Melissa Grady Dias (Measured Wellness) | From CMO to CEO: Using AI and Human Connection to Transform Health

24:16So it's a really interesting intersection there as well. But those are a few, I think, that have been more interesting as I'm looking and understanding this space.

24:25Jim Stengel:What have been your first impressions of the company over the last several months? I really love the company. Our founder really just wants to make the world a better place and he wants to help as many people as possible. And that's what's going to drive our growth. So we spend a lot of time trying to focus and not boil the ocean because there's so many people that we can help. And the people, you know, as I sit on calls with the team, everyone has their why. Why they're there. What motivated them to join? Who in their life needed something like this? Looking at what we're doing and the purpose that everyone feels is so clear that for me, I feel very aligned.

25:09Jim Stengel:What are your emerging priorities as you're learning? I know you're still new, but where do you think you'll be focusing your personal time? The big things that we're focusing on right now, we have most of our processes automated. We're making sure that the ones that aren't, where do we need to add automation in? We're pressure testing because as we really start to focus our growth, we want to make sure that nothing's broken. Then the two key things that I'm really working on is what is the patient experience? Patients at the center of everything we do. So how do we make sure everything from onboarding to their care plan to their app usage, et cetera, how do we make sure that that is the best that it can be?

25:51and where are we going to focus for growth and what are going to be our priorities as we roll out both our products and who we're partnering with or how we're going to market.

26:02Jim Stengel:Why was the company excited about you? I can only imagine why they were excited about you, but why do you think they thought you were the right person for this role? You know, this is something that's really interesting. And I think that as a CMO, I didn't think as much about good CMOs look at a business and say, how am I going to grow this? And how am I going to grow this in emotionally connected, customer first, sustainable way? And that's how you grow a business. And, you know, I think working in large organizations, which has been most of my career, you always have to work with finance, with IT, with legal, et cetera.

26:45And so whether you're working with them or figuring out, you know, oh, now I have to make sure we're doing that right. You have the experience and you know how to prioritize. And so I think that in the conversations we were having, it was clear that I'm very aligned with Dr. Mike's vision because that's very important to him, what his legacy is. And I have some very clear ideas about how we can grow the business.

27:10Jim Stengel:I know you can't share everything because you're still figuring it out, but if someone listening to this, and I hope a lot of people do, are really interested in what you're talking about, and I suspect they will be, how do they learn more about it? How do they become possibly a customer slash patient? What's the business model? Is it direct to consumer? Is it through family medicine, integrated medicine? How are you seeing that? Yes. So our website is measure-wellness.com. We are building that out pretty consistently to try to help explain our care model. We're trying to augment what healthcare people are already receiving.

27:53So we are not replacing a primary care doctor. We are not replacing a surgeon. we're working on that 99 % of time when building the habits and making the decisions that are going to fundamentally change their outcomes. If someone wants to become a patient, they can go on our website and fill out a form. We bill through insurance. So we are working on different models that will be self-pay for some of the programs, depending on what may or may not be covered. But it's for most of our patients right now. They get referred into our ecosystem or they hear about it from somewhere and go on, fill out a form, and then they're contacted by the team and then they start working with our practitioners.

28:44Jim Stengel:You're a brand person, right? You grew up as a marketer and CMO. We work a lot on how we're differentiated, what our brand personality is, how we're distinctive, what emotions we want to evoke in people. So talk a bit about that for your founder and your and your team's vision for measured wellness. What kind of brand will it look like? We want to help people feel supported, seen, and empowered while improving their health every day. That's a good mission, by the way. Well said and aspirational and clear. Thank you. We had a slightly different version of that, and then we read it to the providers in our weekly provider meeting, we talked about empowering people to better health every day.

29:25And they talked about the fact that a lot of what makes what we do work, when you look at our clinical outcomes, they are actually better than the general population. And we see people coming off blood pressure medication, lowering their A1C. We see Parkinson's patients who are having relief of symptoms. And we're doing we have some data analysts on staff and we're doing studies so that over time we can show the insurance companies how our methodology will improve outcomes. But it's the human factor that helps us do it. The technology is the how it's the it's what allows us to be able to more easily do this.

