By Katy Nally

Armed with an MBA and a computer science degree, Jerri has a knack for seeing the potential of technology to change lives, and the knowhow to make it happen. At two of Seattle’s major, international corporations—Starbucks and Microsoft—she used her background in software engineering and program management to guide development teams and nail business objectives. Jerri is a tour de force taking Seattle by storm, driven by the opportunity to uncover answers and master new skills.

Shaping product development

Straddling tech and business presents a lot of career prospects for Jerri. She found her niche at the nexus of the two—product development. As a product manager at Starbucks she worked across engineering and business teams to evolve the company’s rewards program, then deploy it throughout the Americas and support its launch in Asia. At 2A she took on a program management role within the Partner Apps Experiences (PAX) team at Microsoft, focusing on education and helping K-12 solution providers bring their products to the Microsoft Store for Education.

Managing at a global level

Not only is she fluent in tech and business, Jerri also speaks Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese) and uses her skills to push the international boundaries of her career. Before joining 2A she worked on the Windows Phone team, strengthening connections in China by building strategic partnerships with in-country game developers, payment providers, and telecom giants. In that role, Jerri mastered the intricacies of cross-border collaboration to launch successful technologies.

Conquering with enthusiasm

Whether she’s launching a loyalty program in India or attracting ISVs to a new platform, Jerri gets the job done with unwavering enthusiasm. It’s how she approaches most things in life—like her international quest for the best cultural dish or her latest outdoor adventure: stand up paddle boarding on Lake Washington.

Find yourself in need of an expert translator who knows both sides of the technology coin? Jerri can help you out.

By Katy Nally

The summer slide should really be some enormous slip ‘n slide where kids glide down a grassy hill to stick it to the summer heat. Instead, I just learned, it’s when kids’ brains obliterate one month of learning over the summer and come back to school slightly dumber than when they left. But I don’t think this is a kids-only affair. As far as I can tell, adults are just as susceptible to the summer slide and also experience brain melting as the thermometer bumps into the mid-80s.

So, if you’re like me and you think your neurons might be atrophying, here are a few grammar tips to encourage a little brain exercise this summer. (And if you want more of a challenge, there’s always summer reading BINGO from the Seattle Public Library.)

By Katy Nally

What’s a jack of all trades look like these days? Coined by Shakespeare’s critics who were jealous he was both an actor and playwright, the phrase conjures someone slamming a blacksmith hammer with one hand and slaying a rabbit with the other. That can’t still be true…unless we’re in Portland. If Jesus Terriquez Camarena is any indication, today’s jacks are a little hipster, resoundingly well liked, and known for their wellspring of quick wit and moxie.

Data guru by day

His medium is data, and like Shakespeare, he can make it sing. For Microsoft, Jesus dove into seas of go-to-market data to track patterns and harpoon campaign outcomes. His degree in economics and sociology from Washington State University trained him to look beyond the dashboard and understand how data points fit into the big picture.

Bartender by night

You can’t become a jack of all trades by slowing down! For a year now, Jesus has worked as a bartender in Ballard on the weekends. At first he took the job because he wanted to learn how to make cocktails, but stuck with it even after he mastered the menu. Nights as a barback maintain the frenzied pace Jesus needs to thrive.

Mechanic on the side

Growing up in Tijuana with his industrious mom as his role model, Jesus learned the value of keeping things running. Though he got in trouble for taking apart calculators (and putting them back together) he learned a lot in his self-taught mechanics 101, which eventually helped him pay off his student loans. In college he fixed brakes and calipers at a machine shop because, why not? These skills came in handy when he started a taco truck business with a friend after graduating.

Just when it doesn’t seem possible to cram any more skills into one person, Jesus masters another trade. There’s no doubt his know-how can help your business too.

By Katy Nally

Lately, my skyline view of Seattle has taken on a War of the Worlds vibe, with a dozen robotic, yellow cranes slowly coaxing partially-constructed condos and office towers to life. As of January, Seattle had the most cranes of any U.S. city—an indication of the massive development boom and citywide growth spurt.

We’ve followed a similar trend at 2A. Founded in 2014, we’ve doubled our business each year, to the point where we outgrew our office space last month! But while the city invests in new construction to house its newcomers, we’ve opted for old construction for our new home. We’re still in Capitol Hill—this time our office is inside an old car dealership building. It was the right move for us, and we have a few things in common with the new, old space.

