Create Holistic Benefits Strategies: Tips for Partnering With the C-Suite and HR

Steve Watson has a diverse background and a lot of titles that can be put after his name – CEO, CFO, CHRO, and CPA. It could be intimidating, until you meet him. Rather than riding the wave and seeking ever more important positions, Steve looks for ways to give back. He grew up on a sheep farm in Utah, earned his degree in business and international finance at BYU, got married, worked in accounting, and at the age of 26, moved to Brazil and took a job as finance director for a publicly traded company.

Five years later, in 2009, he moved his growing family back to the U.S and took a position as a CFO at a mid-sized social work company in Phoenix, Arizona. It wasn’t long before they asked him to take on the role of Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO).

All the different titles he wears could be confusing, but Steve has found a unique way to put them all together and complement each other. This is especially true in his role as CEO of TrendBreakers, a consulting business where his extensive knowledge and skills meet to help other companies break the trend of rising healthcare costs. He is also a nationally known speaker, hosts a podcast three times each week, is a married father of seven, and is bilingual in Portuguese.

Kim participated in the NextGen Benefits Mastermind Partnership, as well as Health Rosetta and serves as Founder & President of Tropical Benefits in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area.She has been profiled in Employee Benefit Adviser (EBA) magazine and was the cover story in their August 2018 edition. Kim was named “NextGen Benefits Adviser of the Year” at the 2019 ASCEND conference. Kim has been invited to share learned expertise at prestigious industry conferences, including the Workplace Benefits conference, the BenefitsPRO Broker Expo and the World Health Care Congress 2019.

Kim is a co-author of the Amazon bestselling book, Breaking Through the Status Quo, which outlines some of the cutting-edge strategies she and other NextGen Benefits Advisers are using to control and lower healthcare costs.She is an early adopter of innovative strategies, including Healthcare Abroad, Direct Primary Care, Second Opinions, and RBP, and has implemented these employer solutions with successful outcomes. Her clients outcomes have been published in industry specific publications and the outcomes are accomplished with data and transparency.

As a Director of Product Analytics, James Froschmayer works with product management, user experience, and health analytics experts to meet the needs of benefits teams today and anticipate their needs in the future. James is responsible for developing leading-edge analytic methodologies embedded within the Artemis reporting system. He also performs analyses and supports clients in the implementation of their integrated health, attendance and disability management programs.

Having come from the consulting world, James has seen the landscape of employee benefits become increasingly complex. As an analytics expert, he helps self-insured employers to identify opportunities within their data to manage costs, improve program value, and boost employee health and well-being. James is passionate and committed to using industry best practices and technologies to improve the healthcare system from both the patient, provider, and payer perspectives.

Paul Wilson is the editor-in-chief of BenefitsPRO Magazine and BenefitsPRO.com. He has covered the insurance industry for more than a decade, including stints at Retirement Advisor Magazine and ProducersWeb.