Our Team

Katie Arnold is the Founder and CEO of SPRIG Consulting and a proven executive with 25+ years of strategic marketing and commercial launch experience in the medical products space: medtech, diagnostic, wearables and digital health. Since its inception, SPRIG’s revenue growth has achieved a >30% CAGR, with over 40 company clients achieving exits for values in excess of $35B.

Since 2008, the firm has engaged with over 250 medical companies ranging from venture-backed start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. During this time, Katie has demonstrated an aptitude for delivering flawless launch execution and implementing commercialization strategies in the U.S., EU and AP geographies. Katie recruited an elite team of highly experienced commercial and business development professionals at SPRIG.

Prior to founding SPRIG, Katie’s career included sales (both field clinical and territory manager roles) and marketing management roles with cardiovascular medical device companies Guidant Corporation (acquired by Abbott Laboratories and Boston Scientific) and Kensey Nash Corporation (acquired by Spectranetics Corporation/Royal Philips). At Kensey Nash, Katie was a founding commercial team member and director of marketing. In this role, she built and led the company’s first-ever newly created commercial arm of the Endovascular Division where she built the team and led successful U.S. and O.U.S. product commercial launches. During her tenure at Guidant, Katie was a member of the Vascular Interventions sales team and marketing manager for the U.S. launch of a next generation stent platform.

Katie is currently an adjunct Faculty member at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business, where for nearly a decade she has been a highly rated faculty member teaching medical product commercialization and financing. Katie is an organizing member of the Medtech Women non-profit organization that produces the annual, sold-out conference, Medtech Vision. Most recently, Katie was selected to participate in the Women-In-Bio Chicago 3.8 Initiative, where she completed the Leadership Development Program to promote women leaders on healthcare boards.

Katie received her MBA from the Kellogg Business School, Northwestern University, where she was awarded the Health Industry Management Tuition Scholarship as one of most promising healthcare leaders. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences and Chemistry from the University of Vermont where she also serves on the Board of Advisors for the Biomedical Innovation Center.

Carla Benigni brings 20 years of medical device marketing, commercialization, sales strategy and engineering experience to SPRIG consulting. For over 10 years she has supported clients in achieving their next milestones across a broad range of therapeutic categories including cardiovascular, digital health, acute ischemic stroke, endovascular therapies, remote patient monitoring, and many more.

Prior to SPRIG, Carla worked for Boston Scientific, Guidant Corporation and Exactech, where she gained extensive experience in commercialization and product development in the cardiac rhythm management and orthopedic fields. Carla led a successful sales career at Boston Scientific’s Cardiac Rhythm Management division that included launching new products and managing physician and administration customer relationships. Prior to her sales role, Carla was a sales strategy consultant and an internal consultant for Guidant’s Market Development Sales Organization. At Exactech, Carla led physician development teams for new products, including developing the company’s first upper extremity offering. This experience incorporated gathering voice of customer driven specification, engineering product, collecting customer validation, obtaining regulatory approval and launching products.

Carla holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a Masters of Engineering Management from Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering where she majored in biotechnology, marketing and strategy & management. She also has a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Duke University in Mechanical Engineering and Material Science.

Jen Fitzgerald is an engineer and marketing professional who brings nearly 30 years of experience developing and launching products within the healthcare industry. Prior to SPRIG, Jen worked for Vygon Corporation, Spectranetics, and Kensey Nash Corporation where she developed and marketed products in the fields of urology, vascular access, vascular closure, atherectomy (laser and rotational), thrombus management, embolic protection, enteral feeding, and infection control. Jen has held director-level management positions in marketing and training at established public companies as well as small private start-ups. At Vygon, Jen played a key role in establishing Vygon’s presence in the US through a series of new product launches and downstream commercialization activities. Prior to Vygon, Jen led the marketing and training departments for Spectranetics where she instituted a strategic corporate branding initiative and launched nation-wide marketing and training programs to support their key product category. These market development programs allowed the company to realize substantial year-over-year revenue growth for the coronary division. During her 12 years with Kensey Nash, Jen held numerous engineering and marketing positions. In these roles, she launched the company’s first two endovascular products and led all aspects of the product development effort for several medical products, including the 6F AngioSeal® Vascular Closure Device. To date, AngioSeal remains the worldwide market leader in the field of vascular closure. Jen holds a Master of Science degree in Technology Management from PENN Engineering and The Wharton School of Business and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University.

Charlene Herndon is a marketing professional with 20 years of experience in strategic marketing, commercial execution and product management within the bioscience and medical device industries. Prior to joining SPRIG, Charlene worked for Cardinal Health, Medtronic, Harvard Bioscience, and Nova Biomedical where she gained experience in upstream product and market development strategies as well as downstream commercialization within the fields of vascular compression, enteral feeding, physiology, surgery and biomaterials. Charlene was a Portfolio Director at Cardinal Health, joining the organization as part of the Patient Recovery divestiture from Medtronic. In this role, Charlene managed a team that supported both commercial enablement and new product development for their vascular compression business. With Medtronic, Charlene focused on commercial globalization and market expansion, leading downstream marketing programs and awareness initiatives for their vascular and enteral feeding portfolios. During her years with Harvard Bioscience, Charlene held numerous roles including technical support, capital sales, product management and strategic marketing. She was responsible for the upstream product pipeline, successfully executed numerous global product launches and leading commercialization and training programs within various key product categories. Charlene also gained valuable business development experience, including the integration of several key corporate acquisitions. Charlene holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Bucknell University as well as minors in both Spanish and Sociology.

