Ann Gatty
Ann Gatty, PhD is a business development strategist, executive coach, and leadership consultant dedicated to helping experienced women entrepreneurs make decisive leadership shifts that simplify their businesses and scale their impact. As President of Drs. Gatty, LLC – Strategic People Solutions, she partners with entrepreneurs and small business owners to transform vision into actionable strategies that drive sustainable growth, profitability, and operational excellence. Her expertise spans leadership development, organizational effectiveness, business systems, and human resources, with a specialized focus on supporting women navigating reinvention and leadership transitions later in life.
With a career that began in education, museum leadership, and organizational learning, Dr. Gatty has spent decades studying how people learn, lead, and adapt through change. After earning her PhD in Instruction and Learning from the University of Pittsburgh, she taught leadership and organizational development at the college level before transitioning into consulting and executive coaching. Since founding Strategic People Solutions in 2009, she has guided entrepreneurs across industries—including finance, hospitality, retail, coaching, and professional services—through strategic planning, leadership mentoring, and scalable business development. Her work is rooted in practical implementation models that help organizations build systems, strengthen leadership capabilities, and create businesses that support both income and lifestyle goals.
In recent years, Dr. Gatty has become especially passionate about helping high-achieving women over 50 redefine success and confidently step into their next chapter. Through thought leadership, coaching programs, mastermind development, and tools such as “The Decision Line,” she empowers women to move from external validation to authentic, aligned leadership. She is also an accomplished author whose books include Entrepreneur to CEO: From Business Startup to Thriving Enterprise, Get Things Done that Matters, and the award-winning Leadership Unleashed: A Great Dane’s Wisdom for the Business World. Known for her insightful coaching style and commitment to lifelong learning, Dr. Gatty continues to inspire leaders to embrace change, trust themselves, and lead with purpose.
• PhD in Instruction and Learning
• Content Marketing
• University of Pittsburgh
• Mary Baldwin University
• Founder of Women's Leadership Roundtable (Pittsburgh North Regional Chamber)
• Appreciation Award for Women's Leadership Roundtable
• Volunteer of the Year Awards
• Community Service Awards
• 1st Place TAZ Winning Author in the Annual TAZ Business Book Category
• Pittsburgh North Regional Chamber
• Butler Memorial Hospital
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The challenge I still see, and it's unfortunate but still present and current, is that women often don't believe in themselves. So I would say be your own champion. Also, find a mentor - mentoring is very, very important. If you see me, you're usually going to see me in a skirt or dress, because what I tell people is I'm not going to retrofit my life into a man's style or get into the business world. We're our own selves. We actually need to shine and be our best champion. I also have found that chasing after the superwoman myth is not helpful, and we still do it - we're still trying to be everything to everybody. You need to be true to yourself. Another thing women do is we have a problem with time optimization. What I mean by that is we think that we can do what's on our to-do list, what would take maybe a week, we think we'll get that done in a day. The burnout is terrible, and then you feel defeated and discouraged. We're making dinner every night, and does anybody notice? Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night and thought, is there really any meaning to my life? What have I accomplished? What am I doing? We self-doubt ourselves all the time. I got that information from research I was doing back in 2018 when I was interviewing women professionals, and then I went up to Harvard and presented that whole scenario of battling superwoman. We really are, unfortunately, not past that. That's somewhat discouraging.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I would say cutting through the noise. We really do need, especially with AI, to be ourselves and let our own unique personalities shine through, because an AI is not a personality. I think that we're going to be needing to display our uniquenesses, because AI is really just parroting what it has found throughout all the other times it's been asked these questions. So it's not giving generic information, but nothing that shows real uniqueness. People still are going to want to work with people, face-to-face people, and we can't lose that. We need the differences - it's diversity of thought, diversity of problem solving. There are so many different ways you can do things that are still going to get you to where you need to go. For example, 6 plus 3 is 9, so is 5 plus 4 - different ways to do things.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that matter most to me in both my professional and personal life are authenticity, empowerment, mentorship, and community. I believe in staying true to who I am rather than conforming to traditional expectations, while encouraging others—especially women entrepreneurs and professionals navigating career transitions—to advocate for themselves and embrace their individuality.
I’m passionate about helping women redefine what success looks like in their next chapter, without subscribing to the unrealistic “superwoman” myth. I value realistic goals, meaningful mentorship, and creating supportive spaces where diverse perspectives and problem-solving approaches are celebrated. These values are reflected in my leadership, community work, and in the programs and initiatives I’ve developed to support women over 50 as they grow personally and professionally.