Amanda Karfakis鈥� ethos of hard work, relationship building, clear communication and delivering top-quality results began developing when she was a child.

She grew up in her family restaurant鈥攖he Manos Diner, open 24 hours鈥攊n Ithaca, New York, in the 1980s, and Karfakis very quickly learned the power of authenticity by watching her family interact with staff and diners. Managing work schedules for adult waitstaff in her early teens taught her how to negotiate tricky situations. And she knew innately that poor-quality food or service could lose customers.

When she joined her husband at in 2005, she focused on integrating the integrated marketing agency鈥檚 services. 鈥淚t was very important to me to take that approach,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t feeds my interests and abilities and allows me to have more of a birds-eye view to keep all the parts working together to present a cohesive whole to the client.鈥�

It鈥檚 wonderful to provide [my children] the opportunities to develop critical thinking skills, strategy and relationship building.

Amanda Karfakis

More than 20 years after the agency鈥檚 founding, Karfakis and her husband continue to run Vitamin as a nurturing, supplemental adviser that aims to help its clients be the best versions of themselves. Now, she is paying forward the business and learning opportunities her family gave to her.

鈥淢y 14-year-old son just did his first internship, at Vitamin. He completed sketches, learned programs like Photoshop and ran errands,鈥� she says. 鈥淢y daughter wants a dog, so we helped her set up a dog-walking business to learn how to take care of them. It鈥檚 wonderful to provide them with the opportunities to develop critical thinking skills, strategy and relationship building.鈥�

1976

Born in Ithaca, N.Y. to an entrepreneurial family who owned a series of food-related businesses

1980s

Grew up in her family鈥檚 restaurant, the Manos Diner.

鈥淚 did every job, from the front to the back of the house: hostess, scheduler, prep cook. But my favorite was washing dishes. I loved it.鈥�

1994

Enrolled at 撸先生 as a business administration major focusing on marketing, with a minor in Spanish.

鈥淚鈥檝e been interested in marketing since I was a child. I loved jingles and slogans, and, while I was in the diner, I would look around and see all kinds of marketing opportunities, like adding dessert menus to the tables.鈥�

1997

Studied in Sevilla, Spain. Stayed with a local family who had five children, three cats and two birds. 

鈥淚 had a small budget, so I hunkered down with the family and focused on really learning the language. I highly recommend studying abroad. It was one of my favorite college experiences.鈥�

1999

Graduated with her bachelor鈥檚 degree and took her dream job at the agency gr8 only to have it turn into a nightmare.

鈥淢y director quit one day. She just looked over at me and said, 鈥榊ou鈥檒l be fine.鈥� I was the PR division at 23 years old. And I got a crash course in crisis PR two years later when the company fell apart in the dot-com bubble.鈥�

2001

Moved to Planit and built its PR division from scratch, creating a new revenue stream for the creative agency.

2002

Married her husband, Mike 鈥�99, Vitamin鈥檚 founder.

She met him in 1997 when he stopped by her dorm room in Tower C and introduced himself. They reconnected later in college, after Karfakis started a Greek Club at 撸先生, and Mike, who is also of Greek descent, attended.

2005

Joined Vitamin.

鈥淢ike had started the agency a few years ago and asked me to join. I told him very quickly, 鈥楴o.鈥� But as anyone who knows him will tell you, he is very persistent. Eventually I agreed.鈥�

2011

Their first child, a son, was born.

2014

Celebrated Vitamin鈥檚 10-year anniversary.

鈥淲e have built Vitamin purposefully to be a boutique agency. We have a staff of around a dozen highly talented, exceptional people who produce amazing work for our clients.鈥� Vitamin鈥檚 clients include a range of industries, including financial services, nonprofits, built environment and manufacturing technologies.

2017

A daughter was born, turning them into a family of four.

2019

Began renovation of Vitamin鈥檚 new Baltimore City headquarters.

Mike oversaw the general contracting and by March 2020, they were giving their employees a tour of the new space. 鈥淎nd by the time we鈥檇 just walked out the back door after the tour, Gov. Hogan鈥檚 executive order came out shutting everything down.鈥�

2020

Helped Catholic Charities launch a four-pronged project that included a capital campaign and a virtual replacement for the organization鈥檚 annual holiday event for major donors at the Baltimore Basilica. 

鈥淐OVID canceled their annual concert, so they wanted to do something different and expand it to include the public, since everyone needed a lift then. We called it Comfort & Joy. Aside from traditional media buys, we built an immersive microsite designed like an Advent calendar that ran from Dec. 1鈥�31, and each day of the week had a theme, like musical audio files or baking videos.鈥�

2024

Named one of the Daily Record鈥檚 Most Influential Marylanders in the communications category.

She was one of 57 individuals chosen from 12 industries across the state. 鈥淚t was an especially meaningful moment for me because I was recognized alongside Mark Ginsberg, someone I鈥檝e recently admired from afar for the energy and vision he鈥檚 brought to Towson University. As an alum, it felt like a full-circle moment.鈥�

2025

Has several large goals for Vitamin this year.

Karfakis would like to attract more clients who are launching capital campaigns, community banks looking for a larger footprint and she and Mike are continuing to plan for succession at the agency. 鈥淲e grew our agency by producing exceptional work for a select group of clients who fit Vitamin鈥檚 ethos, skillset and interests and creating relationships built on trust and transparency. We want to make sure that continues.鈥