I didn’t set out to create a women-powered company. When I launched Strong Brand Social, I was a young, bootstrapping founder with an MBA but zero formal leadership experience. After spending nearly a decade in a white-male-dominated company inside a white-male-dominated industry, I had no idea how fucking awesome a team of women would be.

The simplest way to explain how we got here is this: When I first started hiring in 2018, I knew I needed team members who understood the value of time — folks who could bend it to accomplish supernatural productivity. Of course, that led me to women. And then I noticed something I couldn’t ignore. 

As I built my team, I noticed a pattern: Every single woman or queer team member I hired arrived with a shared sense of imposter syndrome and anxiety-inducing perfectionism. Even now, this hasn’t changed.

Every new hire expresses the same insecurities I felt when I left corporate. We apologize constantly. We beat ourselves up over learning curves. We overcompensate, making it known that we’ll be able to do more, better, soon. Of course, I get it. 

I know what it feels like to be anxious, insecure, and undervalued at work.

I know what it’s like to walk on eggshells in a toxic, passive-aggressive culture.
I know what it’s like to report to bosses who go from absent to angry in seconds.
I know what it’s like to navigate drama, gossip, inequity—all while pretending it’s normal.

Witnessing this pattern has shaped the way we cultivate culture and leadership within our organization. At Strong Brand Social, we operate in social media, digital marketing, and growth strategy—but we consider ourselves agents of change on the throughline of equity and collective liberation. We know that business can be a force for justice, equity, and collective liberation.

Our impact strategy intersects with justice, equity, and inclusion, and while we bring this into the way we teach and serve clients, it starts with our team.

⚡ Today, we’re 80% women-powered, and the other 20% know that joining this team means actively engaging in the fight for equity—across gender lines, racial lines, and more.
⚡We invest in mentorship from women, and 80% of those investments have gone to Black women and queer leaders over the past 3 years.

⚡85% of the businesses we mentor and consult are women-led (the other 15% are smart enough to know that environment is everything 😉)
⚡Our white team members recently completed Whiteness At Work because we are dedicated to reducing racial harm and creating spaces that better serve historically excluded folks.

⚡Since 2021, we’ve taken every other Friday off—and we’re flexible AF with hours—because we understand what it takes to do great work while still being everything else we need to be in our lives.

⚡We don’t just measure revenue and profit—we measure employee happiness every week, impact alongside financials, and workplace benefits that actually enrich lives (think weeklong trips to Europe and executive coaching, not a ping-pong table).
⚡More than 1% of our profits are reinvested into justice and equity-driven initiatives.

Why?

Because in a world that’s actively waging war against women, trans folks, and BIPOC communities, workplaces have an enormous opportunity to reduce harm and uplift our people. Embracing this has been the most awesome, fulfilling responsibility of my career. 

I once had a mentor who was often celebrated for his progressive workplace practices and he would always say to me “Katie, I try to tell them to stop patting me on the back. These policies align with my values, sure. But they also just make great business sense.” That’s been my experience, too: The more women I add and the more time and money I invest in their comfort, development, and equity, the faster we grow — and the more profitable we become. 

And because every day is a great day to cite our sources, let me be clear: This story isn’t about mainstream feminism. I’ve had a long journey to becoming someone who loves the work of uplifting others in ways that I was not uplifted. Without the work of Black feminists, nonbinary thought leaders, and trans women, Strong Brand Social wouldn’t exist as it does today. It would be just another fast-growth startup, perpetuating the same workplace harm we’ve all experienced before. Instead, we’re dreaming, imagining, and cocreating our way to something so much better.