Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Willoughby
Ann Willoughby (founder), Megan Stevens (managing principal), Abby Woolsey (studio manager) and Jamie Housh (account manager)
Based in Kansas City, Missouri, Ann Willoughby has launched and maintained a woman lead-creative agency that has thrived for decades. A brief glimpse of their website shows clients such as Hershey's, Williams Sonoma and Panera Bread but we didn't speak much about their impressive client list. What we did talk about was "Design Here" which is an initiative to identify and capture all design originating from Kansas City over the past 120 years. As you will see this team is notably down to earth in their interaction which I believe has been a part of their "secret sauce" towards success. LinkedIn, @annwilloughby, website
Because Willoughby doesn't pitch to clients. And Willoughby worked on the Lee Jeans brand for 40 years. And they were founded by a woman in the 1970's and are run by women to this day. And they keep the work the number one focus by just just sitting down and having discussions to get to the heart of whatever problem needs solving. And the group's initiative "Design Now" is aimed at recognizing 20th century designers from the Kansas City area who haven't been previously acknowledged. And because Willoughby stands for a "culture of support" throughout everything they do.
