By Molly Gholson
Claudia Ziegler loves, as she calls them, ‘grandma’ crafts.
“I feel like I’m an old soul,” she laughs. “My team always jokes with me when I come into work, saying, ‘I have to tell you about this new bread I just baked!’ or ‘I finished my quilt last week!’”
“I could talk about baking for hours,” Claudia continues. “There’s so much to it, but it’s also so calming.”
She loves the precise directions, but there’s also the intuition of knowing when something is ready. It’s the perfect mix of passion and process. Claudia especially enjoys the challenge of yeast-based breads and has lately been working her way through a collection of King Arthur baking books she received for Christmas.
She likes recipes with clear steps, carefully organized to-do lists, and hobbies that reward patience. On weekends, she bakes bread, quilts, kayaks, and tends to her vegetable garden behind the home she shares with her husband and rescue tabby cat, Eloise.
Process Meets Passion
Thoughtfulness and attention to detail have shaped the way she approaches her work at SNOW, where much of her role centers around helping people feel supported, even in high-pressure situations.
“A lot of stress comes when people don’t know what to do next,” Claudia says. “Anything with a clear process—where I can help move things along—that’s where my strength really lies.”
Claudia came to SNOW in 2019, shortly after graduating from Christopher Newport University, where she studied business. What began as a conversation with Brenda Snow at a conference evolved into a dedicated and meaningful career.
What stood out was the opportunity to help patients find education and connection during some of life’s most vulnerable moments.
“There is a passion here at SNOW,” Claudia says. “The work is tangibly meaningful, being with people when they are feeling lost or overwhelmed, and offering them support and a listening ear, that’s not work you can find just anywhere.”
Over the years, she’s grown within the Accounts team, eventually stepping into her current role as Senior Account Director.
“There are so many moving parts to Accounts,” Claudia says, describing it as “kind of the nucleus” since it is where projects are initiated. The work requires balancing communication across teams, managing client expectations, and ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.
Claudia is especially intentional about how communication flows between teams and clients. Something as simple as too many emails or overly complicated status calls can quickly create unnecessary stress.
“If you can deliver information in a way that feels less stressful overall, people respond so much better,” she says.
Leading with Kindness
At the core of how Claudia works is a simple philosophy:
“Lead with kindness.”
“What energizes me most are the people,” Claudia says. “Everyone has this shared mission, and it’s successful due to the kindness of people here.”
Keeping the human connections at the center informs her style of leadership and collaboration. But putting a high value on kindness doesn’t mean avoiding difficult conversations or lowering expectations.
For Claudia, leading with kindness means approaching situations with empathy, reducing friction, and creating clarity.
“Being able to tell clients when they don’t know what the next steps should be, ‘We’ve got you. We’ve been through this a million times,’ makes a big difference. Our job is to bring that calm, clarifying mindset to our clients.”
“People always have something else going on in their lives,” she says. “I don’t need to be the person who makes their day harder. I always approach with a ‘Good morning,’ or ‘How are you?’ I try to build relationships with everybody I work with.”
A Life Built Around Learning
Beyond baking and gardening, Claudia’s love for learning and curiosity runs deep in her family.
Both of her parents are lifelong learners. Her mother, a former Chief Information Officer with two master’s degrees, continues to inspire Claudia through her work ethic. And her husband is a high school math teacher.
“I’m just constantly surrounded by people who admire learning,” she says. “‘Always be curious. Always seek out opportunities to grow.’ That’s a family philosophy.”
As her work at SNOW evolves, Claudia is looking forward to creating more connected experiences for patients, as well as collaborating with new teams, and learning new things through every project.
Making the Connection
Although Claudia describes herself as an introvert, she says meeting patients in person has continually helped ground her in the purpose behind the work.
“I always have a little anxiety leading up to those events,” Claudia says. “But when I talk to patients and hear their stories, it really recenters my ‘why’.”
One experience in particular has stayed with her over the years.
During a trip to Baton Rouge for an Ambassador video shoot, Claudia spent time with a patient and her family before filming began.
“They invited me to a crawfish boil before the shoot, and their whole family was so excited that we were there to tell her story,” Claudia says. “It was just this incredible level of Southern hospitality.”
That experience reminded Claudia that even in the middle of extremely heavy moments and diagnoses, joy and celebration can still exist.
“At the end of the day, this was a person who was navigating a lot in her life,” she says. “But seeing her surrounded by family, celebrating and sharing her story, was a powerful reminder of why we do this work.”
Claudia reflects on the human connection and empathy that calls people to share their stories as Ambassadors, and she tries to carry that spirit into every project.