30:06But it's the human factor that helps people. And so that's how we adjusted the mission statement, because that is what is really important. And if you look at us versus a lot of other areas in the health tech and wellness space, it is having that human element that we feel really differentiates what we're doing.

30:26Jim Stengel:Well, your founder sure has that. I looked at some videos of him as I was preparing for this. And, oh, just warm. I mean, this is the kind of person we want in healthcare, in medicine. He cares. He's in it for the right reasons. His incentives, it seems, are spot on. So could you talk a bit more about him? Obviously, you have great chemistry and you've already spoken about him, but go a little bit deeper into that. Why is he so passionate about this? And why are you as a team confident you can tackle this challenge? Because it's a big one, right? You talk a lot about we're in a healthcare industry of treating illness versus prevention, and you want to shift that, which I think is amazing.

31:08When I look at Dr. Mike, he is a bit of an anomaly or a unicorn. I was just reminded the first time that I was on your podcast, you asked me, what's your superpower? I'm not the kind of person that can reflect on what I think is great about me. And I didn't have an answer. And you actually said it's that you see things differently than other people. And I've actually used that several times since being on it because I was like, I do. You're right. That's an interesting thing. When I look at Dr. Mike, he sees things differently. And if you saw some of his videos, you may have seen he'll be getting his car worked on and he's talking to the mechanic and he's like, you're a better doctor than I am.

31:48You just ran all these diagnostics and saw these things and now you have the tools to fix it. As he looks at the world, he sees things so differently and the way he sees it solves a lot of the problems that are pervasive in health care today. And he doesn't just say, we have a problem or you're not focusing on, it's episodic, it's reactive. For years, he was pulling Oura Ring data and blood pressure data into CSV files, JSON files, putting them into Excel to understand patterns and help treat people. He sees the world differently. And now where we are with AI and technology and telehealth, it's the perfect intersection where we can really literally bring this methodology to everyone.

32:42So if both of us see the world a little differently and are crazily optimistic and both have this, we want to save the world. And now we've got a way that we can start to apply that to people one by one. I think that that creates an environment where we talked about it before. It's all about the vision. It's all about the team. And there's such clarity and such purpose here that I think that's the confidence we're going with.

33:14Jim Stengel:Now, you know, you're building something here and you like to build things. I remember that from our first episode. That's a quote. I like to build things. You're building something here. And at some point, you're going to have to get awareness and trial and repeat and loyalty and results and that whole continuous cycle that great brands do very well. So how are you thinking about that? Getting awareness, getting people to change a habit, right? To do something differently. Something that's interesting on the loyalty and the repeat side of things, that we have really strongly already. Once people get into our ecosystem, they stay.

33:55A little fact that we have that's interesting, one of the things that we offer is remote patient monitoring, RPM. That's something where you are given devices. The typical ones are blood pressure cuff, pulse oximeter scale, but there's a few others that you can go in and those are billable through insurance because when people are tracking those things and measuring those things and acting upon those things, their outcomes are better. In a typical RPM company, there's a 30 % compliance rate. So of all the people who are supposed to be doing something in a month, only 30 % of people, 30 out of 100 are doing it.

34:30We have over a 95 % compliance rate with our patients, and they keep doing it month after month because they're working with a person. They're seeing the outcomes. We have a bunch of case studies of the outcomes happening. So I think on the loyalty part, I feel really good. We're going to do some optimizing, but that's good. On the awareness side, that's where a lot of the work has to be done. And I think I'm thinking about it in two big buckets. The first one, and it's, you know, we all talk about thought leadership. I think in this case, and the way I'm thinking about thought leadership is very different than I have before.

35:09I want Dr. Mike to really start talking on LinkedIn about what he thinks health is. Because when we think about health and healthcare, we think about being sick, which is so interesting. and when he thinks about health, he thinks about how you build health and what that means. I want to go to more conferences and places where we can help people understand what we're doing and how it can really change lives. We're working on some papers we can publish. So there's that side of things, which is much more meaningful to me now than it's ever been before when we've talked about thought leadership. The other way I think is really once we build out our programs in a more meaningful way, just starting to educate people through probably largely social, but we'll look at what other channels work well.

