My day job is Lead Client Strategist for Welltok. This is a new role for me and I’ll be developing marketing strategies for hospital clients.

Welltok provides data management, software, and predictive modeling to help clients reach patients who might be at risk for a given condition, ultimately improving the quality of care.

Although I have extensive past experience in the health information space, my most recent position was actually working with credit unions. The common link between those positions was the role of predictive modeling.

We tend to think of only having a “credit score” that’s related to our finances. But we actually have something akin to a credit score in virtually every area of our lives. For instance, Amazon knowing which book you might like next based on your past purchases or what ads you’re shown based on your search history…it’s all predictive algorithms.

As a society we’re still very much learning how to navigate privacy issues and regulation when it comes to data usage—and there are definite concerns there. I’m heartened to know that HIPAA regulation (which is regulation designed to protect personal information and data collected and stored in medical regulation) protects our privacy as patients, but general consumer protection in this area feels a bit like the wild west.

My most memorable caffeine was my mother’s daily breakfast: a pot of coffee and a pack of cigarettes! She was a classic caffeine addict and let’s just say it was crucial for her to get those things to start her morning off right. I remember thinking, even as a child, “Get a grip!” when she didn’t have her coffee.

But flash forward to my own early motherhood. I was home with my lovely little girl, but I couldn’t start my day until I’d had my coffee.  It made me feel sad to put her off while I caffeine up, so I did quit.  Well, until she got a little older. 

My current caffeine of choice is always coffee. A latte if I’m having coffee out…just to make it special.  And plain black coffee at home. Nothing fancy—just coffee.

My favorite place for caffeine is Tuvalu Coffeehouse & Gallery. It’s in Verona, on the main street right by Miller’s. It has all the standards—great coffee, wifi—but what makes it unusual is that it’s a gallery as well. I recently went there for a couple of job interviews (prior to my joining Welltok).  It’s interesting to see how coffee shops have become where we do business.

The person I’d love to share a cup of caffeine with is my mom. Obviously, she would love it.  (See “Memorable Caffeine Moment” above).  She died very young, at just 59. I was only 26 and we were just starting to have an adult-to-adult relationship. I have so many memories, stories I’d like to ask about where I only know my side—I’d like to get her perspective and fill in some blanks. And I’d especially like a chance to spend time with her as fellow mothers.

World problem that could be solved with the right amount of caffeine: how to be a good parent. It’s such an important responsibility and you want to get it “right.” It would be great to have perfect clarity around that.