By Katy Nally

There’s always a chance of disappointment when you reveal the face behind the curtain. For Dorothy, the Great and Powerful Oz turned out to be a green hologram operated by a stout, bald guy. So you might think that glimpsing behind the scenes at 2A would be a letdown—but when filtered through the demiurgic mind of our graphic designer Li, everything is a bit more glittery.

Let’s take a walk through the world of 2A according to Li.

First stop, the consultants. They’re always ready to take your call—happy to wheel and deal over landline, cell phone, Teams, or Owl. The footstool-supported power stance helps promote the body’s natural flow of creative juices so they can build the world’s greatest keynote presentations.

Now, the designers are a little more relaxed. They like their databases like they like their LaCroix, cold and bubbly. They’re the brains behind our shapes, handling all the triangles, squares, and circles we’re known for. Go ahead, see if there’s a shape they’ve never heard of, impossible!

How about our developers? Diligent as always, jamming to their own tunes, and working too hard to take their empty coffee cups to the sink (but not working so hard that they can’t get more coffee—it’s called a dev’s paradox). They handle our pest control (hah! Bug joke) and our beautiful websites.

Next up, our storytellers. They’re up to their elbows in ideas, so one draft is never good enough. It’s just a matter of sifting through every word for that perfect sentence. But don’t feel bad about their cluttered desks, the number of books they have is directly correlated to their intelligence…

And finally, the Coonis mesmerizers, our operations team. They’re ready to go Law and Order on that job posting to help us find our next, favorite 2A-er. Don’t be fooled by their feet-up attitude, they mean business. They keep this place running! And they make sure our snacks still surprise us.

We hope you enjoyed your tour through 2A! We’re certainly more exciting than a green talking head…and the shy showman behind the curtain. Come see for yourself! Swing by if you’re in the neighborhood.

By Annie Wegrich

Ahh, high school. The years when we knew everything and were gracious enough to share our insurmountable knowledge with anyone, without prompt. Guangyi Li, or Li, was a typical high schooler in many ways. He knew everything, doodled the day away, and loved a good video game.

Temporary introvert

However, unlike the teen you probably were, Li kept his knowledge to himself. In fact, he kept almost entirely to himself. As a recent immigrant from China, Li didn’t share a common language with his midwestern classmates. Although wise beyond his years, he barely spoke outside of his family until he went to college, lived in the dorms, and met a roommate worth talking to.

Rewarded risker

That reserved high schooler is not the Li we now know at 2A. The Li we know taught himself how to tackle big challenges, like learning English in college, and how to take on big risks, like moving to Seattle without a job or a place to live.

Marketing asset

The Li we know is brilliantly artistic and laugh-out-loud funny. We’re so glad he sought 2A to advance his skills by working across industries and media, because really, we were seeking Li. With a design aesthetic that balances the playful with the professional and comedic timing that charms every meeting, Li elevates our team.

Role model-modeler

Li’s dynamic commitment to design enables him to quickly shift gears and tackle projects with precision—like overhauling 20 PowerPoint decks in less than a week or diving deep to refine every element and effect on a robust website. But at home, Li prefers the still and small, zooming in to create tiny scale models with impeccable detail. We’re talking a 7-inch greenhouse with teeny-tiny, climate-appropriate plants and a coffee house with a detailed espresso machine that screams $5 12oz. Big or small, Li applies the same methodical approach and commitment to each pixel, PowerPoint, and plant.

By Ryan Boudinot

Interstate 90 spans the 3,020 miles from Boston to the stadiums of Seattle, binding the sites of America’s founding to the hometown of the Mariners. 2A Consultant Guy Schoonmaker now makes his home in this rainy city that gave birth to the cloud. Certain of his formative experiences, however, took place in that city at the other end of that ribbon of interstate.

While an undergrad at Northeastern, Guy lined up an internship at the university’s sports information department, which led to a position with the Red Sox Foundation. This was a bigtime break for a committed Red Sox fan like Guy—he even worked out of an office at Fenway Park.

