Any connection to the Capitol riots felt unacceptable to the leaders, especially when they found themselves fielding questions from clients and prospects who unassumingly said things like, “Oh, good thing you didn’t name it for three days after,” she added.

Clients understood that there was no connection between the events on Jan. 6 and the agency, the founders admitted. Despite this, the leaders decided to workshop their agency’s brand the same way they would a client’s brand when navigating a similar brand safety concern.

“The fresh start feeling is hard to get when folks are thinking about a dark spot in our history,” said Winters. The rebrand, which the agency executed itself, launched in May and wrapped up just this month. Now that the agency is three years old, it’s gaining momentum. It recently released a video explainer of both its origin and the impetus for its name change.

“We wanted this also to be an introductory document to the rest of the client universe that we hoped might end up finding us as a result of this unusual brush with American history,” said Goodwin.