Yvonne Heimann [00:00:00]:
If you ever feel like you're carrying your business on your back, like every crisis, every decision, every ounce of responsibility somehow circles right back to you, you're in good company. So many female leaders build extraordinary things while quietly burning out behind the scenes. And if that's you, you are exactly where you need to be. Welcome to She Is a Leader, the podcast where women creating impact, profit, and peace in their business. And today's guest, Michelle Bockman, knows this tension far too well. After more than two decades leading global teams inside Fortune 500 and Silicon Valley startups, Michelle stepped into a role that didn't just challenge her leadership. It called all of it forward. As president and CEO of KeraLink International, she's bringing strength, innovation, and purpose together to tackle something deeply personal, ending avoidable blindness caused by the lack of access to early eye care in communities that have been overlooked far too long.
Michelle's story is about scaling with intention and leading with empathy without losing discipline. It's about moving from I have to hold everything together to I'm building something that can grow without me breaking. In this episode, we get into real leadership and what that growth looks like. Delegation that stakes mindset shifts forged on factory floors and in boardrooms, and how to build an organization that can change the world. Michelle, I am so excited to have you here, not only because of the impact you are making, but because the story behind it. As anybody that's watching the podcast on YouTube sees, we both have our things going on with sight, and I would love to start this episode with your story of why are you focusing on eyesight? What is that impact? Everybody to us is so: "Cool. We just get glasses and I can see again" What is that struggle that you went through?
Michelle Bockman [00:02:23]:
Thank you. Thanks for the wonderful introduction. It was. It was really, really nice. It's very personal for me. I, you know, I. I had just come off of a really big role in. In a Fortune 100 company, and I needed a break.
And about that time, I was injured, and when I got injured, I hurt my shoulder. But I also figured out that I had lost my eyesight in my right eye. And if it weren't for KeraLink going to KeraLink, I am not sure that I would have caught the fact that I had cancer then in my other eye. I felt like when the opportunity came to me and I was trying to figure out what mission, you know, what impact I could have in the world, and the fact that this personally happened to me, I was like, I felt the world was telling me I need to go to KeraLink and I had this issue before I came to KeraLink. And when I got there, within the first week, I found they helped me connect with the right specialist and with that specialist, I found out I had cancer in the other eye. I have since had laser surgery in the one eye that I lost my vision in and then I've also removed the cancer in the other eye. And this is all because I took the opportunity to come to KeraLink. I'm telling you, had I not taken that opportunity, I'm not really sure if I would have been able to see in my right eye and I'm not sure that I would have been able to detect that I had cancer in my other eye.
I had no idea because it wasn't visible and the ophthalmologist found it when she was just checking, she was just looking. She's like, let's look at the other eye. And sure enough found out I had cancer in it. So I am so, so grateful for being at KeraLink. Just for me personally getting my life back.
Yvonne Heimann [00:04:20]:
Now, for everybody that's listening and hasn't looked you up and hasn't met you before and knows anything about KeraLink, do me a favor and give us a quick little rundown. What is KeraLink? What do they do? What's the support system that KeraLink offers?
Michelle Bockman [00:04:38]:
Sure. So KeraLink started back in 1962. We started out with just the mission to eliminate waiting lines for people to get tissue, eye tissue for corneal transplants. The founder went state to state, working with government officials, working policy, and ended up developing the world's largest network of eye banks from there. A few years ago they said we did what we set out to do. So now we're going to sell the I banks and let's figure out what we want to do next. Hence the new KeraLink, the rebirth of the new KeraLink. I call this a startup because we're small, we're scrappy and we have a huge mission ahead of us.
What we've done is, well, our mission is to eliminate or end avoidable blindness in low to middle income communities. We do that through our community based approach. We have programs where feet on the street, helping people get access to eye care. And then secondly, we are developing technology that could go hand in hand with those people who are going out into the rural communities to do screenings. And the tech is like real tech. It's very specific on what we're trying to do. We're trying to prevent people from getting eye diseases, we're trying to detect early detection is really important. And then we're trying to treat.
