In our previous post, “Why We Win,” we shared that at the core of Simply Strategy’s success are our leaders and highlighted our Vice President of Consumer Experience, Jenny Klenke. Another anchor of our little shop doing some big research is Reggi Rideout, Vice President of Strategy.
Reggi is our resident “people person” and tireless advocate for moms and babies. In her six years with Simply Strategy, she has been integral in transforming our focus to encompass community health and well-being, and this is at the center of what we mean when we say, “We specialize in helping organizations whose mission it is to help others.”
Beyond her ability to forge and strengthen relationships with fellow team members, partners, and clients, she is at her best when she has the opportunity to bring out the best in others. Through her creative, critical thinking and attention to detail, Reggi is a powerful partner in strategic thought and analytical exercises which enables us to garner insights for our partners and clients.
Reggi’s career was rooted and galvanized in personal experience. As the mom of a NICU baby, she joined the March of Dimes - first as a volunteer and later as an employee - where she developed expertise around maternal/child health advocacy and public health programming. Since joining Simply Strategy in 2014, she has formed the core of our expertise in the public health and community wellness space, especially in our work to improve the lives of women and babies. Her passion for this work threads through everything we do – from facilitating the Infant Mortality Reduction Initiative’s Learning Community to moderating qualitative focus groups on barriers faced by moms covered by Medicaid across the country. Her dedication to this population extends beyond what we do at Simply Strategy – Reggi serves as a board member for the St. Louis Area Diaper Bank and has worked with a NICU parent’s group since her daughter was born 13 years ago.
Reggi brings dynamic, creative thinking that helps both our internal team and our clients to collaborate and ideate innovative solutions to shared challenges. She has an innate ability to quickly understand nuanced topics and to break down complicated problems into manageable, bite-sized pieces, which empowers team members to take action and move forward. These skills are a key component of much of the work we do – from facilitating group exercises during workshops to helping our grant writing clients navigate their way through intricate proposal and contract requirements.
Attuned to current events in policy-making and issues affecting Missouri’s health and wellness landscape, Reggi always ensures that our work reflects the most up-to-date and relevant information available. Her attention to detail elevates all of the projects she’s a part of, from developing quantitative reports to writing compelling grant narratives. Reggi’s leadership gives our clients – and her fellow team members – a sense of ease and confidence, which opens up a world of possibilities and solutions.
For her team members, it always brightens the office when Reggi arrives for the day. We all know she’ll have a new story, great idea, or valuable insight to share with us. Reggi recently said, “I love my job. I love the variety of work and people I get to work with – I love my team!”
We can assure you that the feeling is mutual.
Dorothy