• by Larissa Faw , September 23, 2020

YML, formerly Y Media Labs, is reaping the financial benefits as the industry (and world) has made a hard pivot to digital products and experiences. The digital agency has embarked on a hiring spree to accommodate new business.

This year, YML has won seven new clients, including Omaha Steaks, California Pizza Kitchen and Thrive Market. Existing clients, including Google, State Farm and L'Oréal (SalonCentric), have also assigned the agency additional work.

The 11-year old shop specializes in one vertical--designing and engineering digital products and experiences. 

Now, YML is ramping up to service the new business. Two industry talents joining the agency include Rajeev Bhanot as head of product, a new role at the shop. He previously was with The Walt Disney Company in New York, where he was senior director of growth & product management for Disney+. Bhanot reports to Ashish Toshniwal, CEO & co-founder, YML and will be based at the agency’s Redwood City, CA headquarters upon reopening. 

Erica Sayers joins as director of client engagement, after most recently serving at Huge Southeast, where she was group engagement director on United Nations Women, U.S. Department of State, Capital One, Under Armour, Dell, and Dun & Bradstreet, among others.    

Sayers reports to Marcela Lay, vice president client strategy and head of YML Atlanta and will be working remotely from Washington D.C.

Additionally, the agency has added 75 new faces across all departments: design and creative, engineering, strategy, client services and product development. There are still 35 open positions, with YML expecting a total staff count of 400 by year end.

“The pandemic massively accelerated the need and speed for every brand to digitally reset,” stated Toshniwal. “Our culture is now at an inflection point where the digital product business is booming” he explains as the reason for this infusion of talent.