Optimise operations.
Propel your people.
We help creative agencies and studios develop the teams, leadership and systems that power award-winning work, future-proofing their craft.
Built and run by senior industry pros, Kinsfolk partners across Advertising, PR, Marketing, Design, Film, Video & Games, to fill the gaps and bolster strategic growth, people development and creative workflows.
In-house or external...
Studio or agency...
We bolster the backbone behind great creative work.
Together, we ensure our partners build creative businesses that adapt and endure, safeguarding talent, culture, and craft while easing burnout, overspend, and the growing pains that limit industry-leading creativity.
Clarity
Strategic Direction & Growth
We help agencies and studios set clear, practical, and future-proof paths for growth.
We work on shaping your positioning, projections, defining ideal clients, and improving conversion - all while making confident decisions about hiring, suppliers, partners, investment, and expansion.
The focus is on creating strategies and workflows that allow your business to scale sustainably without wastage, and stay creatively ambitious in a growingly fragmented and agile market.
Culture
People & Leadership Development
We strengthen your foundations, helping you attract and retain the right talent, build teams that communicate and collaborate effectively, and foster a culture that supports professional development, personal wellbeing, and a balance of creativity and commercial impact.
Using Myers-Briggs and Insights, we also clarify values and reveal how individuals think, communicate, and perform.
Craft
Creative Direction & Operations
We ensure your work resonates with audiences and drives lasting commercial impact.
We streamline processes and AI-driven workflows to improve efficiency and scalability, removing bottlenecks, ensuring projects are cost-effective, and optimising how you manage third-party supplier and partner proposals, pitches, and contracts.
We also guide creative direction, helping projects align ambition and vision with platform, trends, and audience expectations - increasing pitch wins, impact and return on investment.
Continuity
Leadership Transitions & Acquisitions
We prepare your leadership team for moments of change and growth.
Whether a founder is stepping back, the business is scaling rapidly, or the organisation is moving towards an exit or acquisition, we design clear, structured pathways that protect continuity, sustain creative momentum, and strengthen the long-term value of your business.
The focus is on smooth transitions that keep teams motivated, preserve culture, and maintain strong creative output.
Courage
Working within the creative industry is so often a labour of love. We approach our work with the intention of inspiring optimism and empowerment.
As the world changes, the demand for creative work is becoming more fragmented and specialist. In-house or external, studio or agency; the challenge we face together is nurturing and retaining key talent, and empowering people with smart systems and processes.
Kinsfolk was built on the belief that creative professionals thrive when they stay ahead of the curve, master vital market-specific skills, and actively engage their careers and lives.
Our Founder & Lead Coach
Mike Buonaiuto has over 20 years’ experience supporting creative businesses in the UK and USA. He is an Exited Agency Founder and Former UN Creative Director.
Before Kinsfolk, Mike founded Shape History in 2015, leading the award-winning agency in global projects with institutions including the United Nations, Amnesty International and WHO.
Following his exit, he has worked as a senior advisor and coach with top-performing agencies, studios and creative businesses, alongside supporting NatWest Business, Virgin Startup, and UNREST Accelerator, often utilising the Myers-Briggs framework.
Previously, he served as Creative Director for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and built the creative studio within Weber Shandwick’s (IPG, Omnicom) EMEA offering.
Learn more about Mike here.
Group M.D / Chair / Executive Coach
Eva Reynolds
Eva has spent the last 20 years building award-winning communication companies focused on improving people’s lives. She now supports leaders, teams and organisations as a Certified Executive Coach. Whether developing individual leadership or strengthening high-performing teams, Eva brings clarity that leads to better decisions, stronger collaboration and meaningful results.
Production Director / Exec Producer
Kyle Gladman
Kyle has built an impressive career across blockbuster gaming and film, as Production Director on leading titles both in the UK and Canada. Credits include Dune, The King, and First Man. With a history of leading teams of up to 300 people utilising 9 figure budgets, Kyle focuses on ensuring successful commercial products, by blending process and people-informed strategies in equal measure.
Creative Operations Director
Jennifer Kaplan-Ortiz
Jennifer's career spans production and public relations with renowned creative agencies and blue-chip companies across the US and UK. With experience managing teams and productions in galleries, in-house studios at agencies, and independent design and video houses, Jennifer knows what it takes to balance creative vision with operational discipline.
Managing Director - Agency
Bennett Golder
Bennett Golder is a digital campaigner with 15 years’ experience in corporate, political, financial, and crisis communications, including roles at FGS Global and Weber Shandwick. He has built integrated digital functions, leveraged employees’ social media voices, managed reputational crises, and trained c-suite executives on personal branding. Originally from Atlanta, he moved to London in 2010 for an LSE Masters.
