Vibe Check by The Vida Agency (TVA) is an out-of-the-box employee engagement service designed to help you make quick, informed business decisions in today’s rapidly changing landscape.

Adapt to change
quickly and efficiently
Pivoting is here to stay, so how do you help your team prepare for and adapt to emerging needs, opportunities, and challenges?
Make Vibe Check your tool for mastering the art of employee input and organization adaptation.

  • ✓ Rapid deployment – get results fast!
  • ✓ Gain market landscape insights.
  • ✓ Fully customizable for size, industry, & budget.
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Find out where your team and industry stand
Robust qualitative and quantitative analysis to help you make informed pivots with:

  • Returning to the office
  • Onboarding
  • Staff Retention
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Help your people do their best work
The days of top-down decision-making are behind us. Research shows that when employee ideas and concerns are taken into account, organizations perform better.
Top-Down Design
vs.
Team Input
Top-Down Design
vs.
Team Input
Let us help you and your team do your best work.
© 2021 The Vida Agency

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AMALIA MARTINO

FOUNDER & PRESIDENT

amalia@thevidaagency.com

When visionary entrepreneur Amalia Martino founded The Vida Agency in 2017, she designed a boutique creative agency in which every voice is valued, every client achieves strategic and inclusive impact, and every person is intentionally supported on her or his leadership development journey. With nearly two decades leading communications and public relations campaigns that transform audience behavior, Amalia conceptualizes and executes culturally relevant initiatives on behalf of TVA clients. Recognized for her unique ability to activate and elicit valuable input from a diverse array of communities, she established and models the inclusive Community Outreach Principles that TVA has become known for. Amalia works hand-in-hand with clients spanning major market segments including health, transportation, retail, consumer, education, and the arts to adapt and evolve to the swiftly changing demographics of our Northwest home. A powerful and authentic public speaker and facilitator, Amalia activates audiences across sectors. She regularly speaks on building inclusive strategies for marketing and engagement, and shares lessons from The Vida Agency’s efforts to enable a culture of leadership.

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How Amalia’s colleagues describe her: 

Visionary. Kind. Badass. Mentor. Yoga Master. Discovers potential. Trusts her team to lead. Models how a great company should work.

MAFE COBALEDA-YGLESIAS

VICE PRESIDENT & ACCOUNT DIRECTOR

​mafe@thevidaagency.com

Mafe Cobaleda-Yglesias knows the value of clear coordination and communication to a well-executed campaign. Leveraging over a decade of experience in project and account management, she serves as a single point of contact for clients, coordinating a team of TVA experts and vendors to establish a shared vision, timeline, and expectations for each project. A strong interpersonal and bilingual communicator, Mafe is skilled at facilitating small and large community conversations and focus groups in both Spanish and English to ensure that every voice is heard. As the head of language adaptation and translation at TVA, she leads an extended team of language professionals providing DSHS and/or Court-certified translation and simultaneous interpretation in more than twenty (20) languages. In every case and language, Mafe delivers content that is respectful and true to the native language.

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How Mafe’s colleagues describe her: Authentic. Loyal. Enthusiastic. Hilarious. Positive. Believes in her teammates. Role model. Kind.

TAMARA POWER-DRUTIS

DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH AND STRATEGY

​​tamara@thevidaagency.com

Tamara Power-Drutis believes that ideas are only as strong as the stories we tell about them. As a writer, researcher, and former public media executive with a history of turning big ideas into action, Tamara brings a storyteller’s eye to every project. She leads qualitative and quantitative research initiatives for The Vida Agency, building tools and strategies to gain insight and feedback from priority populations. An expert facilitator, Tamara designs brainstorming sessions, focus groups, interviews, and retreats that catalyze the strongest ideas and fortify audience and team connections. Whether it’s conducting in-depth interviews, manifesting audience personas, administering surveys, or providing market research, she leverages every opportunity for clients to gain actionable insight and better serve their community.

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How Tamara’s colleagues describe her: Authentic. Powerful. Natural Leader. Passionate. Open. Inspiring. Team Player. Reliable.