“I grew up a die-hard Red Sox fan, so landing an internship there was, as cliché as it sounds, a dream come true. Funny enough, what I think about most from my time there isn’t meeting players or watching games at Fenway Park. It’s the people I got to work with, and the community we served that really stands out,” Guy says.

Serving the charitable arm of the Red Sox organization meant spending time with kids, tutoring, chaperoning field trips, and setting a positive example. In the shadow of the Green Monster, Guy got hooked on improving lives.

“Helping talented people succeed is a thread throughout my career,” Guy continues, going on to describe a life-changing year teaching English in Thailand. From an early age, his parents instilled in him a spirit of service and wanderlust, so finding himself in Southeast Asia to teach children grammar and vocabulary seemed like a natural fit. Along the way, he discovered that communication requires more than facility with language.

“Thailand taught me you don’t always need words to communicate,” says Guy, “I didn’t speak a lick of Thai when I got there, and likewise my students didn’t have much of a foundation in English. I had to get creative fast, whether it was drawing, playing charades, or making up games on the fly. I learned that words are only one small part of communication.”

When his year teaching contract came to a close, Guy returned to the states and started thinking about how he could turn his attention back to his interest in writing. He’d earned a journalism degree at Northeastern before taking a turn toward the nonprofit world, and he wanted to put these skills to work.

Which brings Guy’s circuitous career to 2A. As a consultant, he applies his writing skills when working with clients—developing their stories with empathy—while considering the world through the eyes of someone committed to making lives better.

Incidentally, Guy was an undergrad in Boston when the Red Sox broke their infamous curse and won the World Series. In a city full of Mariners fans, he’s learned to downplay his loyalty to his team, but we don’t hold his fandom against him. We may not root for the Red Sox around here, but we’re big fans of Guy.

By Kelly Schermer

Packing up and moving to the other side of the world, sights unseen, might seem impetuous for some, but for Aradhana Elisa it was the exact opposite. Listening to her talk about the experiences that led her from Chandigarh, India to Southern California to Seattle, make it clear she’s a persistent, passionate person open to new perspectives. In her role as a full stack developer at 2A, Aradhana’s winning traits have made her an invaluable piece of the web development team. 

Perspective

Aradhana approaches decision making with equal parts curiosity and determination. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in computer science, she knew she wanted to earn either a master’s in Computer Science or pursue an MBA. Instead of leaping directly into a program, she sought out a position at a software company as a user-interface (UI)/user-experience (UX) developer. In this role, Aradhana learned how to build new websites and software from the ground up versus coding into existing assets. It gave her a new perspective on what an advanced degree would provide, which she used as a springboard into her next phase.

Persistence

Sprint. Automate. Iterate. Lots of development processes focus on speed, but one of Aradhana’s greatest traits is her persistence—her ability to identify her goal and create a clear succession of steps to get there no matter how long it takes. After Aradhana decided to pursue a master’s in computer science in the United States, she set a year-long goal for herself and broke the monumental task into dozens of small activities logged in Excel sheets with timelines. From sitting for entrance exams to curating a list of target programs to applying to schools and completing Visa paperwork, Aradhana steadily chipped away at her long to-do list after work and on the weekends until her plane finally touched down in Southern California. 

Passion

Aradhana leans into her passions to get more out of every project. During her master’s program, she worked as a student assistant in the Office of Institutional Effectiveness for Fresno State, where she taught herself how to build predictive models with Python to answer questions about the student population. While she had always known she liked working with data, she was surprised by how much. Instead of punching out to study the way most students do with university jobs, Aradhana brought her work to school, using it as the basis for her master’s thesis.

Judging by her personal and professional path, you might wonder if there’s anything too big, too complicated, or too tedious for Aradhana to tackle. From our perspective, probably not.

By Katy Nally

While you won’t find a crystal decanter full of scotch in 2A’s bar, and only occasionally are we passed out on our communal couch, there’s at least one member of our team who’s bringing the Mad Men flair to 2A. Our Senior Consultant Laurie Krisman has a way with words and a knack for storytelling reminiscent of Don Draper’s best advertising quips.

“It’s not a wheel. It’s a carousel.”

