1. Professional Development

Some might say I have an obsession around continued education in my field. I would just say that I love learning! I have a BS in Behavior Science and over the last 10 years have continued to seek out certifications and trainings that support my work. I am certified as a Holistic Stress Management Instructor, Running Coach, Intrinsic Coach, Personal Trainer with a specialty in Fitness Nutrition, and a Health Coach. I’ve attended a variety of conferences over the years including American Journal of Health Promotion, National Wellness Institute, Wellness Underground, WELCOA summits, and local wellness council symposiums.

2. Demonstrating Success

This section of my application won’t be full of programs and outcomes metrics. This isn’t to say that I haven’t developed and implemented successful programs over the years. In my previous role we offered voluntary health screenings where we increased participation from 25% to 55% just by offering a $50 gift card. We offered flu shot clinics and onsite skin cancer screenings with full rosters and numerous stories of disease prevention. We provided female employees a day to receive their mammogram screening through a local health system’s breast care center where they could sign up with co-workers and participate on paid work time. We piloted a robust online sleep health management program this last year and offered a financial wellness program in partnership with our 401k/457b provider. We did walk-at-lunch events, activity challenges and offered lunch and learns. Many of these programs were run by a robust wellness champion team. These all came with very standard improvements provided in claims analysis data from our screening partner, HPI Dashboard reporting from our insurance broker, and outside consultative service providers.

While these offerings allowed our program to be recognized in the wellness community, this isn’t how I define my success as a health promotion professional. The success in my work has always rested in my ability to connect with people, to build trust with participants, and to communicate with senior leadership. My success was in the relationships I developed with everyone from frontline trade employees to executives. I’ve never believed that we can or should mandate health sitting behind desks, but rather that we can positively impact and support the well-being of those we work with by showing up to see them, hear them, and serve them. 

My days at OPPD were often spent in crew leader rooms, safety meetings, cafeteria conversations, and impromptu mini-coaching sessions. I took any opportunity I had to get in front of leadership and discuss a wellness vision that addressed the whole employee and put well-being at the center of how we supported our people. I reached across the boxes on org charts to work with safety, facilities, and talent development to enhance the work we did.

Now my days are spent supporting individuals in exploring what it is they most want and need to  thrive. I continue to show up as a voice for how our field can do better and be better by serving better. I am fortunate to connect with community groups and organizations to start conversations about leveraging well-being as a way to go from “good to great”. I recognize that I’m blessed to be able to weave my values, my passions, and my strengths into this work, and to live in a way that breathes well-being into all that I do. That feels like the perfect measure of success. 

3. Leadership

Some would point to my passion for running, nourishing food, cycling, hiking, meditation, and all things wellness as examples of how I “walk-the-talk”, and I certainly wouldn’t disagree with that. And while that has provided an opportunity for me to lead by example and create credibility in the eyes of those who have looked to me for guidance and support, I think I’ve shown up as a leader in this field in another way. I’ve shown up as someone who hasn’t been afraid to challenge the status quo. As someone who will ask the tough questions of speakers and my colleagues and who is creating space to discuss how we can make the work we do even better. Leaders aren’t made by the letters after their name or who they know. They’re made by standing in their truth and acting with integrity. To this end, we are all charged to be leaders in this field.

4. Innovation

As my thoughts around well-being evolved at OPPD, I saw an opportunity to work with organizational development to integrate whole person well-being into our leadership development programming. I created Energy to Lead which was built around helping managers and high performing employees leverage mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being to support them in leading at work, at home, and in their communities as the best version of themselves. 

After running this program for 3 years, I built out an extended offering for participants who desired to do more in-depth exploration of their own well-being. We offered the content in a three session workshop format over 8 weeks, with the option for six individual coaching sessions at the end. Before and after surveying reported participants feeling less stressed, more secure in their leadership capabilities, and more successful in their own wellness habits.

5. Compelling Vision

I believe the biggest challenge facing our industry is the realization that what we’ve been doing, selling, and promoting hasn’t necessarily been working. How do we change course in a way that puts people back at the heart of what we do? How do we innovate and create well-being strategies and products that our customers, employees, and clients actually want? 

We have to start with being brave enough to have conversations that matter. We need to think broader and deeper about what wellness can look like for individuals, in our communities, and our organizations. This was the reason for me leaving my wellness coordinator role to pursue consulting, speaking, and coaching. I hope to facilitate conversation and thinking that can hold a space for asking the tough questions and not being afraid of the tough answers.