Pandemic Pivots

Katie Gilstrap is the founder of The Barre Boutique, a studio fitness center (recently sold to the Richmond Ballet), is a faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University and serves as an adjunct instructor at the University of Richmond at the undergraduate, graduate and executive levels as well as at The College of William and Mary in the Online MBA program. Her teaching areas include marketing principles, marketing strategy, marketing research, services marketing, retailing and communications; and she regularly advises MBA thesis projects aimed at solving strategic dilemmas for locally headquartered companies.

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In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she has developed and led new programs for VCU. More specifically, she designed the new Business Foundations course for the Office of Undergraduate Studies and has designed, led, and secured grant funding for study abroad programs focused on international business in Greece, Spain, Prague and Scotland. She also represents VCU as a part of the Henry Ford Foundation’s Leadership Academy in the Middle East.

Prior to her academic and entrepreneurial career, Katie served as Senior Vice President and Director of Marketing at First Market Bank, overseeing marketing strategy, product development, advertising, community outreach, and business analysis. During her time at First Market Bank, her work was recognized by Financial Brand magazine, and she became the youngest person in the company’s history to be appointed to Executive Committee, with responsibility for developing and steering the corporate strategy of the organization. In addition to her academic and professional responsibilities, Katie actively consults in the areas of corporate and consumer communications and communication strategy development and has served as a regular columnist for the Richmond Times Dispatch, the Health Journal, GRID Magazine and Caring Voice Coalition’s Community Magazine. Recently,