When Meaning Beats Comfort: Leading by Starting at the Bottom...AGAIN!

1 00:00:00,560 - > 00:00:02,959 SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Consulting from the Couch, a 2 00:00:02,959 - > 00:00:05,759 podcast about leaders, what makes them tick, what drives 3 00:00:05,759 - > 00:00:07,440 them, and the challenges they face. 4 00:00:07,679 - > 00:00:10,720 Occasionally a guest comes along whose story makes you stop and 5 00:00:10,720 - > 00:00:13,519 asks, what kind of leader does it take to start completely 6 00:00:13,519 - > 00:00:13,759 over? 7 00:00:13,919 - > 00:00:15,759 Not once, but multiple times. 8 00:00:16,079 - > 00:00:18,719 Today is one of those episodes. 9 00:00:19,039 - > 00:00:22,800 What would make a successful entrepreneur, a guy running his 10 00:00:22,800 - > 00:00:27,039 own business, walk away from everything and enroll in nursing 11 00:00:27,039 - > 00:00:27,359 school? 12 00:00:27,519 - > 00:00:30,879 Not as a hobby, not as a side project, but to start completely 13 00:00:30,879 - > 00:00:33,359 over from the bottom as a student. 14 00:00:33,679 - > 00:00:37,200 That's the question at the heart of today's conversation. 15 00:00:37,520 - > 00:00:40,880 My guest started as a law enforcement officer, became a 16 00:00:40,880 - > 00:00:44,320 firefighter, then a paramedic, and later walked away from his 17 00:00:44,320 - > 00:00:46,479 own business to enroll in nursing school. 18 00:00:46,640 - > 00:00:50,000 Today he serves as a chief operating officer at a 140-bed 19 00:00:50,159 - > 00:00:53,600 Royal Hospital as part of the nation's third largest 20 00:00:53,600 - > 00:00:55,920 healthcare system in the country. 21 00:00:56,320 - > 00:01:00,079 His name is Thomas Todd Gall, and this is his story about what 22 00:01:00,079 - > 00:01:03,679 happens when you choose meaning over comfort more than once. 23 00:01:04,480 - > 00:01:09,359 His story is about reinvention, courage, servant leadership, and 24 00:01:09,359 - > 00:01:13,439 the unwavering belief that great health care should reach every 25 00:01:13,439 - > 00:01:15,439 person, no matter where they live. 26 00:01:15,680 - > 00:01:18,640 I've been looking forward to this conversation for a while. 27 00:01:18,879 - > 00:01:20,079 So let's get going. 28 00:01:20,560 - > 00:01:23,120 Tog, welcome to the couch. 29 00:01:24,319 - > 00:01:26,319 SPEAKER_01: Steve, man, I'm glad to be here. 30 00:01:26,879 - > 00:01:31,439 You know, after you had Brock on your show, my cousin Brock, and 31 00:01:31,920 - > 00:01:35,040 uh, of course I watched that, listened to that, and then that 32 00:01:35,040 - > 00:01:37,519 led me into listening to all of your episodes. 33 00:01:37,680 - > 00:01:40,640 So uh I'm really glad for the opportunity. 34 00:01:40,719 - > 00:01:46,719 And if we can maybe motivate one person today to maybe get out of 35 00:01:46,719 - > 00:01:50,879 their comfort zone because we we cannot grow in an area of 36 00:01:50,879 - > 00:01:51,359 comfort. 37 00:01:51,439 - > 00:01:54,560 So if we can motivate just one person today, that'll be a 38 00:01:54,560 - > 00:01:56,079 success in my story. 39 00:01:56,799 - > 00:01:59,040 SPEAKER_00: You and I are on the same page, man. 40 00:01:59,120 - > 00:02:00,480 We're on the same page. 41 00:02:00,719 - > 00:02:04,159 Well, I want to hop right in and let's start at the beginning. 42 00:02:04,560 - > 00:02:06,640 I don't want to start when you became a nurse. 43 00:02:06,799 - > 00:02:09,039 I don't want to start when you became a COO. 44 00:02:09,520 - > 00:02:13,919 But back when you were a young man deciding what to do with 45 00:02:13,919 - > 00:02:17,840 your life, you chose law enforcement first, then 46 00:02:17,840 - > 00:02:20,719 firefighting, then paramedicine. 47 00:02:21,039 - > 00:02:24,080 What was pulling you towards those careers? 