About Our Team

As of 6/15/21, I’m retired.

I teach healthcare leaders & staff how to improve and sustain employee engagement; decrease stress and burnout; and, retain valued employees.

Organizations that implement my tools, tips and ideas experience increased engagement, productivity, safety, quality, retention, patient satisfaction, creativity and more. Leaders and staff receive strategies for employee engagement that are evidence‐based, relatable and real world.

As a nurse, keynote speaker, trainer, consultant and author of 5 books; my goal is to inspire healthcare leaders and staff to take action by sharing high impact, easy to implement ideas that transform the way people work. As a cancer survivor and victim of a surgical mistake, I bring the voice of the patient into my programs.

I earned a BS (Nursing) from the University of Florida and a Master’s Degree in Human Resource Development from Towson University. I was an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University Graduate School of Business for five years.

I am proud to be one of ~300 women in the world to have earned the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation…the speaking profession’s international standard for platform skill. I have been voted a TOP 5 Healthcare Speaker 4 years in a row by Speaking.com and have been recognized as a TOP 25 Speaker overall. In 2020, I became a Certified Virtual Presenter which means you can rest assured that I understand the delivery of content in virtual settings.

I am also a Certified Trauma Professional. I’ve taken additional coursework so that you receive evidence-based strategies for managing the effects of trauma in the workplace.

I am the author/creator of:

SHIFT to Professional Paradise in Stormy & Uncertain Times (Healthcare Edition)
6 Shortcuts to Employee Engagement: Lead & Succeed in a Do‐More‐with‐Less World (Business Edition & Healthcare Edition)
SHIFT to Professional Paradise: 5 Steps to Less Stress, More Energy & Remarkable Results at Work
The Nurse Manager’s Guide to Hiring, Firing & Inspiring (Sigma Theta Tau International)
28‐Day Professional Paradise e-Diary
Engagement Excelerator™ Virtual Coaching Program

I have written for the Association for Talent Development (ATD) blog, AONL Nurse Leader, American Nurse Today, Hospital & Health Network, Becker’s Hospital Review, NurseTogether.com and the Baltimore Business Journal. Please click on the Blog tab to access on-going posts.

“Vicki Hess presented a half day program at our Management Rally. She and her team were very organized, thoughtful, and prepared, so that when Vicki presented she was able to zero in on some challenges unique to our industry and company. All of the leaders… felt like they had gone to other trainings about engagement before, but Vicki’s training provided the tools and follow up that could make a difference. They loved the idea of creating shared responsibility for engagement with their teams.”

– Karen Shollenberger, Vice President Human Resources, Benchmark Human Services

Our Team

Alan Hess

Vice President of Operations

Alan spent his professional career in the real estate industry and retired in 2017 to work with Vicki and the Employee Engagement Solutions team. He expertly takes care of behind the scene logistics so Vicki can think big thoughts and meet her clients’ needs. Alan is a valuable member of the team related to day-to-day operations.

When he’s not supporting Vicki and the team, you’ll find Alan on the golf course, participating in a Master’s swimming program or running. Physical fitness is his great passion. He loves to travel with Vicki and spend time with our sons Josh and Brian.

Marcia Snow

Director of Client Engagement

Marcia has been an organizer most of her adult life and has gone from organizing local, regional and national events to organizing a corporate office to opening her own Speaker Management business 22 years ago. In this role, she assists established speakers (her primary client is Vicki Hess) with implementing the multitude of action steps associated with booking an event and walking it through to its very successful completion. After several thousand events and working with thousands of clients, she has allowed her customer service and organizational skills to shine. She often says that she was born to do this.

In her free time, she is known as a flea market/garage sale addict, loves reading books, plays Bunco with her gal pals, plays darts with her husband, participates in board games and poker games when possible and loves playing with her newest addition, Enzo, a beagle-lab mix, who came into her life almost a year ago as an 11 week old puppy. She grew up in Chicago, and has lived in Colorado, San Diego and Round Rock, TX, before her last move six years ago to a 2-/12 acre property in the outlying area of Louisville, KY.

Karrie Worrell

IT Manager

Karrie is a graduate of Purdue University with degrees in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Supervision. She has a background in purchasing and scheduling in the world of manufacturing, equipping her with the skills to build frameworks and set up systems. Using those skills, she then managed a volunteer department in a hospital and implemented training, standards and systems development to grow the department.

Karrie and her husband met at Purdue, have 4 children, and live in Northern Indiana. She loves animals and has 3 dogs and a rabbit. In her free time when she’s not spending time with her family, she loves crafting and creating jewelry, wreaths, centerpieces… and just about anything that inspires her!

Melissa Farr

Graphic Design Manager

Melissa Farr founded Back Porch Creative, her freelance design business, in 2003. She has designed and created three of my books, along with many other training materials and reinforcement tools.

Melissa’s spirit of partnership, perpetually positive attitude and stellar service create lasting relationships and fun customer engagements. She sets a shining example for us as we serve our client partners.

Melissa enjoys cooking, entertaining and spending time with friends. She lives in Frisco, TX, and has two sons who are the light of her life.

“Vicki Hess presented a full day program on employee engagement at our state-wide Leadership Conference. Almost 400 healthcare leaders and students attended and the feedback has been great. The participants found the program very engaging and the ideas were helpful, meaningful and useful. The ideas were easy to understand and easy to follow through on. One CNO reported that her leaders were able to look at engagement differently and how helpful that was. We hope to invite Vicki back to speak at future conferences.”

– Mary Ann Allen, MSN, RN-BC, Coordinator, Center for Health Professions Life Long Learning, College of Nursing and Health Professions, University of Southern Indiana