1. You have a background in finance but you have found yourself leading a healthcare startup. How did that happen?
It’s always a privilege to work on big problems, and healthcare is one of a small handful of truly generational challenges in the United States. I built my career in finance because I believe that the most durable solutions are those that create economic value for all stakeholders. Understanding how to create that value, and how to find those solutions, has been a great foundation for leading a transformational company in healthcare.
2. What inspires you about being in the healthcare industry?
The magnitude of the opportunity to have a positive impact on so many people. The healthcare system is something that every one of us depends on, and having the opportunity to bring positive change at a societal level is quite unique.
3. What do most people get wrong about the state of healthcare, and in particular, nurses?
Most people understand the system through anecdotes. We all have experiences with the healthcare system; nursing is the largest profession in the country and as a result, we all have a nurse in our lives who we know and love. Most people over-index on that one experience that they had in the hospital, or that one nurse who they love, but don’t realize that what they know is indicative of millions of other people. Minor frustrations throughout the system are actually major problems when they get amplified millions of times.
4. Building the future of healthcare is an audacious goal. What role do you see connectRN playing in creating the next chapter for nurses?
We have been building this platform for nurses to work together to build their best work lives for almost 10 years. As we reach a larger and larger scale, it’s really interesting to see how we are able to mobilize hundreds of thousands of nurses to tackle new problems together. Our view is that nurses have - for more than a hundred years - been a line-item afterthought in care delivery, while being asked to do most of the work and deliver most of the care. We believe that letting nurses lead the conversation about new care delivery models and giving them a voice in the system will unlock tremendous potential to deliver better outcomes at lower cost.
5. What has been your most profound moment at connectRN since you became CEO?
Pre-vaccine pandemic was an incredibly profound moment for all of us at connectRN. We built our platform to provide flexibility, choice, and power to nurses, but in that moment, we saw every job in the world become flexible and work-from-home while society called on nurses to be essential workers who needed to show up every day to - literally - save lives. The stark disparity between the ask of nurses (and other essential workers) and what we give to most other workers is a constant reminder to me about what society owes in return for those efforts.