Laurie commands the beauty and power of language. After a few years as a high school English teacher, she decided that words really make her tick, and transitioned into the world of advertising where she could write more. At a small agency in Colorado, she worked as a copywriter, crafting snappy ads and serving as a gatekeeper to all phrases that went out the door.

Much like Don Draper’s famous Kodak pitch where he branded the company’s slide projector “the carousel,” Laurie knows the value of landing the right words to stir nostalgia and connect customers to a product. By the time she transitioned to lead marketing manager at Qwest (now called CenturyLink), Laurie’s campaigns appeared plastered on kiosks at malls around the country. Today, she’s our in-house expert for turning wheels into carousels.

“Success comes from standing out, not fitting in.”

Laurie delivers strategic marketing so clients can stand out. With experience leading marketing projects at enterprises, like Xcel Energy, and small companies, like MD², she knows how to build a story that resonates with the audience and solves business problems. First, she does her homework and analyzes the customer; then she ties in her clever way with words to produce meaningful assets that make an impact.

As a senior consultant at 2A, she’s found her sweet spot between creative and strategic. She may not work on Mad Men’s Pond’s Cold Cream account, but Laurie’s strategic thinking has helped 2A’s clients stand out.

“Technology is a glittering lure.”

Laurie expertly cuts through flashy tech talk to expose the real story. Don Draper knew what made each of his clients’ companies special—from Ocean Spray, to Jaguar, to Cool Whip—and Laurie operates the same way. She makes it a priority to follow the latest news from Microsoft, Amazon, Apptio, and F5 to understand the tech behind the trends. She’s fascinated by the power of the cloud to transform business operations, which makes her a perfect addition to the team.

We can’t promise cigarette-choked office buildings, or hard-liquor lunches, but when you’re ready to go a little Don Draper on your uninspired marketing, give us call. We’ll toast Laurie, Seattle-style (a grande, quad latte), and all the Madison Avenue talent she brings.

By Katy Nally

A yearbook chronicles bygone events—campy theater productions, glitter-dusted dances, and sports teams’ hot streaks. But for Annie Unruh, serving as editor in chief of her high school yearbook was less of a wrap up, and more of a surprising beginning. It wasn’t your typical yearbook. Called the Lair, it was award-winning and beefy. Before she knew it, the project had pulled her into the vortex of graphic design and set her on a course to 2A where she continues to use timeless design to capture the present.

Student life

Annie spent many afterschool hours camped out working on the Lair, slaving over page layouts to get portraits and feature stories just right. She even designed a profile story about a classmate’s World of Warcraft mastery that earned an award from the University of Kansas School of Journalism. On another page, she wrote a story about high school students who hang out at Sonic Drive-In because boredom is real! They passed the time slurping down the 44-oz-soda special.

When she heard about a yearbook convention in California, she didn’t hesitate to jump on a plane—it was a golden opportunity to refine her craft (and also get out of Kansas for a while).

Career superlatives

After getting a taste of California, Annie headed back to pursue a bachelor’s in fine arts at Chapman University in Orange. With her freshly minted degree in graphic design, and solid experience in print design, she landed a few gigs after college that pushed her skills further:

• Most modern Uno card game design? Annie’s.
• Most helpful Los Angeles County Metro brochure? Annie’s.
• Best newsletter rebrand for T-Mobile sales associates? Annie’s.

Annie collected credentials all along the West Coast, designing websites, apps, posters, swag, and animations for sole-proprietors and large enterprises alike. At T-Mobile, she worked as a graphic designer and communication specialist, finding ingenious ways to incorporate the patented magenta into onboarding swag and solve communications problems through design. But 2A won her over with the opportunity to take on a broad range of projects—like award-worthy sock graphics—and enter new territory with non-corporate clients—like Colombian artist Juan Manuel Echavarria.

She’s also steadily taken on more responsibility within the 2A design team. An insatiable reader, she’s devoured books about how to achieve a harmonious workplace culture, and how to run an efficient meeting. Annie doesn’t hesitate to apply her newfound knowledge, which has helped her team grow together.