36:00I'm a test and learn person, so we'll go out and figure it out. But I think that by explaining it to people through conditions we're treating or what we're helping, that will make it very clear. So, you know, your A1C is high, we have a way to help you bring that down covered by insurance, you need to lose weight, you are going to have surgery, a big use case is people who are going to have surgery, the outcomes of the surgery and the recovery are a lot better if you go in really healthy. So we help get people prepared. So by being able to explain it in those very discreet, clear ways, that's how we're going to go out and educate people.

36:44Jim Stengel:Melissa, you're very lit up about this job. I mean, you were very positive and optimistic and enthusiastic last time we chatted, but this is a bit next level. So you seem to be really in your zone. I feel that way. I do. And I've had a few people use that exact term with me. I'm lit up about it. That's how I feel. And it makes it really exciting to sit down every day and figure out what is healthcare compliance law and how do I want to build out this revenue projection. It makes it really fun. Now, did you have a goal to be a CEO someday, you know, if we went back a couple of years into your role at Cadillac or not really?

37:24No. And that has me thinking a lot of things. I may have told you this last time. When I was younger, I used to love Who's the Boss.

37:37Jim Stengel:You did tell me that. And I loved Angela on Who's the Boss. And to me, that was what a successful businesswoman looked like. In my update, I met Judith Light at the Forbes Power Women's Summit in the fall. And I was able to tell her what an impact she had on my life. And I thanked her for taking a role. Her husband was there and talked about how meaningful that role was. But I thanked her for taking a role where a young girl like me who had a mother who told me I could do anything, but was a stay at home mom. I could see what that looked like. Me not having the goal or the aspirations or feeling like I could be who I wanted to be as a CEO has made me think really, I love mentoring people.

38:22I love helping the next generation, but I'm thinking very carefully about how we as women help people understand, help people, the next generation of women, particularly what this can look like. I know you were talking to Diana Hausling a few weeks ago, and she was saying something, her and I have had that conversation about it's not work-life balance. It's not as easy, you know, and we didn't have a lot of role models growing up. And so I'm way off on a tangent here, but -

38:55Jim Stengel:Good tangent. I've been having some conversations with some people on how we really look at how do we help the next generation of girls see what it really means, but help inspire them and help them achieve whatever that is, including CEO. I think Mary Barra, that's a good role model. I mean, maybe her reach doesn't go down to girls, but it surely goes down to women early in their careers. Yeah. She was one of the first people that taught me a lot. I remember when I was interviewing at GM and the HR person told me, Mary will go to a soccer game and then get back on her email. She figures it out and she's a great role model for all of us.

39:40And that really stuck with me as I was joining GM.

39:43Jim Stengel:Now, your energy is great. It sounds like this company has tremendous potential and has the confidence to succeed and help people, what's going to get in the way? What do you think are the barriers? What are the boulders that you're going to have to deal with for this company to realize its purpose, its mission, and to help people and be successful? The things that keep me up at night right now as I'm trying to navigate is the different models for scaling. Because there are state-by-state regulations. There's state-by-state insurance certification. There's state by state licensing. And so we've navigated through some of the states and we're working on what does that look like?

40:25Healthcare and keeping all of that up. Healthcare is a real minefield and there's a few different ways to operate that and they all come with their own complications. So that's going to be one of the ones that we've, you know, had some whiteboarding sessions and we're really figuring out. And then I think the other thing is what's going to be hard for us and that we really need to focus on is focusing on where we're going with this first, next and next. Because honestly, we can help every single human being. There are some human beings who have very good habits and don't need the human intervention and don't need the technology or they're good at hacking themselves.

41:07But for the most part, from people who just want to sleep a little better, feel a little better, etc., which helps prevent disease later, to people who are struggling with a number of conditions. And if we try to do it all, we won't do any of it. And so really focusing on where are we going, number one, number two, number three, is going to be really important for us.

