Fair Folk, a full-service agency that is the “most un-agency agency you’ll ever meet,” today announced the promotion to partner of three employees. Creative Directors Emily Nollet and Amanda Roberts and Director and Head of Production Dave Shaw are now partners. The independent shop, founded by former Hill Holiday creative team Jon Casey and Kevin Cimo, helped build Athletic Brewing Co from an idea into a 250+ employee category leader with rapidly growing multimillion dollar revenues.
“We can’t imagine Fair Folk without them, and we don’t want to. So, we figured we’d lock them down by making them partners—something they all deserve. It feels good not just because they’ll make good partners but because they are truly good people,” said Casey.
Since Emily joined Fair Folk five years ago, she’s been checking projects off a creative wishlist she didn’t know she had—designing a children’s book, branding a local natural wine bar, filming on a farm in the middle of Boston Harbor, and illustrating packaging for her favorite Italian cocktail. She began her career working in-house for PUMA, Converse and TJMaxx. She later worked at Hill Holliday where she partnered with her current creative partner Amanda Roberts.
Amanda joined Fair Folk after eight years at Hill Holliday. Amanda came to Fair Folk as a wide-eyed and wordy associate creative director of Copy. To this day, she maintains that her BA in political science from Tufts University has yet to contribute to any element of her professional endeavors.
Dave got his start in the biz on the producer side of things at Hill Holliday. After a few years, he decided to tap into his shooting and editing background—which he studied in film school. Fair Folk’s roster of clients made moving to Fair Folk a no-brainer. His favorite projects have brought him to the mountains of British Columbia, the North Shore of Oahu, and throughout his native New England. Dave’s start as a producer and now director, photographer, editor, and drone operator make him well rounded as Fair Folk’s head of Production.
In addition to Athletic Brewing, the agency has created successful work for such brands as Lume Cannabis, New Balance, Hydrow and Trillium Brewing Company. The majority of Fair Folk’s brands have come their way via client referrals—a testament to their “all-creative” model that fosters a direct line of communication between clients and the creatives doing the work.
“Being a no-pitch agency, our biggest ‘wins’ have pretty much walked right in our door. But we like to think of our wins a little differently—ones we’ve truly earned not by gaining a client but by growing a client,” added Cimo.