48 00:02:25,360 - > 00:02:29,120 SPEAKER_01: Man, that is a that is a great question. 49 00:02:29,360 - > 00:02:32,960 And really, it goes beyond that. 50 00:02:33,599 - > 00:02:39,280 It's it all began for me, even in leadership, at a very early 51 00:02:39,280 - > 00:02:39,680 age. 52 00:02:40,000 - > 00:02:44,400 My dad and my uncle had a construction business, and I 53 00:02:44,400 - > 00:02:48,159 started working with them, building a set of apartments in 54 00:02:48,159 - > 00:02:50,800 Macon, Georgia when I was 11 years old. 55 00:02:51,120 - > 00:02:56,000 By the time I was 14 or 15, I was a pretty skilled framing 56 00:02:56,000 - > 00:02:56,879 carpenter. 57 00:02:57,360 - > 00:03:05,360 And at 16 years old, in the summer of 86, I was hired by a 58 00:03:05,360 - > 00:03:06,319 general contractor. 59 00:03:06,400 - > 00:03:10,000 I'm 16 years old at the time, and I'm hired by a general 60 00:03:10,000 - > 00:03:16,400 contractor to be the framing subcontractor on a house at uh a 61 00:03:16,400 - > 00:03:18,319 lake in Macon, Georgia. 62 00:03:18,479 - > 00:03:25,919 It was a big house, very complex roof system, and I just can't 63 00:03:25,919 - > 00:03:29,919 picture someone hiring a 16-year-old to do a job like 64 00:03:29,919 - > 00:03:34,639 that, where I had to hire my people, make payroll, and get 65 00:03:34,639 - > 00:03:37,199 the job done at 16 years old. 66 00:03:37,439 - > 00:03:41,120 So it kind of goes back to that point, actually, you know. 67 00:03:41,360 - > 00:03:41,599 Wow. 68 00:03:42,240 - > 00:03:47,759 It's a it was a it was a it was a very interesting time in my 69 00:03:47,759 - > 00:03:49,280 life because I was still in high school. 70 00:03:49,439 - > 00:03:50,879 I was out for the summer. 71 00:03:51,199 - > 00:03:55,680 And uh, you know, I put it this way, you couldn't tell me 72 00:03:55,680 - > 00:03:56,560 anything. 73 00:03:58,159 - > 00:04:01,120 SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I bet yeah, I bet that was yeah, I'm sure, 74 00:04:01,199 - > 00:04:02,800 yeah, I'm sure you couldn't. 75 00:04:03,039 - > 00:04:08,719 So you're you're actually your your your first first kind of 76 00:04:08,719 - > 00:04:13,919 experience into owning your your own business actually came 77 00:04:13,919 - > 00:04:18,000 before wasn't the landscaping and the healthcare and all that 78 00:04:18,000 - > 00:04:18,240 stuff. 79 00:04:18,399 - > 00:04:20,800 It was it was when you were 16 years old. 80 00:04:21,120 - > 00:04:21,519 That's right. 81 00:04:21,759 - > 00:04:22,000 Wow. 82 00:04:22,160 - > 00:04:26,160 Yeah, wow, that's that's amaz that's that that's amazing. 83 00:04:27,839 - > 00:04:33,519 So so you're running a business, then you shift into into the 84 00:04:33,759 - > 00:04:37,680 into the to the emergency field with well the law enforcement 85 00:04:37,680 - > 00:04:41,439 and the and the paramedic field, and then you decide to get out 86 00:04:41,439 - > 00:04:45,920 of that though after and that kind of that that that surprised 87 00:04:46,160 - > 00:04:47,279 a lot of people. 88 00:04:47,759 - > 00:04:49,040 Talk about that shift. 89 00:04:49,199 - > 00:04:53,519 What what was that shift about from emergency management and 90 00:04:53,519 - > 00:04:57,519 law enforcement to, you know, I guess being grown up at that 91 00:04:57,519 - > 00:04:58,240 point, right? 92 00:04:58,480 - > 00:05:00,319 And owning your own business. 93 00:05:00,800 - > 00:05:04,399 SPEAKER_01: You know, it it started, I'll I'll go back to 94 00:05:04,399 - > 00:05:06,560 before I got into law enforcement. 95 00:05:06,800 - > 00:05:10,800 It was October the 19th, 1989. 