41:40Jim Stengel:Okay, let's move into the creator brief. You told me last time we spoke you were a car geek, and I have to ask, are you still a car geek? Still love cars. I drive a Cadillac Escalade IQ. Oh, nice. Nice. My favorite vehicles I've ever had of all my vehicles. It's my favorite. You also said to me six years ago that your perfect day begins with meditation, which you talked about, and exercise. So is that still your perfect day? And would you add anything to that? And now you have a two-year-old, which you did not have when we spoke six years ago. Yes. So I am still trying to start my day with meditation and exercise.

42:15It is harder with a two-year-old, but he does play into my perfect morning because I love watching him dance when he wakes up and seeing him be excited about life. Or if he's having a rough day, just giving him a hug. It brings a new light to the day.

42:33Jim Stengel:Perfect day is also that two-hour nap, right? The baby's nap, not yours. It depends on the day. Yeah, it depends on the day. Exactly. Now, we've talked a lot about leadership on this show. or six years since we've spoken about leadership. How are you a different leader today than you were when we last spoke? I feel so fundamentally different, which I guess, as I said that, thank God, because can you imagine if I just, oh no, it's just the same. Hopefully I'm learning more every year. Something that was really interesting when I left Cadillac and I created a scrapbook for myself. Earlier last year, when I knew that it was time for me to move on and I was starting to try to figure out what's going to be next, what am I going to do?

43:17I called up one of my executive coaches that I've worked with, Diane, and she was helping me with my resume. And in that process, she had a lot of questions and she was helping me sort through my head. she said to me, what's your legacy? And I remember two things distinctly, not having an answer and then thinking, you know who has such a strong legacy is Linda Boff. That's what went through my head.

43:49Jim Stengel:Previously, I'm OGE for everyone who doesn't know her. Yeah. And then I was like, well, I guess my legacy is that I've transformed the Cadillac brand. And a lot of people didn't think that we could transform it. And here's what I did. And I listed off some of the facts in the same little rabbit hole I was when we started talking maybe. And she said, well, congratulations on your accomplishments. What is your legacy? Yeah. Good question. Yeah. And I didn't have an answer. So when I left Cadillac, so many people reached out to me and said, thank you for taking the time when I didn't expect the CMO to have time for me.

44:32Thank you for talking about mental health all the time in our team meetings because, you know, some days I'm struggling and it really helped me feel like, well, if she struggles, I'm okay. Thank you for the gratitude journals because it started something in my family. And all these things came in. And I actually, I was so touched and I couldn't believe it. And I created a little scrapbook for myself. And that's when I really was thinking, you know, it's the people that matter. It's how you see people. I remember one time I was listening to Oprah Super Soul Sunday on SiriusXM and she said, what's the one thing that every single human needs?

45:17And I was like, oh, love. Everyone needs love. And she said, to be seen. And it struck me and I really, I wasn't expecting that answer and it really made me think. And I think what I've really learned and what really hit me in those moments, and it's something people have always been very important to me, but how you make people feel along the way. whether things are good or bad, how you make them feel and what you are in their life is your legacy. And also is, I truly believe that when people feel seen and appreciated and have very clear goals, by the way, I'm like, I'm touchy feely, but I'm also like, yep, here's the crazy goal.

46:08We got to get this. How are we going to hit it? I think when people have those clear goals and incentives, but feel safe, that you really get the best out of people. And I think that my belief in that hasn't changed over time, but the way that I approach that and the things that have shaped that keep evolving.

46:27Jim Stengel:What did your coach say about that legacy? She was very proud of me three months later. I hope so. I hope so. Able to articulate it. You know, not to get off on a tangent on this, but as part of the Hall of Fame this year, I was inducted. You have to make a video of your life. And, you know, it's hard. The standards are high. It's the Advertising Hall of Fame. So I hired a young London design studio, creative studio that's women-owned and young women. And I met them at a couple of different events. I was very impressed by them. And I didn't want to see the video. I just said, do it. Tell my story.

47:04Jim Stengel:Make people laugh. have them understand who I am. And I mean, the takeaway from that video is exactly what you just talked about. The fact that I was a P &G and we doubled our size and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It was about the legacy I left with people who I had somehow touched in their lives, friends, mentees, mentors, colleagues. So I think it should be every leader's desired legacy, honestly. You helped me understand my superpower. Happy we had that show six years ago. Oh my. Okay. On the last episode, you told me the first brand that made an impact on you was Fisher Price. So I'm assuming you're still there.

