In just the two short months since opening their new creative agency, Amanda Shuchat and Katie Muir have already secured a number of key mandates and made some hires at Heads + Tales.

The agency, which launched in January, has been named the PR AOR for health care and benefits payer-provider Green Shield. The brand, which is a challenger in the health benefits space, has been assembling an agency team that also includes Broken Heart Love Affair, Epitaph, Public and Sklar Wilton, working alongside Mandy Mail, its recently appointed SVP of marketing and communications, in order to help it stand out in a crowded category.

“They want people to understand the benefits landscape better and realize how Green Shield can really improve their health care and benefits services,” explains Shuchat. “They hired us on because they see our reputation for culture hacking and doing things differently, and they want to stand out and speak to people in a different way than their competitors might.”

In addition to Green Shield, Heads + Tales has won mandates with South African chicken brand Nando’s, the soon-to-be-opened Toronto Holocaust Museum and air filter startup Blade Air. Each of the brands represents a unique challenge but all three are attempting either to establish or grow brand awareness in the Canadian market.

“Nando’s is a very established brand in the U.K. and is really growing its share and awareness here in Canada,” says Shucat. “They do a lot of interesting work within culture and with influencers, getting people to understand not just their product, but also how they are a brand with roots in South African culture. They’re all about community, art and bringing people together, and that’s why they’re a brand we have so much heart for.”

Meanwhile, the Toronto Holocaust Museum will put Toronto on the map as one of the few municipalities globally that has a historical site for Holocaust remembrance, Shuchat says – and that is especially vital because “there’s been a huge rise in antisemitism over the past couple of years.”

“That’s a very scare thing when survivors of the Holocaust are in their last generation, with very few of them left and they are passing away,” Shuchat adds. “We need to educate about this to make sure that history doesn’t repeat itself.”

And Blade Air, as a fellow startup, shares Heads + Tales’ “bold entrepreneurial vision,” Shuchat says.

The brand pivoted its business during the COVID-19 pandemic, and now there is opportunity for it in a post-pandemic world where people are genuinely concerned about air quality in public spaces.

“They have a big opportunity from an earned perspective and storytelling perspective,” adds Muir. “Small businesses are looking to ensure employees have a safe space to work. Employees are looking at different companies and evaluating new workspaces and if the air there is clean. Real estate is looking to sell the next luxury perk – clean air within a building. There’s so many stories to tell there and that really excites us.”

To service the new business, Heads + Tales has also made a number of additions to its headcount. Natalie Gardner has joined the agency as associate director, while Jillian Starkie has been added as an account manager and Madison Gerrie as an account executive. Heads + Tales has also added a fourth full-timer who cannot yet be named.

All four will benefit from the agency’s internal in-house performance and leadership training, provided by Barbara Morris-Blake. The agency is also developing a proprietary curriculum for the leadership development of overachievers, Shuchat says, which will be prepared later in the spring and offered as an additional service to clients, alongside Heads + Tales’ marketing and communications offerings.

Both Shuchat and Muir are clear that the coaching offering is not just a gimmick for the agency, but a core part of its identity and a key differentiator.

“A lot of creatives are looking for something different from their employer – from agencies in particular,” explains Muir. “They’re looking for a new model and for self-actualization. As we know, there’s so many talent shortages out there, but we’re not seeing that as we go out and look for talent. We’re getting a lot of interest from folks who really want to contribute to something and be part of a team that is really connected and on this transformational growth journey together, alongside our coach.”

“Our coaching model is very different and we’ve received a lot of feedback on it,” adds Shuchat. “We’ve been able to attract a lot of interested talent, which we know is something the industry has been struggling with. That’s something we’re really grateful for and proud of as we are building this, and it ultimately excites us more than anything else.”