The team

Upuia and Juliana first started working together in 2016, and in 2020 they felt it was the right time to form VAAI and help other business owners with their marketing needs. Since then, they’ve combined their skills in design, branding, and business strategy to create thoughtful, results-driven work for small businesses.

Black and white collage of two women, both smiling, in Polaroid-style frames, one wearing glasses, the other with dark hair.

VAAI means to see, to envision (in Sāmoan).

Person with shoulder-length dark hair wearing a black top, posed against a textured, light-colored wall, smiling slightly at the camera.


  • Founder & Designer

    Juliana Stoy is a designer with a wide range of artistic skills, from web design to illustration and photography. She has a degree in Graphic Design from University of the Arts, London. Juliana loves working in close collaboration with her clients to creatively explore the potential of their business. She’s passionate about traveling and draws inspiration from different destinations and cultures.

Woman with glasses smiling indoors, wearing a sleeveless top, standing in front of a brick wall.


  • Founder

    Upuia Ahkiong is a community organizer and leader. Her entrepreneurial history represents the vision she has for building businesses and groups as a massage therapist who helped develop Google’s massage therapy program. She then founded Silicon Valley’s first massage incubator, Kua Body LLC, in Los Altos and Pleasanton. In 2016, she created a grassroots non-profit organization WELA (Women Entrepreneurs Launch) to help support aspiring and active women small business owners in local communities. Upuia has a degree in Social Work and a Master in Counseling Psychology.

A young woman with silver hair styled in loose curls, dark eyebrows, and brown eyes, smiling in an indoor setting.


  • Designer

VAAI was built on the belief that every brand deserves a unique story and a visual identity that truly reflects their vision.