Working in the field of phlebotomy requires some very specific qualities, and LaVita Green has those qualities and a whole lot more. First, she isn’t afraid of blood! Second, and more importantly, she cares deeply about the quality of work she and her teams do to ensure safe, reliable blood draws for her clientele. And finally, she loves being a frontline worker and helping other frontline workers do their jobs. Caresticks was born out of that desire to provide accessible, trustworthy services to people who might not have easy access to them. 

LaVita’s route to becoming a phlebotomist was rather circuitous. She grew up knowing that she wanted to be in the business world – her grandfather worked for JE Dunn, and her grandmother worked for the Department of Agriculture. In her mind, LaVita felt that success came from carrying a briefcase, checking emails, and feeling important! She ended up in the healthcare field after receiving an associate’s degree as a medical assistant, where she found her art and her skill lay in blood draws.   

In 2014, she started contacting doctors to provide their draw services, and Quest trained her to run the business end of things. By 2017, she was running a full business with corporate wellness at the core. Then Covid hit. As much as it was a curse for so many, it was a kind of blessing for LaVita. Her phone rang off the hook with people looking for safe methods of all kinds of testing. She was able to hire 20 contract workers and learned a lot about the healthcare field under the stress of a pandemic. 

Now, Caresticks has a multi-pronged approach to testing: Onsite testing for corporations; mobile blood draws performed at homes and offices; and VIP phlebotomy staffing to hospitals, insurance companies, and high-profile clients. Services include paternity testing, gender reveals, and DOT drug testing; and they have a physical location in Downtown Kansas City. Part of the reason she was able to expand Caresticks, train others, and have a mobile blood draw van, is because of the grant she received from G.I.F.T. (Generating Income For Tomorrow) and Brandon Calloway’s vision for successful Black-owned businesses. 

Featured in the February 10, 2024 issue of The Independent.