Michelle Bockman [00:06:10]:
It's our PEN model. We have this framework around our technology. It's PEN prevention, early detection and novel treatments. That group, that individual group is hard at work. I just got off a call with them. They're doing some really exciting things. Then lastly, to round it all out, we just stood up an eyewear e commerce eyewear website. And so you can buy glasses.
Like these glasses came from there. And all the profits go back into the nonprofit of our business. And so it's this kind of circular ecosystem where we are supporting people going out into the rural communities doing screenings in India and in the US and once we do eye screenings, we said, okay, well this is what you have. And then sometimes they need. And so we provide free glasses to folks who cannot afford those in the different communities. So we're doing a lot of work in India and we're doing a lot of work in the US and so that kind of sums it up. It's this circular ecosystem that we've put together.
Yvonne Heimann [00:07:17]:
I love that. And yeah, I'm like being somebody that has been grown up in Germany and with different healthcare offers and different support systems than what we have in the States. Yeah, let's be honest, things are working a little bit different. And there is definitely, oh my God, so much help needed in that sector where. Yeah, honestly, I shouldn't probably admit it. Fortunately, I'm in a situation where I can take care of myself. I finally should because my glasses and my prescription are probably at this point, three years old. Wait for my podcast to call me out.
It is time to get my eyes checked. That usually happens with my podcast.
Michelle Bockman [00:08:04]:
You need to get in and get it checked.
Yvonne Heimann [00:08:06]:
Yeah. Because there is, there is some history in the family too. Now I'm, I'm curious, how is there a difference? And if how is being the president and CEO of KeraLink, where there is a public purpose behind it, where there is a goal and a specific impact behind it, how is that, Is it different? And how is it different than working with just "standard Silicon Valley startups" or Fortune 500 companies or just generally moving from a private market to the nonprofit side of things? How is that different as a president and founder?
Michelle Bockman [00:08:49]:
You know, it's really interesting because when I was interviewing for the position, I was like, I don't have any nonprofit experience. Like I led the United Way campaign when I was at GE Healthcare for our division. But that was like it as far as like real nonprofit leading and nonprofit. I mean, I given quite A bit over the years, but I came into it and I developed it like a business. And I was like, what is our strategy? What's our mission, vision, strategy? What are the goals and objectives? How do we prioritize what we're doing? Because we are a small team and I brought in a ton of talent to the team. Like I said, we're a small team. But I've. I've.
Michelle Bockman [00:09:31]:
I've doubled the size of the team. At least I think more than doubled. And I put key people in key roles that will help us get to the mission. I've set up a big mission statement, 30, 30, 30, which is about us reaching 30 million people, getting them access to eye care by raising $30 million and by doing it by the end of 2030. So for me, I've treated this as a business. Now, what I love about this and that you don't get in all businesses is like, where's the impact? What makes you get up first thing in the morning and get you out of bed and get you excited about it? For me, it's about saving, I'll say saving lives, because truly, if a person. There's some stat out there, if a person goes blind and they will typically lose their life within five years, and that's because they can't.
Michelle Bockman [00:10:32]:
They feel like they're not contributing to their family. They stop eating, they stop taking their medicines or whatever. They just. They go into a deep depression and they kind of lose their way. And so I think about that, and fortunately for me, I worked for GE Healthcare in the past, and we had a mission around everything we were doing. We were making medical devices. And so it was about making CT scanners, MRIs, or incubators for premature babies. And so I used to wake up saying, I'm saving lives.
And I brought that to this mission in this business. And I think my whole team is pretty passionate about what we're doing, and we all are super excited. And anyone kind of in this. The space feels that way too.
