Ever wonder who created The Matriots bee logo, or maybe our popular car magnet? Meet the Matriots Kirsten (left) and Mairead (right) of Reddy or Knot design. Mairead (rhymes with parade) studied graphic design in Waterford, Ireland and has over 25 years of design and print production experience. She speaks cmyk fluently and has great Photoshop skills to boot! Kirsten (K-ear-sten) is a wordsmith and a graphic designer and loves to help clients communicate powerfully with just the right images and words. Reddy or Knot is a small firm creating big ideas for companies like Marriott International, Aloft Hotels, Element Hotels, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, Mastercard and Columbus College of Art and Design – and of course, The Matriots PAC! We are incredibly grateful to have Kirsten and Mairead’s support, both as members and graphic designers.
You have very generously supported The Matriots PAC with your creative design and branding work at Reddy or Knot since even before the organization filed as a political action committee. What about the Matriots’ work appeals to you?
Most of our work is for corporations, so we’re excited when we get to work on smaller brands with a worthy cause. It means we get to be in on something that we feel is important and help create it from the ground up.
Have there been particular experiences that have informed your personal journey as feminists?
Kirsten: I remember that my elementary school curriculum was mostly project based. For one project I dressed as Geraldine Ferraro and for another Harriet Tubman. I come from a long line of feminists, so it was no surprise that I always chose women to emulate and idolize.
Mairead, you are a native of Ireland. What are your observations about women’s leadership in America?
For 21 years of my life (from 1990 to 2011) we had back-to-back female presidents in Ireland. I’m not saying those two women didn’t face loads of discrimination—and maybe I’m naïve—but I don’t feel women are on quite such uneven footing in much of Europe. People’s differences, whether it’s their race, gender, sexuality, disability, etc. are not used against them in the same way that they are in the States.
Kirsten, your company has top-name clients, from Starwood Hotels to Mastercard. Have there been challenges unique to being a woman business owner?
As a certified women-owned business, larger corporations look favorably on doing business with us. And in our field, the clients we work with at those companies are typically women so I can’t say that we have experienced challenges unique to being women. We’ve been quite fortunate in that respect.
Now for something fun: Share with us an anecdote about yourselves, a hobby or a personal interest.
We both love to play tennis. Mairead discovered the sport for the first time recently, and I rediscovered it after loving it as a kid but not playing for 30 years. Mairead’s enjoying it so much, in fact, that she played on Halloween dressed as Billie Jean King. The hair got in the way after a while.