96 00:05:11,199 - > 00:05:15,600 The the guy that was the plumbing contractor on the 97 00:05:15,600 - > 00:05:18,639 apartments that I was talking about previously that I was 98 00:05:18,639 - > 00:05:24,000 working on with my dad, I was going down Columbus Road that 99 00:05:24,000 - > 00:05:30,399 evening, and I came across a car accident where a car had been 100 00:05:30,399 - > 00:05:33,360 struck by a lumber truck of all things. 101 00:05:34,000 - > 00:05:38,240 And this friend of mine that was the plumbing contractor, his 102 00:05:38,240 - > 00:05:42,000 wife and mother-in-law and two sons were they were all killed. 103 00:05:42,720 - > 00:05:43,519 SPEAKER_00: Oh wow. 104 00:05:44,879 - > 00:05:45,519 SPEAKER_01: Yeah. 105 00:05:47,680 - > 00:05:48,879 That's a tough one. 106 00:05:49,120 - > 00:05:58,720 But anyway, I I made a decision that day that I was going to be 107 00:05:58,720 - > 00:06:01,920 able to help people in those times of need because when I 108 00:06:01,920 - > 00:06:06,319 pulled up on that accident scene, I'm trying to help. 109 00:06:06,560 - > 00:06:11,040 I was 19 years old and just really couldn't do anything. 110 00:06:11,120 - > 00:06:14,000 So when the firefighters got there and the paramedics got 111 00:06:14,000 - > 00:06:18,240 there, I was like, man, I feel like I really need to do this. 112 00:06:19,040 - > 00:06:22,160 So the law enforcement part comes about. 113 00:06:22,319 - > 00:06:25,120 I applied for the Macon Vib County Fire Department. 114 00:06:25,199 - > 00:06:28,399 It's a Class One fire department, top-of-the-line fire 115 00:06:28,399 - > 00:06:28,959 department. 116 00:06:29,120 - > 00:06:33,519 And I went through the entire process, and when I received my 117 00:06:33,519 - > 00:06:37,839 letter saying I was on the list to be hired, it basically 118 00:06:37,839 - > 00:06:41,600 stated, Congratulations, you're on the list to be hired for the 119 00:06:41,680 - > 00:06:43,600 Macon Vib County Fire Department. 120 00:06:43,839 - > 00:06:46,399 The waiting list is approximately five years. 121 00:07:09,040 - > 00:07:13,759 So I spent just two years at the police department, then 122 00:07:13,759 - > 00:07:15,040 transferred to the fire department. 123 00:07:15,120 - > 00:07:18,319 So that's actually why I ended up in law enforcement with that. 124 00:07:19,360 - > 00:07:19,519 SPEAKER_00: Okay. 125 00:07:19,759 - > 00:07:23,199 It was it was a it was a a stop gap to kind of pay the bills, 126 00:07:23,279 - > 00:07:24,160 the bills a little bit. 127 00:07:24,319 - > 00:07:26,079 Totally, yeah, totally get it. 128 00:07:26,639 - > 00:07:29,759 Well, the I mean the the motivation obviously for for 129 00:07:29,759 - > 00:07:32,560 getting to that point in your story, yeah. 130 00:07:32,639 - > 00:07:35,759 I mean, I man, that's that, you know, I get that. 131 00:07:36,000 - > 00:07:37,360 So what caused the shift? 132 00:07:37,519 - > 00:07:40,480 It was it just I don't want to say burnout, because there is a 133 00:07:40,480 - > 00:07:42,240 lot of burnout in those jobs, right? 134 00:07:42,480 - > 00:07:46,240 I mean, what caused the shift from you know from when you you 135 00:07:46,240 - > 00:07:49,680 got out of that to to the part of owning your own business? 136 00:07:50,079 - > 00:07:54,000 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so 10 years with the city of making and 137 00:07:54,000 - > 00:07:56,879 working with the fire department, we worked 24-hour 138 00:07:56,879 - > 00:08:00,240 shifts, so we worked 24 and we're all for 48 hours. 139 00:08:00,399 - > 00:08:04,560 And for a considerable amount of time, I would work 24 at the 140 00:08:04,560 - > 00:08:08,000 fire department, go straight to the ambulance service, work 24, 141 00:08:08,160 - > 00:08:10,560 and then I would be old for 24 hours. 142 00:08:10,800 - > 00:08:12,480 Or I would go freeing. 