Kim Brundage Photography
A year ago this June, propelled by two events, Gail Letts founded a company focused on developing women leaders through customized strategies and programming.
In January 2019, Capital Bank, for which Letts was market president, had announced that it was leaving Richmond. Although Letts had been thinking about starting her own business for a few years, that announcement and the realization that she could never truly re-create her former experience leading SunTrust Bank’s Central Virginia operations hit hard.
“For four or five months, I talked with people to see how to get this company really going,” Letts says. By April, she had been hired by St. Margaret’s School in Tappahannock to develop a long-term sustainability strategy, and she knew Letts Consult had a viable path forward.
Since then, she’s hired Kate Meechan, the former CEO of Volunteer Hampton Roads, as chief operations officer, while adding longtime nonprofit development professional Candace Mraz as vice president of sales and business development.
In May, the team hosted an event together, via Zoom videoconference, for women leaders within the U.S. State Department. The panel-centric program drew 265 registrants, and when it was over, Letts Consult was approached to do a similar program in Canada. “Both these women are 20 years younger than I am, and we each have a significant amount of business experience to share,” Letts says. “I wanted them to be on the panel with me, and they were fabulous.”
The COVID-19 crisis also forced the company to cancel a planned September conference in Northern Virginia and quickly launch its weekly Letts Talk sessions in April. These hourlong conversations feature thought leaders discussing finance, careers, health and wellness.
“The world changed overnight, and I had to adapt,” Letts says.
