🏙️ Internal Communications Introductions: Janelle S. Kpeli
🏙️ Internal Communications Introductions: Janelle S. Kpeli
Director of Internal Communications at Cityblock Health
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In This Edition
🏥 Managing communications for COVID-19, testing sites and the vaccine rollout at CVS Health
❤️ Taking care of your mental health while caring for others
📕 Reading fiction as a learning opportunity for storytelling and creativity
About Janelle
Janelle S. Kpeli is a communications professional based in New York City. Throughout her career, she’s helped companies share simple, compelling messages to help people live healthier lives. Before joining Cityblock Health as Director of Internal Communications, she was a senior manager at CVS Health focused on executive communications. Outside of work, she’s usually scouting out the best tacos New York City has to offer, volunteering and reading.
What sparked your professional path into Internal Communications?
When I really think about it, I think my first stint in Internal Communications started in college while working on my college newspaper. My college was really a community, and everyone read the paper for news, perspectives and to share their feedback. As a reporter and managing editor, that was my first time capturing stories, meeting different people, and finding out what motivated and interested them. I’ve continued using those skills in some capacity throughout my career.
After college, I knew I wanted to work in communications and gained experience at several agencies where I learned about corporate, internal and executive communications. Those experiences and the clients I worked on really prepared me to take on in-house roles at healthcare companies focused on improving the health of our communities.
How do you describe Internal Communications to others?
This is a question that I get asked all of the time! My answer is simple: I help companies make their business strategy relatable and relevant to their employees. My primary focus is ensuring employees can answer four key questions: What are we doing? How are we doing it? Why does this work matter? How do I fit into this work?
My role helps businesses equip their colleagues so that they can show up inspired, motivated and aware of what the company is trying to achieve, offer or solve. While the tactics might include written communications, town halls, videos or multimedia content, my goal is the same.
What projects are you particularly proud to have accomplished?
I love supporting organizational and change management initiatives and have had the rare opportunity to help two phenomenal leaders transition to CEO. It’s been fun to work with cross-functional teams during those moments to think through how these leaders will show up authentically and to help rally employees at every level around vision, leadership style and strategic priorities.
I’m also really proud of the team I worked with at CVS Health during the early days of the pandemic. Across the Communications team, we managed communications for COVID-19, testing sites and the vaccine rollout. It was a very powerful experience, personally and professionally. Everyone was operating in an unknown and uncertain environment, and I really appreciate how we were able to help leaders lean into that. No one had all of the answers but we prioritized creating new channels and forums to share information to help people stay safe and connect to each other.
How do you take care of your mental health during this difficult time?
Oftentimes in Internal Communications, you’re at the forefront of leading teams through org change as well as really hard, taxing moments in our communities and the world around us. And that’s all happening while you’re also processing what’s happening for yourself. Between COVID-19, ongoing gun violence, racial injustice and the evolving expectations of when and how businesses should engage on current events, communicators are “always on” and thinking about what their employees and other stakeholders need.
I started to think more critically about my mental health at the onset of the pandemic when my workload increased. However, I realized early on that my ability to contribute long-term depended on my ability to rest and think about something other than work.
Even though my hours increased, I carved out time to recharge every single week. I created a constant “rhythm of rest” where I disconnected and stayed off social media, email and screens for at least one day. During that time, I went outside, exercised, read books, reconnected with loved ones, wrote postcards to family and, honestly, learned viral TikTok dances. I still incorporate many of these rituals into my routine now.
Having a really supportive team to rely on has also helped a lot. I’ve been part of great teams where my colleagues bring levity, kindness and compassion to our daily work. We check in with each other in authentic ways — asking questions like how are you really doing, how can I support you, and what do you need help with?
What are the skills that are most important for someone to succeed in Internal Communications?
Tenacity is really important — be someone who doesn't give up. Internal Communications is very subjective in many ways. While there are best practices that will be important to always come back to, what worked for one project might not work for another. Take a disciplined approach to find a solution and keep trying.
Commit to continuously improving your writing skills and pushing out of your comfort zone. Oftentimes, you are ghostwriting for different executives or demonstrating the value of organizational changes to different audiences so it’s really important to be adaptive.
Become a thoughtful listener to take in what people are saying and what they are not saying. Try to listen without the intent of crafting a response back, but just listen for listening’s sake.
How do you continue learning about the field of Internal Communications?
I carve out dedicated time every week to have conversations with people inside and outside of my company. Friday mornings tend to be slower so I try to schedule touch bases with my mentors and other colleagues. One highlight is a monthly sync I host with Internal Communications leaders from other industries to share best practices, brainstorm ideas and just connect.
LinkedIn is another go-to resource for me. I’ve curated my LinkedIn feed to get updates on the future of work, workplace trends, marketing campaigns and more all in one place. I also follow a lot of influencers in healthcare, employee engagement and DEI influencers so that I’m always receiving the latest perspectives and research. Some of my favorites are Minda Harts, Abenaa (Abby) Hayes, Jacob Morgan and Jane Sarasohn-Kahn.
I subscribe to many newsletters, including The Switchboard (thank you!) and Fortune’s CEO Daily which helps me understand how business leaders are grappling with some of the biggest social, environmental and political issues of our time.
And this last one might be surprising but I find reading fiction super helpful. It’s not only one of the key ways that I recharge but I’m able to absorb really great storytelling and creativity. I can’t stop recommending Brown Girls by Daphne Palasi Andreades, Recitatif by Toni Morrison and Cover Story by Susan Rigetti. Happy reading!
Thank you for reading The Switchboard. ☎️ Every edition is personally curated by me — Julia Levy. Help me celebrate Kindness at Work this month! Consider sharing our Honor Roll with your network.