Paulo Ribeiro founded Two Things eight years ago in Portland, Oregon on a premise most agencies would never consider: do the work, build the capability and then leave. Four years ago, the agency relocated to a building in NoHo, New York City, and today runs a 23-person team specializing in upstream transformation work — the kind of assignments that typically go to management consultants, but with the hands-on approach of a creative shop. Clients include EA Sports, Converse, Arc’teryx, The North Face, Timberland and Unity Technologies. “We are a catalyst for change,” Paulo says. “We help clients get unstuck, and we ride shotgun with them to bring that work into the real world.”
From Portland porches to NoHo offices
Two Things started in Portland, where Paulo had spent two long stints at Wieden+Kennedy and a run at Red Scout (part of MDC). Eight years ago he started building something different — an agency that works like a consultant but creates like a shop. Four years in, the team made a deliberate move to New York, where the proximity to clients and the pace of business matched their ambitions.
With a leadership team expanding to five, Two Things has grown into a model that sits between management consulting and creative agency — and borrows the best parts of both.
Be a catalyst, then get out of the way
Two Things specializes in solving the problems that keep companies spinning their wheels — launching products, building departments, connecting with audiences in fundamentally different ways. But the real differentiator is the exit strategy.
Two Things doesn’t want the engagement forever. They come in for a year or two, solve the problem completely, build internal capability and move on. “We do not want to hold on to that engagement infinitely, just to continue to get revenue,” Paulo says. Their reputation is built on results, not retention.
Three things that make Two Things different
The first: colliding perspectives. Bryna Keenaghan, Head of Strategy, describes the agency’s ability to put technologists, designers and strategists at the same table — with clients alongside them. “We want clients that are going to roll up their sleeves and work with us,” Bryna explains.
The second: building internal capability. Justin Baum, Head of Product, says the goal isn’t just solving problems — it’s making sure the client can keep going without them. The third: the player-coach model. Paulo and the team get under the hood, diagnose what’s stuck and ride shotgun while teaching as they go. Even hiring reflects this — everyone at Two Things can both execute and teach.
The freedom to cast the perfect team
For Justin, independence means the business model doesn’t dictate the solution. “It allows you to work in a way where you’re unconstrained, where you have the flexibility to work the way you need to work for the project or problem at hand.”
Paulo, who saw the network model up close at Wieden+Kennedy and Red Scout, explains why independence is essential: the ability to bring in senior specialists as genuine additions, not names pulled from a corporate roster. When working with Converse, they need different experts than when working with Unity Technologies on a consumer 3D app. Independence lets them cast the right team every time.
When momentum disappears, Two Things shows up
“When they are tired of business as usual,” Bryna says. “When they cannot find momentum.” The problems aren’t always about new ideas — sometimes organizations have been generating great ideas for years but can’t get them through the system.
Bryna describes the agency as “SEAL Team Six” for stuck organizations: come in, find the roadblocks and make it happen. Paulo adds perspective from years working with senior leaders: “I have never met a leader who’s like, ‘just give me good enough.’ They would if they could do better, they would. So what is getting in their way?”
A home for uncommon combinations
“The whole creative industry has been industrialized, and people are forced to fit into boxes,” Justin says. “Coming to Two Things, you’re able to morph and work to your strengths.” The agency seeks what Paulo calls “uncommon combinations” — a former head of creative technology at a Fortune 100 company who wanted to get back to hands-on craft, a head of design at a Fortune 50 who felt the same pull.
Bryna adds: “In most agencies, there’s one path and it’s just up to management. I want to be in the work.” Paulo is clear about the ceiling: “I don’t think we can be excellent and be over 75 people.”
Misfits who finally found the unicorn
“I think this is easy. I think we’re misfits,” Bryna says. “I worked at amazing agencies. I worked brand side. There was always a little piece that wasn’t fulfilling. When I was at strategy agencies, I wanted more design. When I was at design agencies, I wanted the strategy to be more rigorous. I always felt like a misfit.”
Justin agrees — calling on early startup experience in a services context isn’t something you can clearly define. “It’s really a collection of its people — the people and the way we work that create the benefit of what it is to be a misfit.”
Dear Mercedes-Benz: Two Things is drawn to complexity
The team’s shoutout goes to Melody Lee, CMO at Mercedes-Benz, for navigating the complexity of the brand’s product line, EV transition, tariff dynamics and more. Paulo explains the draw: “We’re so drawn to complexity as a shop. We have to meet her.”
For an agency that specializes in getting brands unstuck, a brand navigating electrification, global trade and a storied legacy is exactly the kind of challenge Two Things was built for.
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