Kelli Dennehey Christina, widely known as Kelli Christina, is a multifaceted professional with a remarkable 30-year career spanning the hospitality and medical staffing industries. She is the owner of KD-Staffing and author of two books, including the international bestseller “Riding the Executive Roller Coaster-Medical Staffing Cases.”
KD-Staffing, founded in 2007, is a contingency staffing firm specializing in permanent placements for hospitals and medical practices. The company focuses on staffing all nursing departments, nursing managers, directors, mid-levels, and hard-to-fill medical positions.
Five years ago, KD-Staffing adopted a “less is more philosophy”, focusing on fewer clients to provide a higher level of service. This approach allows them to concentrate on long-term client relationships, gain more job orders by proving their service level, and conduct more effective pre-qualification and pre-screening of medical professionals by gathering more in-depth information from clients.
KD-Staffing’s goal is to present clients with candidates who are at least an “8” out of “10” and are likely to accept a job, rather than just submitting numerous resumes.
Kelli emphasizes fair and affordable rates for clients. KD-Staffing is known for its meticulous pre-qualification and pre-screening of medical professionals to ensure the best fit for healthcare organizations.
Kelli’s entry into the medical staffing industry was influenced by a family member, marking a difficult but ultimately successful transition from hospitality. She quickly excelled in the field, now possessing the proven ability to train new recruiters effectively.
“I believe medical professionals as the ‘caretakers of the world,’ dedicating their lives to patient care.” Kelli says.
This perspective shapes KD-Staffing’s approach, which involves providing extensive “caretaking” to medical professionals throughout the job interview, transitioning, moving, and onboarding processes, underscoring the importance of managing business relationships with extra care and attention to detail.
“My success factor and branding revolve around being a top success, sales awards, and making money while doing things the right way in business,” Kelli comments.
Kelli notes that starting a business involves significant challenges, often requiring entrepreneurs to dedicate double the hours compared to traditional employment. It demands constant self-creation, recreation, and “out of the box” planning.
“A key challenge lies in strategizing and marketing one’s business to stand out from the competition,” Kelli notes.
Kelli, with her competitive edge, finds this aspect “extremely exciting,” emphasizing that success ultimately comes from within oneself and one’s team, not from relying on competitors
KD-Staffing’s business model is heavily influenced by Kelli’s life philosophies. Having been involved in a life program and served as a sponsor/life coach for 18 years, she integrates this knowledge into her team coaching.
Kelli encourages her team to “go above and beyond,” emphasizing that ambition, creative thinking, and passion lead to stronger results. She advocates for “progress not perfection,” urging learning from mistakes, accepting responsibility, and offering apologies when necessary. Kelli’s operational planning philosophy is to “expect the best and plan for the worst.”
Key motivation and mindset topics Kelli coaches include daily gratitude, maintaining a cheerful outlook, unselfish thinking, striving to be the best version of oneself, the ability to “start over,” active listening, service work, and focusing on “doing the right things in life.” She believes a strong leader recognizes the continuous potential for improvement.
Kelli’s second book, “Riding the Executive Roller Coaster-Medical Staffing Cases,” delves into instances where professionals break laws, leading to significant disasters and widespread suffering from poor business decisions. Kelli also champions employing business coaches, professional development coaches, life coaches, and public speaking coaches to foster business growth.
Kelli’s second book project seeks a traditional publishing company or a book option agreement with a film/movie company, as she has been rejecting fraudulent contracts that are attempting to steal book rights for a period of time.
Kelli encourages individuals to be their best selves, avoid comparing themselves to others, and focus on their own lives, relationships, and careers, emphasizing the importance of setting a good example and developing gratitude for what one possesses.
Kelli is currently engaged in multiple projects, including what she terms “ugly work” with the government to drive positive change in the country. With a decade of part-time, pro bono work with government officials, she focuses on problem-solving in various business topics.
One of Kelli’s current legal cases involves investigating illegal practices by book distributors regarding author sales and royalties, questioning the viability of self-publishing, and examining governmental law changes that have negatively impacted the publishing industry. Kelli plans to share her insights and attorney opinions to assist future authors in navigating issues.
Kelli differentiates herself from the competition by focusing on a “unique selling proposition.” With numerous sales awards and her “Recruitment is an Art” training program for sales and recruitment professionals, she emphasizes “quality calls versus quantity calls.”
For Kelli, financial freedom means earning less because she has invested in retirement property and savings accounts, can pay cash for vehicles, and avoids car payments. This allows her to experience less stress by managing a simpler, more disciplined budget, enabling her to lead an “elegant life on a frugal budget.”
Ready to optimize your medical staffing strategy? Contact KD-Staffing today to experience a partnership built on quality, precision, and a commitment to your long-term success.
