From UTC’s design studios to national stages, Marty McDonald built a career — and a movement — on courage, creativity and the belief that representation changes everything.

When Marty McDonald (’07) walked onto the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus for the first time, she saw possibility.

“I just felt like I could be that girl,” she recalls.

Coming from Murfreesboro, she didn’t know exactly how her path would unfold, only that she would make it. That certainty — rooted in faith, grit and a healthy dose of audacity — would carry her from UTC’s interior design program to the national stage as founder and CEO of Boss Women Media, creator of the Elle Olivia lifestyle brand and USA Today bestselling author of Audacious.

McDonald graduated from UTC in 2007 with a degree in Interior Architecture and Design, at what she calls “the worst time in human history” to start a career. The economy was collapsing, jobs were scarce and she suddenly found herself navigating an adulthood no one had prepared her for.

“You’re watching the news, seeing headlines like ‘100,000 jobs lost today,’ and thinking, ‘So this is adulthood?’” she says, laughing. Still, she pressed forward, fueled by the work ethic and self-belief that had taken root during her time at UTC.

Her early career took her from Atlanta to Dallas, from interior design firms to product design and marketing. Each chapter brought lessons in resilience and reinvention. When one design firm told her to cash her paycheck before the company’s account ran dry, she didn’t retreat — she pivoted. She transitioned into marketing roles with major brands such as Mission Foods, Pizza Hut and Del Frisco’s, mastering the art of storytelling, strategy and brand building.

But as McDonald rose through the corporate ranks, she noticed something missing: representation.

“I never saw myself,” she says. “When you don’t see it, you don’t know what’s possible.”

That realization, coupled with a growing sense that her purpose extended beyond the job she had, became the spark for something bigger.

On Dec. 1, 2017, McDonald walked away from her corporate position to create what she wished had existed when she was climbing the ladder — a community where women, especially women of color, could see themselves reflected in stories of success. That vision became Boss Women Media, a media and events company built around empowering and connecting women through storytelling, conferences and partnerships with major brands.

The company’s breakthrough came when McDonald pitched the high-end candy company on a bold idea: the “Black Girl Magic Gummy Bear.”

“I didn’t even know where the courage came from,” she says. “I just walked up to the CEO and said, ‘Let’s create this.’”

Her audacity paid off. The collaboration led to a national tour and caught the attention of Capital One, which became Boss Women Media’s first six-figure partner. When the pandemic hit, McDonald pivoted again, turning in-person experiences into virtual gatherings that reached more than 20,000 women — and later streamed to half a million households via Amazon Prime.

Her journey didn’t stop there. In 2021, after giving birth to her daughter, Elle, and navigating a high-risk NICU stay, McDonald felt another calling. While shopping for her daughter, she couldn’t find clothing that reflected her daughter’s beauty — her curls, her skin tone, her story.

“I left Target that day and heard a whisper: ‘Then you go create it,’” she says.

Six months later, she launched Elle Olivia, a children’s lifestyle brand that celebrates representation, confidence and joy. Within a year, the line was in more than 400 Target stores nationwide.

From corporate marketer to founder of two thriving brands, McDonald’s story is one of courage and conviction — but also of faith and purpose.

“Her doubt in me was my determination to win,” she says, recalling the boss who questioned her decision to leave corporate life. “If none of it worked out, I could always go back and get a job. But I had to try. I had to bet on myself.”

That belief now forms the foundation of her latest chapter as an author. Her 2024 book, Audacious, became a USA Today bestseller and a rallying cry for anyone standing on the edge of possibility.

“Who does she think she is?” McDonald writes. “I think I’m worth being bet on.”

Returning to UTC recently, McDonald reflected on the community that helped shape her. “I learned community here,” she says. “It’s the through line to any amount of success.” She encourages students to embrace both theory and application — not just to learn, but to do.

As a mother, entrepreneur and storyteller, McDonald continues to show what’s possible when courage meets purpose.

“I just want my kids to say, ‘My mama bet on herself,’” she says with a smile. “Because that’s the story I want them to carry forward — that anything is possible if you believe you are, too.”