We were lucky to catch up with Christy Knutson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Christy, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

Founding Near has been the biggest risk of my professional life, but not in the way that is often talked about. It’s not one big leap but rather the slow, steady toll of showing up every day for something that may never work.

I underestimated the cost of building in a space this personal. My partner and I have bootstrapped everything. The work centers on how people find meaning and connection when someone they love is seriously ill and that makes the stakes heavier.

The risk isn’t just, “What if this fails?” It’s, “What if I give years to something that remains unrealized, misunderstood, or ahead of its time?” Building at the intersection of healthcare and grief means living in two realities at once – seeing the possibility of real impact while navigating a thousand small rejections in a broken system.

Startups are about agility and iteration. But constant pivoting costs you something. Your sense of solidity and your ability to rest. I’ve written about “soul fatigue” – the kind that comes from holding a long-term vision in a culture obsessed with confidence and quick wins.

The risk isn’t over. It’s ongoing and we still don’t know how this turns out. But Near has forced me to live what I say I value: trusting my intuition, prioritizing rest and relationships, and believing that what’s missing in the world is worth building even when the outcome is uncertain.

Christy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I believe our impermanence is an invitation to live fully. To create, care, and connect even when we know it won’t last. That belief runs through everything I do.

I’m Christy Knutson, the co-founder of Near, a psychosocial support platform for serious illness and loss. I’m also a marketing strategist for startups and an end-of-life educator based in Raleigh, North Carolina. My work lives at the intersection of innovation and presence because being human is hard, and the hardest parts are worth reimagining.

At Near, we’re building tools that help families and friends stay connected and supported when someone they love is seriously ill. It’s a coordinated space for updates, resources, and emotional guidance – what I wish had existed during the hardest chapters of my own life.

Beyond Near, I advise early-stage founders, particularly in healthcare and tech, on how to communicate clearly and build with empathy. My background in strategic communications and my training in healthcare innovation allow me to move easily between story and system to bring clarity and calm to the often-overwhelming process of building something that matters.

There is a duality in my work – t’s deeply practical and deeply human. I help people build what’s missing and hold what’s hardest, whether that means crafting a go-to-market plan, facilitating a death meditation, or helping a family find language for the unspeakable.

I hold a BA in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Master of Health Care Innovation from the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. But what grounds me most is life outside of work: my husband and three chidren, three cats, a love for the ocean, liturgy, and the daily practice of noticing what matters.

How’d you meet your business partner?

Jane and I met in 2016 when we each had our own businesses. I was running a marketing consultancy in Raleigh, and she had a design studio in New York. I posted a call for a designer on a new client project, and she was one of many who responded – but her design work immediately stood out.

That first collaboration ended up going all the way to Shark Tank and we decided to merge our businesses into one creative agency. We’ve been working together ever since.

What began as a professional partnership quickly deepened into something more personal. In our early twenties, we had both experienced the serious illness of our closest people along with accompanying grief, and those experiences shaped the way we saw the world. That shared perspective – a mix of gratitude, realism, and urgency – continues to inform everything we build together.

Years later, that same understanding led us to start Near, a platform born from the belief that no one should have to navigate serious illness or loss alone.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

For me, client relationships all come back to care and personalization. Whether I’m consulting or leading a creative project, I try to make sure every touchpoint feels genuine and specific to that person or team. The small, non-scalable actions are the ones that matter most – things like handwritten notes, thoughtful gifts, or simply remembering the details of someone’s life and checking in when it counts.

I encourage every founder or team I work with to use their CRM or even a simple notes app as more than a tracking tool. When you’re speaking with a client, jot down what matters to them – what they’re excited about, what they’re worried about, what they celebrate. Those notes become the foundation of real connection and we have to respect the limits of our own memory.

And if you haven’t read it, I highly recommend Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara. It’s a powerful reminder that the extra effort to make someone feel seen is never wasted.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://carewithnear.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carewithnear
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christyleeknutson/

Image Credits

Headshot credit
Kat Joseph
https://katjosephcreative.com/