A Time to Give Thanks

As the year winds down, I wanted to take a moment to give thanks. 

I’d like to thank the people who gave the gift of time to help build Koa Life from the start. Watch this demo video to see the future of Koa Life (Link to Anna’s Video).

Five years ago, Koa Life was born. Read this story to see why it was created. Thank you to Kim for helping me file for 501c3 and Katherine for being my inspiration. I loved seeing strong, brave women start up nonprofits.

My friends rallied behind me like a warm cup of coca and embraced Koa Life. Thank you Allison, Keith, Nick, Steve, Merrit, and Jeff for attending so many Koa Life board meetings after long days at the office.

Stephanie and Vidya always made time for questions and brainstorming sessions. I am so thankful for our Friday meetings, which allowed me to get your feedback on the website and Champion Program. 

What are Champions?  They are volunteers who submit articles and videos to help breast cancer patients figure out their next steps after a diagnosis. 

With all of these articles coming into Koa Life, volunteers needed to review them with a rubric before passing them to UCSF Drs. Thank you Heather and Ola for reviewing the submissions at night or over the weekends.

Thank you, Lisa, for helping me build the Champion Program and fundraise. Matt Hong rolled up his sleeves and built a Champion leaderboard and point system before we tapped into Salesforce for automation.

As a marketer, it’s difficult to market your own baby. Thank you, Katie, for making my first, Koa Life event at Salesforce a smashing success with a video crew, lunch, and packed room. Thank you to Robin for being one of the first to give feedback on Koa Life and help shine a light on it during our annual Oct Breast Cancer Awareness Event.

I’m so grateful for meeting Emily and Karen at UCSF, both surgeons and moms. Thank you for reviewing articles and being available to bounce ideas and provide feedback 24x7.

Thank you Keith for working with Oktana to build Koa Life. I know you juggled work and early morning meetings with Uruguay to help new developers get up to speed quickly on Koa Life. 

We’re getting ready for alpha testing, so I’m meeting weekly with Anna, a Salesforce architect, to figure out the best ways to tag articles, Kristen, a UX expert to nail down the best user experience, and Melissa on emails, article categories, and volunteer hours.

My big Christmas wish is to find more doctors to review articles. If you know of any, please point them to Koa Life Heroes.

Thank you, to all of the supporters out there who have rallied behind Koa Life. We’re excited to see it come to life.