Attention to detail is alive and well

They just don’t make ‘em like they used to, right?! There are a lot of details to appreciate in our new home—the arched row of bricks that hover above our 10-foot windows like eyebrows, or the Douglas fir floorboards that were painstakingly nailed in place long ago. This attention to detail is something we take to heart at 2A, and it aligns perfectly with our mantra to “touch every pixel” before our work goes out the door. Being surrounded by such craftsmanship is a good reminder to take pride in the details.

Stories are sacred

If these walls could talk… As a relatively new city, Seattle doesn’t have a particularly long history, but it’s cherished in a way that keeps it relevant. Built in 1912, the Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company used our office space as its showroom. Several other car dealerships followed suit after Pierce Arrow, until REI adopted the space in the 1960s as its headquarters. Just like us, our new home knows the power and allure of stories.

Quirky is good

One of the main draws of old buildings is their character. Whether that means the hot water doesn’t work, or the floor is slowly sinking, a building’s character sets it apart and fuels its intrigue. Our new home isn’t quirky to a fault, but there is a charming freight elevator circa 1900 that probably doubles as a time portal, I just have to find the right switch. At 2A we treasure our characters, and know that personality is what makes us stand out.

1508 10th Ave. isn’t the newest building on the block, but we’ve found our best fit in an old space.

By Katy Nally

Sarah knows what to do if you’re stranded in Yemen. While working at the State Department, Sarah managed crisis situations—from helping tourists who lost their passports while on vacation, to coordinating the evacuation of U.S. citizens after an earthquake. Now an expert at fielding the hectic, Sarah brings a classy calm to 2A, and zenfully takes on even the toughest consulting curveballs. But her smooth approach is just the beginning of what she brings to the table. 

She leads with diplomacy 

At the State Department, Sarah learned how to be diplomatic from the best, and work with a range of personalities. Whether it was longtime foreign service officers or DC-based civil servants, Sarah was able to bring groups to consensus and initiate a path forward. 

At 2A, Sarah’s put her penchant for relationship-building to good use, fostering strong team dynamics both in our office and among clients. Sometimes she tells a self-deprecating joke for the greater good, or a funny story everyone can relate to. Her ability to navigate the conversation ultimately leads to better collective work. 

She aspires to the speed of twitter

Speed is important to Sarah. It’s why she chose 2A, and it’s why she can’t get enough Twitter. After a few years working for the government, Sarah noticed the drag of red tape and began to appreciate the agility of the private sector. Once she finished her MBA she sought a growing, nimble company like 2A. As a consultant, she likes being part of a team that readily takes action, and can get things done quickly.

As for Twitter, it’s Sarah’s 360 view of the world. Even though she left DC, she still keeps up with the latest political news, garnering updates from a range of voices worldwide.  

She knows how to pull the creative thread

During her first year at UW Foster, Sarah was the representative for student affairs, in charge of organizing events for her fellow classmates. It was a position that led to her unexpected love of event planning. Events like the Oscar-themed, year-end leadership dinner allowed Sarah to scratch her creative itch. And she’s been able to continue the trend at 2A. 

For the 2017 holiday season, Sarah orchestrated our fully themed, highly detailed, and unforgettable presents for clients: an Überleben Zünden fire-starter. Sarah worked with 2A designers, writers and animators to ensure the multiple components of the gift had a cohesive story, look and feel, crafted to bring out the inner ruggedness of our recipients. Bitte, Freunde.

International crises? Pressing pitch deck? There’s nothing Sarah can’t handle.

By Katy Nally

Innovations build on past experiences to deliver cutting-edge solutions. Shaped by the tech industry over the past 20 years, Angela is propelling 2A forward, innovation-style. Her growth mindset, strategic focus and tech background are advancing the 2A team as we continue taking on new challenges. Lucky for us, Angela relishes a good challenge. A storyteller by nature, she has an eye for the pitch and the expertise to deliver.

She’s a facts-first storyteller

Angela has a knack for compiling and analyzing information that comprises the backbone of quality storytelling. She’s right at home in the tech industry, where there’s always something new to learn and new fields to dive into.

For clients, she’s an expert at understanding how to shape stories for a given audience, whether its underscoring the bottom line for business decision makers, or highlighting the impact of lives saved for global health NGOs. By grounding her approach in facts, not fluff, she’s able to craft smart marketing that appeals to the right group.

She’s a Microsoft vet

Angela grew up in the Seattle area, witnessing firsthand the transformation Microsoft had on the region. Joining the still-fresh company in the 90s, Angela became accustomed to Microsoft’s growth mentality. There she managed multi-channel marketing, led PR efforts surrounding business customers, and drove market penetration and consumer adoption for mapping products.

