Near the end of December, Pliable Marketing, a Maine-based marketing company that burst onto the NIL scene throughout 2024 with a focus on athlete branding, expanded its growing list of clients.

University of Maine at Augusta freshman Emma Boulanger joined more than 30 other athletes at the high school, college and professional levels under the Pliable Marketing umbrella from all across the United States.

They wasted no time in helping her secure a name, image and likeness deal, as she now has a partnership with Aroma Joe’s, a local coffee shop. They have two locations in the Maine capital and she is the ninth person who has become an ambassador for the business.

“As a college athlete, I am excited about the opportunity to pursue name, image and likeness opportunities. I see this partnership with Aroma Joe’s as a way to spread positivity to others, including promoting women’s sports to inspire the next generation of young girls. Aroma Joe’s and Pliable have created some amazing opportunities for high school and college athletes so I am really excited to be part of more events in the Augusta community and beyond,” said Boulanger.

A two-sport athlete, Boulanger is currently playing forward for the women’s basketball team, where she has played in 16 games and is averaging 4.4 rebounds. During her senior year at Sacopee Valley High School, she was named the Western Maine All-Conference First team and invited to the Maine McDonald’s All-Star game.

A three-sport athlete in high school, she played soccer and softball in addition to her work on the hardwood. At Augusta, she will be playing softball in the spring.

“Emma is one of the hardest working athletes I have met. She typically starts her day working the morning shift at 4 a.m. and then goes to class, has practice or a game and maintains really good grades. As a two-sport athlete, she has really good time management skills. When you factor in Emma’s personality and her passion for Aroma Joe’s, this was a perfect name, image and likeness partnership for her. I know she really wants to use her platform as an athlete to give back to her community and support the next generation of high school and college athletes in Maine and beyond. Emma is a great role model and is going to inspire a lot of other athletes with this NIL partnership,” said Greg Glynn, founder & CEO of Pliable.

As part of the deal with Aroma Joe’s, Boulanger will receive compensation for her name, image and likeness by appearing in social media posts and making promotional appearances for the business.

She will be promoting events in August, Kennebec County and other places around New England. Boulanger is featured in a commercial that will appear during telecasts of the basketball games on Munzing Media as well.

“We are very excited to work with Emma since she goes to college so close to the two Aroma Joe’s locations in Augusta. This partnership is unique because she is the first community ambassador who already works at Aroma Joe’s and her college is located in the same city where Aroma Joe’s has two locations. This will make it easy for her to be involved in community events and help spread positivity in the Kennebec Valley area and beyond. We know Emma is going to be a great role model for kids to look up to, and to showcase how athletes can give back to their communities,” said Crystal Brown, Community Marketing Manager for Aroma Joe’s Development ME/NH.