LISA WHARF

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

​lisa@thevidaagency.com

Lisa believes that creativity isn’t magic, but a process best executed one on one with clients. With over 20 years of experience leading creative strategies and campaigns, Lisa helps our partners successfully engage their audiences by creating content that is relevant and easy to consume. Leading our creative process, Lisa works hand in hand with clients to understand their desired goals and to develop strategies to reach them. She ensures that all design work, whether a video or social media image, align with desired outcomes. Throughout her career, Lisa has worked across a range of industries, from small businesses looking to update their brand to large public agencies working on environmental cleanup and mega transportation projects. For the grand opening of the SR 99 tunnel and SR 520 Bridge, Lisa led the award-winning branding and campaign efforts, which helped to draw over 60,000 attendees to each event. Past experiential design projects have included creating large form wayfinding along Seattle’s waterfront and Milepost 31, and a museum style exhibit in Pioneer Square. The multi-award-winning exhibit was visited by 800,00 individuals from more than 80 countries.

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How Lisa’s colleagues describe her: Strategic thinker. Calm. Detail oriented. Thoughtful. Patient. Listener. Cheerful. Great dance moves. Creative genius. Clever. Resourceful.

KATIE MYERS

ACCOUNT MANAGER

​katie@thevidaagency.com 

Katie Myers brings a positive and human approach to audience engagement; enabling TVA clients to authentically communicate to and with the communities they serve. Helping to establish TVA’s Outreach Principles, Katie champions an inclusive experience where every voice is heard. Whether soliciting community feedback through in-person outreach activities, coordinating translated materials for clients across languages, training volunteers to go door-to-door, or creating social media content to increase project awareness, Katie is valued for her ability to distill complex ideas into relatable information. As Account Manager, she assists research and communication team efforts with disciplined logistics, meticulous spreadsheets, and community outreach. Supporting public initiatives such as SDOT Paving projects, Seattle Public Utilities drainage and wastewater initiatives, and hip-hop luminaries the Black Stax education programming, Katie works to keep projects on time, within budget, and achieving desired results.

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How Katie’s colleagues describe her: Positive light. Never gives up. Fast. Efficient. Strong public presence. People person.

ALEX SHAFFER

PROJECT MANAGER, DIGITAL

alex@thevidaagency.com

Drawing from a background in community engagement and social media management, Alex provides on the ground and digital support for a range of transit, health, and consumer initiatives at The Vida Agency. As Project Manager, he ensures that brands and campaigns achieve consistency and a cohesive voice across platforms. With experience managing digital marketing across sectors and an eye for identifying and capitalizing on emerging trends, Alex supports digital advertising and social media strategy development, analytics and reporting, as well as creative multimedia content design. He works in partnership with clients to maximize digital reach, with a focus on converting digital engagements to on the ground outreach and events.  

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How colleagues describe Alex: Reliable. Calm. Data cruncher. Humble. Eye for photography. Confident. Cool.  

THERESA NORRIS

OFFICE MANAGER

theresa@thevidaagency.com

Leveraging over 30 years’ experience in human resources and fiscal administration for non-profit and service-orientated organizations, Theresa brings a keen financial acumen and long-view mindset to The Vida Agency’s operations. Theresa is known for her ability to consult with executive leadership and managers on strategic budgeting decisions, coaching team members through complicated technical, legal, or human implications of fiscal and staffing decisions. With demonstrated excellence in organizations with fewer than 10 employees to those with over 500, her resourceful nature and servant leadership approach have help launch, scale, and sustain a variety of healthcare, wellness, workforce development, and environmental organizations and initiatives. At The Vida Agency, she supports process improvement and bookkeeping, ensuring a simple and streamlined experience for clients.  

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How were colleagues describe her: Excel Queen. Warm. Supportive. Detailed. Process Manager. Resourceful, Rule follower. Team player.

RYANN ANDERSON

EXECUTIVE & ACCOUNT ASSISTANT

​ryann@thevidaagency.com

Ryann values organization, creativity, and community connection. As the Executive & Account Assistant, she plays an indispensable role in keeping TVA’s wheels turning.  Ryann supports our Founder and President, executes internal and external communication, and provides support to a range of projects. Leveraging her organization skills, Ryan supports internal administrative, including correspondence, records, and onboarding of new talent.  Ryann’s experience in the customer service enabled her to seamlessly connect to clients and provide team support where needed. She first joined our TVA family as an intern in 2019 when obtaining her undergraduate degree in strategic communications from WSU.

