For nearly 30 years, I led in high pressure environments as a hospital CEO, small business owner, and executive responsible for people, performance, and results.
I knew how to solve problems, steady an organization, and keep moving when the stakes were high. From the outside, the career looked successful. But achievement had gradually become the organizing principle of my entire life.
I knew how to lead through pressure.I had not yet learned how to keep success from consuming everything around it.
Over the following decade, life forced a more honest accounting. Both of my parents died. I navigated divorce and significant personal change, moved to a new state, rebuilt my personal and professional life, lost 120 pounds, and began facing a cancer diagnosis, and I’m continuing on my healthcare journey with this.
None of those experiences became my identity. Together, they changed my definition of success. I began rebuilding around health, meaningful relationships, purposeful work, and time that reflected what mattered most.
Today, I bring that earned perspective to leaders who have built careers they respect but no longer want professional achievement to determine the quality of everything else.