McKinney Names Gretchen Walsh Managing Director in Durham

McKinney is announcing today that Gretchen Walsh has been named managing director of its Durham office.

The position is a new one at McKinney, which operates as one agency with two doors: Durham, North Carolina and New York. As both offices continue to grow, there was an opportunity to establish a managing director role, and the selection of Walsh to lead the Durham office was a natural one.

“Gretchen was the obvious choice for the job,” said McKinney CEO Joe Maglio. “She’s had an amazing career working across different disciplines and knows the industry and the Durham office inside and out.”

Walsh, a longtime McKinney veteran, previously served stints in media planning and strategy at the agency before landing in account management, most recently heading up McKinney’s Cannes Lion–winning CarMax account as group account director. And she provided key leadership in recent new business wins for the agency, including ClearChoice Dental, Jared, and Choice Hotels.   

Walsh started her career in San Francisco at FCB and then Goodby before coming to McKinney from The Martin Agency in 2004. And she has worked on some of the world’s greatest brands, including eBay, Levi’s, Coors, MTV, HP, Nasdaq, and Nationwide.

“I’m looking forward to my next challenge at McKinney,” said Walsh. “The agency has tremendous momentum, and I believe with my unique perspective - having spent my career in media, strategy and account management - I can help continue to drive growth while inspiring our teams and our clients to create effective and amazing work.”