The View from the Office.

I met up with Ariana Vargas from Populous at Kobrick Coffee in the Meatpacking district. 

Ariana is based in Kansas City where she handles brand strategy for Populous, the architectural firm behind iconic sports stadiums from Camden Yards to Yankee Stadium. 

Before joining Populous, Ariana was a documentary filmmaker and mental health activist who founded STIGMA, a mental health app that Google named “2022’s Best App for Good” and one of the “7 Best Apps of the Year.”

She’s passionate about storytelling and we talked about the seismic changes in how executives and companies are getting out their message, in particular the shift that has seen CEOs increasingly leverage social media to reach stakeholders. 

Ariana’s proudest achievement this past year was delivering a TEDx Talk in Portland about the joys and challenges of raising her son who has autism. I encourage you to listen to her talk, which is called Crowd Sourcing Hope to End Stigma. 

Ariana also told me a bit about the whole TEDx talk process, in particular about how the annual event in Portland is the largest in America, drawing about 3,000 attendees. 

She said that one of the things TEDxPortland does that is underappreciated is build community before, during and after the event. 

For example, the 13 speakers along with any previous speakers are invited to a dinner the night before and presented with sweaters custom-made for the occasion. 

The speakers also get custom Nikes and lots of other swag and a life-long invitation to come back for the night-before dinner. 

You can reach Ariana via LinkedIn or DM me for a warm intro.