Extra curriculars

Management books are just a subsection of Annie’s extensive library. Her extra-curricular schedule includes all the books the library is willing to loan her, in addition to scenic bike rides and queer events around Seattle. Her appetite for reading usually doubles as her breakfast companion—you might find her in the morning charging through a new memoir, its pages held open by the plate in front of her. Only halfway through the year and Annie is well on her way to best her 2018 total of 42 books read.

Need a designer who can give your work the timeless sheen of a yearbook? Just look up Annie (she’s on page 4) waiting for your heartfelt note about enjoying the summer.

By Kelly Schermer

You know how some people need other people to make music? Well, Gary Bacon isn’t one of those people. This one-man-band by night is our Gary-of-all-trades by day. In his role as a motion graphic designer for 2A, Gary echoes the team’s collaborative approach by pitching in where he’s needed. From sketching out storyboards to getting his hands in audio mixing, Gary enjoys tuning his wide range of skills. As for the rest of us, Gary turns up the volume on our workday with his no-nonsense perspective, inside leads on local bands, and witty zingers.

Self-made animator, care of Alaska

Growing up in Anchorage, Alaska, Gary dreamed about making watercolor and color pencil illustrations for album covers and for editorial pieces in Rolling Stone. He earned his BFA in design with a focus on illustration at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. Post-graduation Gary made the leap from watercolor illustrations to multi-media animations by tinkering with Photoshop and After Effects outside of work. Clearly, we’re not talking about your average tinkering, though….

ADDY-fied proof we’ve got good taste

Over the past two decades, Gary has built a strong retail marketing portfolio that includes national commercials and award-winning animations. In 2014, he won an ADDYs award from the American Advertising Federation for a campaign of 14 spots he did for Mutual of Enumclaw Insurance (our bigfoot favorite). Today, he uses his talent for motion design to enhance 2A storytelling. Through collaboration with teammates and clients, Gary turns complex ideas into shape, color, and sound that we all can experience. 

The goings-on outside the workday

Think a guy like this relaxes in front of his TV? No way. In his off time, Gary plays music, barbeques pizza, and designs band posters (dream gig? checkmate!). It’s no surprise he taught himself guitar, drums, bass, and currently dabbles in modular synthesis, hence, the one-man band. And while he would love to write enough for an album someday, he’s committed to letting the music happen—alone or with fellow musicians.

Around the office, we all love a good jam session with Gary and the chance to hear about his latest interests. Not to mention, his uncanny knack for using motion and music to strike the right chord. So, the next time you’re looking to add some zing to a project with a little animated inspiration, we know just the guy! 

By Katy Nally

Anyone who can make up a song about tacos just to entertain his Dachshund-mix, Remi, clearly speaks the language of storytelling. And no matter the medium—dog songs, data sheets, designer cocktails—Clinton Bowman taps his inherent skills for seeing the creative and strategic angles of each story to craft the perfect arc.

Photography was Clinton’s creative outlet growing up in Oklahoma. And it’s where his adventures in storytelling began, learning to capture the right image in the right moment to make an impact. His hobby eventually snowballed into an education at Oklahoma City University where Clinton earned his BFA in photography with a minor in advertising. After being selected as a young artist winner, he accepted the opportunity to tour the country and show his photos, starting at the Smithsonian.

Catching a glimpse of the museum side of things, Clinton quickly craved more. He worked as an exhibit manager, falling in love with nonprofit management, then went on to accept a prized fellowship with the Kennedy Center in DC. In his new role he drew on his storytelling chops, this time writing tug-on-your-heartstrings narratives for fundraising. Instead of capturing the perfect moment with his camera, he captured donor empathy with words.

Through the MBA program at UW’s Foster School of Business, Clinton took his background in nonprofit management to the next level, graduating with solid marketing expertise. He was attracted to 2A as a place where his creative yin could finally merge with its strategic yang. He loves the chance to problem solve for clients and devise marketing solutions, using his storytelling powers to craft the perfect one-liner for Microsoft Dynamics, and sum up the complexities of AI in a compelling datasheet.

Clinton continues to push the boundaries of his repertoire by mastering new storytelling languages—these days he’s focused on recipes in the pursuit of a homemade tagliatelle and Bolognese, and the perfect gin martini.

