40
2024
Los Angeles, Chicago, New York & Miami
Full Service
4
Other
Vacation is “a break from work as usual." It's not just our motto, it’s our rule breaking promise to the biz. No more big-agency norms of bloated staff plans and slow work. We’ve got less overhead, zero layers and an agency tone of voice that ChatGPT assessed as “pop princess with a business plan.” We’ve told the industry who we are: queer and female-owned and have promised to over-serve our communities any chance we get. Weirdo? Misfit? Underdog? We prefer Queer, which means constantly dismantling the status quo, while serving up the unexpected with immaculate flair.
Okay, vibes? Vacation’s crest reads “Tranquillus et Optimus.” For you AP Latin delinquents, that translates to “unbothered & optimistic.” For us, this ethos is a free pass to be irresponsibly generous, relentlessly provocative & in as many ways as possible, transparently & joyfully ourselves. Holding Co. Daddy would NOT appreciate the heart on our sleeves or the curse words on our tongue.
Now, logistics? We bring strat, design, creative & production to the table from day one, for a good-spirited tug-of-war that keeps us marching toward the same crystal-clear destination.
Oh, come on. We wouldn’t be able to do all we’ve done in a single year at an old-world shop or structure (we spent our careers ‘til now trying). 13 clients, major rebrands, new launches, published reports, hot campaigns with millions of organic views on a single day. And doing it with the people we love, beside all our favorite freelance friends, at costs that lower the barrier to entry for queer and female founders and raise the bar for all the rest.
Hey, nothing better than getting in the group chat with your fave collaborators from jobs past and asking: “u up?” for starting an agency. Saying hell yes on Valentine’s day 2024 (aw) and coming out to the industry with an Adweek announcement during Pride – a swift, optimistic trauma response to everything we hated about adland, and a true labor of love in every sense of the word.
Well, sigh. There have been times when our wallets have cried out for profits, but our hearts have turned these down based on a misalignment of inclusive values. We’d rather work harder for good partners than take on sketchy biz ‘cuz it comes easy. Reminding ourselves of this and consoling our PNL with the promise that backbone leads to future business hasn’t been “easy,” but it sure has been worth it.
The future? What it won’t have are sad commutes, shitty office desks, rigid full time contracts or a creeping sense of looming insecurity. Our future is a work-from-anywhere, freelance-favoring, connected to what you care about kind of world. Ask us, more shops could join in embracing our industry's newfound malleability. Cindy Gallop (queen) once said “don’t just start an agency, start something that gives you agency.” So, we’re just gonna keep doing that.
