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What does it mean to truly believe in your employer? For Katie Greseth, vice president of people at Calm, the answer is clear. She understands exactly what her organization can bring to people, be it through meditation, relaxation, sleep, or more holistic well-being.
The leading app for meditation and sleep has evolved into a two-pronged company. One part of the business focuses on creating products for consumers. As of 2022, the other arm of Calm, called Calm Health, offers new mental health products through traditional industry providers, payers, and self-insured employers.
Before joining Calm, Greseth experienced the company’s flagship products firsthand. After being misdiagnosed for thirteen years, Greseth was correctly diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2022. A former colleague gifted her with a premium subscription to Calm’s meditation and sleep app.
“Calm brought me through the darkest period of my life,” Greseth remembers. “I became an adamant user and found myself listening to Sleep Stories on my morning walks. They were soothing and would bring me to a different place than what was going on in the rest of my life.”
A craniotomy successfully removed most of the tumor. Since then, Greseth has monitored her recovery with biannual checkups. Greseth lost vision in her left eye during the surgery, but it’s a challenge she’s overcome with grace and patience. The VP likes sharing her story because she knows just how impactful Calm can be, whether customers are working through a difficult time or simply trying to cultivate a healthier and more mindful lifestyle.
“Any organization can have a big, bold strategy, but if the culture isn’t aligned to or supportive of that strategy, it will fall flat. I see it as my priority to continue to hammer that message home and work to ensure that alignment.”
Katie Greseth
Greseth came to Calm in 2024 during a period of significant change. The development and growth of Calm Health—which includes condition-specific programs aimed at bridging the gap between mental and physical healthcare, communication tools for providers and caregivers, medication tracking, and other services—means that a company that started as a pure tech company is now growing into something far more comprehensive.
“Our Calm Health product connects individuals to the right level of support based on goals and screening results,” Greseth explains. “Our programs are designed by psychologists for mental health challenges that typically go unaddressed. We have created configurable solutions to guide employees to the right support, and those can be enhanced by the products we’re already so well known for.”
Additionally, Greseth says Calm Health has created customizable newsletter templates and content for HR leaders to help drive mental health awareness. Calm Health can also reach out to users directly to help curate their individual experiences.
Greseth is just months into her role helping Calm in its own evolution, but her résumé reveals a people executive who earned her stripes over twelve years at UnitedHealth, the country’s largest health insurer. It’s where she learned to maneuver through a variety of matrix environments, the healthcare world, and how to view health more holistically.
The executive also spent time at United offshoot startup Rally Health and BrightInsight, a digital health platform for pharmaceutical and medical technology companies. The startup and tech experience she gained would make her an ideal fit for Calm.
“Calm brought me through the darkest period of my life.”
Katie Greseth
Along with all the technical challenges of her work, Greseth says she’s paying strict attention to the emotional and cultural development of a company in transition.
“First and foremost, I want to make sure that we keep everything here that makes this place so special, while also communicating how we are changing and where our vision is going,” the VP says. “We want to involve everyone here in how we’re navigating this big change and provide support and resources for people as it goes on.”
Change can be inherently challenging; the VP says it’s just human nature. But by crafting compelling, transparent, and open narratives, building buy-in, and engaging people along the way, the journey can be so much easier.
“When I think about all of the places I have worked, I seem to always spend a lot of time ensuring that a strong culture aligns with a company’s vision, mission, and values,” Greseth explains. “Any organization can have a big, bold strategy, but if the culture isn’t aligned to or supportive of that strategy, it will fall flat. I see it as my priority to continue to hammer that message home and work to ensure that alignment.”
Greseth says that as Calm evolves, so does its talent focus. That doesn’t necessarily mean the company’s only opting for healthcare experts, though. The VP says that diversity, including diversity of thought, can create healthy friction that will bring out the best in people. While healthcare professionals may become more of a talent focus for Calm Health, Greseth says she’s met numerous people with no healthcare experience who have done incredible things in the space.
Outside of work, Greseth says her husband, two daughters, and dog (which she admits to treating like a person) are her greatest strength. And while they bring her great comfort, the VP says she does her best when she’s uncomfortable.
“I just love to know I’m always growing as a professional, as a wife, as a mother, and as a person,” Greseth says. “Discomfort—the right kind of discomfort—makes me happy.”