143 00:08:12,560 - > 00:08:15,120 You know, I was still kind of doing that too. 144 00:08:15,600 - > 00:08:20,800 And then eventually I left the fire department after I was 145 00:08:20,800 - > 00:08:26,160 vested 10 years so I could get my fire department retirement at 146 00:08:26,160 - > 00:08:29,279 one day, or the fire pension fund retirement, which isn't 147 00:08:29,279 - > 00:08:29,600 much. 148 00:08:29,839 - > 00:08:34,720 But at that point I went to the hospital full-time as a 149 00:08:34,720 - > 00:08:38,720 paramedic because at 10 years with the city of making the fire 150 00:08:38,720 - > 00:08:41,279 department, I was only making $24,000 a year. 151 00:08:42,240 - > 00:08:47,919 And went to the hospital as a paramedic and double my pay. 152 00:08:48,240 - > 00:08:55,360 And at that point, I have a large yard at my house, so I cut 153 00:08:55,360 - > 00:08:55,919 a lot of grass. 154 00:08:56,000 - > 00:08:59,360 So I started cutting my grass with commercial equipment, and a 155 00:08:59,360 - > 00:09:02,159 couple of neighbors, you know, started asking me about cutting 156 00:09:02,159 - > 00:09:02,639 their grass. 157 00:09:02,879 - > 00:09:06,879 Next thing I know, I'm cutting grass every day's off. 158 00:09:07,519 - > 00:09:09,919 SPEAKER_00: You started a lawn care business and didn't mean 159 00:09:09,919 - > 00:09:10,639 to, right? 160 00:09:11,120 - > 00:09:13,519 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and the crazy thing, man, I would go to 161 00:09:13,519 - > 00:09:17,679 people's house and I would say, Well, do you do you not have 162 00:09:17,679 - > 00:09:20,080 someone currently that does this service for you? 163 00:09:20,240 - > 00:09:24,960 And almost every person would say, Yes, I do, but I never know 164 00:09:24,960 - > 00:09:26,320 when they're gonna be here. 165 00:09:26,960 - > 00:09:31,200 So automatically I thought, well, I need to let people know 166 00:09:31,200 - > 00:09:34,879 when I'm gonna be there, let them actually choose the day and 167 00:09:34,879 - > 00:09:36,000 the approximate time. 168 00:09:36,159 - > 00:09:39,120 So that's that was the core of starting that business. 169 00:09:39,279 - > 00:09:42,000 I would say, well, what day would you like, you know, your 170 00:09:42,000 - > 00:09:42,879 yard serviced? 171 00:09:42,960 - > 00:09:46,000 And they would tell me a day, and then like if they said 10 172 00:09:46,000 - > 00:09:49,120 a.m., then I'd be like, Well, give me a window between nine 173 00:09:49,120 - > 00:09:49,919 and eleven. 174 00:09:50,080 - > 00:09:50,639 SPEAKER_00: Yeah. 175 00:09:50,960 - > 00:09:55,200 SPEAKER_01: And and it it became very, very successful. 176 00:09:55,440 - > 00:10:02,000 So first year, about$36,000 in total grass, you know, services 177 00:10:02,000 - > 00:10:02,480 rendered. 178 00:10:02,720 - > 00:10:02,960 SPEAKER_00: Wow. 179 00:10:03,200 - > 00:10:06,639 SPEAKER_01: Year seven, it was year seven, it was over four 180 00:10:06,639 - > 00:10:07,120 million. 181 00:10:07,600 - > 00:10:08,399 Oh, wow. 182 00:10:08,879 - > 00:10:09,840 SPEAKER_00: That's amazing. 183 00:10:10,000 - > 00:10:16,480 And then to the shock of everybody, you're running this 184 00:10:16,480 - > 00:10:19,039 business, you're getting you're you're successful. 185 00:10:19,279 - > 00:10:22,559 I mean, when you cut four million dollars worth of grass 186 00:10:22,639 - > 00:10:25,279 or do four million dollars worth of landscaping, heck, if you do 187 00:10:25,279 - > 00:10:27,759 four million dollars worth of anything during the year, you're 188 00:10:27,759 - > 00:10:28,960 pretty successful. 189 00:10:29,360 - > 00:10:31,360 You decide to become a nurse. 190 00:10:32,399 - > 00:10:34,799 Walk me through that decision. 191 00:10:35,440 - > 00:10:41,120 SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah, it was a lot, man, because doing the 192 00:10:41,120 - > 00:10:43,759 landscaping, I had other business opportunities. 