Yvonne Heimann [00:11:19]:
Yeah, I think sometimes when I look at some. Some nonprofits, I'm often missing that business aspect where, yes, I love the impact. I love the passion. I'm a highly passionate person. Our business is literally built in impact, too. And then I look at others where it's like, yeah, but still, I need to be able to take care of my team, too. If I want to do any kind of sponsorships or support other people. We need to make sure that the business is viable, too.
So I love the balance that, that you bring into this because nonprofit doesn't mean we don't have bills.
Michelle Bockman [00:11:59]:
Right, it's true. And you know, our board holds us accountable to it. So we have KPIs and every week we go through everybody's planner and we look at their KPIs, are they on track? And we have quarterly business reviews, we have yearly business reviews. We have a five year plan. So we brought, or I brought a lot of that business rigor, operational rigor, to, to KeraLink and, and really getting us focused. Because you get, sometimes when you're in technology you get so excited about the shiny object.
It's like, it's like, oh, that's fun. Let's go do that. Oh, that's fun. Let's go check that out. And it's like about staying true to what's in front of us and executing. So executing is like top of mind for me. It's like we've got the plan. There's, there's a thing, there's like a little saying.
It's like plan the work, work the plan. We plan the work. We're working the plan now. So that's an execution.
Yvonne Heimann [00:12:58]:
Now I'm curious because some of my listeners, the ladies might just be like, holy cannoli. So we got this paperwork and that paperwork and those KPIs and this board and this people and those people and those people. Now I would like you to, to take a little bit their weight off. I have the knowledge, they might not have the knowledge yet where it' like once we initially hear this type of structure, it's like, oh my God, I can't get decisions made. There is no agility anymore. There is no flexibility. So I'm handing this question to you because you are living it with the board, with the KPIs with the goals and all the things. Just how flexible and agile can you be?
Michelle Bockman [00:13:38]:
You know, I do this presentation sometimes to leadership teams from companies. It's about the big companies wanting to be like a startup and the startup being like wanting to be like a big company. I'm fortunate enough that I did work in startups. In my first startup I came in and all strong like we're going to do all this. And it was like we had a team of five and I was like, no, we can't do that. And so you just figure out what's really important and you back off. When you see the team stress, it's like, oh, that's enough. I would like to say that we consider ourselves a startup and so we do have all these metrics and everything.
Michelle Bockman [00:14:17]:
But there's a balance to it. There's a total balance. And you just have to me, I have to watch myself because I will go and over operationalize if I'm not careful. And so I've been very, very mindful to make sure that we're not doing, we're not just having PowerPoint presentation reviews just for the sake of doing it. It's like just take like I'll even say just take your last deck and just update it. Don't create a whole new thing or just tell me what are the updates. Don't read through all of it. Just don't spend a lot of time doing that.
And so we've caught ourselves going back and forth. And so I'm trying to balance that between that flexibility and being scrappy with, you know, it's operational and we owe the board and everyone, you know this type of data
Yvonne Heimann [00:15:11]:
And it's what we have found in me. Fortunately, I'm like not a board fortunately or unfortunately, let's be honest, there is also some kind of accountability there when you have a board and when you are accountable to other people. Right. But it, it also helps first of all, having that accountability, having specific numbers and having a goal because you don't just get to throw spaghetti on the wall. It, it allows you having these number goals, it allows you to make a decision of. No, actually that's just a waste of our time right now. It doesn't align and this, these are the things we want to do. Now I'm curious how, how would you describe your leadership style nowadays? You already mentioned there's a, even if, even if you're a scrappy startup, there is quite a few people involved.
You have a board, you brought people in to help. How would you describe your leadership now? Leadership style nowadays?
Michelle Bockman [00:16:17]:
Yeah, I believe in empowering the team, but I also believe in holding them accountable. My team, I believe is not afraid to try new things because it's that fail fast kind of mentality. So I'm like, if something doesn't work, stop it and we'll just go do something else. And so we, and we've had that, we had one website, I really like dark websites. And so it just didn't resonate. We got some feedback and it did not resonate. So we changed it. And marketing messages, some of it worked, some of it didn't work.
