5 Reasons Why Women Build Great Companies

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Originally Published on Authority Magazine

As a part of this series, we had the pleasure to interview Becca Post.

Becca Post is the founder and CEO of Helen + Gertrude, an award-winning digital agency where human-centered design principles guide everything from client strategy to workplace culture. She has led the evolution of Helen + Gertrude from a social-first company into a full-service digital agency. Leveraging her background in New Media Design, she has spent her career building world-class creative teams and developing creative for the world’s most well-known brands, including Walmart, Starbucks, American Express, and GE. Her philosophy centers on the belief that exceptional work comes from teams who feel supported enough to bring their full selves to work. Under Becca’s leadership, Helen + Gertrude has earned recognition, including the Ad Age Small Agency of the Year Award for Culture, and has been named a three-time Athena Award Organizational finalist. Becca has also been named a finalist for the Rochester Business Leader of the Year Award as well as the Rochester Inclusive Leadership Award.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I grew up on a small farm in rural Pennsylvania, spent my childhood dabbling in everything from painting to coding, and eventually found my way to RIT’s New Media Design program. After graduating, I joined a small tech and marketing company called Brand Networks as their first designer. What I didn’t realize at the time was that I was getting an MBA without the tuition bill.

A mentor at Brand Networks, taught me about P&Ls, budgeting, and how to actually run a business. And I loved it. That’s not always common for someone who comes from the creative side. I found myself energized by understanding how the creative work connected to business outcomes. In late 2016, BN supported us in spinning our department out as our own independent entity. I jumped in head first, no hesitation. I’d been learning to operate a business within their walls for years.

We were a team of eight women whose bread and butter was bringing together the worlds of data and creativity. That’s how we became Helen + Gertrude, not named after our grandmothers, but after the female pioneers we call our founding mothers. Helen Lansdowne Resor is known as one of the first female copywriters hired by an agency, and Gertrude Cox is known as the first lady of statistics.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

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