{"id":2203775,"date":"2025-12-18T05:06:34","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T05:06:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2203775"},"modified":"2025-12-18T05:06:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T05:06:34","slug":"inside-communications-agency-the-a-lists-relationship-driven-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/inside-communications-agency-the-a-lists-relationship-driven-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Communications Agency The A List\u2019s Relationship-Driven Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

\n\tThe A List has been expanding its footprint in Los Angeles<\/a>, adding space and growing its team.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe women-led communications and marketing agency is overseen by founder and chief executive officer Ashlee Margolis, president and managing partner Jenine Leigh-Pollard and managing partner Shana Honeyman.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI feel like it\u2019s just been years of building trust in the community and building relationships that feel authentic and organic,\u201d said Margolis, who got her start at Harrison & Shriftman.<\/p>\n

\n\tLaunched more than two decades ago, The A List was shaped by Margolis\u2019 early career in public relations and her longstanding ties across entertainment. Early collaboration with Leigh-Pollard \u2014 then an endorsements agent \u2014 helped shape a relationship-driven platform for brands including Coach, Express, Ports 1961 and J.Crew.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt was all word of mouth,\u201d Margolis went on. \u201cI was different than other showrooms, because I was really heavy on celebrity, versus my competitors that were just all stylists.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAt a time when most showrooms focused on servicing stylists, Margolis built a business centered on direct celebrity access. By developing relationships with talent, and extending that access to the agents, managers and publicists who brought them in, she established trust across Hollywood\u2019s talent community, she said.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat approach led to Margolis\u2019 first fully produced event: a fundraiser with Rashida Jones for the charity Peace Games, hosted at Quincy Jones\u2019 home. The evening drew high-profile guests, \u201cbefore you had to pay celebrities to go anywhere,\u201d Margolis said.<\/p>\n

\n\tToday, The A List operates as a full-service agency, blending its invite-only showroom with brand partnerships, influencer and celebrity campaigns and activations that range from private dinners to red carpet events.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s telling the story of a brand and amplifying a brand through all the different voices,\u201d Margolis said, referring to an approach that brings together celebrity access, creator partnerships and in-person experiences to reach audiences across multiple touchpoints.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p><\/div><\/div>

\n

\t\t\t\t\tShana Honeyman, Jenine Leigh-Pollard and Ashlee Margolis at The A List.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMichael Buckner\/WWD<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tBy the time Leigh-Pollard officially joined the company in early 2021, The A List was profitable, according to Margolis. But her arrival marked a shift toward more structured growth.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cJenine really made a business that was running on gut and intuition into a more substantial, real business,\u201d Margolis said.<\/p>\n

\n\tSince then, The A List has expanded to roughly 45 employees, grown to about 20,000 square feet across four buildings on Civic Center Drive in Beverly Hills and completed the acquisition of The Honeyman Agency, founded by Honeyman, a curated luxury showroom focused on stylist-led celebrity dressing.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor Honeyman, the decision to join The A List came down to alignment and timing.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt was very, very clear how symbiotic this could be for the both of us and my clients,\u201d Honeyman said. \u201cTimes are changing, and brands need more than just celebrity dressing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe partnership allows Honeyman\u2019s brands, the likes of Magda Butrym and Toteme, to tap into The A List\u2019s wider capabilities, from partnerships to campaigns.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s an approach that\u2019s in demand as brands rethink how they invest in influence, placing greater emphasis on access. Margolis said those long-standing relationships, built directly with talent over the years, have become increasingly important.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe go directly to celebrities and their personal assistants,\u201d she said. \u201cWe get results.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThat rapport has opened the door to deeper partnerships, including celebrity equity deals that go beyond traditional endorsements. In those cases, The A List works with both brands and talent to align long-term interests.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re bringing celebrities on to take equity in brands and helping them with their go-to-market strategy,\u201d Margolis said.<\/p>\n

\n\tLooking ahead, the team is focused on growth across categories. The agency has expanded beyond fashion into beauty and wellness with brands like Ilia, with plans to continue building in hospitality and consumer products.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe want to do more in Europe,\u201d Margolis said. \u201cWe want to do more in Miami. We want to do more in Chicago. We\u2019re really heavy New York and L.A. right now, and we do a good amount in Miami, but there\u2019s no reason that we can\u2019t have showrooms and offices everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source wwd.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The A List has been expanding its footprint in Los Angeles, adding space and growing its team. The women-led communications and marketing agency is overseen by founder and chief executive officer Ashlee Margolis, president and managing partner Jenine Leigh-Pollard and managing partner Shana Honeyman. \u201cI feel like it\u2019s just been years of building trust in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2203776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25177],"tags":[22693],"class_list":["post-2203775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrities","tag-los-angeles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Inside-Communications-Agency-The-A-Lists-Relationship-Driven-Growth.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2203775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2203775"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2203775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2203777,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2203775\/revisions\/2203777"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2203776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2203775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2203775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2203775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}