Pope Joan is a woman-led multidisciplinary design and marketing studio helping entrepreneurs and growing brands clarify what they stand for, connect with their audiences, and create meaningful experiences across every touchpoint.

From brand strategy and identity to marketing, campaigns, digital experiences, content, e-commerce, and customer engagement, Pope Joan brings strategy and creativity together to build brands that are distinctive, cohesive, and built to grow.

Every project begins by understanding the business, the audience, and the idea at its heart. From there, Pope Joan develops the positioning, story, visual language, and experiences that bring the brand to life—from the first impression to the customer journey, from website to social, from email to packaging, and from product to purchase.

Pope Joan works with clients from strategy and concept through implementation and ongoing refinement, providing both the strategic thinking and hands-on creative direction needed to move an idea forward.

Good design gets attention. Good strategy gives it somewhere to go.

Why Pope Joan? I get asked this question a lot. There are generally two things people know about the Pope without question. First, the Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and second, he is a man.

While not the topic of conversation within the Roman Catholic church, the historical legend shows a female named Joan was Pope in 855 CE. Yep, that Pope.

In the 13th century, printed chronicles of her life spread throughout Europe, recounting her story, shocking Christians throughout the world, and gaining her worldwide fame.

It all started when Vikings brutally killed Joan's older brother in an attack. As a result, Joan took up his identity and entered a monastery in Fulda, Germany, where she joined the brotherhood in his place even though it was forbidden for women to learn under medieval law.

Not only did she rebel, she learned how to disguise herself carefully as a man. She was said to have been known as Brother "Johannes Anglicus," working her way up within the church hierarchy, distinguishing herself as a great scholar and healer.

Eventually, Joan headed to Rome to follow her secret love, where she attained the highest throne in Christendom and the world. She was elected Pope and wielded a power greater than any woman before or since.

As legend shows, she held the position for two years before her dramatic unveiling. During a large religious procession to Saint Peter's Basilica, while Pope Joan was leading on horseback, the crowds cornered and startled her horse, causing it to buck. Joan's sudden fall caused her to go into labor.

She had hidden her pregnant belly under her papal garb for some time, thus unveiling her secret and exposing that "Johannes" was Joan.

The public and the Catholic church itself were outraged–there are stories that they tied her to her horse and had her dragged around the city to shame her before finally executing her. Some believe it was during childbirth.

While historians can't seem to agree on whether the story of Pope Joan is true, the church insists that it is a mere legend. It is a tale proven too compelling to be forgotten.

We say the future is female, which is undeniably true, but let us not forget the innumerable powerful females from our past silenced, erased, and forgotten.

Pope Joan, let her story be known.