Director - Workplace Investigations
Robert Pigot
Robert is a specialist in employee relations, complex investigations and dispute resolution, with 16+ years’ experience across policing, multinationals and high‑growth tech. He brings calm authority, behavioural insight and rigorous process to moments of organisational strain, helping creative businesses protect trust, resolve conflict and grow with integrity.
TEDx: No wonder people are quitting. Business must do better.
Quitting is at a 20-year high. After years of crisis, young people face unprecedented barriers to financial, physical, and emotional security. In response, a generation is voting with its feet - leaving companies that worsen these challenges and joining those that address them. Mike’s TEDx Talk reframes quitting, offering businesses a more human approach and urging founders to take responsibility for solving the defining issues of our time.
Our Experience
kinsfolk supported us during a critical phase of scaling our agency. With their guidance, we established in-house procedures that are both healthy for the business and supportive of the team. Mike is not only an experienced business consultant but also genuinely personable and attentive to the people behind the company. It was a true pleasure working with him, and I would highly recommend him to anyone seeking support in scaling their creative business.
Alex Aalto - AALTO PRODUCTION
Working with Mike has been an honest pleasure. The first time we spoke I felt listened to, respected, and understood. It’s one of a handful of times that I can wholeheartedly say a conversation made a difference, and I’m glad to be continuing the work together going forward. Highly recommend anyone considering having a mentor, an advisor, or just a friendly face to speak to, to reach out to Mike and I’m happy to introduce if you’re yet to meet him in passing!
Thomas Panton - ENDGAME
This support has really helped unlock the next phase for the company. The guidance has been incredibly valuable in running the studio effectively and planning for future growth - from reworking how it's run on the operations side to guiding me through sustainable P&L projections. It's helped me break the cycle and given a clear direction on where I want the business to go moving forward.
Ben Taylor - TAILORED STUDIOS
Mike is one of the few people I know who really understands what it takes to be a progressive business leader in the world today. Not only has he setup and grown his own successful creative agency, but he’s taken the time to truly get to grips with the most salient issues impacting people today, such as mental heath in the workplace. If you want to help get your business in better shape for the next decade, listen to what Mike has to say.
Tom Tapper - NICE & SERIOUS
Overall, I really enjoyed my sessions as I was able to speak openly and candidly about myself, being a founder and my end goals. Mike has the ability to add clarity and install confidence (especially as a female founder) and has helped me to understand business a little better and evolving me to be a stronger and more confident entrepreneur and person alike.
Carol Lathbridge - TIWANI HERITAGE
Mike is a fantastic coach. Not only does he listen well but he is able to quickly get to the substance of any conversation. He adds value, makes you think harder and ask the questions that you haven't yet thought of. Most of all he's just a really lovely person who I enjoyed spending time with. I highly recommend Mike as a coach/mentor if you need one.
Karen Harris - GERONIMO PR & STORIBOARD
A snapshot of some of the award-winning campaigns launched by those we've supported.
Campaigns our partners have powered
Unique approach to people
We take a tailored, hands-on approach, combining practical methods with tools such as Myers-Briggs and Insights personality profiling.
Rather than relying on long lectures or heavy information dumps, our workshops and coaching sessions are collaborative, interactive, and often gamified to make the experience engaging and memorable.
Teams discover not only their own strengths but also those of their peers through activities designed to foster communication, trust, and creative problem-solving.
This method empowers individuals and teams to understand how they operate together, strengthen their collective identity, and develop the skills and confidence needed to thrive in fast-paced, creative environments.
Our workshops and coaching aims to help your team think, reflect, plan and identify development opportunities. Sessions include organisational and project reviews, identity awareness team building (using tools such as Myers-Briggs and Insights), and deep dives into culture, operations, and workflow. The goal is to uncover opportunities, identify friction points, and equip your people with practical strategies to perform at their best while supporting long-term creative growth.
Workshops and Coaching
We offer fractional leadership support and residencies for teams that need hands-on guidance, stepping into roles traditionally held by Head of People, Strategy, Creative, Production, or Operations. We work with your teams to fill gaps, streamline processes, and introduce AI-driven workflows that make creative operations more efficient and scalable. We also provide tools, software, and process guidance for data-informed decisions, alongside foundational project set-up support. This helps teams focus on delivering creative work without getting stuck in day-to-day firefighting.
Embedded Support and AI Workflows
We provide conflict mediation, formal grievance and misconduct investigations, and leadership alignment sessions to resolve disputes, clarify responsibilities, and protect culture. Our support extends to designing communication frameworks, coaching managers on difficult conversations, and facilitating team reset sessions after periods of change or tension. By building clarity, trust, and effective collaboration, we ensure teams stay motivated, resilient, and focused on producing exceptional creative work.
Mediation, Investigation and Review
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Transformation can feel like a trap door, racing to shape new responsibilities, frameworks and ways of working, while facing a scale of change that feels unfamiliar, hard to navigate, and full of downstream impacts. We get it and we're here to help.