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How colleagues describes Ryann: Enthusiastic. Jumps right in. Resourceful. Witty. Fresh perspective. Sassy. Funny. Diligent. Unflappable. Hilarious. Open. Spirited. 

Amir Sadeghi Marketing & Business Development Manager

Amir Sadeghi

Marketing & Business Development Manager

​amir@thevidaagency.com

Amir joins TVA after spending his marketing career working for major brands in the wireless and travel industries. His experience leading marketing campaigns and initiatives on a regional, national, and global level, gives him a diverse and unique perspective. Whether he’s working on athlete endorsements, marketing mobile apps, engaging communities through award-winning multicultural marketing campaigns, or presenting on behalf of a brand, Amir approaches each project and partnership with passion, creativity, and authenticity. His ability to connect with people, not simply network, but foster and build relationships continues to be one of his standout attributes. Due to the value Amir adds to The Vida Agency, he now leads Marketing and Business Development. Amir’s diverse cultural background and professional experience fuel his vision for TVA. In his words, “Throughout my marketing career I relied on key agency partnerships to help my vision come to life and to ensure my contributions to the business and brand were being made. It’s from this place I approach my work here at TVA. Understanding there are smart hardworking marketing leaders out there who need strong agency partners to help bring their visions to life. TVA does this and I’m excited to be part of it. Let’s work!”

 

 

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How colleagues describe Amir: Cool. Suave. Positive. Engaging. Energetic. Innovator. Sharp. Leader.

PRIYA SAXENA

PROJECT MANAGER

priya@thevidaagency.com

Priya envisions an equitable future where foundational needs like housing, food, education, and workforce development enable all to realize their desired potential. As a basic needs policy advisor and project manager, they foster cross-sector collaboration to build policy and strategies to make that equitable future attainable for all. At TVA, Priya serves as the Project Manager for the Seattle Sweetened Beverage Tax Public Awareness and Counter Marking Campaign. In this role, they synchronize a Coalition of community partners and a team of researchers to gain insight into the negative impact of beverage industry marketing tactics on the local Seattle community. An expert project manager, Priya establishes clear communications and workflow on project teams, enabling communities to provide authentic input and clients to create positive impact.

 

 

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How Priya’s colleagues describe her: Smart. Thoughtful. Kind. Fun. Organized. Unique. Caring. Detail Oriented. Leader. Spirited. Brilliant. Disciplined, Authentic. Funny. Patient. Cat Lady. Enthusiastic.

PATTY CARRION MORAS

COMMUNITY OUTREACh

patty@thevidaagency.com

Patty Carrion Moras believes that each person brings valuable experience to the table. Overseeing language services at TVA, Patty ensures that clients and communities effectively and accurately communicate with one another. With DSHS training and certifications in medical interpretation, social services interpretation, and translation, Patty coordinates translation and interpretation in over 20 languages, building bridges of appreciation and understanding between cultures and elevating voices of underheard communities. With almost a decade of experience in community engagement, Patty provides on-the-ground outreach for events, conferences, trade shows, and door-to-door campaigning. A believer in sharing knowledge and growing as a team, Patty coordinates video production schedules and budgets to ensure strong internal communication and delivery within budget. Patty serves as the director of the board for the Latino Community Fund and Progreso: Latino Progress.

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How Patty’s colleagues describe her: Thoughtful. Kind. Instagram Master. Sassy. Community-driven. Badass.  Expert. Insightful. Creative. Caring. Big Heart. Foodie

MIGUEL A. MUÑOZ

AUDIO & VIDEO PRODUCER

Miguel has been an audio engineer for 20 years and a film producer for almost a decade. He has directed educational and promotional videos for Public Health Seattle King County, University of Washington, Arboretum Foundation and Edmonds School District and produced and edited television commercials for Mighty Mouth, Jobaline and The Commons at Federal Way.  Miguel’s background as a professional musician gives him the advantage in the recording studio.

 

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How Miguel’s colleagues describe him: Hard worker. Good Listener. Organized. Kind. Thoughtful. Warm. Sweet. Steady. Creative. Authentic.

