Two words – experience and education. I’ve been the one lone soul of a company spending long hours planning health fairs, creating walking challenges with pedometers (yes, before Fitbits existed) and countless other time sucking programming that yielded me zero results. All while dealing with unsupportive leadership that could care less about a wellness program.
As far as education, I’m a registered dietitian trained in Mindful Eating. I got my Undergrad Nutrition degree from Auburn University (War Eagle!) and Master’s at Southern Illinois University.
Being trained in nutrition, I found my way into worksite/employee wellness in 2004. After a 2-year stint in public health, I found myself gravitating to more general wellness so when a wellness coordinator position came up at a local community hospital, I knew it was the move for me.
Once that hospital got acquired by a bigger hospital (Duke), I got even more great experience and got to be part of a large team. I was bitten by the employee wellness bug (if there is such a thing) but wanted a new experience.
I then went to a large health insurer and held 3 roles in over 8 years, all in different areas in the company but all tied to employer based wellness. My most recent role was leading a team of health promotion professionals who helped employers build wellness programs.
Despite my love of my job and team, I felt the pull to start my own business which is what I’m doing today. Even with many years of various wellness experience I continue to see new things that excite, surprise and motivate me to stay in this field.
For my full experience, check my LinkedIn profile. If you want to hear about my many wellness mistakes, listen to the podcast episode where the mic gets turned on me and I’m interviewed about my wellness journey.