47:43Jim Stengel:I have to ask you, what's the first wellness brand that made an impact on you? I have always been very into wellness. I'm trying to remember, and this is like what brand made an impact on me, and I can't remember which gym I was going to, but I started going to the gym very early. yeah I think it was gold's gym I really think it was gold's gym and I remember feeling like I was part of a community there there's the people who go all the time and you know you're lifting weights and they see your progress and I think that not just that gym but as I look at fitness and fitness has been important my entire life I've probably been better at fitness than wellness a lot I try so hard on wellness, but the thing that always sticks out in whatever piece of that is the community that's in whatever gym it was that I've been going to, whatever competitive environment I was in, whoever the people were, it's really, and I guess just staying on theme, it's the community and the people that really make an impact in that space.

48:53Jim Stengel:Now, you already were very self-aware of fitness and wellness and health. Have you changed anything since you started at Measured Wellness? Anything in your habits and rituals? I haven't really changed. I'm just, I'm being better about sticking to things and really paying attention to my data. Not the first brand to ever make an impact on me. And before I was working with measured wellness, I was at Lifetime Gym and I saw a Garmin ad and it said, when incremental becomes monumental. Good line. Yes. Good line. Whoever did that campaign, if you're listening, it has stuck with me and sits in my soul.

49:35And it's actually when you look at our case studies that we have and that we publish, it's all about when incremental becomes monumental. And so I think seeing other people change and seeing how all those little micro moments really make a big difference. it's a good reminder for me, for the women in perimenopause, protein macros actually make a big difference. And so it's a good reminder for me. I'm like, don't eat the potato right now. You're going to see the difference. You're going to see it in the metrics.

50:10Jim Stengel:Incremental is monumental. Who has been the most inspiring person in your life, Melissa? My grandma is the most inspiring, I would say. There've been some important people, but my grandma's probably the most inspiring. She passed away a couple of years ago, but would have been a hundred this year. And she lived an incredible life. Somehow, always managed to get everything done and to make everyone feel great along the way. There's that legacy again. I know. I was thinking that too. Okay, Melissa, this was so good. I mean, I was hesitant to talk to you this soon after starting, but my team said, you really have to talk to her.

50:51Jim Stengel:This is the right time to have her on the show. And I'm glad we did it now. And it'd be fun to have you on in a few years to talk about this incredible brand that you're going to build, because I know you will. But thank you. This has been just a lovely episode on so many levels. Thank you so much. I know I was like, I'm going to have to just play this back for myself. I'm going to have to put a six month reminder every six months. Okay, what have you done? Where are you? Don't worry. We won't let you forget us. Oh, thank you so much. That was my heartwarming discussion with Melissa. Three takeaways from this one for your business brand and life.

51:27Jim Stengel:And the first one is the importance of a clear vision and strong team under you, around you, and above you. Melissa talked about the amazing experience you had at Cadillac for seven years, how strong the team was, the role modeling that Mary Barra, the CEO, did, and how inspired she was by her team around her, above her, and below her. So important. And by the way, that's what she looked at when she moved into this role at Measure Wellness. Again, a company with a clear vision and a strong team. Second takeaway, career breaks can be mind-opening. Melissa talked about those six or seven months she took where she slowed down.

52:06Jim Stengel:She started talking to people. She thought about her role models. She thought expansively about her next steps. She had a new baby. But there's no doubt in my mind that if she had jumped from General Motors to something else, she would not be at Measure of Wellness. So career breaks can be really, really good. And third takeaway, think about your legacy. I love this story. Melissa talked about her session with a coach, and they were talking about her legacy. And Melissa talked about her accomplishments, and the coach said, that's not your legacy. and to make her think much more deeply about what her special gift is and what her legacy really is.

52:40Jim Stengel:And it's about how you make people feel and your impact on people. That's it for this week's episode of the CMO Podcast. As always, I would be grateful if you shared our show with your friends, along with subscribing and leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. The CMO Podcast is a Vive Original Production.