Leadership
Karen Hartman
president, Corazon Inc.
Smart Business Pittsburgh | October 2008
Corazon Inc. transcends traditional health
care consulting. Like the name suggests —
corazon means “heart” in Spanish — the
company specializes in helping clients
establish cardiovascular programs. That is,
since Karen Hartman came along. Before
she became president in January 2005, the
company’s niche was exclusively in cardiac
consulting. The new president had the
vision to rebrand Corazon to include vascular expertise, as well, and the company’s
tagline became “The heart and vascular
experts.” The and vascular clause was
mostly Hartman’s doing.
Then, in 2007, in response to requests
from clients, Hartman paved the way for a
management resources service line. The
service line broadened the company’s consulting services even further, as clients
could now receive advice specifically
regarding interim management in hospitals.
As the company grew in the services it
offered, Hartman knew that it would need a more efficient way of keeping track of
that growth. Again, she took charge, greatly expanding the company’s use of technology by implementing a terminal server for
out-of-the-office use and transforming
communications with an in-house e-mail
system. Most recently, she spearheaded
the customer relations management system, which better organizes the company’s
sales and delivery operations.
The company experienced substantial
geographical growth, as well — Corazon
now works with almost 200 clients in 37
states. To ease travel burdens, the company opened a second office in Ft.
Lauderdale, Fla., a project with Hartman’s
fingerprints all over it. To make the new
location a reality, she led the completion of
an internal business plan, and the Florida
office opened in January 2007.
But having a second office meant having
to increase staff significantly. Yet again,
Hartman put her problem-solving skills to work. She created a series of company
programs dedicated to staff in both locations. The programs comprise contests
for company goals, special events, community service, professional development
and team-building activities. One of her
programs, appropriately called the
ENTHUSIASM campaign, undertook an
office remodeling project to include an
employee lunchroom and a gym. After all,
at a company that specializes in cardiovascular health, it is only fitting that the
employees are encouraged to maintain
theirs.
HOW TO REACH: Corazon Inc., www.corazoninc.com or (412)
364-8200
