we
make
the world a
more beautiful,

Perhaps your challenge is strategic, or you aren’t sure what to try next. At MALI, we make the impossible digestible by easing understanding. Our sweet spot is taking something complex and distilling into a relatable, real result. Consider us the box your missing puzzle pieces come together in. As a brand and go-to-market agency, we not only know how to say it, we know how to make it move.

human
and
easily understood place
ALI + MILI = MALI. ‘Mali’ ALSO means ‘small’ in BosniaN and that interpretation is not lost on us. With only each other and a few amazing team members along the way, we’ve built something beautiful. Our approach is Radical Humanism, meaning the end goal will always be about the flesh and blood our work benefits. We get there by authentically learning what your brand feels like so we can synthesize it. By pulling our sleeves up and investing in your success. While the life-cycle of client retention is typically 2 – 3 years in our industry, our collaborators stay on average about 7 years. We hope you’ll join us, to make some magic together, and stick around for a while, too.
meet
the
founders
of MALI
& Friends

It started with a dinosaur. Mili was the paleontological stylist for a 12-ft. T. rex statue, and Ali was designing the backdrop behind it. On one side, Mili, a Bosnian-born American with a gift for translating human problems through technology. On the other, Ali, a trailer treasure with a knack for turning complicated ideas into easy yeses. First came love. Then came MALI. Then came the wedding bells. Now, 11 years on, the agency they never meant to start is thriving, and so are they.

Our philosophy is quite simple: What makes sense is more important to us than ‘what’s always been done.’ We have no corporate overlords to dictate our strategy, so we’re free to explore the most effective way to bring your vision to reality, and then make moves based on what we learn. This blissful independence allows us to be candidly curious in our collaborations.

If you think your business or product isn’t sexy, we beg to differ. As an expert in your space, you may have subconscious inherent biases, shielding you from the spectacular. We can reveal those blind spots and share data-driven ways to overcome them. We’ll be your mirror to magnificence, as we believe everyone deserves top-notch creative to reach the hearts and minds of their audience.

We’ve picked up a few awards along the way (scroll down to see what we mean). But what we’re proudest of is the clients who’ve stayed with us for years, the ones who call us first when something big lands on their desk, and the ones who bring us along when they move to their next company. When you work with MALI, you get us: on the call, in the room, and in your corner. We treat your brand like our own, because that’s what friends are for, goldurnit.

Follow the heard

Create based on

what you see

interpret

find and learn

awards
and
honors

Start Your Project

soooo what does
MALI
actually
do?

MALI & Friends is an independent brand and go-to-market agency founded in 2015 by Ali Nagy (CEO) and Mili Jasarevic (CTO), based in Long Beach, California. We specialize in brand strategy, brand design, web design and development, marketing support, and sales enablement for growth-stage B2B companies. With 250+ brands served across 35 verticals, we operate as an embedded creative partner. The people you meet in the pitch are the people doing the work. We serve clients nationwide, with particular depth in SaaS, healthcare, beauty, and mission-driven sectors.

faq's

MALI & Friends is an independent creative agency based in Long Beach, California, founded over a decade ago with a focus on brand strategy, brand design, web design and development, marketing support, and sales enablement. We work primarily with growth-stage B2B companies, SaaS platforms, healthcare and wellness brands, beauty service businesses, and mission-driven organizations. Our clients range from early-stage startups preparing for their first major brand investment to established companies with 50 to 500+ employees that have outgrown their original brand or need senior creative partnership. We are woman-owned, intentionally independent, and built to operate as an embedded creative partner, not a revolving door of junior talent.

MALI was founded by Ali Nagy and Mili Jasarevic, partners in business and in life. Mili, a Bosnian-born American, has a gift for translating human problems through technology. Ali has a knack for turning complicated ideas into easy yeses. They met while working on the same project (a twelve-foot T. rex statue, as it happens), and the agency grew from there. Eleven years later, that mix of technical depth and creative clarity is still the engine of how MALI works.

