About Us

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“Embodying casual intensity with an empathetic smile, a well-told story and embracing music.”

Tether was born in 2008 with the dream of creating brand visions for visionary brands. We set upon our future in a creative playground where we sold products we made, showed art we curated, held community events and concerts and created multidiscipline solutions for brands we love, from corporate giants to passionate start-ups to launching our own brands. We’ve grown and moved a few times since those early days, adding studios in New York while remaining steadfastly independent and wholly committed to being a place where strategies are elucidated, stories are crafted, concepts are germinated, and brands—big and small—are born, reborn and sent out to conquer the world.

Our Tetherites

Stanley Hainsworth

Chief Creative Officer

Left-brained† revolutionary embarks on madcap mission‡ to redefine how design gets done.

^† Left-brainers are known for extricating astounding creative solutions from chaotic office environments.
^‡ Most lucrative madcap missions involve a memorable logo, a proven hydration beverage, and a clairvoyant gnome

More about Stanley

Nancy Urner

Operations Director

Efflorescent^† executor magically manages the machinations of an emerging empire.^‡

^† Efflorescent individuals are often enamored by punctuation’s potential for self-expression!!!!!
^‡ All empires have lifecycles. We’re looking forward to the decadent decline, when it’s all champagne and supermodels.

Steve Barrett

Executive Creative Director

Masterful mentor^† enlightens with poetic perceptions and big-picture bravura.^‡

^† Effective mentorship requires the ability to provide advice that can be construed as both sagacious and cryptic.
^‡ In certain contexts, “bravura” may be misinterpreted as “adult ADD.”

Dodi Monahan

Director of Client Experience

Peripatetic, polyaptitudinal^† Viking casts off Old World^‡ to captain accounts close to home.

^† Design? Yep. Print production. Uh-huh. Account management? Bien sûr. Molding clay and carving moguls? Check and double check.
^‡ See also: My Hobbit Home, A Middle-Earth Memoir.

Neil Webster

Executive Creative Director

Tactical jargonaut† summons verbalistic prowess to craft new legends, new worlds, new rituals.‡

^† Jargonauts differ from liars in that they enjoy gainful compensation and a generous 401k plan.
^‡ Rituals include, but are not limited to, falcon husbandry, competitive gurning and Kirkpinar oil wrestling.

Mike Tiedy

Executive Creative Director

Well-rounded† roamer finds his place as Gotham’s‡ newest hero, fearlessly leading creatives to uncharted conceptual heights. (Sans cape.)

^† This modern-day disciple of design majored in marine biology.
^‡ From Amsterdam to Seattle, he now spends his 9-to-5 in NYC.

Ramon Vasquez

Associate Creative Director

Jovial jack-of-all-trades^† whips pixels into pictorial paradise and finds inspiration in the belters of a bygone era.^‡

^† This embroidery tyro professes that hobbies are his hobby.
^‡ The unmistakable snarls of Bessie Smith and James Brown oft underscore a brainstorm sesh.

Josh Stough

Senior Creative

Vehement velocipedist† shifts the prototypal paradigm up a gear with celeritous‡ skill.

^† He’s the proud proprietor of nine wheels—eight of ’em on bikes. We’ll let you noodle on the ninth.
^‡ Frameworking at full-throttle is a given with an almost-pro RC racecar driver.

Meghan Cassens

Account Manager

This fiery ace serves like a Wimbledon champ,† whether she’s account managing, black diamond bombing or standby flying‡.

^† She’s ready to play Six Degrees of Serena Williams whenever you’re game.
^‡ Our red-headed adventurist flies down mountains and tarmacs like it’s her side hustle.

Matt Lider

Creative

Inquisitive† tinkerer engineers ergonomic and aesthetic excellence of Brobdingnagian‡ proportions.

^† This “Investigator” shares an Enneagram type with none other than Einstein.
^‡ Towering at 6’4,” he’s got the altitude to elevate any project.

Joanna Mathews

Associate Creative Strategy Director

Dallas-born strategy star boots Texas (but not the Cowboys^†) to boost brand fandom in the Emerald City. Again^‡.

