The indie network just got a little stronger.
Yes&, a mid-Atlantic mainstay with Beltway roots and creative ambitions well beyond it, has officially acquired Hothouse, an Atlanta-based shop known for blending brand and demand with a healthy dose of southern tenacity.
On paper, it’s a strategic move: more geographic reach, deeper creative bench, and a complementary client mix spanning Delta, HBO Max, The Home Depot, and Marriott. But it’s also a cultural play. Yes& CEO Robert W. Sprague put it plainly: “We saw kindred spirits.”
The move brings Hothouse’s full team—including founder and CEO Karen See—into the Yes& fold. See will now serve as EVP, Strategic Growth at Yes&, with her Atlanta team remaining in place. Together, they’ll supercharge Yes&’s creative and strategic offering with a blend of brand building, customer experience, and performance marketing—disciplines both shops already work across but will now scale more meaningfully.
“This is not about changing who we are,” See said in the announcement. “It’s about becoming more of what we are.”
The acquisition gives Yes& a creative outpost in Atlanta, along with new firepower in digital content, performance, and production. It also signals something broader: a reminder that indie growth doesn’t have to mean dilution. Sometimes it means doubling down—on team, on trust, and on the clients that actually want something different.
If the move feels aligned with Yes&’s name, that’s no accident. Sprague framed it as an additive evolution: “It’s a ‘yes’ to collaboration and an ‘&’ to expansion.” Whether that’s creative shorthand or brand poetry, the sentiment sticks. It’s a nod to a kind of indie optimism—confident, collaborative, and still in motion.
Read the full announcement from Yes& here: https://yesandagency.com/yesand-supercharges-creative-capabilities-with-acquisition-of-hothouse/
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Doug Zanger is the founder and editor-in-chief of Indie Agency News. He is also the founder of the Creative Bohemian consultancy, lives in the Pacific Northwest and is insufferable about it.