193 00:10:44,159 - > 00:10:48,799 One opportunity, we had a new cardiologist move into our area, 194 00:10:48,879 - > 00:10:53,679 and I met her and her husband, and he ended up talking me into 195 00:10:53,919 - > 00:10:55,440 a business with him. 196 00:10:55,679 - > 00:11:00,879 So we opened a health club, and it was called Kinetics Health 197 00:11:00,879 - > 00:11:01,200 Club. 198 00:11:01,360 - > 00:11:06,399 It was in Macon, Georgia, and that was in the summer of 2005. 199 00:11:07,600 - > 00:11:13,120 And when I made the decision, or we made the decision to sell 200 00:11:13,279 - > 00:11:16,480 that business, we had health clubs all the way from Virginia 201 00:11:16,480 - > 00:11:17,600 to Tallahassee. 202 00:11:17,840 - > 00:11:18,639 Gosh. 203 00:11:19,039 - > 00:11:22,159 I mean, it's just crazy how the Lord works that way. 204 00:11:22,720 - > 00:11:25,039 SPEAKER_00: Oh man, absolutely, absolutely. 205 00:11:25,600 - > 00:11:26,960 Absolutely. 206 00:11:27,279 - > 00:11:32,320 So this is this is what I want the folks that are gonna be 207 00:11:32,320 - > 00:11:34,960 watching and listening this to really sit with. 208 00:11:36,159 - > 00:11:40,639 You weren't 20 years old, 22 years old when you applied to 209 00:11:40,639 - > 00:11:41,840 nursing school. 210 00:11:42,639 - > 00:11:46,480 You had a career, you you had a career, you had a business, you 211 00:11:46,480 - > 00:11:47,600 had built a reputation. 212 00:11:47,759 - > 00:11:54,480 I mean, you had a nice life from the material side of things. 213 00:11:55,440 - > 00:12:00,320 What did people say when you told them, hey, I'm gonna go and 214 00:12:00,320 - > 00:12:04,159 apply to nursing school, and this is what I want to do. 215 00:12:04,320 - > 00:12:06,559 What what was the first reaction? 216 00:12:07,679 - > 00:12:10,799 SPEAKER_01: Well, I had a lot of reactions, but I can tell you 217 00:12:10,799 - > 00:12:15,360 that the reaction from Brock was, man, you're gonna kill it. 218 00:12:15,440 - > 00:12:16,639 You're gonna do awesome. 219 00:12:18,639 - > 00:12:22,399 And but I did have a lot of naysayers as well. 220 00:12:22,720 - > 00:12:29,919 But it it had gotten to a point to where I knew the successes of 221 00:12:29,919 - > 00:12:34,080 being in an entrepreneur and owning your own business, but I 222 00:12:34,080 - > 00:12:37,279 also knew the difficulties associated with it. 223 00:12:37,440 - > 00:12:41,840 It's feast or famine, and you really have to hustle for a 224 00:12:41,840 - > 00:12:45,600 dollar, you know, almost I mean, every day. 225 00:12:45,919 - > 00:12:50,399 And at the same time, it takes all of your time. 226 00:12:50,879 - > 00:12:53,759 I had just gone through a divorce. 227 00:12:53,840 - > 00:12:59,440 I had been married for almost 23 years, and when we got a 228 00:12:59,440 - > 00:13:05,919 divorce, I got custody of my girls, and I needed to make a 229 00:13:05,919 - > 00:13:13,360 couple of changes, and one of them was a career change for not 230 00:13:13,360 - > 00:13:17,679 only just wanting to have something a little more stable 231 00:13:17,679 - > 00:13:24,480 and settled and a little more time with my kids, but I wanted 232 00:13:24,480 - > 00:13:27,519 to do do the thing that I have enjoyed the most. 233 00:13:27,679 - > 00:13:30,159 You know, we talked about framing and law enforcement, 234 00:13:30,320 - > 00:13:34,080 firefighting, and paramedic and owning my own business, but the 235 00:13:34,080 - > 00:13:38,159 one thing that I always enjoyed the most that I felt like I was 236 00:13:38,159 - > 00:13:44,080 just built for it was helping people and taking care of people 237 00:13:44,080 - > 00:13:44,960 in health care. 238 00:13:45,440 - > 00:13:49,039 So I decided at that point, you know what, that's the one thing 239 00:13:49,039 - > 00:13:51,759 I loved, and I'm going to do it. 240 00:13:52,240 - > 00:13:55,279 That's I will I was 43 years old. 241 00:13:55,600 - > 00:13:56,240 SPEAKER_00: 43. 