Michelle Bockman [00:16:54]:
If it didn't work, we change it. We have a billboard that we put in Baltimore and we're checking that out to see if that works if it brings in donations. So we're constantly trying new things and if they don't work, nobody's in trouble for it not working. It's more like, what did you learn? And then how do we pivot and move forward? And so I think my leadership style is pretty flexible. And you know, I, like I mentioned I had to watch myself because I will over operationalize. And so I'm constantly thinking about that and making sure I'm not putting too many metrics but enough to hold people accountable. And yeah, I think, and I'm very empathetic and sympathetic. I want, I believe that there's never a bad employee.
Michelle Bockman [00:17:46]:
I believe there's an employee in the wrong role. So if I see that, then I will try to move that employee into the right role. And usually it comes from them suggesting it after a couple conversations. And so you see that and I feel like I have an open up, open up enough relationship with my team that they will come to me and bring things like that to me. So I believe there's a lot of trust there.
Yvonne Heimann [00:18:14]:
Now you mentioned your testing a lot, which I think every one of us, no matter which niche we are in, no matter what business type we are in, knows the testing knows. Especially when you're talking about testing marketing messages and in social media. Testing also means that we get data and getting good data is fun, right? Oh my God, this is working. Oh my God, this is fun. However, it also means we are getting data when things don't work. Meaning dark messages, dark websites in your case. And I hear you, I am a dark girl myself too. It hasn't worked for our company really either.
Yvonne Heimann [00:18:57]:
So I feel you on this one. Now. How do you. I don't want to, I don't want to use the word deal. How do you manage? How do you work with your mindset and yourself in such a company where there is high impact there, there is a mission behind it, there's a lot of passion and love behind this. When you are testing things and they might not work or maybe an employee doesn't work out and just that bad feedback that, not bad feedback that, hey, this didn't work feedback coming back to you. Are you lucky enough to be one of these people that are like, yeah, cool data, awesome, done, or are you somebody that might just take it personal sometimes? How do you work with this? How do you work with things that just don't seem to work?
Michelle Bockman [00:19:51]:
I'm pretty humble. I have a lot of humility. Although I really wanted that dark website to work but it didn't. And so, you know, I'm not the expert. We have to listen to feedback. And so I take it and I'm like, yeah, let's change it. And so we've had a couple of iterations, even like our branding. Like, I really like this one color and it just didn't resonate.
And so we changed it. And I'm not the expert. I didn't go to school for marketing. I'm an engineer. And of course I'm going to want everything black, white and gray and maybe some blue in it. That's just how I think. So I know I am not the expert. So I lean on my team to be the experts and say, hey, you guys know I don't.
And so I will take your expertise. Now, if they guess wrong too, then. Then, you know, like I said, I. I don't come down hard on anyone. It's about, what did we learn and how do we move on? And. And that's. That's really kind of as simple as it is.
Yvonne Heimann [00:20:51]:
And it's. For me, it has become something where. Recovering perfectionist over here, right? Where it's like, oh, my God, I want it all perfect. And learning that there never is such a thing as perfect, let's be honest, it's never going to be perfect. It's never going to be fully done. It's always a work in progress, as am I. So it's one of, one of the ways out, one of the "excuses" that I have found for that perfectionist voice in. That's like, it needs to be perfect.
I'm like, no, you know what? We screwed it up. I burned it down royally. And I'm going to share it publicly because it's a permission slip for somebody else to fuck up, too. And that was kind of like, it's. It's a little bit. It. It gives me the permission slip to be like, I fucked up and not take it personal and even take it public and be like, here's your permission slips. Thank you for giving me the permission sleep.
Michelle Bockman [00:21:51]:
Yeah, exactly.
We're doing. We're doing some screenings in the US And I love, love, love the impact we're making. And like a little girl who had never had glass, she was like 8 years old, had never had glasses, never been screened, never had glasses. And we got her glasses and she looked at her mom and she's like, I've never seen your face this clearly. I did not know this is what you look like. I was like 8 years old.
