101: From a $16K IRA to a $44M Ad Agency with Gay Gaddis

Today, I’m joined by Gay Gaddis, a founder, artist, and author who is best known for growing T3 from scratch to the largest independent female-owned ad agency in the U.S.

At the height of a country-wide recession in 1989, Gay quit her job and cashed in her $16,000 IRA to go all in on starting her ad agency. Soon after landing her first 3 clients, Gay signed Dell to T3. As it positioned itself on the cutting edge of internet marketing in the 1990s, T3 continued to grow. In 2019, Gay sold T3 after growing it to more than $40M in annual net revenue.

Now, Gay is a successful painter, the best-selling author of “Cowgirl Power: How to Kick Ass in Business & Life,” and the founder of “Women Who Mean Business,” a women’s development program at the University of Texas.

Gay’s story is all about taking risks, figuring it out, and betting on yourself. In today’s episode, Gay shares how she bootstrapped her business from $0 to $40M+, advice for taking growth-oriented risks, and the challenges of exiting a business that has become an extension of who you are.

Key Takeaways with Gay Gaddis

• How Gay went from art to advertising
• Starting an agency from zero and scaling to $44M
• How to look at hiring talent
• The path from $1M to $10M
• Prioritizing curiosity in new hires
• Building a business that allows for risk-taking
• When to turn down high-paying clients
• Selling a business despite not wanting to
• The effect of an earnout on an exit
• The evolution of female entrepreneurship
• How to handle employees who aren’t the right fit
• Gay’s painting and writing endeavors

 

Get the full show notes here: https://beyondamillion.com/101

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