About Ginger

  In these complex business times, the power of a simple affirmation may be underestimated.  But for Ginger Gallagher, owner and president of MediaFit, a million dollar marketing and advertising firm, staying positive is a way of life.  Sitting in the office of the energetic forty-four year old, you’re reminded anything is possible with the right attitude.  “Expect to succeed.  That’s my personal motto,” she says, and with MediaFit growing over fifty percent every year since its conception, it’s a motto more companies would do well to consider.

   However, pithy sayings don’t replace hard work and experience.  Luckily, Gallagher supports her can-do philosophy with a proven track record in both.  Before creating MediaFit, she spent twenty-two years working for Sara Lee in marketing, sales, and merchandising, generating sales increases of millions of dollars while cutting costs for the clothing giant at the same time.  It proved to be a formidable education.  “Even though I worked for the same company for so long, I had many different jobs.  It really let me learn the business from all angles.”

     It also taught her how to build relationships with clients.  “Much of the selling I did was to outlet stores and the like.  I soon discovered it was more important to help them get what they needed as opposed to selling them what would make me the most profit.  If I worked for the customer, we were both happier.  My success depended on their success.” 

     Gallagher takes this team approach and applies it to her clients at MediaFit, learning and becoming part of their businesses whether its construction, medical, or NASCAR.  Some clients come to the advertising company brand new, looking for a way to increase their visibility in the marketplace and establish a solid reputation.  Gallagher and her team can help make that happen.  However, many clients have already built their companies on reputation alone but in a tight economy find they need advertising or branding support.  MediaFit can develop and implement strategic short and/or long term business plans that push customer’s companies into new markets.  “It thrills me to help people who love their business,” she says.  “And I try hard to understand people’s motivations—why they do the things they do.”

     Gallagher credits some of these interpersonal skills with her background in the martial arts.  She began studying at age thirteen when not many girls participated in karate.  Although shy, she gained confidence first by training and later by teaching.  She received her black belt three days after her high school graduation.  “Karate taught me how to speak to people and how to answer unexpected questions—how to think outside the box.”  Today she owns and runs the Lewisville, NC location of Karate International, fulfilling a personal goal to own a karate school.

     When she began working for Sara Lee shortly after high school, she used that experience to steadily move through the ranks of the corporation, starting in the warehouse to eventually become a merchandising manager with many jobs between the two.  “I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I needed to work.  Sara Lee provided a whole education in one place.”  Some of her success she credits to strong mentorship at Sara Lee where she learned that business is business and not to take or make it personal—a lesson she continues to rely upon today.  “Anything can be worked out,” she assures me.  

     In addition to real world experience, Gallagher pursued a formal education, getting a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and Economics from Greensboro College in 1990 and her MBA from Wake Forest in 1992.  She completed six years of coursework in four and half years while working.

Another important lesson she learned at Sara Lee was to give back to the community.  She provided her time and talents to fundraising events for the United Way, including making presentations, soliciting contributions, and revamping fundraisers to increase giving.  Other organizations benefiting from her volunteer efforts include the Women’s Health Event, Sara Lee’s Women’s Network Program, the Special Olympics, and the Crosby Committee.  In 2004, she founded and organized the Karate International Community Kids (KICK) program with the mission to complete three volunteer projects each school year.  This way, she encourages the spirit of giving back to succeeding generations. 

     Owning two businesses and volunteering could take a toll on anyone’s personal life, but Gallagher values time with friends and family above all else.  She optimizes this time by building her businesses like a family.  The Lewisville KI karate school was created in this way, counting more family members than individuals as students.  The members care for each other and step up when help is needed—for example, bringing food or doing yard work for other students during an illness. 

Gallagher launched MediaFit with two of these karate friends, Shane Williams and Michelle Soyars.  She continues this philosophy of creating environments like families or teams.  “We don’t work, or we don’t think of it that way,” she says of herself and her partners.  “We like to believe we’re just improving the life of our clients.  If you do the right thing by your customers and by your employees, things fall into place.”

     For the future, Gallagher wants to continue expanding the MediaFit business.  She believes they’ve found a strong niche and plans to build on their success.  Under her guidance as president, MediaFit grew from three employees to the current number of eleven—a fact that makes her proud, especially in today’s tough economy.  “We just decided we were going to grow no matter what the news said, and that’s what we did.”  She expects the next three years to parallel the past five—moving forward, establishing their reputation, and doing the best work possible.  When talking to her, you realize these themes resurface again and again.  “In both life and business, you have two choices—you move forward or you don’t.”  But for those who expect to succeed, there’s really only one choice—moving forward.  Fortunately for her friends, family, and clients, Ginger Gallagher makes that choice everyday.

Biography written by: Carrie Graves