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Hi, I'm Jen.

After many years of implementing traditional wellness programming and not seeing success, I knew there had to be a better way to help employees improve their wellbeing.

I set out on a mission to figure out why the corporate wellness industry is so trapped in outdated thinking and find new ways of thinking about employee wellbeing.

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When I originally started Redesigning Wellness, it was to express my frustration with all that's wrong with traditional wellness programming

Since then, I’ve interviewed many wellness experts on my podcast, worked with employers and employees to reaffirm that the way we’re “doing” wellness isn’t working to achieve the high expectations we’ve given it. Now, instead of frustration, I see limitless possibility to enhance employee well-being through listening to and caring for them.

After all, it’s your employees who you trust to care for your customers. So, why wouldn’t you show your employees you care for them?

To hear my full story of how Redesigning Wellness came to be, listen to my podcast where I’m interviewed about my wellness journey. 

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With the majority of our life spent at work, shouldn't we make it a place that helps employees thrive?

Organizations can be places employees look forward to going to because they are doing exciting work, contributing to the company’s mission, creating social connections and enhancing their well-being. Did you notice I didn’t say anything about wellness?

The traditional wellness model attempts to medically manage costs by fixing all that’s wrong with employees (typically through a series of programs).

What if...

  • We expanded wellness to incorporate the whole employee (not just focusing on physical health)?
  • Wellness was spread throughout the organization and happened where people actually spend their time?
  • Managers were trained to build thriving cultures and resilient employees?
  • We started with what's right with employees, instead of trying to "fix" employees with poor health?

So, why am I qualified to give you advice?

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.

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