest female-owned advertising agency in the U.S. under her leadership of 30+ years with offices in Austin, New York, Atlanta, and San Francisco. In 2019, she sold T3 to a leading private equity firm.

Today, Gay is focusing her always-on energy to empower entrepreneurs and the next generation of business leaders to take big leaps in their careers and lives. She is an active speaker on women’s leadership, company culture, and entrepreneurship. Her book, Cowgirl Power: How to Kick Ass in Business & Life, shares insights and examples on how to develop personal power and lead fearlessly.

Gay is the former first female Chairman of the Texas Business Leadership Council and is former Chairman of The Committee of 200 (C200), a top women’s business organization that advances women’s leadership in business. She is also on the Board of Directors of the Texas Cultural Trust and has served as a board member for Monotype Imaging Holdings, Inc.

Gay is deeply involved with The University of Texas. She is on the board and serves as an Executive Committee member of Texas Exes, the official alumni association of the University of Texas, is part of the Dean’s Advisory Council to The University of Texas McCombs School of Business, and is an advisor for both the College of Fine Arts and the Moody College of Communication.

Gay and her husband, Lee, own the historic Double Heart Ranch in the Texas Hill Country, home of Gay’s private art studio and gallery, Fossil Ridge. Gay’s bold and vibrant paintings have been shown in several prestigious galleries around the country including in New York City and Santa Fe, earning her a distinction by Texas Monthly magazine as one of the “10 Artists to Collect Now.”

A regular contributor to Forbes, Gay has received numerous awards and honors including the 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award by the University of Texas, 2021 Hall of Fame Award by the McCombs School of Business, the Liz Carpenter Lifetime Achievement Award, Fast Company’s Top 25 Women Business Builders, Inc. Magazine’s Top 10 Entrepreneurs of the Year, and C200’s Luminary Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence.

Educating future leaders, Gay founded and recently launched Women Who Mean Business, a women’s development program that she co-teaches at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas. ✯

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