Cathy Monetti
Cathy is a work in progress. She’s a voracious student of all things today, and if there’s a new movement, philosophy or trend, she studied it yesterday. This insatiable appetite for What’s Next has distinguished her 30-year career as a writer and creative director. She has nurtured greatness in countless young whippersnappers and sent them out to populate the creative landscape in locales far and near (and garnered immense frustration in others who failed to see the need to push the idea further).
But when you start your own agency at 26 years old, it’s that spirit that forever sets you apart from the others. She founded C.C.Rigg’s, an advertising studio, in 1987. Her work swept local creative shows, and C.C. Rigg’s was on its way to building a lasting reputation for creative excellence. In 2005 the firm became RIGGS, expanding its scope of services and client base. Along with partner Teresa Coles, she co-founded CreateAthon, a national agency network that has donated more than $10 million in creative services to nonprofits around the country.
Cathy tackles new professional opportunities with that same energy. She serves on the board of trustees of the Central Carolina Community Foundation; as chairman of the board of directors for Rigg Properties; and is a member of the business advisory board of the University of Virginia at Wise. She previously served as chairman of the board of trustees of EdVenture Children’s Museum; president of the Columbia Advertising Club; president of the Columbia Communicating Arts Society; and member of the board of directors of the Clemson University Second Century Society. In 2005, the Columbia Advertising Club presented Cathy with its highest honor, the Silver Medal Award, for “outstanding contributions to the industry.”
A native of Wise, Virginia, Cathy is a graduate of Clemson University with a bachelor of arts degree in English. She is a graduate of the Executive Seminar in Communication Skills at the Buckley School of Public Speaking (where she was awarded a Silver Medal in debate) and the executive track at Virginia Commonwealth University’s BrandCenter. She has taught advanced creative concepts as an adjunct professor at the University of South Carolina and is currently leading an initiative (R-View.biz) that tracks consumer behavioral trends in this changed U.S. economy.
Cathy and her husband, Tim, are the proud parents of three teenagers, Carson, Alex and Eliza.
The most powerful force in the universe is criticism from your mother.
If you only buy separates, you will have a closet full of outfits that almost work.
When I started in this business, you actually had to spec type. Ad borders were drawn with rapidiograph pens. I learned to shoot stats and cut rubylith overlays and work at a drawing board. When I think of how much the ad business has changed, it makes me both happy and sad.
The rush to digital will prove to be damaging to brands that are not well managed. It’s sloppy. Brand voice is getting lost.
It really does depend on your objective.
There is a reason they call them classics.
Write it down and you will be surprised how often it will come true.
Kindness matters.
Ultimately, nature always takes over.
Show, don’t tell.
The very best ideas start with “We could never do this but…”
50 is infinitely better than 20.
The universe knows just what it is doing.
We have to take care of each other.
If you are ever lost, walk toward the light.
