About MATRIARC
Where Purpose Meets Possibility
Purpose without direction stays aspirational. Possibility without structure stays abstract.
Matriarc lives in the space between the two. We help organizations shape the full arc of their brand – from what they stand for, to how that belief is felt in the world.
How We're Different
Matriarc is a collaborative agency.
Our team is senior by design — brand strategists, creatives, and marketing veterans who’ve worked inside agencies, led corporate teams, and built things independently. We don’t staff up with generalists. We bring in the people who’ve already done the thing.
We’ve operated across every kind of environment: big institutions with complex stakeholder dynamics, scrappy projects that needed to move fast, and everything in between. That range means we don’t get rattled by procurement processes or creative pivots. We know how to work with your internal team, your agency partners, your vendors — and we adapt to how work actually gets done, not how it’s supposed to get done on paper.
The REAL™ Framework
REAL™ is our operating lens — a framework built around Resonance, Expansion, Alignment, and Legacy. It’s how we move ideas from instinct to impact without flattening them along the way. And it’s the standard we hold ourselves to in every engagement, whether or not you ever see it by name.
How We're Different
Matriarc is a collaborative agency.
Our team is senior by design — brand strategists, creatives, and marketing veterans who’ve worked inside agencies, led corporate teams, and built things independently. We don’t staff up with generalists. We bring in the people who’ve already done the thing.
We’ve operated across every kind of environment: big institutions with complex stakeholder dynamics, scrappy projects that needed to move fast, and everything in between. That range means we don’t get rattled by procurement processes or creative pivots. We know how to work with your internal team, your agency partners, your vendors — and we adapt to how work actually gets done, not how it’s supposed to get done on paper.
Leadership
Dee Heffernan,
Founder & Principal of Matriarc
Dee is a brand and creative strategist who cares deeply about people and their lived experiences.
Born in New England, raised in the South, and shaped by an entrepreneurial upbringing, she has never fit neatly into one lane. After studying Human Development at the University of Chicago — where she played point and shooting guard for the women’s varsity basketball team — she built a career spanning nearly two decades across branding, design, and marketing leadership. She has worked with organizations ranging from global institutions and educational establishments to startups and founder-led businesses.
Brands she’s worked with include The University of Chicago, The University of Portland, Human Rights Campaign, Good Dye Young, The American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Sears, Walmart, and Publicis Sapient, and many others.
In 2025 she delivered a TEDx talk titled How to Stop Highlight Reel Living — a personal reflection on competitive athletics, approval-seeking, and success-driven burnout. That talk informed the foundation of Dee’s REAL™ Framework, serving as the spine of everything Matriarc.
Dee is available for speaking engagements, advisory relationships, and VIP strategic days with leaders who are ready to do the real work.
Our Approach to Collaboration
Every engagement is resourced intentionally. When the work calls for additional expertise, Dee draws from a trusted network of senior strategists, creatives, and specialists, bringing in exactly who the work requires.