A Cake Boss, a Hockey Player and a Knitter! Meet Our Latest Hidden Talents!

VNS Health has some truly talented team members! 

Do you have a hidden talent that you’d like to share in Frontline, or do you know someone else at VNS Health who does? We’d love to hear about it! Just send us a message by clicking here.

To go directly to a Hidden Talent, click on the names below—or just scroll down.

Victoria Biggica

Brenda Riordan

Martha Schueneman

A Recipe for Creativity and Care: Cake Maker Victoria Biggica

After 10 years of creating show-stopping cakes for world-famous Carlo’s Bakery—the Hoboken, New Jersey-based enterprise that has played host to the hit TV series Cake Boss and Cake Dynasty—Health Plans Care Management Navigator Victoria Biggica now brings that same creativity and compassion to VNS Health.

During her career at Carlo’s Bakery, Victoria was known for her design work and her artistry with fondant (a sugar-based dough that can be molded into different shapes), skills she developed by training entirely on the job. “I didn’t go to culinary school, so I learned everything by watching, trying, and doing,” she recalls. “I knew right away that I loved taking a blank cake and turning it into something beautiful.”

Victoria fondly recalls the most memorable moments from her years working at the bakery, including her appearances on both Cake Boss and Cake Dynasty as well as the time she created a cheese-themed birthday cake for supermodel Gigi Hadid.

“I did all kinds of cakes: wedding cakes, birthday cakes, even a donut-themed cake for my husband, who’s a police officer,” she says with a laugh.

In the past year, after a decade of long hours and the physical demands of bakery life, Victoria realized it was time for a change. “I had shoulder surgery, and the job was getting harder physically,” she recalls. “I also missed feeling like I was making a difference for people in a more personal way.”

Victoria joined VNS Health in March 2025 and quickly saw the connection between her old and new roles. “At Carlo’s, I learned how to talk to people, how to be patient, and how to stay calm under pressure,” she says. “Now, I do that every day with our health plan members.”

As a Care Management Navigator, Victoria is reminded that the mix of creativity, patience and empathy she perfected as a baker are the perfect recipe for success. She finds these skills especially useful when conducting monthly assessments, anticipating a plan member’s needs, and supporting members with compassion. “I’ve always just wanted to help people and make someone’s day better,” she explains.

Victoria adds that she’s also finding her creative background helps in unexpected ways in her role at VNS Health. “Cake decorating taught me patience and attention to detail,” she says. “So now, when I’m talking to a member, I listen for the little things. It’s just like adding the finishing touches to a cake. Those details matter.”

Building Successful Teams On and Off the Ice: Hockey Player Brenda Riordan

As VNS Health’s SVP of Home Care, Care Management Solutions and Hospice, Brenda Riordan is an engaged leader who frequently joins in clinicians’ field visits. She’s also known for managing her teams with a calm, strategic precision that helps her team members and their patients and clients thrive.

Off the clock—and on the ice—she is just as strategic and committed in her approach to hockey, the game that has forged her since childhood. Brenda grew up skating on the frozen ponds of Connecticut, playing games with her brothers in mismatched gear. “I probably skated in figure skates back then, because that’s what girls did,” she recalls, laughing.

Brenda went on to play field hockey in high school and at Springfield College before transferring to Boston University, where she returned to the ice as a member of the college hockey team.

Today, Brenda skates weekly and plays for several teams in adult and co-ed tournaments across the country, including two stints at the over-50 USA Hockey Nationals. “That was a bucket-list item,” she says. “It’s just this great hockey environment where women from all over come together and play.”

She also participates in charity tournaments like the recent Cross Check Cancer tournament, which raises money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Brenda skates this one especially for her mother, who underwent chemotherapy for Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age 83 and is still going strong at 88. (See the video clip below of Brenda in action on the ice at this tournament!)