Her decade at Microsoft imparted Angela with empathy to better understand our clients’ needs, and the rigorous pace fortified her energy and appetite for consulting.

She speaks fluent tech

The tech industry found Angela when she started working at Microsoft. There she realized the capability of technology to change the world for the better, and its ability to improve lives. She was hooked and hasn’t looked back. At home she has voice-controlled devices in every room with plans to finalize her smart home.

With years of experience in talking and living tech, Angela understands the complex nuances of many products and the driving forces behind the industry. She keeps tabs on the ever-changing needs of b2b customers, and their supporting partner ecosystems, including both their dependencies and their alliances.

Angela is innovation in our back pocket. Let’s see what breakthroughs we can achieve together.

By Katy Nally

It’s one thing to illustrate something, it’s quite another to bring it to life. That’s the tricky part of storytelling, and it’s why we love Aaron, our motion designer. He literally brings our clients’ stories to life through animation.

While creating an animation is a full team undertaking at 2A, Aaron brings the unexpected playfulness that make them so engaging for viewers. Not only is he an all-in-one illustrator plus animator, he’s also a natural marketer. He’s an expert at conveying technical concepts through a compelling visual narrative in a way that’s easy to understand.

His illustrations capture the heart of the story
Aaron portrays the world around him through sketches. His notebook is full of fluid line drawings in pencil, depicting everything from food trucks to floating heads. His keen sense of his surroundings keeps our designs fresh and our images current.

Aaron refined his illustration talents at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he received his BFA. He has screened his work—Dwellings and Bric-a-brac to name a few—in various galleries and festivals, including the Ann Arbor Film Festival, New York City’s Animation Block Party and the Northwest Film Forum.

He’s got the right flow for animations
While animation effortlessly tells the story, Aaron’s process to bring images to life is pretty labor-intensive. Motion designing—the final phase in creating animations—involves Aaron adding motion to illustrations on one screen, while viewing a giant sequencing chart on the other, to get the story just right. But he makes it look easy.

Aaron knows how to conjure emotion and entertain the viewer by balancing the right amounts of story and flow. How many motion designers can make viewers swoon for oysters? In a 25-second loop, Aaron merged the creative genius of The Big Lebowski, Rube Goldberg and a Victorian era favorite, the zoopraxioscope. A nautical Pacific Northwest scene was the perfect setting for his animation that gave some flare to our Aw Shucks Party.

He seizes marketing challenges
Aaron knows the value of an engaged audience. When creating an animation to achieve a marketing goal, he never loses sight of the main message, and develops visual concepts to make it pop. His storytelling abilities go beyond illustrations and motion design: Aaron has a way with words and helps craft scripts to elevate clients’ messaging. Most of the animations 2A produces involve highly technical subject matter (like this one about Azure Cosmos DB), which Aaron helps communicate smoothly and with personality. 

We’re pretty emotional about Aaron and his motion designs. We’ll let him tug at our heartstrings any day. Got a story you need brought to life through animation? Send us an email and let’s talk.

By Katy Nally

It’s hard to turn down a tequeño. The combination of gooey queso blanco inside, and fried pastry dough outside, make these Venezuelan snacks pretty irresistible. But their unforgettable flavor is just the beginning. In crafting the brand for a local tequeños company, we learned the full story behind this crispy finger food—one steeped in patriotism, parties and culinary prowess.

Cristina Clemente asked 2A to help tell the story of her tequeños company—Bululú—from the ground up. Marketing a company that makes food is quite different than our typical B2B projects for mostly tech industry clients. But at 2A, we know the value of expanding our reach and building new areas of expertise. Plus, this was our chance to think tropical, and use words like fried, deliciousness, and party people.

Our task was to create a brand for Bululú that was as mouthwatering as its tequeños, and paid homage to their heritage. 2A worked with Cristina to create a company name, tagline, logo, and a soon-to-launch website. This new identity will help Bululú expand its customer base (which now includes Azteca in Bellevue!) and boost awareness about its product.

Tequeños aren’t your average snack—at least not in the US. So we wanted to create a brand that not only introduced consumers to tequeños, but also conveyed their full story, beyond their deliciousness. We homed in on three aspects as tequeños’ strongest selling points.

They’re a homegrown Venezuelan tradition

• In crafting a name for the company, we landed on a word that’s distinctly Venezuelan. Keeping the word in Spanish signals to customers the South American origin of tequeños.
• For the company logo we chose a tropical shade of red that’s vibrant, fun, and reminiscent of the Cora Cora bird that roams Venezuelan beaches.

