#8 – Annie Erstling – Company Culture, Passion, & Software Strategy

In this episode of The Shawn Jenkins Podcast, we talked to Annie Erstling. Annie is Chief Strategy Officer at Forcura, a Jacksonville-based high growth technology company, focused on simplifying healthcare communication. Annie leads, strategic growth, including partnerships, product innovation, marketing, and strategic planning. She has experienced launching new brands, new products, and companies across the healthcare and technology sectors.

Formerly Senior Director of Marketing and Communications with Florida Blue and Director of Marketing and Product Strategy for Benefitfocus, Annie has also worked with Coca Cola, XCelerate, and Grizzard Advertising. She holds an MBA from the business school at Emory University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

A member of the Women's Giving Alliance, Annie was named a 2018 Jacksonville Woman of Influence by the Jacksonville Business Journal. In our conversation, we cover a wide range of topics, including what Annie learned about branding working for Coco Cola and how she has applied that to young high growth software companies, making life's big decisions like whether or not to pursue an MBA and deciding to start her own business, how she influences and maintains company culture and how that helps her and her team maintain work life balance, and how she is turning the new COVID remote work reality into an advantage for her team and our company.

Please enjoy my conversation with Annie, and if you have questions that you'd like to hear covered in future episodes or recommendations for future guests, please email me at [e-mail]. Thanks and enjoy.