1. Professional Development

While working at Kansas State University’s cancer research lab, I realized I belong with people not cells and Petri dishes. I switched degrees and graduated with honors in Exercise Science. I keep up-to-date in our ever-changing industry because “good enough” isn’t good enough for me. My certifications from ACSM, WELCOA, Cooper Institute, Back School of Atlanta and Spencer Institute include coaching, personal training, nutrition, wellness and ergonomics.  WELCOA’s summits provide me with knowledge, resources and dancing with my twin, Dr. Ann. I was honored to receive WELCOA’s Faculty status and the Women's Intersport Network for Kansas City’s “Spirit" award.

2. Demonstrated Success

Using WELCOA’s seven benchmarks, we designed the Firm's first outcome-based wellness challenge.

Onsite biometric screening and HRA data indicated our top risk factors were stress and obesity.  As part of our 2014 operating plan, we crafted strategies to reduce these risk factors and included resources in our budget to support this effort.  We chose Dr. Ann’s “Weigh Less For Life” because we knew our folks enjoyed book-based challenges. From previous challenge feedback, we learned individuals prefer short emails and videos, so we designed brief emails with links to Dr. Ann’s videos and our very own wellbeing resource page on the Firm's intranet.  To be all-inclusive, individuals selected their “group” - weight loss or weight maintenance.  To impact the culture and create a sense of “fun”, individuals could compete on teams. At the end of the year, three offices with the greatest success will receive a trophy and congratulations from the firm’s Chairman.

Stage 1 focused on weight management and began with individual assessments of weight and waist circumference. The first stage concluded with post assessments and a program evaluation.

The challenge was a huge success!

Stage 1 Outcomes

Overall (192 Attorneys, Paralegals and Staff completed successfully)

• 979 Pounds Lost (Average 5.15 pounds/individual)
• 182 Inches Lost Off Waist (Average .97 inches/individual)

Weight Loss Group (95 Individuals)

• 900 Pounds Lost (Average 9.5 pounds/individual)
• 142 Inches Lost Off Waist  (Average 1.5 inches/individual)

Improved Health (Self-Reported via Evaluations)

• 49% Reported Weight Loss
• 64% Reported Improved Nutrition
• 56% Reported Increased Physical Activity
• 26% Reported Reduced Stress
• 44% Reported Improved General Wellbeing
• 28% Reported Improved Health Status

Participant Comments:

• “Even though my stress level was not reduced, the way I handle stressful situations has been changed. Stressful events do not control my life. My attitude is different and I believe my family sees that and therefore it has changed their attitudes and then it does perhaps lower the stress level at home! The situations still occur, but handling it is everything.”

• “I really liked the book and will be using it in the future for reference. I liked how the program was broken down each week to read about certain targeted areas and to put them in practice as well as the short video clips. I need structure, and this gave me a plan to go by each week.”

• “This program came at an opportune time in my life. I was stressed and not sleeping or eating right. The Total You program jumpstarted my goals to improve my health. It totally worked for me!”

• “I enjoyed watching Dr. Ann's short online videos; changing my attitude about food and exercise (and seeing the results!); and generally feeling better.”

• “In all my years of being on diets, things like nuts, avocadoes, peanut butter were a NO-NO. I was so happy to learn that these are acceptable and actually have good nutritional values to your daily diet. Love it!”

We are currently in the second stage, which focuses on stress management, and look forward to similar success stories.

3. Leadership

If anyone is looking for me during my break they can find me running down Kansas City’s old trolley track, rolling on a foam roller or eating plain Greek yogurt with almonds. Other times, I just sit outdoors, enjoy the weather and practice deep breathing for stress relief.

My law-firm team consists of five very talented professionals. As their leader, my goal is to nurture them to become leaders as well. I encourage their creativity and individualism. Our team is successful due to our talents, ideas and passion for people.

I’m fortunate to be a member of a large team at Saint Luke’s Health System, consisting of approximately thirty health enhancement professionals. I provide training, education, mentoring and leadership to the members of the group.

My advice to others is to be true to yourself, always be open to learning and laugh every day.

4. Innovation

I love to exercise and would gladly do it for others, if possible. So when my employer, Saint Luke’s, announced its new program focused on exercise, I thought, “This doesn’t apply to me, I already exercise.” The programs I was offering to my law-firm clients also focused on one behavior. How could I do things differently?

I spent over a year creating “Total YOU”, a program allowing participants to select their own area of focus; Life Balance, Nutrition, Physical Activity or Self Care. Within each area, participants chose goals and healthy habits to incorporate into their lifestyle. To ensure success, our intranet page provides numerous resources, tools and online “Habit Tracker” tailored to these areas, goals and habits.

The key element of this innovative program is to allow participants a choice to work on what is important to them. The program isn’t finished, but the feedback is tremendous so far.

5. Compelling Vision

Health and wellness promotion professionals will have to continue to prove their value, especially now, when businesses are cutting back. However, by shifting focus to enhanced performance and an emphasis on stress management, this should be an easy task.  This shift opens the door for new opportunities and expanded visions. Our strategies will complement those of business leaders.  It’s exciting to imagine the possibilities for the next five years. I’ve begun incorporating elements of happiness, motivation, purpose and performance in our programs. “Shift” happens! I’m excited and grateful for my dream job.