I DIDN'T
FOLLOW A
PATH.
I was born in New York City, but it was Durham, North Carolina that raised me first — and where I learned what prosperity and a good moral compass looks like. In those years, Durham was thriving: a community that built for itself and believed in itself. That's the foundation everything else sits on.
Then came Queens, NY — adolescence through my early adult years, in a different world entirely. Faster. Sharper edges. No patience for hesitation. Queens did not wait for anyone to catch up; it demanded you keep pace or get left on the corner. I learned to keep pace.
Two cities, two educations. One taught me what a community looks like when it is allowed to flourish. The other taught me how to build when nothing is handed to you. I have been carrying both ever since — into every business I've started, every brand I've built, every person I've bet on.
Before I ever built an agency, I built my foundation in fintech. I managed executive relationships for Fortune 500 brands at the intersection of finance and technology, working on the kind of systems, partnerships, and deals that shape how millions of people interact with money. That world taught me scale, precision, client trust, and what it means to operate when the stakes are high.
But I did not wait for someone to hand me a lane. I carved one. I started with a vision, a laptop, and a stubborn refusal to believe the room was not built for people like me. I co founded and built a creative marketing agency from the ground up — client by client, campaign by campaign — until it became something people talked about.
And while building that agency, I created something else: Marcos 530 Asian and Italian Pasta House — an original restaurant concept launched during a global pandemic, when most people were trying to survive uncertainty. It quickly became a success — not because the timing was easy, but because the concept was clear, the culture was real, and the execution was relentless.
Then I sat in the producer's chair. As Executive Producer and co-creator of a podcast, I learned that the most powerful thing a brand can do is make people feel seen. That lesson lives in everything I do.
And then there is the music. Managing recording artists and creatives taught me what no business school can — how to protect and enhance a vision, navigate an industry designed to dilute it, and help build careers that last.
"I don't fit in one box. That's never been the goal."— Layne Fontes
Layne Fontes
Executive · Producer · Founder · Manager
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