PPB December 2020

says Wells. “There’s no business model to follow. You are setting everything up from scratch.” Because of this, she believes in the importance of passing on knowledge. “A lot of people try to hold on to what they’ve learned, but if you can learn to share it, it comes back to you—always.” From the hospital to the office, Wells still works with an unwavering, get-the-job-done attitude. “I think my experience is a driver inme,” she says. “Because I had that ‘everything is on fire’ feeling, it meshed with how I run things now. Not that ‘everything was on fire’ here, but I had to learn to tell myself, ‘Okay, Karesa, everything is not on fire and I don’t need everything done now.’” Wells also took fromher experience as a nurse the ability to keep fighting. “When everything wasn’t going so well, I had to pick up the pieces andmove forward,” she says. “It didn’t matter what challenges we had in the office—I still had tomove forward.” Wells is looking ahead to the new year. “I am excited for 2021,” she says. “I think there is going to be a new energy. I plan to focus more onmy clients. This year has been a year of operations, making sure procedures, systems and policies are in place. My goal next year is to reach out to more prospects.” PPB spoke withWells to learnmore about how she leads her business and connects with clients. PPB How would you describe yourself as a leader and how do you stay motivated? Wells As a leader, I would say I have lots of energy. I am driven by my team. I want to make sure that my team is happy and that they are motivated. I try to be understanding when situations come up. I am always pushing my team to learn more and give them opportunities to do that. It can be challenging, especially being a sole entrepreneur because you’re the one driving everybody’s enthusiasm. I listen to podcasts; I think that helps me with motivation. I read a ton of books but because I have kids, I don’t have a lot of personal time. In my downtime, I read books that are either sales- or industry-focused, or even reading about what other entrepreneurs have done keeps me motivated. PPB How has living and working through a pandemic affected you? Wells When the pandemic hit, my clients shut down and the world kind of just stopped. But I think the thing to learn through a pandemic is that even though things are falling apart around you, there are still some things you can do. For your business or your goals, there’s still something you can work on. That’s what we did here at Cross Country. When everything shut down, clients were scrambling, trying to make everything virtual. They didn’t have time to send out promo products; they didn’t even know if they were going to have a budget for promo products. But we did not go away. PPB How have you connected with clients during this time? Wells In the very beginning of the pandemic, we put together a kit for all our clients and this was before they even started talking about at-home kits. I said, ‘I know all of my clients are at home—let’s put together a campaign.’ We ended up doing a whole campaign called, ‘Never Give Up.’ I sent them a blanket, because I knew they were going to be at home, and it says #NeverGiveUp. We tried to get hand sanitizer, but it was all gone so we ended up getting some soap and a tumbler. It was a package to say, ‘We care about you’, and ‘Don’t give up, we’ll get through this.’ One of my clients said this came at the perfect time. In the middle of a pandemic, you can still reach out. You just have to find a way. A lot of our clients had stopped ordering, but I said, ‘Let’s think about what they’re going through.’ I think caring is a big key for getting through this time. Kristina Valdez is associate editor of PPB. At the start of the pandemic, Wells created the “Never Give Up” campaign, sending at-home kits to her clients. “In the middle of a pandemic, you can still reach out. You just have to find a way.” | DECEMBER 2020 | 87 CONNECT