242 00:13:56,399 - > 00:13:58,960 That's that's that is an amazing story. 243 00:13:59,279 - > 00:14:01,919 So doubt. 244 00:14:03,200 - > 00:14:06,639 Even though you don't seem like the type of guy that carries a 245 00:14:06,639 - > 00:14:07,440 lot of self-doubt. 246 00:14:07,600 - > 00:14:12,320 You you seemed like the type of person that you're gonna find a 247 00:14:12,320 - > 00:14:13,919 way to figure it out and work it out. 248 00:14:14,240 - > 00:14:21,519 But there had to be folks around you that were that were doubting 249 00:14:21,519 - > 00:14:21,679 you. 250 00:14:21,840 - > 00:14:25,759 Was there ever any doubt that crept in into your mind when you 251 00:14:25,759 - > 00:14:29,279 were going back at 43 years old, sitting in, sitting in class, 252 00:14:29,440 - > 00:14:30,799 taking tests, studying? 253 00:14:30,960 - > 00:14:34,240 Was there ever any doubt that crept into your mind? 254 00:14:34,799 - > 00:14:36,240 SPEAKER_01: Absolutely not. 255 00:14:36,480 - > 00:14:36,799 SPEAKER_00: Yeah. 256 00:14:37,039 - > 00:14:37,440 None. 257 00:14:37,759 - > 00:14:40,639 Yeah, I didn't I didn't think so, but I'm sure there were, I'm 258 00:14:40,639 - > 00:14:44,000 sure there were still folks around you that were that that 259 00:14:44,000 - > 00:14:45,120 doubted you. 260 00:14:45,519 - > 00:14:49,039 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I guess those those individuals, even if they 261 00:14:49,039 - > 00:14:53,600 knew me well, and and even if they knew that I would be 262 00:14:53,600 - > 00:14:56,960 successful in it, they just didn't understand the reasoning 263 00:14:56,960 - > 00:14:57,919 behind it. 264 00:14:58,240 - > 00:14:58,559 Yeah. 265 00:14:58,960 - > 00:15:05,360 Because the reasoning was more to do with what do what do you 266 00:15:05,360 - > 00:15:07,840 feel like you were put on this earth to do? 267 00:15:08,080 - > 00:15:08,720 Yeah. 268 00:15:10,240 - > 00:15:14,240 SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and that's you know, I've so this is I've done 269 00:15:14,240 - > 00:15:17,919 the audio podcast for about a year now or nine months. 270 00:15:18,320 - > 00:15:22,320 This is the second podcast I've done with video. 271 00:15:22,960 - > 00:15:27,600 And across the top of our our pictures there, I've got, I 272 00:15:27,759 - > 00:15:28,399 pulled a quote. 273 00:15:28,480 - > 00:15:32,480 I kind of read the the questions and I pulled a quote that I that 274 00:15:32,480 - > 00:15:35,679 I'm gonna change every every month when I do this. 275 00:15:35,759 - > 00:15:38,639 And it says, Great leadership isn't about climbing higher. 276 00:15:38,799 - > 00:15:42,080 It's about being willing to start over when purpose calls. 277 00:15:42,480 - > 00:15:45,679 And and so it was it was definitely a calling in your 278 00:15:45,679 - > 00:15:50,320 life to to to to serve serve others from a from a health 279 00:15:50,320 - > 00:15:50,799 perspective. 280 00:15:50,879 - > 00:15:54,240 Because that that's played a major role, not only you know, 281 00:15:54,399 - > 00:15:58,879 early on, but then with the with the with the shift. 282 00:15:59,039 - > 00:16:01,759 And so when you feel the calling, man, you feel the 283 00:16:01,759 - > 00:16:02,480 calling, right? 284 00:16:02,639 - > 00:16:03,919 I mean, that's that's how it is. 285 00:16:04,320 - > 00:16:05,840 Yeah, yeah, that's how it is. 286 00:16:06,399 - > 00:16:08,399 So you have a philosophy. 287 00:16:09,679 - > 00:16:13,519 Positive thoughts produce positive outcomes. 