Professional Development: Kirstie has an accounting/finance degree from Chancellor University in Cleveland, Ohio and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. As a lifelong athlete (11-time high school varsity letterwoman, college basketball player, former personal trainer), Kirstie has always had a passion for health, fitness and nutrition. Her passion and experience has enabled her to help others make better choices and live healthier lives. She was working for a health insurance carrier right after college and had the opportunity start her own business - offering companies assistance in implementing wellness programs (a new concept in 1996). She built the company from "scratch" and finally closed in 2008 (after a turn in the economy). She relocated to South Florida and was able to secure employment for a small broker firm as their Director, Corporate Wellness and Health Management services. She built the division in the short 4 1/2 years and increased revenue by 450%. She continued to develop professionally by formerly serving on the Florida Worksite Wellness Committee. Her current position has allowed her to expand her territory and service clients for an entire region. Her MBA degree has helped tremendously in her advancement in this space. While her experience provides the backdrop for client consulting, her business acumen helps in providing organizations with a well-rounded strategy to contain costs and mitigate health risks.

Demonstrated Success: Kirstie’s former consulting company was able to employ individuals that shared a vision – to help employers promote health management initiatives at the worksite. The company conducted numerous onsite events for clients – monthly massages, onsite fitness classes, screenings, personal training, lunch and learns. These programs helped numerous individuals reduce risk, allow for easier access to programs, and live healthier lives. On average, programs to address physical inactivity and proper nutrition obtained the most interest and saw most measureable differences for clients. These programs enabled the employer(s) to realize cost savings (non-participants funded the programs), improvements in certain health risks/status, effect behavior change in the population and create a shift in culture. As a former member of the Florida Worksite Wellness Committee, the committee rewarded Florida employers for implementing health management initiatives for their employees. We offered educational sessions (for HRCI and CHES credits) to attendees of the awards ceremony and expo. In her current position, Kirstie consistently use WELCOA’s 7 Benchmarks as part of a best practices approach to implementing a corporate health management program.

Leadership: As a former small business owner, Kirstie’s consulting company employed individuals that assisted companies in implementing health management programs. Kirstie also taught onsite fitness classes and provided personal training to employees. In addition, she "walks the talk” in her daily life – eats healthy and is physically active (not to mention ensures she receives all preventive care required for her age/gender). She is a triathlete and 5k runner. She participated in a triathlon while 6 months pregnant – while wearing a tank that advertised “Baby’s 1st Triathlon” – which instigated numerous conversations. This proved to many that you can be physically active and healthy at any stage in life. As a former member of the Florida Worksite Wellness Committee, she was able to help promote healthy workplaces and offer educational opportunities to many Florida companies, as well as reward companies for implementing comprehensive health management programs. In addition, the award program offered educational sessions on a variety of topics (that also offered HRCI and CHES educational credits) to attendees. Personally, she has also conducted numerous speaking engagements and has published articles to promote corporate health management. Her suggestion to those individuals hoping to become leaders in the field is to network, network, network and “walk the talk”.

Innovation: As a tenured subject matter expert in corporate health management, Kirstie has experienced the transition from “fluff wellness” to comprehensive programs that tie health management to employer benefits. Premium incentives/contributions, outcomes based programs, customized programming, preventive care compliance, carrier wellness funds and mobile applications/platforms have generated the best results for most clients. Certainly each client has varying goals and expectations. Each of the above solutions have had a part in realizing cost savings (non-participants help fund the program), improving a population’s health status, effecting behavior change and shifting the culture. With over 150+ current clients, it is difficult to pinpoint the various successes we have seen in implementing some of the solutions above.

Compelling Vision: Kirstie’s vision for the health promotion industry is to overcome the barriers that have been presented to our industry. These barriers are also a few of the biggest threats – conflicting regulations (HIPAA, ADA, etc), interpretation of these regulations, and the overall laziness of our culture. In the next five years, she plans to continue to provide strategic consulting in the design and implementation of health management programs, help clients sift through the regulatory issues, continue to network and “walk the talk”.