For more than 26 years, Kelly McKnight-Goelz has held senior executive positions for both publicly and privately-held organizations in the medical device, health/wellness, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and consumer packaged goods industries. Until December 2015, she was the CEO in Ascension and a corporate officer for Unilens Corp. USA, a Tampa Bay area-based public medical device organization that was acquired.
In 2015, she walked away from Unilens and walked into her newly created KMG Marketing Team offices.
She graduated from the University of South Florida with high honors and was the American Business Women’s Association Scholarship Recipient for three consecutive years. McKnight-Goelz is a member of the CEO Council of Tampa Bay, sits on the Board of the CEO Council and maintains memberships on a multitude of local Chambers of Commerce and local charitable organizations.
1. College alma mater? The University of South Florida. C-Level Continuing Education certifications from Kellogg School of Executive Management Northwestern for finance and mergers/acquisitions and Harvard Executive Education Program for leadership and negotiation.
2. Last show you binge-watched? Ted Lasso and The Morning Show.
3. Favorite place for a business meeting? New York City.
4. iPhone or Android? iPhone.
5. What did you eat for lunch today? Gluten-free pasta and veggies.
6. We’ll find you on the weekend doing? Spending time with family and friends, working, attending social events and writing.
7. What movie terrified you as a child? The Shining.
8. Proudest moment? The day I purchased my first business by myself. Close second choices, the day I walked through the gates of Harvard for C-Level Continuing Education and, earlier in my career, being chosen as the CEO in Ascension for a public medical device company.
9. Dream dinner companion? Oprah Winfrey, Condoleezza Rice and Arianna Huffington.
10. Any pets? Two little Italian greyhounds, Hercules (6½ pounds of pure puppy love) and Rexey (the rocket scientist dog—there’s a good story here).
11. Best concert you’ve ever seen live? Prince and the Revolution, Journey, Lady Gaga, Pink and Phil Collins.
12. What is your cellphone wallpaper image? My husband and me at the Sundance Resort in Utah.
13. Most famous person you’ve ever met? George Clooney, Jay Leno and a bunch of pro football players.
14. What is your go-to drink order? Grey Goose cosmopolitan, Veuve Clicquot or Piper-Heidsieck Cuvee Brut Champagne.
15. Favorite candy? York peppermint patties.
16. Last thing you ordered from Amazon? Dog chewies.
17. Pool or beach? Pool to lounge by, but definitely the beach for a great walk.
18. Charity you support? CASA, the Spring of Tampa Bay and the Humane Society.
19. Favorite childhood memory? Raising, training and competing in arenas around the country with our family championship show horses.
20. Words of advice? Get into the arena and dare greatly—“It is not the critic who counts; not the man or woman who points out how the strong one stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man or woman who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood….” — Theodore Roosevelt