They have a knack for bringing people together

• In Venezuela, people tend to congregate around a plate full of flaky tequeños at gatherings of any kind. We wanted to bring this fun, party association of tequeños front and center. What better way to do that than with the word: Bululú. It not only rolls off the tongue, but it’s also slang in Venezuelan for a loud, raucous crowd of people. It’s the place where you’d encounter some tequeños.
• We brought this party element into the visual design of Bululú and created some tequeño illustrations that cascade like confetti.

They’re fried, in the best way possible

• When did frying things become so taboo? We wanted to own the fried part of tequeños and not shy away from what makes them so delicious. We elevated the word fried, including it in the tagline: proud-fried party bites.
• We used the word Bululú as the basis for the new logo, and used a font that emulates the wrapped, fried crust of a tequeño.

The Bululú website will launch later this year, so stay tuned for the full reveal!

By Katy Nally

Aw shucks, our clients and crew made our annual summer party a success! Our AW SHUCKS Party was part client appreciation, part nonstop oyster shucking, and an all-around good time. Thanks to everyone who came out last week, and for those who couldn’t join us, there’s always next time.

Each year we pull together as a team to conjure a true 2A party experience. It’s a collaborative effort that begins with deciding on a name. Once we landed on calling it our AW SHUCKS Party, we drafted and sent invitations, created an RSVP web page, and designed posters and signs.

Adding to the ambiance this year was an animated short, featuring synchronized swimming oysters and beer bottles. The mesmerizing show of twirling oyster shells and free-falling pearls surely dazzled our guests. Watch it here and see if you’re hankering for some oysters and stout afterward.

Besides our clients, friends and families, the other stars of the evening were the 480 Taylor Shellfish oysters and dozens of foamy glasses of Reuben’s Robust Porter. We purposely paired the shellfish with porter to create a briny, creamy experience. It’s an old (quite old) favorite we thought we’d try out. Having the oysters front and center also gave us the chance to use the hashtag #selfishforshellfish in our Instagram—and we’re still trying to say it three times fast.

Making its debut at our AW SHUCKS Party was our kegerator, or shall we call it R2beer2, or maybe kegasaurus? The debate still rages.

The rest of our spread was sourced from local vendors. As a Seattle-grown company, we always jump at the chance to support businesses in our community. Our dense and delicious bread was hand-crafted by Sea Wolf, and Abby provided her now-famous pickled carrots. In a wondrous display of summertime, our flower arrangements from Bleed Foot Florals included actual blackberry branches!

All in all, we set the party bar pretty high this year. 2018 has a tough act to follow. Can’t wait!

By Katy Nally

What’s your story? It’s easy to answer as an individual: you can introduce yourself, say where you’re from, what you like to do, where you work and pretty soon you’re weaving a narrative. It’s the same for businesses. But when you’re just starting out, that story can be hard to define and convey.

At 2A, we’re experts at storytelling for business. Stories anchor all that we do. Whether we’re crafting key messaging, designing logos or refining a brand, we make sure everything connects to a cohesive narrative that’s understood across audiences. In the case of Concentric Impact, we came in at the beginning and helped shape its unique story.

Jeff Kinney came to us seeking branding for his nascent sustainability accounting business. Jeff has a background in green building and transportation planning. While getting his MBA at Foster, he noticed small homebuilding companies were often overwhelmed by the full range of green building certifications. He decided to start a consulting company to provide sustainability management and reporting for small- and medium-sized businesses.

With a solid concept, Jeff came to 2A to get help with a company name, tagline, identity, design and messaging. The first step was for Jeff and our team to think through target audiences, potential clients and a go-to-market strategy. This exercise helped Jeff narrow down what consulting services he wanted to offer.

Next came messaging. “Sustainability accounting” was a good place to start—both words are easily understood, though they’re not typically paired. But both have their own connotations as well. Jeff wanted to make sure “sustainability” conveyed efficiency more than idealism. This phrase—and Jeff’s interpretation—became the foundation for our story.

From there, we built on this concept to construct a messaging guide and a company identity. We wanted his company name and logo to reflect ideals like efficiency, reporting and business rigor, and still convey sustainability accounting. Through brainstorming sessions, multiple meetings and ongoing collaboration, Jeff chose Concentric Impact and we created a simple yet memorable logo to match. The logo features the business name and the design is evocative of the efficiency of concentric circles.

Concentric Impact: Sustainability Accounting for Growth

In the end, we equipped Jeff with a messaging guide that communicates his company’s core benefits. It’s a living document that Jeff can test and refine as the story of Concentric Impact evolves.

What’s the story behind your business? Need help finding the right words and building an identity? Get in touch!