EDWIN MIRANDA CARMONA

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Edwin has over eight years of experience providing graphic and web designs solutions for various multinational companies. He holds a bachelor’s degree in advertising with a focus on digital editorial. A creative visionary, technical specialist and dedicated professional, Edwin translates ideas into creative assets that comply with client deadlines and requirements. He is versed in Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop, and is always inspired by innovative technologies and gadgets to optimize these tools in the most efficient way. Edwin’s design portfolio includes a Customer Experience campaign for Hewlett Packard employees, youth ORCA campaign for King County Metro and various print and digital materials for other Vida projects, including TVA’s own branding. In a past life, he played professional basketball and American Football. Today, outside of work, Edwin enjoys being a dad and putting in work at the CrossFit gym. 

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How Edwin’s colleagues describe him: Funny. Creative. Resourceful. Funny. Open. Good Beard. Fitness Influencer. Pura Vida. Kind

CARUZO YGLESIAS

CHIEF HAPPINESS OFFICER

@caruzothemaltese

Originally from Costa Rica, Caruzo is a bilingual Maltese mix who has been raised in Seattle and considers himself a true local who enjoys the outdoor world the Pacific Northwest has to offer. A big fan of naps and tummy rubs, our Chief Happiness Officer makes any TVA guest feel welcome, specially if you happen to bring him some baby carrots (his favorite treat).

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How Caruzo’s colleagues describe him: Team player. Calm. Cute. Adorable. Friendly. Treat oriented. Diligent. Stylish. Ballsy.

Marcela Diaz

Director of Equity & Engagement

marcela@thevidaagency.com

Marcela Diaz knows how essential it is to have human, authentic conversations about systemic change. An expert, bilingual facilitator, Marcela helps public agencies and communities have the conversations necessary for healing and change. With over a decade's experience developing community and public involvement plans, and a lifelong involvement in grassroots social justice organizing, she appreciates the need for transformation to come from both outside and within the systems themselves. Marcela builds meaningful collaborations and partnerships, and works with public agencies to identify opportunities where historically underrepresented communities can make tangible change through their input. 

Marcela is deeply involved in our Northwest community, working to undo institutionalized racism in our school system and providing bilingual educational workshops on labor and immigration rights across Washington State. A dancer since the age of three, Marcela loves to dance Bachata and Kizomba, and spending time with her daughters and family. 

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How Marcela’s colleagues describe her: Strategic. Bold. Empowering. Tenacious. Full-hearted. Advocate. Brilliant. Funny. Humble. Snarky in the best way.

Leija Farr Account Coordinator

Leija Farr

Account Coordinator

leija@thevidaagency.com

Leija Farr is born and raised in Seattle, Washington. In 2015, she served as the first Seattle Youth Poet Laureate and since then has shown outstanding abilities within the arts scene with her passion for social justice. With her dedicated interest in writing, she’s become a published author of the manuscript ‘Outweigh The Gravity’, and a freelance writer for the South Seattle Emerald publication. Leija is a gifted speaker and has interned at various radio stations such as KUOW and KEXP’s Summer Poetry Workshop. As a lover of nature, a spiritual vessel, and a self-proclaimed foodie, she finds ways to stay active.  After years of customer service work at various companies, she has returned to her mission of community outreach as the new Account Coordinator for The Vida Agency.

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Stasea Stewart Senior Account Project Coordinator

Stasea Stewart

Senior Account Project Coordinator

stasea@thevidaagency.com

Stasea Stewart leads with resilience to foster community connections and belonging. Her passion for communication started on a cul-de-sac in Palmdale, California. The hot, arid summers inspired her curiosity. She hatched ideas such as attempting to cook an egg on the sidewalk and burying a time capsule in her neighbor’s front yard. These experiences gave birth to her love of communication as a bridge to learn and connect in community.

In 2017, Stasea’s curiosity led her to California State University as a first-generation, four-year college student. Stasea was selected as a BOLD Women’s Leadership Scholar; a program established to honor legendary Cosmopolitan magazine editor-in-chief Helen Gurley Brown. As a scholar, Stasea developed a mini-series podcast focused on resilience.