288 00:16:14,399 - > 00:16:17,919 Is that where is this where the whole that whole philosophy 289 00:16:17,919 - > 00:16:22,240 comes from, or was it something from the earlier days or just 290 00:16:22,240 - > 00:16:26,320 something else that occurred in your life that you know that 291 00:16:26,399 - > 00:16:29,039 that that kind of produced this philosophy? 292 00:16:29,600 - > 00:16:35,440 SPEAKER_01: I think that, you know, my my my total philosophy 293 00:16:35,440 - > 00:16:40,960 on that is is positive thoughts produce positive outcomes, just 294 00:16:40,960 - > 00:16:44,000 as negative thoughts produce negative outcomes. 295 00:16:44,320 - > 00:16:47,279 So choose your thought process wisely. 296 00:16:47,600 - > 00:16:48,720 SPEAKER_00: Wow, yeah. 297 00:16:49,120 - > 00:16:56,080 SPEAKER_01: That goes back when I was a a kid, 12 years old, I 298 00:16:56,080 - > 00:17:01,440 was drag racing a for people in your audience that know uh 299 00:17:01,440 - > 00:17:09,440 motorcycles, when I was 12 years old, I had a Suzuki GS 1100 drag 300 00:17:09,839 - > 00:17:10,160 rider. 301 00:17:11,039 - > 00:17:19,039 So I I was very small and uh it was very dangerous, but I began 302 00:17:19,039 - > 00:17:23,680 racing then and I met a guy named George Bryce. 303 00:17:24,640 - > 00:17:29,920 George Bryce then had just started a new business called 304 00:17:29,920 - > 00:17:32,480 Star Racing in America's Georgia. 305 00:17:32,799 - > 00:17:38,720 And George and his team went on to be the what I call the Dale 306 00:17:38,880 - > 00:17:43,039 Earnhardt of NHRAX motorcycle racing. 307 00:17:43,279 - > 00:17:48,880 He won 83 national events, six world championships, was 308 00:17:49,039 - > 00:17:53,680 sponsored by Winston, one of the best teams in the world. 309 00:17:54,000 - > 00:18:01,839 And George taught me a lot about positive thinking and producing 310 00:18:01,839 - > 00:18:05,920 positive results, specifically related to drag racing. 311 00:18:06,400 - > 00:18:08,160 And it's it's true. 312 00:18:08,480 - > 00:18:13,680 So I just kind of took it a step further and just tried to tried 313 00:18:13,680 - > 00:18:16,720 to play that about every scenario. 314 00:18:16,960 - > 00:18:22,160 And and it it has proved to be true with me. 315 00:18:22,400 - > 00:18:27,440 And I I'll tell you a story one day my daughters came home from 316 00:18:27,440 - > 00:18:30,480 school, and one of my daughters was saying, you know, so-and-so 317 00:18:30,720 - > 00:18:33,119 did something, and they made me mad today. 318 00:18:33,680 - > 00:18:35,839 And I'm like, well, sweetie, hold on a minute. 319 00:18:36,000 - > 00:18:40,000 You know, they might have done something, but you chose to be 320 00:18:40,000 - > 00:18:40,319 mad. 321 00:18:40,799 - > 00:18:42,400 They didn't make you mad. 322 00:18:42,640 - > 00:18:46,000 You chose to be mad, and you could have chosen not to be mad 323 00:18:46,000 - > 00:18:46,640 as well. 324 00:18:46,960 - > 00:18:50,799 So I think there's so many aspects of positive thinking. 325 00:18:50,880 - > 00:18:53,920 You know, is the glass half full, is the glass half empty? 326 00:18:54,240 - > 00:18:58,400 But I just feel like that if you have a positive thought process, 327 00:18:58,799 - > 00:19:00,480 you're gonna have a positive outcome. 328 00:19:00,559 - > 00:19:03,759 You never want to start a project with a negative thought 329 00:19:03,759 - > 00:19:04,240 behind it. 330 00:19:04,880 - > 00:19:07,839 SPEAKER_00: No, that's a that's a that's a one strike or a 331 00:19:07,839 - > 00:19:10,960 dagger or whatever you want to, whatever you want to call it. 332 00:19:11,119 - > 00:19:14,799 If you start a project or start something like that with 333 00:19:15,440 - > 00:19:18,319 negative feelings, you're you're behind the curve already. 334 00:19:18,480 - > 00:19:21,279 Yeah, totally, totally agree with you there. 