The work counts. The client relationship doesn’t. Credit it as “via [Agency]” rather than listing the end brand as your client, check what your contract says before publishing anything, and ask the agency for permission and a preferred credit line. When you genuinely can’t show a piece, describe the work without naming names — that still tells a hiring creator most of what they need.
This is one of the most common questions our support team gets from editors and designers who are not beginners. One put it precisely: “although I’ve worked with many clients they weren’t my clients, they’re the agency’s clients. So should I list the clients, or agencies — and do the agency’s clients count as mine?”
It’s a good question because both obvious answers are wrong. Claiming the end brand overstates your position. Claiming nothing throws away years of real work.
Here are the five rules that resolve it.
Note: this is general guidance, not legal advice. Your contract governs, and contracts differ. When real money or a serious client relationship is at stake, have a lawyer read the clause.
“Editor, via [Agency] — client work” is accurate. “Client: [Brand]” is not, if the brand never engaged you.
This distinction matters more than it might seem, because the people senior enough to hire you have usually worked agency-side themselves. They read portfolios knowing exactly how these arrangements work, and an inflated credit is obvious to them in a way it isn’t to a general audience.
Formats that hold up:
What that phrasing buys you is credibility. You’re demonstrating that you understand your own position in the chain, which is itself a professional signal. Overstating costs you the opposite.
The same logic applies to white-label work where your name never appeared. You did the edit. You were engaged by the studio. Say that.
An NDA or work-for-hire clause governs what you can show and name, regardless of how good the work is.
Dig out the contract before you put anything in a portfolio. You’re looking for three things:
Without an explicit portfolio clause you’re in uncertain territory, and a client can legally ask you to take something down (Matchstick Legal). Some freelancers publish anyway and remove on request. That’s a risk calculation, and it’s a bad one for internal systems, unreleased work, proprietary branding, or anything covered by a confidentiality agreement.
One email resolves most cases, and getting the answer in writing costs you nothing.
Agencies deal with this constantly. Many have a standard position and will tell you plainly what you may show and how they’d like it worded.
A version that works:
Hi [Name] — I’m updating my portfolio and would like to include the [project] work I did for you in [month/year]. Could you confirm whether that’s OK, and how you’d like it credited? Happy to keep the end client unnamed if you’d prefer, and happy to send you the page before it goes live.
Three things make that email effective. It’s specific about which piece. It offers a lesser version, so “no” isn’t the only alternative to “yes.” And it offers a review, which removes most of the perceived risk.
Save the reply. Six months later, nobody remembers a verbal yes.
Format, role, scale, turnaround and outcome — with no names — still tells a hiring creator a lot.
This is the step most people skip, and it’s the difference between a three-year gap in your portfolio and a credible account of what you’ve been doing.
Compare:
2024–2026: Agency work (under NDA)
against:
Cut 40+ short-form pieces for a beauty brand’s paid social, working to an agency brief on 24-hour turnarounds. Formats: vertical 9:16, 15–30s, heavy motion graphics and burned-in captions.
The second breaches nothing and communicates real capability — volume, deadline discipline, format specialism, technical range. A creator reading it learns more than they’d learn from a logo.
Then pair it with spec work in the same style, so the skill you can’t exhibit is demonstrated by something you’re free to show. Our guide on building a portfolio with no clients covers how to build and label those pieces.
The long-term fix is asking for portfolio rights at the start, when you have leverage, instead of permission at the end, when you don’t.
Ask for it before you sign. A good portfolio clause covers:
(Framework adapted from Matchstick Legal’s portfolio clause guide.)
The strongest single move is asking for pre-approval of typical portfolio uses at project start rather than case-by-case consent later. Most clients agree when it’s framed as routine at the outset. Very few agree when you come back eighteen months later asking about a project everyone has forgotten.
One practical note: the licensed-content point catches people out. If your edit used stock music or footage, the licence may not cover showing the piece in your portfolio indefinitely, regardless of what the client agrees to.
A related version of this question comes from people moving into creator work from another field, or whose experience is with brands rather than influencers.
The approach is the same. Lead with the work that’s closest to what you’re being hired for, and let the rest sit in one short bio line where it adds credibility rather than confusion.
“Video editor. Previously five years in broadcast post-production” is a strength. Three paragraphs about broadcast before anyone has seen your edit is a problem.
If a profile or form insists on framing everything around social media or creator work and your background doesn’t fit that shape, ask support how they handle it rather than distorting your history to fit the field.
Questions our support team gets about crediting past work, in their own words.
Not as your clients. Credit the relationship you had — “via [Agency]” — which is both accurate and a professional signal. The work counts; the client relationship belongs to the agency.
Only if the NDA allows it or the client agrees. Check whether the clause covers the client’s identity, the content, or the existence of the project — they’re different restrictions. When in doubt, describe the work without naming anyone.
Requirements vary — some platforms need prior creator work, others don’t. If the form won’t accept your background, ask support rather than misrepresenting your history.
Lead with the creative work. Keep the previous career to one line where it adds credibility. Hiring creators are deciding based on your reel, not your CV.
Then describe the work without naming them, and build a spec piece in the same style. You keep the capability signal without the credit.
Go through your last three years of agency work and sort it into three piles: cleared to show, needs an email, and can only be described. Send the emails this week — they take two minutes each and they unlock work you’ve already done.
Then get it in front of people hiring. Roster is free for talent, with no fees and 100% of earnings kept. Build a profile or browse open jobs to see what creators are asking for.
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and non-production roles without the hassle.