^† She still has her Cowboys Starter jacket from their ’90s heyday. That’s love.
^‡ This is Joanna’s third stint in Seattle. Clearly, we’re a hard habit to break.

Daniel Petrzelka

Creative Director

Curious concoctor^† nimbly shifts gears and focus, inspiring a propitious panoply^‡ of profferings.

^† Should anyone tempt you with a “brand-new concoction”, insist they take the first sip.
^‡ When confronted by a propitious panoply, we advise that you assume a fetal position and yodel until it retreats.

Björn Soneson

Associate Creative Director

Globetrotting graphics hit man executes^† deliverables with a Swiss-army skillset.^‡

^† Let’s be clear, all this talk of execution is purely metaphorical … or is it?
^‡ Skillset includes print, web, and slow jams.

Danielle Buffa

Creative

Pixel-perfect† branding buff bags peaks, bleeds Maize and Blue and boasts a soft spot for serial killers‡.

^† This creative lives for smart design, from UI and UX to packaging and identity.
^‡ She’s all about true crime podcasts, psychology and what makes people tick.

Ollie

Dog

Hur… Hur…

Dan Smith

Creative Director

Jazz-jonesing design diplomat cruises^† the planet^‡ crafting revolutionary creative concepts.

^† You should see his hovercraft–a Mingus 3000 with custom Coltranian injectors. It’s one hip chick magnet, Daddy-O.
^‡ Havana. Tehran. Moscow. His passport reads like an espionage novel.

Becky Van Wieringen

Senior Recruiter

Ommetaphobic people-picker,† triumphant in global gauntlet,‡ levels an eye for untouchable talent.

^† Her first job was packing widgets on an assembly line. Now it’s placing wizards in an open office.
^‡ Pausing her lifelong tour of Washington with a trip to 13 countries in 3 weeks. Plus layovers.

Jason DeCruz

Creative

Wistful pluviophile† puddle jumps between pixel perfection and tenebrous‡ taxonomies.

^† A gully-washer is cloud nine for this rayless reveler.
^‡ This lepidopterist’s curio cabinet would riddle Ripley himself.

Bronson Folz-Edwards

Senior Creative

Graphite-wielding† graphic designer finds beauty in abecedarian forms, alley-oops and fiery food.‡

^† 2H to 6B, his penchant for pencils is downright Escher-esque.
^‡ Whether cooking up concepts or chowing down, he brings the heat.

Michael Lortz

Senior Creative

Dust Bowl whirlwind rustles up rad design† and phantasmal ephemera‡ for maximum stoke.

^† This Oklahoma-born innovator is a tornado of tactile tricks—prints to kickflips.
^‡ A bat around ghost towns conjures up a killer cache.

Nicole Ryan

Production Manager

Martial artist† of getting isht done, this world wanderer shows her strength‡ in all things production and design.

^† A Systema specialist, she's also known to marshal a mess or nine.
^‡ Strongman Dwayne Johnson is her hypothetical bestie.

Tina Fahnbulleh

Accounting Specialist

Gallivanting gastronome fine tunes† fiscal faculties, always keeping a composed comportment. ‡

^† Favorites for this melomaniac range from Migos to Lady Gaga.
^‡ Zen is her zeitgeist.

James LaFuente

Senior Creative

Pixel wiz reigns as king of the hill† when it comes to inky‡ scripts, creating comps wild enough to rival his Yeezy Boost 700s.

^† This former flamethrower traded fastballs for even faster design chops.
^‡ His passion for pigment led him straight to the hard stuff—13 tats in one year.

Nick Landry

Technical Support Engineer

Tech marvel marinates† in a myriad of media with a heavy helping of peregrination‡.

^† His epicurean sensibilities seek succulence, from bodega to corner booth.
^‡ Perpetual global roving means his selfie game is next-level. Camel-level, to be exact.

Jen Garcia

Associate Creative

Erstwhile prof† swaps academia for studio tenure, collaging affairs with affable snark‡ and inimitable grace.

