Today we’d like to introduce you to Mollie.
Hi Mollie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I cut my teeth at Art + Commerce in New York, where I learned what great work actually looks like, the eye, the talent, the relationships, and the business behind it.
That foundation still shapes how we work at Agency MJ today.
We specialize in creative production, artist representation, and creative resourcing for brands, agencies, creative directors, brand managers, producers, and internal content teams.
We produce the work, build the teams, and create the infrastructure around it.
That can mean producing a full campaign, supporting an internal studio, staffing a high-volume content program, bringing in a specific photographer or director, or building an entire creative team around a brief.
And if the right talent is not already in our network, we go find them.
We build the sourcing, vetting, and onboarding process needed to bring new creative talent into the ecosystem quickly and thoughtfully, so the team is not just right for one project, but can become part of a longer-term production solution.
That is a big part of what we do.
We work across photography, motion, art direction, styling, production, retouching, editing, post, AI, CGI, and 3D, with teams built around the actual needs of the work.
For creative directors and brand managers, the goal is simple: give you access to strong talent, experienced production support, and a team that understands how to move from idea to execution without making the process harder than it needs to be.
For artists, we create opportunities, build relationships, and connect great people to work where they can really contribute.
Our work spans fashion, beauty, retail, lifestyle, healthcare, hospitality, luxury, and consumer brands across campaigns, editorial, e-commerce, social, branded content, and emerging creative technology.
#AgencyMJ #CreativeProduction #ArtistRepresentation #CreativeResourcing #CreativeDirection #BrandMarketing #CampaignProduction #ContentProduction #Photography #FilmProduction #CreativeTalent #BrandedContent #PostProduction #AI #CGI #WBENC #WomenOwnedBusiness
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
One of the biggest challenges for me has been learning how to grow the business without losing what made it special in the first place.
Agency MJ was built very personally. For years, I knew the artists, the clients, the projects, the details — and that level of involvement created strong relationships and a lot of trust. But as the company grew, I realized that the same way of working that helped build the business could also become a limitation.
The challenge has been learning how to scale: building stronger systems, delegating more, bringing in the right people, and allowing the company to become bigger than just my own involvement in every decision.
That has required a real mindset shift. Growth means trusting other people, creating structure where there used to be instinct, and accepting that the business has to evolve in order to reach the next level.
At the same time, I have been very protective of the things I do not want to lose — the relationships, the creative taste, the responsiveness, and the feeling that clients are working with people who genuinely care about the outcome.
I think that balance is still something I am actively learning. But it has also become one of the most important parts of the company’s evolution: figuring out how to build something much larger while keeping it human.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Agency MJ is a women-owned creative production and artist representation company built around one core idea: the right people make the work better.
Founded in 2009, we began in artist representation and have evolved into a broader creative partner for brands, agencies, publications, and production teams. We specialize in assembling and producing exceptional creative teams across photography, film, art direction, styling, casting, post-production, AI, CGI, and 3D.
What sets us apart is that we understand both the creative and production sides of the business. We can help shape an idea from the beginning, identify the right talent, build the team, and carry the work through execution — or step into an existing production structure and scale quickly around a client’s needs.
We work across e-commerce, campaigns, branded content, editorial, entertainment, lifestyle, fashion, hospitality, food and beverage, and real-patient storytelling, with a network that extends across New York, Nashville, Los Angeles, Seattle, Atlanta, and beyond.
What I’m most proud of is the reputation we’ve built around relationships. Agency MJ has never been about simply filling a role. It is about understanding the creative brief, understanding the people, and making the right match. That philosophy has allowed us to build long-term relationships with both clients and artists and to grow without losing the personal nature of the company.
We are also WBENC-certified and proudly independent. As the industry evolves, so do we. Today, Agency MJ sits at the intersection of artist representation, creative direction, production, and emerging technology.
More than anything, I want people to know that we are a resource. Whether a client needs one extraordinary artist or an entire creative ecosystem, our job is to connect the right talent, ideas, and production support to make ambitious work happen.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I think entrepreneurship requires a certain comfort with risk, but I don’t think of risk as being reckless. For me, it has always been about being willing to move before I have every answer.
Starting Agency MJ was a risk in itself. I built the company independently, without a traditional roadmap, and over the years I have continued to make decisions that required trusting my instincts — expanding into new markets, growing beyond representation into production, taking on larger clients, investing in new talent, and evolving the business as the industry changed.
Some of the biggest risks have come during periods of growth. There are moments when you have to hire before the revenue feels completely secure, invest in infrastructure before you know exactly how quickly it will pay off, or pursue a client or market that feels just outside your current comfort zone. Those decisions can be uncomfortable, but they are often what create the next version of the business.
I have also learned that there is risk in staying still.
The creative industry changes constantly. Client expectations change, technology changes, and the way brands produce content changes. If you become too attached to one business model simply because it has worked in the past, that can ultimately be the bigger risk.
My approach now is to ask: Is the risk aligned with where we want to go? Is there enough information to make an intelligent decision? And if it does not work, can we recover and learn from it?
I am much more comfortable with calculated risk than I used to be. Experience teaches you that very few decisions are truly permanent. You can adjust, rebuild, and change direction.
Some of the best things that have happened in my career came from saying yes before I felt completely ready. That does not mean ignoring the numbers or the realities of the business. It means trusting that growth usually requires stepping into something that feels a little uncertain.
For me, risk is less about being fearless and more about being willing to move forward even when there is no guarantee.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://agencymj.com
- Instagram: agencymj
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mollie-jannasch-b909906/
