By Laura Thill
Thanks to a supportive team at Seacoast Medical, Keri Willenborg has struck a happy balance between work and family.
Keri Willenborg
Keri Willenborg addresses challenges every day. But for the Seacoast Medical national sales director, that’s nothing to bat an eye over. A single mother of five children ranging from 12 to 24 years, she spends much of her time taking care of others – be it family or her hospital customers. And, that suits her just fine.
A passion for sales
Hard work has been a driving force for Willenborg for as long as she can remember – a value she has passed on to her children. “I think all kids need to work,” she says. “Even my two youngest have jobs: My 14-year-old daughter umpires for softball games with me, and my 12-year-old mows lawns.” In addition, all of her children do volunteer work, she adds.
Willenborg realized her passion for sales in her 20s, when she took a job selling databases to public libraries. “I traveled to small towns across the country and grew to love Carnegie libraries,” she recalls. In years to follow, she further honed her entrepreneurial skills by helping start a meal prep business, which was franchised into 48 stores. From there, she eventually made her way into the healthcare industry, and to her current position with pharmaceutical distributor Seacoast Medical.
“After a friend of mine told me about the position at Seacoast, I interviewed with the CEO, Dave MacFarlane, and the president, Bob Harris,” she says. “To this day, I can honestly say, they have been the best people to work for. They run their business with integrity and treat their employees well. I feel very blessed, and I’ve learned a lot from both of them.”
From the start, Willenborg was surprised at – and enthralled by – the complexity of the industry. “I thought I would have to thoroughly understand the various pharmaceuticals I sell,” she explains. But, she soon learned that she did not require the same level of understanding as a pharmacist. “On the distribution side, it’s all connecting contracts, understanding the GPOs and recognizing decision makers in the hospitals.” She works with the supply chain – from materials managers to pharmacists – and presents contracts to a value analysis team (VAT). “I must learn about each hospital’s current buying patterns, evaluate where there might be holes, and then introduce them to the right Seacoast products that could provide a cost savings and increased efficiencies. My greatest challenge is when I’m confident we can offer a customer a cost savings, but the hospital is already locked into a contract for a specific term.”
Striking a balance
Raising five kids is not easy for two parents. It’s less so for working parents, and that much harder for a single, working parent. Joining Seacoast Medical, “a company that supports women and encourages people to strike a balance between work and family,” has made it possible, notes Willenborg. “Dave and Bob appreciate the importance of a flexible schedule and the need to sometimes work from home. They understand that time on the road means time away from family, and it’s necessary for families to catch up following these trips.”
But, there are some things that even the most understanding employer can’t help with. “As a single mother, I must always stay on top of doctors appointments, sports practices, school meetings and band recital,” says Willenborg. “Having a strong network of family has been my saving grace. Networking with other parents, carpooling and, of course, sharing some of the responsibility with my children’s father has made it possible to balance it all.
“I’ve given many talks to organizations on this very topic, and the one thing I stress is to never lose sight of what’s important,” she continues. “A career is replaceable. Children are not. They are young once, and I never lose sight of that.” Family dinners are a key opportunity for parents to spend time and communicate with their children, she adds. “Even if we just order pizza, it’s time we spend together.”
Interestingly, Willenborg has found that many skills she has acquired to connect with her hospital customers have carried over to her home life, and vice versa. “In this day and age, raising a family of five kids who are constantly on the go can be tough, but very similar to servicing hospital customers,” she says. As such, staying connected – whether to family or customers – requires a multimedia approach, including texts, e-mail, messaging on Facebook and good, old-fashioned face-to-face communication.
Indeed, she is a true representative, in every sense. As a Seacoast Medical sales rep, “I want my customers to know me as the salesperson who offers a quality product and service at a good price.” Along the same lines, she hopes her parenting skills have paid off, and that when others look at her family, they see five well-behaved children. “At times, both jobs can be deeply challenging,” she says. “But, they can also be very rewarding.” That said, at Seacoast Medical, the company CEO and president can confirm that she is doing a good job. “As a single parent, you are the CEO, and you must trust your gut without a strategic plan.” It’s a big help when one’s company recognizes such challenges, she points out.
Time for play
One of the biggest lessons learned for Willenborg has been the importance of taking time to do something for herself. No matter how busy it gets at work or home, she finds time to indulge in her two passions – softball (both playing and umping) and dance. She has been active in both sports since she was young and is confident that the balance she acquired from her dance experience helped her refine her hand/eye coordination that has made her a good softball player. But, the best part of both activities is the camaraderie, she notes. “I played softball with the girls from my private school for years growing up. To this day, my teammates are some of my dearest friends.”
In fact, it was one of her good childhood friends who convinced her to return to dance. “I danced for 18 years and eventually taught ballroom dancing for Arthur Murray in my early twenties,” she recalls. “My best friend, Karen, recently approached me about taking a tap dancing class. My initial reaction was. ‘Are you crazy?’ But returning to tap dancing has been “thoroughly cathartic,” she says. “Not only am I spending time with my best friend, after 20-some years, I am doing something I have always loved. The experience has been a real treat! Not an easy one, she admits, but “great exercise and fun!”
As it turns out, performing in front of an audience – both on stage as a dancer and at the plate as a batter – have made Willenborg a stronger sales rep. “It takes a tremendous amount of focus and courage to step up to bat, especially when the bases are loaded and your team has two outs!” she says. “In dance, performing in front of an audience is much the same.” Both experiences have prepared her for addressing C suite executives, she notes. “Often, the stakes are high. My presentation can either make or break a potential partnership.”
It’s no surprise, then, that she has encouraged her children to take up baseball or softball. I have one child trying out for one of the largest and most competitive school softball teams in the state,” she says. Group sports such as baseball/softball require a team effort, she points out. And team effort is exactly what it takes to be part of a healthy family or succeed in one’s career.