Jennie Kim is a marketing and communications professional with 20 years of experience in product launches, commercial execution, and public relations within the healthtech and medical device industries. Prior to joining SPRIG, Jennie worked for HeartFlow, Abbott Vascular, AirXpanders, Weber Shandwick and MSL where she gained extensive experience in downstream launch execution and commercialization, digital marketing, communications and market development in the fields of diagnostic software, coronary revascularization, coronary imaging, plastic reconstructive surgery, and women’s health. At HeartFlow, Jennie held key leadership roles including Vice President of Corporate Communications and Vice President of Marketing. During her tenure, she led the marketing team to establish the company’s digital marketing presence, create messaging, and develop and execute omnichannel campaigns to support product launches, generate new sales leads and increase company visibility. She also worked closely with the executive team on investor relations materials and internal communications. At Abbott Vascular, Jennie played an integral role in the US launch of the Xience drug eluting stent, including messaging, competitive positioning and media outreach efforts to support the launch. At AirXpanders, Jennie developed the marketing strategy for the AeroForm tissue expander system, including KOL engagement, product training and sales materials. Jennie holds a Master of Health Science from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Public Policy from Pomona College.

Swarun is a strategic marketing professional with experience in Peripheral Vascular, Structural Heart, Cardiac Rhythm Management, Electrophysiology, Neurovascular, Diabetes, and Remote Patient Monitoring. He is currently an MBA candidate at Northwestern Kellogg. Swarun led U.S. commercialization efforts for a market leading vascular closure device at Abbott Vascular and the launch of a new manufacturing facility at Abbott Cardiac Rhythm Management. He began his career as a Manufacturing Engineer at Medtronic Neurovascular’s Reverse Medical acquisition. Swarun holds a B.S. and M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Southern California and is a proud Trojan.

Jodi is a strategic, versatile marketing professional with a proven ability to help start-up medical device companies build brand identity, grow market awareness, and launch new products. She uses a creative, yet practical approach to develop strong brand and product narratives and comprehensive communication and commercialization strategies. She has successfully led upstream and downstream marketing initiatives for start-ups in the electrophysiology and cardiology space including a corporate rebranding initiative in preparation for an EU commercial release. In addition, she has developed commercialization strategies for global product launches and built international KOL networks to support physician education and voice-of-customer initiatives. Recently, she has overseen product and commercial strategy development of remote patient monitoring solutions in the respiratory care market. Jodi has a BA in English and Communications from Iowa State University.

Joe Lynch is a seasoned marketing professional with over 20 years of experience in the medical technology industry. He has held marketing leadership roles at Guidant, Abbott, Omnicell, and VitalConnect, where he led strategic marketing teams to boost brands and drive commercial success. Throughout his career, Joe has made a significant impact in advancing patient care. At Guidant, he oversaw Vascular Intervention Market Intelligence, including long-range planning, market research, and competitive intelligence, resulting in a 20% increase in product revenue growth. He also played a key role in Xience V launch sales and operations planning, delivering market share gains and a $30 million increase in profits. As Vice President of Marketing at Omnicell, Joe oversaw market intelligence, commercial operations, product launches, digital marketing, and customer engagement. Under his leadership, the company achieved record revenue and profits, and its Inspired by Care brand won the Marcom Platinum Award. As Chief Marketing Officer of VitalConnect, a venture-backed startup, Joe led the transition to a SaaS model and implemented Salesforce, resulting in a 20% price increase. He also advanced patient remote monitoring by integrating EHR, video conferencing, and early warning score capabilities. Joe is a passionate career builder and entrepreneur. He is the founder of Wonderbench, a boutique recruiting firm that helps companies recruit for entry-to-mid-level positions. He holds an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and a B.S. in Finance from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Molly Traugott is a healthcare marketing expert with 15 years of experience in strategic marketing, commercial execution and product management with early-stage, middle-stage and Fortune 500 medical companies. Her focus includes providing reimbursement and market analytics for all payment pathways, including Medicare. Through comprehensive research and her extensive network, Molly designs individualized strategies for successful medtech product adoption. Molly’s most recent endeavor included teaming up with a provider-focused start-up to successfully transition hospitals and surgeons to value-based care by way of increased surgeon alignment, process redesign, service line analytics and advanced clinical support solutions. At the Neocure Group, a highly specialized medical device reimbursement consulting firm based in Boston, MA, Molly was in charge of the marketing and product launch of the innovative marketing and reimbursement focused data analytics platform, FocusPro™ to position medtech companies for greatest market impact. This lead to the company’s acquisition by Intralign Health, a specialty healthcare company helping providers optimize service line performance through a unique combination of clinical services and operational tools and analytics. As corporate Marketing Director, Molly lead the growth and development of a start-up into an industry-recognized brand. Molly holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the honors program at Providence College.