Meet Gretchen Anthony

Meet Gretchen Anthony -

Founding Victory Circles Member and President of Tilt Consulting.

Gretchen Anthony grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota in a family of “communicators”. Her brother became a fourth generation pastor, following in the footsteps of her father who was a pastor and an accomplished writer. Gretchen naturally believed growing up that she would be in journalism or writing in one form or another. When it came time to head to college, she gravitated towards the field of communication.

After receiving her BA in Speech Communication at St. Olaf College, Gretchen headed to the University of California at Davis to get her MA in Rhetoric and Communications. When asked why she added Rhetoric to her Communications Degree, Gretchen noted, that she found the art of Rhetoric fascinating and is saddened her that it is now disappearing in College curriculums. These studies of political speech started with Aristotle, Socrates, and Cicero as well as the Presidential Rhetoric that has shaped our country in many ways.

While working on her Graduate thesis, Gretchen decided to create it based on a local current event at that time which was the Oakland Raiders moving back to the bay area from Los Angeles. There were so many items of interest going on about it in the press that it just seemed a natural topic for discussion in her thesis. She focused on the degree to which the public’s opinion on bringing this beloved team back to the San Francisco Bay area from Los Angeles actually pushed it to happen. A strong example Gretchen saw demonstrated on how communication and speaking out for what we believe in shapes the world around us.

Directly out of graduate school Gretchen headed to work for Andersen Consulting in San Francisco. She began her career in their Change Management Division. It was a natural choice she felt due to her love of assisting people in creating change, and as she shared, “Effective change has shown good communication attached to it.”

Remaining at Andersen, which became Accenture, for a total of six years. It was through this position that she met her husband. Ironically, he was also from Minnesota but she met him in Dublin, Ireland where they tag teamed on a company project together.

Eventually their life together would bring them to Denver, Colorado. Gretchen was able to transfer with Accenture. She stayed with them for a few more years participating in some large scale communications projects with US West/Qwest and Level 3, running massive communications projects. Through her work then and continuing today, Gretchen implements one part strategy, one part client leadership and one part tactical execution.

Right after the dot com bust she was offered a sabbatical from Accenture and took 8 months off. She decided during that time she wanted to be work closer to home in Boulder County. This led to the next career step for Gretchen of taking a position as Account Manager with Leopard Communications. Her scope of work had her interacting with IBM Software divisions. She found it to be a fun and engaging, giving her an appreciation for the agency experience. But surprisingly, just two months into the job, she found out she was pregnant with her first son. Her son was born at 33 weeks with a heart condition, a short circuit in his heart that didn’t let rest between beats. Gretchen knew her career would need to take a change that would allow her role as a mother to come first.

It was a moment in time when Gretchen felt the universe was hollering at her to pay attention and give her full focus and efforts to her son. It was terrifying time in her life, as they didn’t know if little baby, Connor as they named him, was going to make it. Every day for three weeks the staff at Presbyterian St. Luke’s worked towards stabilizing him. They in fact saved his life and for that, Gretchen and her husband will always be grateful. Gretchen spent the next six months in full quarantine at home getting Connor’s immune system strong.

It became clear for Gretchen that she loved consulting and the diversity of projects that it provided. As her family grew to include two more sons she wanted to have flexibility with her personal life. She began to sit different boards and did small projects here and there.

After about a year of informal consulting she formed her company, Tilt, in 2007, getting as she put it, “seriously back in the game.” She named the company Tilt because it indicates a change in perspective. Being a voice of vision instead of fear. There is a light that Gretchen frames for her clients. “If you are honest about what you are undertaking and you are able to form a plan, your leadership will be about opportunity. Removing the fear from change – seeing only the opportunity.”

Gretchen sees that riding the current economic wave needs to be viewed as an opportunity. She has been analyzing where her company fits in that spectrum. Currently she is also working on speaking opportunities and workshops that explore what it takes to lead employees through the anxiety of these times. Gretchen loves the energy that comes from leading a group.

When asked the question, what do you love about being an entrepreneur? Gretchen responded, “I love being able to put more of myself in it. Not trying to exemplify anyone else’s philosophy or brand. With former employers I was happy to do it. But now I love that it gives me more control over the work I do. Work should not be painful. Sure, there will be painful items but one of the things I love is in knowing whether my company is a good match with a potential client and so far we have been making good match’s. Two things I am learning are that if it is not coming from your passion you should not be doing it.” Gretchen carries on in doing what she loves in her work while having plenty of time to raise her three boys - Connor now 6, Carsten 4 and Jameson 2.

Gretchen went on to share, “What I am learning everyday is that it’s a never-ending process and on the days when I feel that its not progressing I need to stop and look at the challenge and how business is a river that never stops flowing. Planning is important but so is the shifting process – not looking at it always being a black and white equation.”

She shared her feelings about being a member of the Victory Circles, “The Victory Circles is one of the greatest tools I have been given in my business. My facilitator, Trish Thomas said simply when asking me to join, ‘If you are not going to prioritize building your self and your business it’s not for you.’ Our Circle really supports each other. We are diverse and I come (to the meetings) feeling that I need to accomplish something or explain why I didn’t. It’s truly a 360-degree support group that connects me personally and professionally.”

Perhaps Gretchen best summed it up this way as she shared her love for the field of communications, “Language is a powerful force. It shapes our point of view.”