Hockey has provided a lifelong community for Brenda. From raising her kids in Massachusetts alongside fellow players’ families, to forming close bonds with women in Texas and New England through tournament appearances, Brenda’s life in hockey mirrors her career in health care leadership: In both arenas, her hallmark is being part of successful teams built on trust, collaboration and resilience.

“Hockey taught me a lot about the importance of having people in the right roles,” she says. “If you put a defenseman at forward, it’s not going to work as well. You’ve got to set people up for success by matching their skills and talents to where they can do their best.”

Hockey also helps Brenda stay calm under pressure. “It’s a fast-moving game—you’ve got your head on a swivel, a stick in your hand, and you’re skating,” she explains. “You have to make quick decisions while people are coming at you, and that requires you to stay focused.”

Even Brenda’s beefy English bulldog is named after the game. “He had a little black circle on his head that looked like a hockey puck,” she says of Puck, who, along with hockey, was an important outlet for Brenda during the Covid pandemic.

And yes, Brenda does bring hockey metaphors to work. “You don’t pass to where the player is, you pass to where they’re going,” she notes. “That’s a strategic principle I’ve used again and again in health care. We need to plan for where we’re heading—not just for where we are now.”

Brenda Playing in the Cross Check Cancer Tournament—#27 on the ice

Hooked on Yarn: Expert Knitter Martha Schueneman

For most people, knitting is a hobby. For Martha Schueneman, it’s both an art form and a way to find calm in the middle of a busy life.

Martha has been part of VNS Health’s story for more than 15 years. She started freelancing for the organization in 2007, writing for what was then Frontline magazine (before it morphed into our internal website) as well as the Caring Delivered newsletter. By 2019, her role had grown into a full-time position leading digital content for the marketing team.

Martha’s knitting journey began about 20 years ago with a burst of inspiration. Having admired a Danish friend’s handmade sweater, she later watched her friend casually knit a pair of baby booties in the space of a single conversation. “I thought, I’ve got to learn how to do this,” Martha recalls.

After spending the weekend with a how-to book, some yarn and a pair of knitting needles, Martha produced her first project: an off-kilter scarf that was shaped like a trapezoid. It was enough to get her hooked.

While books taught Martha the basics, it was her local knitting community that truly helped her craft evolve. She found her rhythm at a “sit-and-knit” group in Cornwall, New York, a gathering that became much more than a place to practice stitches. The group, made up mostly of older, more experienced knitters, offered both support and inspiration.

For Martha, the knitting circle is about belonging to a tradition where skills, stories, and encouragement are passed from one set of hands to another. The weekly sessions created an atmosphere of companionship, laughter, and problem-solving that turned knitting from a solitary hobby into a shared experience.

Over two decades, Martha has made hundreds of pieces, gifting most of her creations to friends, family, or charities. One of her favorites is a piece where she quite literally “knit the night sky.” Using a circular pattern based on a star chart, she worked with deep blue yarn aptly named “Stargazing,” adding tiny beads to represent constellations. The project became a blend of craft and imagination, turning yarn and glass beads into a cosmic keepsake.

Another proud achievement was a cream-colored cabled sweater that pushed her skills to the next level. The intricate cabling gave the sweater the look of traditional Irish knitwear. “I was wearing it in a store once, and somebody complimented the sweater and asked if I’d bought it in Ireland,” she recalls with a smile. “I said, ‘No, I made it!’” For Martha, it was a reminder that her work can stand shoulder to shoulder with the finest craftsmanship.

Knitting has been both a creative outlet and a source of deep comfort for Martha, especially during the pandemic. When the world slowed down and anxieties were high, she turned to her needles and yarn as a steadying force. “I was knitting pretty much constantly,” she remembers, finishing five or six shawls in just a few months.

In today’s post-pandemic world, her knitting is still an important part of Martha’s daily life. “Knitting keeps the fidgety part of my brain occupied so I can focus on everything else,” she says. “The repetitive action is calming—it’s almost meditative—and it helps me stay present, whether I’m listening, reading, or just trying to relax.”