^† When art history’s the topic, you want her on your trivia team. Trust us.
^‡ If sarcasm and mimicry were superpowers, she’d be a real-life Marvel.

James Halada

Creative Director

Alphabetic alchemist^† transmutes lexical mettle into marketing gold.^‡

^† Early alchemists attempted to transmute strips of leather into bacon, thus accidentally inventing beef jerky.
^‡ You should see this guy on the drums, pounding out the hits from the golden age of hair metal. That’s pure gold.

Allison Sacks

Senior Creative

Horticultural heliophile† brings brands into the light with dazzling design dexterity‡.

^† Flora-loving SoCal transplant brings a sunny outlook to the misty PNW.
^‡ When it comes to packaging, print or digital, you’re in good, double-jointed hands.

Julie Kim

Creative

Multifaceted maker† ruminates on adaptive design and moving meditations‡ in her quest for optimal equanimity.

^† This masterly maven’s trove of talents makes da Vinci seem amateur.
^‡ Chakra-cleansing two-step to ujjayi breath work–she never stops riding the wave.

Sandra Mitchell

Accounting Manager

Captain of Accounting† puts her back‡ into the balance sheet, bringing order to computational chaos.

^† And Queen of Calisthenics.
^‡ You wanna talk backbone? This one’s backed up with steel.

Tito Soto

Digital Creative Director

Assiduous shipwright† with pecuniary proclivities‡ sets sail for digital domination.

^† This Neptunian dynamo constructs unsinkable crafts for business and berth.
^‡ Fiscal virtuoso? 4 a.m. opening bells and custom-coded trading algorithms point to yes.

Hannah Vantrease

Account Manager

Flatland alpinist† brimming with dexterous proclivities‡ treks across account terrain with bountiful zest.

^† This amateur mountaineer left the Land of Lincoln in favor of Upper Left weekend wandering.
^‡ Off-trail hobbies include knit and purl and whipping stiff peaks—from scratch.

Dave Schlesinger

Associate Creative Director Industrial Design

Spatial savant† formulates 3D serendipity in an unkempt and off-kilter‡ world.

^† It requires first-hand experience and a trained eye to distinguish between a spatial savant and your average felon.
^‡ A term that originated with the rampant deskirting of Scotsmen during the 1513 Battle of Flodden Field.

Surabhi Rathi

Creative Strategist

Our resident artiste† uncovers the essential flavors behind every brand, berry and amphibian.‡

^† After hours, find her in front of a canvas contemplating her next stroke.
^‡ She swears by the fruit-by-the-foot diet … with a side of frog legs.

Madeleine Waite

Senior Account Manager

Green Mountain mama follows family tradition† granting client wishes with poise & precision. ‡

^† With a dad in ads, is it a coincidence that “Madeleine” sounds a lot like “Mad Men”?
^‡ Two qualities she honed in lacrosse, effortlessly connecting balls to defender’s noses nets.

Tina Ou

Senior Project Manager

Operationally OCD organizer^† greases the lanes, helping projects strike the pocket^‡ with perfect precision.

^† Tina’s juvie rap sheet includes several counts of aggravated calendaring.
^‡ Ever the tweener, Tina delivers with equal parts power and finesse.

Adrienne Lopez

Business Development Manager

Variegated visionary† captivates new clients with white-glove treatment and a white-hat‡ tenor.

^† She sees the potential in a blank canvas and in new partnerships.
^‡ She’s never met a social injustice she didn’t wanna fight.

Julia Fiorito

Account Director

Sassy Saxon^† with a knack for tackling complexity steers projects to first position.^‡

^† Wenn ich das übersetzen muss, du schuldest mir ein Bier.
^‡ Be warned, should she volunteer to drive: this former Autocrosser still chases the checkered flag.

Christy Mather

Senior Account Manager

Adventurous† account ace dives headlong into project details, shark-soaked waters and dizzying downhill descents‡.

^† From cavorting with elephant calves to cage-diving with great whites, she goes big on vacation.
^‡ You think you ski fast? This one burns up the powder every time she straps on her boots.