In 2014 I graduated from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition becoming a certified Health Coach.  At that time, I had been with my current corporate employer for 10 years, and currently as a Sr. Manager in Supply Chain.  In that role, I was able to work with many other teams across the company.  With my own health changes, many other employees began to notice my health changes and often asked me questions.

They could see the changes I had gone through. 

After speaking to other employees, I took it upon myself to create an employee wellness group within the company.  My goal was to have a group that supported individuals at ALL LEVELS of the company, and at ALL different wellness stages.

All were welcome!

This was an unpaid volunteer-based role that allowed me to bring my passion and education to my workplace.  It also gave me the opportunity to partner with others who were passionate about wellness.

Over the 7 years that I led the group, it grew to become one of the largest (known as a “Focused Inclusion Network” (F.I.N.)) with over 1000 members by 2021.

I capitalized on my business and leadership knowledge to build a strategy and group design. This included performance metrics. Since all aspects of wellness are impactful, I designed the strategy upon all 6 dimensions of wellness (from the National Wellness Institute).

The group created ways to engage with the employees through a variety of events, wellness challenges, education, personal engagement and more. 

To me, wellness at in the workplace often felt stifled and robotic.  I wanted to change that.

One of my top goals was to bring more fun into the workplace that allowed employees to find ways to connect and feel motivated to make changes.  This could directly tie to employee engagement and retention.

I was also able to build close partnerships with a variety of vendor partners, Human Resources, Diversity and Inclusion, other F.I.N. groups and more.  This group even grew to be recognized by the highest company leaders, but most-importantly, it provided a way to connect with those leaders, especially as fellow employees, and humans, on similar journeys.

We encouraged these leaders to “walk the talk” and support engagement and lead by example utilizing the events we provided.

My strategy, experience, and willingness to challenge standard corporate wellness initiatives has created a group of employees who have found their wellness community… at work!  It drove employee engagement and comradery, all while building more connections across every level of the company.

My philosophy was that we are all humans first.  Ignore work titles.  We all have a personal connection when it comes to health and well-being. 

The best part for the company and employee experience…??

This group enabled the company to have a community-based support platform for wellness… and it was powered by the people!  It also encouraged employees to learn what was available to them from the company paid resources.

This group was driven of human connection, passion, perseverance and creativity.

It was a volunteer-run group with no funds, unless asked for.  Because of this, I’ve learned key ways to drive engagement.  There is power in connection, attention, and fun when it comes to a wellness program.

This is a win-win for the company and the employees!