Yvonne Heimann [00:22:21]:
They don't know any other way.
Michelle Bockman [00:22:22]:
They don't know any other way. And so we're trying that out, and that pulls up my heartstrings, but, like, is that, you know, is that gonna work? Are we gonna be able to get to all of these different people? So we're trying, and I hope we can through partnerships, because we're a small team, so it has to be partners. We can't do this alone. And through sponsorships, like you were talking about sponsorships through donations, all of that stuff. But, you know, so we're trying. I do feel like we're making an impact. We're getting good, good, good feedback so far. But that's an example of, like, the, the director of programming and partnerships.
We're both like, like, we're going into this and, like, you know, fingers crossed, I think it's going to work, but if it doesn't, he's not going to get in trouble or anything. We're just going to figure out what plan B is.
Yvonne Heimann [00:23:14]:
I love that. I love that. What are your goals and plans for the future for yourself? For KeraLink.
Michelle Bockman [00:23:22]:
I would. For KeraLink, specifically, I'd like to, first of all, just execute on everything we're doing. The next few years is all about execution, whether it's bringing in grants, donations, impacting the people through that and getting this 20 or this 30, 30, 30 goal, that is like, top of mind for me. And then on our tech side, we're going through capital raising right now, so they're trying to get investment, and so that's key as well. So KeraLink, I feel like I'm locked down with myself, personally. I'd like to get on a board when I have time. So you like a public board. So personally, that's a goal of mine. And then even more personal is just I was recently around some relatives and in their elder age.
And just the fact that I know I need to move more, work out more, stay healthy, is another top of mind for me. Very personal.
Yvonne Heimann [00:24:24]:
Oh, yeah. As I just started finally going to the gym again and reintegrating that habit.
Michelle Bockman [00:24:31]:
Yeah, yeah, same. You're always sore for about a month
Yvonne Heimann [00:24:34]:
I always, I always love my podcast conversation because it always somehow lines up with what's happening in, in my life. Literally started on Monday, got the gym membership back going. It's like, I'm going to be sore tomorrow. And it's like, because same thing, it's like I'm looking around, my grandpa isn't getting younger, my mom isn't getting younger. There is health issues. And I'm like, I, okay, yes, I'm feeling fine right now, but how long am I going to if I don't look after myself? And. I feel you on that one. I feel you on that one.
And it just, it all fits together where it's like our eyesight and seeing is such a quote given because we don't know any otherwise. And it's with the whole health, it's with the whole impact. It's all of it. So I feel you on all the things. And for everybody out there, you just got to meet Michelle. As you can tell, she is freaking amazing. I love the impact. I love the purpose behind it.
Yvonne Heimann [00:25:47]:
Go get involved. As you know, all of the links are in the description. No matter which way, it doesn't have to be money. If you are in capital investment, go contact her. Heck yes. But even if you are a small business, if you're a coach, if you're a consultant, if you are just a woman wanting to build their own business and make an impact, share the mission. There is social media posts out there. Go like, go engage, go share.
Because, oh my God, I love all of your missions and I can't wait to celebrate your 30, 30, 30 with you because there is no question in my mind you gonna reach that. Michelle, thanks so much for coming on. Is there anything that I should have asked you, anything you want to share with the audience where it's like, oh, my God, this needs to be said.
Michelle Bockman [00:26:42]:
I think we've said a lot. But your last section there is like, get involved. We have impact ambassadors that volunteer, you know.
Get involved somehow. Please reach out to me, connect with me, send me a note. I'm, I, I'm trying to build a community and it takes, it takes more than just me and my team and you.
Yvonne Heimann [00:27:04]:
It takes a village to build a community. Oh, my God. Yes, it does. Yes. Yeah. And again, we've made it really easy for you ladies. Go click the link in the description. Michelle, thanks so much for joining and everybody else, I see and hear you in the next episode.
Bye, everybody.