PeopleFund Blog

PeopleFund Announces final PeopleTalk date for 2012

This December, PeopleFund welcomes Roy Spence and Judy Trabulsi of GSD&M and The Purpose Institute to discuss how they formed their own business and the impact of the new presidential administration on small businesses in our community.

The Details

  • When: Thursday, December 6th
  • Where: Alamo Drafthouse S. Lamar
  • When: 11:30am
  • Cost: $15 before Thanksgiving, $20 after Thanksgiving

 About Roy Spence

There are many “Royisms” that are part of our agency’s fabric, but none capture the essence of Roy more than his favorite, “Ride at Dawn.” For those who work with him, it’s hard to believe the man sleeps.

How else can you explain being part of building the largest agency in Austin, writing two books, founding the Purpose Institute and creating his own line of Royito’s Hot Sauce?

Roy may point to his founding partners or the great people he works with or his loving family, but deep down we all know the man truly lives by his own hot sauce’s motto: “I don’t do mild.”

As chairman of GSD&M, Roy continues to inspire the folks at the agency. In 2008 he and Haley Rushing coauthored the Wall Street Journal bestselling book, It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For: Why Every Extraordinary Business is Driven by Purpose, and in 2010 he launched his hot sauce line.

Under Roy’s leadership, GSD&M has helped grow some of the world’s most successful brands like Southwest Airlines, Walmart, DreamWorks, the PGA TOUR, BMW, the U.S. Air Force, Hallmark and the Clinton Global Initiative. Roy has been a trusted adviser to legendary leaders, including Sam Walton and Southwest Airlines’ founder, Herb Kelleher. His counsel has also been sought by U.S. Presidents and leaders in the State Department and the Department of Defense.

Roy has been married 32 years and has three children. He is a member of the board of directors of the Conscious Capitalism Institute, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation and is a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Texas.

He holds a B.A. in government from The University of Texas at Austin.

About Judy Trabulsi

Judy GSD&M’s resident sage, bestowing words of wisdom when we need them most. Her favorite motto: “The value of relationships and the relationship of value.”

This little nugget was handed down to Judy by her entrepreneur father and became the foundation of GSD&M when she helped found the agency 40 years ago with a group of college friends. From humble beginnings representing local Austin businesses, the agency’s client roster grew to include some of the world’s most respected brands including MasterCard, Southwest Airlines, DreamWorks, BMW and AT&T.

Judy has been a highly regarded communications pro over the years: Newsweek recognized her as one of the “Nation’s Top 100 Agency Media Directors,” Advertising Age named her as one of a handful of “Media Mavens,” she received the Outstanding Service Award from the College of Communications at The University of Texas, and in 2007, the Austin Advertising Federation honored Judy with its Lifetime Achievement Award.

But all that lifetime achieving hasn’t slowed Judy down. She is now applying her innovative approach to communications and her renowned expertise in organizational culture as the president and co-founder of The Purpose Institute, a consulting firm dedicated to helping people and organizations discover, articulate and live their purpose.

Judy is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin and serves on the Seton Fund Board of Trustees, the Center for Public Policy Priorities Board of Directors, the Caritas Community Advisory Board and the University of Texas Film Institute Advisory Board.

Bookmark the permalink.


Back to Blog