Gay Flashman, founder and CEO of Formative Content, is one of just eight women named in the Thrive Global Top Female Creatives of 2019 list.

The list showcases women who are “reshaping the creative space and paving the way for future female leaders to shine and inspire our next generation”. It recognises the importance of the creative industries in helping inspire positive, transformational change. But it also acknowledges there are often barriers to access and progress that women in all business sectors face that their male counterparts do not.

Set up in the UK in 2014 by Gay Flashman, Formative Content has grown at around 70% year-on-year. With an almost 50:50 male-female split at all levels of the business, and a wide spread of ages, the company combines commercial acuity with a flexible and inclusive outlook.

Formative’s list of blue-chip private and public sector clients includes the World Economic Forum, KPMG, Nestlé, Tata Consultancy Services, Microsoft and many others. They have come to rely on the team at Formative for high-quality editorial and visual content that deploys journalistic integrity to support clients’ business objectives.

The team at Formative is made up of journalists who have a depth of high-level editorial experience, from the BBC, Bloomberg, Channel 4, Channel 5, ITN, the Press Association and more.

Featured alongside novelist Candice Carty-Williams, the journalist Marissa Miller, and the actress and activist Jameela Jamil, Gay Flashman said her inclusion was something she was extremely proud of, but which reflects the achievements and contribution of the whole Formative team: “This is fantastic recognition of my desire to build a business that can exceed clients’ expectations by delivering content of the highest possible standards at a speed other agencies struggle to match. But it’s also a huge compliment to the team here at Formative who have taken that vision and made it our reality.”