The University of Wisconsin Health and Wellness Management program continued its webinar series in a session hosted by Emily Moenck, a successful health and wellness professional. She offered insight and advice on how to make the most of a wellness career. This is the first of three blogs recapping her webinar.
Here are the second and third parts.
Emily Moenck is the health and wellness manager at Aprilaire, a thriving, innovative air quality company based in Madison, Wis. Each day, she looks forward to planning, developing, implementing, and evaluating health promotion strategies and programs. As a high-level wellness professional, Emily also oversees the employee wellness communications and marketing strategy, manages the monetary incentives tied to the programs, and coordinates the annual biometrics screening and evaluation. The responsibilities within her job description are impressive—but she didn’t start out at the helm.
In the April 2016 UW Health and Wellness Management webinar, Emily walked a group of students and prospective students down her career path, from her college and fledgling internship experience all the way to her current success. She offered stories from each step and finished with tips and advice amassed from her years of experience.
Step One: Learning the Basics With a Strong Health and Wellness Education
Emily graduated with a UW-Stevens Point Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion and Wellness and a minor in safety and health protection. She began college in the dietetics program, knowing she wanted to be involved in the well-being of others. Realizing that a health and wellness career provided both a chance to help others live healthfully on a larger scale, as well as greater opportunity for growth, she changed her major and thrived in the program.
In addition to her traditional college coursework, Emily did training beyond the classroom. She says, “The beauty of University of Wisconsin programs and campuses is the readily available opportunity to network and connect with professionals.”
Her connections led to roles as the student health promotion advocate on campus; in the exercise physiology lab performing physical assessments; and at the safety and health protection lab at JJ Keller and Associates, helping companies fulfill OSHA compliance. During summer breaks, she gained knowledge of how environment and wellness affect each other by working at Yellowstone National Park and a Shane Diet and Fitness Resort health camp.
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Lessons Learned:
- Be open-minded—college is a time to really explore all your options. You might think you know what you’re interested in, but let your experiences speak to you.
- Embrace unexpected or outside-the-box opportunities! These experiences help you reinforce your chosen path and are also attractive to prospective employers.
If you’d like to read more from practicing wellness professionals, check out our blog recaps of past UW Health and Wellness Management webinars:
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Recent UW Health and Wellness Management Webinar Showcases Two Pathways to Success
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Expert Advice on Succeeding in Corporate Wellness from the UW Health and Wellness Management Webinar
If you’re ready to turn your passion for wellness into a healthy career in the fast-growing field of health and wellness management, call 608-800-6762 or email learn@uwex.edu today to speak with an enrollment adviser; they can answer any questions you have about the UW Health and Wellness Management program.