Our Chair

Katie Patterson founded Happy Medium with two guiding principles: honesty and trans­parency. With a strong background in media buying and account management, Katie launched and bootstrapped Happy Medium after seeing a need for an authentic approach in the market. Since Happy Medium’s inception in 2011, the company has expanded to accom­modate an ever-growing list of clients, services and employees, but the guiding principles have stayed at the center of all that Katie and Happy Medium do, while simul­ta­ne­ously achieving more than 1,000 percent revenue growth in just four years. Katie also founded The Maia Group in 2021 to create a support system for fellow entre­pre­neurs and leaders on their journeys as well as to support her many other business ventures.

Katie has been awarded the Iowa Women of Innovation’s Rising Star, Business Record’s Best Up & Coming Business Leader, and included in the annual Forty Under 40 class. Under her leadership, Happy Medium has been named Best Workplace for Young Profes­sionals, Best Social Media Company multiple years running, and made back-to-back appear­ances on the Inc. 5000 list. Katie has also been featured in Adweek, Inc., The Huffington Post, Des Moines Register, Business Record and more.