1. Professional Development

Amber received her B.S. in Speech Communications, with a specialization in Public Relations, from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She has obtained multiple certifications including WELCOA’s 7 Benchmarks, as well as WELCOA Current Events. She is in the process of completing her certification as a Certified Exercise Nutrition Coach with Precision Nutrition Level 1. With her former employer, Red Bull, she was in the top 5% of all student brand managers in the United States.

On why she chose this field, she said “I don’t feel like I ‘decided’ to go into the field of health promotion - I feel like I was called to do it. For me, health & wellness is not only a passion - it is a lifestyle. When you find a profession that appeals to your strengths, interests, and goals all while helping others live better lives, it’s hard not to run in that direction.”

While Amber has had her share of experiences, she definitely thinks that the WELCOA certification courses have been, by far, the most valuable in terms of application in the workplace.

2. Demonstrated Success

Example #1: Team Captain Programs

A. What did your most successful intervention address: Disconnectedness

B.  Which intervention worked for this? Localized Wellness Team Captain Program

C. What were the specific outcomes: See TNO Case Study attached

D. How you used the 7 benchmarks: It was the of inserting ‘wellness committees’ that made a huge difference for us. Having contacts in each department helped disperse responsibilities and help embed a true culture of wellness into the organization.

Example #2: (Intervention Specific) Share Success Competition

A. What did your most successful intervention address: Share Success addressed compassion fatigue / aimed to improve employee satisfaction and happiness (and happy employees = engaged, more productive, and higher performing employees)

B. Which intervention worked for this? Participation-based Competition

C. What were the specific outcomes: The Share Success competition at Vanderbilt was very successful, with 15/23 units actively participating. The increase in events, posts, points, and high fives from week 1 to week 2, and then, week 2 to week 3, indicate that members became increasingly active on the platform as the competition progressed, which suggests that:  

-Regular platform activity inspired other members to be active on the platform as well

- Members were "engaged" in the competition and liked the competition topic

- Members responded to competition, with desire to win or beat another team.  The success in week 1 specifically, suggests that members were initially engaged by the subject matter. The success in week 3 specifically, suggests that members became further engaged due to the nature of competition.

May Totals compared to previous month

Events - 54,448 (+4354%)

Members Engaged - 15% (+189%)

Posts - 1192 (1973%)

Points Received - 358215 (+664%)

High Fives Received -39276 (+12,920%)

Total Members - 1201 (+2%)

3. Leadership

Amber not only lives a healthy lifestyle herself, but also motivates those around her on a daily basis. From inviting others to Crossfit and working on her nutrition coach certification, to getting coworkers to take daily walks, Amber consistently lives as an example to those around her.

"I think ‘walking the talk’ and investing in my own personal growth, as well as the growth of our company has helped me achieve leadership status. Taking the time to invest in education (WELCOA and sports nutrition) outside of work to learn and grow as a wellness professional makes me more credible and trusted as an expert. More specifically in my work with Spire, I have shifted the perception of engagement from a single metric to a unique constellation of metrics that specifically pertains to our value proposition, which I too, helped develop. I also single-handedly built Spire’s Value on Investment model. “

4. Innovation

Amber has created a full-service implementation plan for Spire and future clients, instituted Team Captain programs for all Spire clients, and re-defined engagement at Spire to include more than a number of people using our platform.  Because of her hard work, we now engage employees on 3 different levels based on connectedness, happiness, and fitness. As outlined earlier, these innovative approaches have demonstrated success with our clients and improved the lives of their employees.

5. Compelling Vision

“I believe we are on the cusp of a major shift in focus from ROI to VOI as more and more companies are starting to see the value of investing in their people. This movement is inspiring needed change. My vision is that wellness will soon become less of an auxiliary department, and be more of a foundational structure for every business. Companies and their people will thrive when wellness becomes completely ingrained into the norms of the workplace.

I believe in the next 5 years, we will continue to fight impatience and ignorance. We’ve got a tough job, we essentially have to

1. Get leaders attention

2. Educate the leaders 

3. Get the employees attention

4. Educate employees

5. Shift their mindsets

6. understand their wants/needs

7. Drive change, and

8. Demonstrate change....all right now, now, now! 

But the opportunity is greater than ever. In the next five years I plan to continue to educate myself, and companies, about the true value of investing in their people.”