Cornett's CEO: Why female ownership matters – Christy Hiler

Dec 2, 2025

40:02

forum

Ask episode

view_agenda

Chapters

auto_awesome

Transcript

info_circle

Episode notes

Today’s guest is Christy Hiler, owner of Cornett – the Lexington-based creative agency – and one of our industry’s leading voices for women-owned agencies.

A huge advocate of empowering talent, Christy candidly shares her own unusual journey from being Cornett’s president to its owner, including the convictions that guided her forward – and the doubts that held her back.

She talks about the importance of the ‘beautiful but deadly’ venus flytrap in describing what makes Cornett different, as well as her commitment to constant evolution.

Christy also describes how the striking stat that only 1% of US agencies are women-owned sparked the creation of ‘Own It’ – a vibrant community, podcast and summit supporting women who run agencies.

This is an inspiring story and taking charge and making a real difference to the wider industry.

HIGHLIGHTS:

[05:27] The underdog spirit

[09:38] The venus flytrap idea

[13:15] Building long-term relationships

[17:33] Women leading differently

[21:33] The 'Own It' initiative

[28:07] How equity fuels creativity

[32:07] Unlocking potential

[37:13] Doing things differently

MORE ABOUT CHRISTY:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/christyhiler