In the midst of a global pandemic and resounding declaration that Black Lives Matter, Stasea displayed her keenness as a self-starter through her masters degree in communication at the University of Washington. In the summer of 2020, she worked on projects involving behavior change marketing, communication consulting, brand development, antiracism education, multicultural marketing, and critical race theory research. Stasea’s servant leadership style and commitment to excellence led her to join TVA as a Senior Account Project Coordinator.

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Ciara Honig

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

ciara@thevidaagency.com

 

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Zhonghao Zhang

Research Coordinator

zhonghao@thevidaagency.com

Zhonghao takes pride in being at the intersection of art and science – using research to inspire creativity and action. He’s passionate about finding the motivations behind people’s actions and creating tailored strategies and messaging that resonates with them.  With experience from ad agencies and multinational corporations, Zhonghao has worked with clients in industries including restaurant, fashion, non-profit, and consulting. Helping each of them solve their business and communication problems. These experiences taught him to looking beyond what the data says, but what it means. At TVA, Zhonghao contributes to every step of our research and engagement process through planning, coordinating, and executing TVA’s human centered research projects.  

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Renee holt

Research Coordinator

renee@thevidaagency.com

Renee Holt is dedicated to social and environmental justice and brings a passion for building meaningful relationships to all her work. Her prior experience in the nonprofit sector in both King and Whatcom Counties allowed her to serve underrepresented communities and women in transitional housing. She is particularly interested in research on health, food access, and housing. In 2019, Renee received her M.A. in Environmental Policy after conducting qualitative research on the experiences of food insecurity among both women in a low-income neighborhood, and college students. She also served on a committee to create an Environmental Justice minor for undergraduate students at Western Washington University. Renee approaches work with empathy, enthusiasm, and careful attention to detail. At TVA, Renee coordinates qualitative and quantitative Discovery efforts and supports various clients and projects.  
 

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Elise Van deventer

Project Coordinator

elise@thevidaagency.com

A South Seattle Native, Elise is motivated by doing work that focuses on making a positive impact on those in her community. She recently graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in Communication and spent her college years working different roles for various nonprofit organizations. Post-graduation, Elise dove into the world of communications while completing two internships at one time. These opportunities led Elise to The Vida Agency, where she continues to make an impact on those around her as a Coordinator. In her spare time, Elise enjoys going on adventures around the Seattle Area, finding new restaurants to try, and spending time with her cat Smokey. 

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Nore Hoeft

strategic communications specialists

norea@thevidaagency.com

Norea believes in the awesome power of storytelling to arouse empathy, change minds, and inspire action. With over 15 years of experience in marketing and communications, and a unique perspective grounded in being a mixed-race, queer Filipina, Norea is committed to constantly seeking greater clarity, efficiency, and joy in collaboration. She spent the bulk of her career in the nonprofit sector creating fundraising communications and then leading marketing for the Northwest region of a national fundraising consulting firm. At The Vida Agency, Norea leads communications strategies informed by research and in collaboration with various clients. She also provides insights from her work  with pioneers in the field of racial equity, helping thought leaders to write, develop, and promote original works that assist individuals and organizations with transformative change toward racial consciousness and anti-racism.  

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Diana Brown

Senior Account Manager

Diana@thevidaagency.com

Diana, like many of us, is a Seattle Native. She grew up in Green Lake, attended Western Washington University where she received her bachelor’s degree, then went on to get her master’s in urban planning at the University of Washington. Between then and now, adventure has led her to live in San Francisco, Portland, and Phoenix as an AmeriCorps Member. Diana is now living in Washington with her family on a quaint little farm with a bunch of animals to look after, when she is not too busy killin it here at TVA. Read on to learn a bit more about Diana!

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Hailey Fagerness

Outreach coordinator

hailey@thevidaagency.com

As a fifth-generation Washingtonian, Hailey was born in Everett and raised in Snohomish, Washington. She then moved up to Bellingham where she attended Western Washington University and received her BS in mathematics with minors in leadership studies and economics. Hailey then went on to receive her master’s degree in public administration from University of Washington Evans School of Public Policy. When Hailey is not working alongside all of us here at TVA, she enjoys being outside, running, reading, and spending time with her friends, family, and two beautiful Labrador Retrievers.

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Janine Worthington

Director of strategic communications and media relations

janine@thevidaagency.com

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