Minneapolis-based Rise and Shine is one of the country’s fastest-growing ad agencies, and Matt Burgess is a key reason why. He returned to the Twin Cities in mid-2022 after six years as a creative exec in L.A. Since then, Rise and Shine’s headcount has grown from 18 to 92. In 2025, it was named Ad Age’s Midwest Small Agency of the Year. Burgess credits much of this success to his agency’s “brand navigation” strategy, “where we can navigate [clients] to a place that they can own.” Burgess and his comrades are developing new marketing tools, including an AI platform called Black Rabbit.