So the next time you need a consultant with a creative eye to sculpt your business strategy or even perk up your pup, bring in Clinton for a pow wow with the bow wow.

By Kelly Schermer

“Be of maximum service to the people around you, approach everything openly, and try to learn all that you can from each experience and challenge.” Shawn Murphy’s personal tagline has helped him get to where he is today—location- and vocation-wise. While the phrase may seem more like a curriculum than a jaunty description, Shawn every bit measures up to it.

Be of maximum service to the people around you

In his current position as an embedded consultant, Shawn wears a lot of hats to support his team at Microsoft. He administers the budget and performs ongoing updates and maintenance to the on-ramp content for OneDrive, SharePoint, Yammer, Stream, and Teams. He’s also responsible for driving attendance to the SharePoint conference by overseeing demand generation through multiple channels. Shawn’s commitment to service and his willingness to pitch in and help out makes him a valued team member. 

Approach everything openly

Shawn’s willingness to try new things has helped shape a lot of his big decisions and it’s paid off in spades. During college, his diverse interests motivated him to earn degrees in both English and business. After graduating from the University of Detroit-Mercy near his hometown in Michigan, he came to Seattle to explore and hasn’t left. Shawn found a niche for himself in marketing technology, where his dual degrees make him a hot commodity. From startup to corporate, Detroit to Seattle, English to business, Shawn’s willingness to approach opportunities openly has yielded rich and varied experiences. 

Try to learn all that you can from each experience and challenge

Back in the 90s, Shawn worked as the marketing manager for a forward-thinking app store (well before the proliferation of mobile devices) where he built and managed a team of 15 employees. In that role, he oversaw every aspect of product development and marketing. While the app store was too early for its time, none of the experience was lost on Shawn—it was a major stepping stone that helped round out his career in tech marketing. From there he went to Microsoft, working as a vendor and full-time employee. From the dotcom fizzle to the Microsoft flourish, Shawn believes every role provides an opportunity for him to learn. Today, he draws from those experiences to help clients at 2A.

Everyone at 2A shares a personal tagline when they first start working. From “Bazinga!” to “Treat others as you would treat yourself,” we’ve heard some beauts, but Shawn’s was the first one we’ve ever Googled. Turns out, it’s a Shawn original. Impressed? So are we. Next time you need an all-around all star for your project, give us a call. We’ve got the best by way of Detroit!

By Katy Nally

Defeathering a chicken isn’t the only valuable skill Jesi Chrisman brings to the table. Growing up on a 5-acre farm not only left her with a love of homesteading, it also gave way to fundamental qualities that make her a dynamite project manager. With chickens to feed, pigs to wrangle and horses to check on, Jesi learned quickly how to be a caretaker, and how to stay organized and flexible to overcome unexpected challenges.

From ostrich care to customer care

Her pet ostrich was one of the first things she learned to take care of. Little did she know that 6-foot bird would help her develop patience and attentiveness—skills perfectly suited for a string of customer service roles later in life. Before joining 2A, Jesi worked as a lead assistant at a dentist office, helping to deliver the utmost care for patients and efficiently run the back office. As a project manager at 2A, she supports Microsoft partners who develop accessories for Surface.

Ready to tackle new challenges

Jesi is always game to tackle new challenges to further her team. She’s on point when you need her, ready to get your flock flying together. Once she even chased down an escaped ostrich that managed to jump its fence. If she can corner an ostrich that’s capable of running 43 miles per hour, and successfully get the giant bird back through a gate… well, not much is harder than that. As a project manager, Jesi’s willingness to take on more responsibility is what transformed her first short-term position at Microsoft into a long-term role, advancing her entire team to provide better support to partners.

A rise ‘n shine timekeeper

If only Old McDonald had a coordination master like Jesi on his team, he wouldn’t waste his time finding one animal at a time—he’d have an animal inventory at his fingertips! Jesi knows how to keep teams organized and operating efficiently. To support her Microsoft team she works across departments, ferreting out events that spotlight Surface and tapping into her customer service skills to showcase the right partners.

Jesi might consider herself an ole farm girl, but when it comes to project management, she has some nifty tricks up her sleeve.