MALI is Ali and Mili combined, the two founders who are partners in both work and life. It also means “small” in Bosnian, a nod to co-founder Mili’s heritage, and a meaning we have embraced. We are intentionally small: independent, senior-led, and built so the people you meet are the people doing the work. The “& Friends” part is the point. We treat clients like collaborators, not accounts, and many of them stick around for years.

Yes. MALI is a proudly queer-owned agency, and that perspective is part of how we see the work. It shows up in the way we approach brands with openness and empathy, in our commitment to telling stories that reach all kinds of people, and in the care we bring to mission-driven and underrepresented clients. We believe the best creative comes from teams who understand that there is no single way to be, or to build a brand.

A few things. We are independent, with no holding company or corporate overlords shaping our strategy, which frees us to do what actually works for you rather than what is easiest or most billable. We are senior-led, so you work directly with the people doing the work. And we are built for long-term partnership: while the industry average for client retention is two to three years, our collaborators stay about seven. We treat your brand like our own, because that is how we are wired.

We have worked across 35 verticals in our decade-plus, with particular depth in SaaS and technology, healthcare and wellness, beauty services, and mission-driven organizations. The common thread is not the industry, it is the stage: growth-stage B2B companies that need senior creative partnership to get their story straight and their brand working harder. Our range across verticals is part of why we plug in quickly, we have seen a lot of category challenges before.

Yes, and we are proud of it. MALI is headquartered in Long Beach, California, right in the greater Los Angeles metro. Long Beach has a creative, independent, and refreshingly unpretentious energy that fits exactly how we work, and it keeps us close to a deep Southern California talent network and a diverse business community. If you are local and want a partner you can actually meet for coffee or pull into a room for a working session, we are right here.

All the time. From our home base in Long Beach, we sit right between the LA and Orange County business communities and work with companies across both, from startups in Silicon Beach to established brands in Irvine and everywhere in between. Southern California is one of the most competitive and creative markets in the country, and we know it well: the industries driving growth here, the talent, and what it takes to stand out. If you are building in the LA or OC metro, we would love to be your creative partner.

 
 

Yes. MALI is woman-owned, led by CEO and co-founder Ali Nagy. That independence is central to how we operate: no outside structure dictating our strategy, and the freedom to build genuine, long-term partnerships with the people we work with.

Radical Humanism is our core philosophy: the end goal of everything we make is the flesh-and-blood people our work actually reaches. It means we start by authentically learning what your brand feels like before we try to express it, and we measure success by whether the work connects with real human beings, not just whether it looks good in a case study. In practice, it keeps us focused on clarity, warmth, and impact rather than cleverness for its own sake.

The difference comes down to attention and agility. Boutique agencies offer senior-level attention on every project, the people you meet in the pitch are the people doing the work. Large firms often separate sales from production, creating a gap between promise and delivery. An independent agency is also more agile, adapting quickly to scope changes, providing faster turnaround, and maintaining closer relationships. The trade-off is narrower service offerings and smaller production capacity, but for scaling B2B companies that is often a benefit: you get a focused, strategic partner rather than a generalist factory.

Yes, quite a few. Our work has earned recognition from the Vega Digital Awards and the International Design Awards across categories including corporate rebrands, website and mobile design, brand identity, annual reports, and social campaigns. But the recognition we are proudest of is the kind that does not come with a trophy: clients who stay for years, call us first when something big lands, and bring us along when they move to their next company.

Direct, collaborative, and genuinely invested. When you work with MALI, you get us, on the call, in the room, and in your corner. We ask a lot of questions up front because we want to understand your business, not just your brief. We are candidly curious, we will tell you the truth about what you need and what you do not, and we treat your brand like our own. The goal is a partnership that feels less like hiring a vendor and more like gaining a team.

MALI & Friends is headquartered in Long Beach, California, in the greater Los Angeles metro area. We work with clients nationwide and have served companies across the United States, from Silicon Valley startups to East Coast enterprise brands. While some clients value proximity for in-person workshops and collaboration sessions, which we love, the majority of our engagements run remotely through structured video calls, shared workspaces, and asynchronous collaboration tools. Our Long Beach roots give us a Southern California perspective and a deep talent network, but our process is designed to work seamlessly regardless of your location.