335 00:19:22,960 - > 00:19:28,960 So you go to nursing school, first shift as registered nurse, 336 00:19:29,440 - > 00:19:31,359 level one trauma center. 337 00:19:31,599 - > 00:19:31,839 Yeah. 338 00:19:32,000 - > 00:19:34,240 You're in your you're in your 40s. 339 00:19:34,400 - > 00:19:34,640 unknown: Yeah. 340 00:19:35,519 - > 00:19:37,920 SPEAKER_00: Most of your colleagues have been doing this 341 00:19:37,920 - > 00:19:41,440 since their 20s, and or either in their 20s or young, or 342 00:19:41,440 - > 00:19:43,359 they've been doing it for a while. 343 00:19:44,160 - > 00:19:46,079 Paint the picture for me, man. 344 00:19:46,720 - > 00:19:49,440 What was it like that first shift? 345 00:19:50,160 - > 00:19:50,480 Man. 346 00:19:51,519 - > 00:19:53,440 Because you had been now now now. 347 00:19:53,519 - > 00:19:54,559 Let me just step back. 348 00:19:54,720 - > 00:19:57,920 You had been a paramedic, so you had it wasn't like you weren't 349 00:19:57,920 - > 00:20:03,200 used to emergency response situations, but but you may have 350 00:20:03,200 - > 00:20:06,799 been the lead or you may have been over time learned that, but 351 00:20:06,799 - > 00:20:08,720 you're stepping in as the rookie. 352 00:20:08,960 - > 00:20:12,720 And uh, you know, at age 40, it's like the the rookie ball 353 00:20:12,720 - > 00:20:16,079 player getting caught up to the big leagues at age 40, 42, and 354 00:20:16,160 - > 00:20:19,279 and and pinch hitting, but you were coming in with all these 355 00:20:19,279 - > 00:20:21,920 young guns to talk talk about that. 356 00:20:22,240 - > 00:20:27,839 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, even before I passed the boards and and got my 357 00:20:27,839 - > 00:20:32,640 nursing license, I went back to work in the level one trauma 358 00:20:32,640 - > 00:20:38,400 center at the medical center of central Georgia as a clinical 359 00:20:38,400 - > 00:20:39,759 tech, a CNA. 360 00:20:40,160 - > 00:20:40,480 SPEAKER_00: Okay. 361 00:20:41,039 - > 00:20:47,359 SPEAKER_01: I felt like for several reasons, I needed to go 362 00:20:47,680 - > 00:20:51,119 into that environment extremely humble. 363 00:20:52,000 - > 00:20:59,039 And no better way to do that than not walking the door as a 364 00:20:59,039 - > 00:21:02,160 registered nurse, but walk in the door as a CNA. 365 00:21:03,039 - > 00:21:07,359 A lot of the people that worked in there knew me as a paramedic 366 00:21:07,680 - > 00:21:09,759 and had known me for years. 367 00:21:11,200 - > 00:21:15,119 I just felt like it was important to gain the respect of 368 00:21:15,119 - > 00:21:18,880 not only the physicians and the advanced practice providers, the 369 00:21:18,880 - > 00:21:22,559 nursing staff, but also the clinical techs, the 370 00:21:22,559 - > 00:21:25,359 environmental services teammates, dietary. 371 00:21:26,160 - > 00:21:31,119 I wanted to start as well at the at the most beginning level that 372 00:21:31,119 - > 00:21:32,400 I could start at. 373 00:21:33,039 - > 00:21:35,920 And I am so glad I did that, man. 374 00:21:36,319 - > 00:21:37,680 So glad I did that. 375 00:21:38,000 - > 00:21:40,480 SPEAKER_00: I mean, it helps you with that, but but you know, 376 00:21:40,640 - > 00:21:44,640 hindsight and you know, reflecting on it, it's it had to 377 00:21:44,640 - > 00:21:46,720 help you with the current position you're in now, too. 378 00:21:46,799 - > 00:21:49,279 I mean, it just I mean Yeah, yeah. 379 00:21:49,359 - > 00:21:51,920 I mean, that's just I mean, that's yeah, that's powerful, 380 00:21:52,160 - > 00:21:52,480 man. 381 00:21:53,039 - > 00:21:56,880 So here's something I want to want to I think about a lot. 382 00:21:57,039 - > 00:22:01,119 So you've you've now led teams, you've now Leading teams of your 383 00:22:01,119 - > 00:22:02,319 own, obviously. 384 00:22:02,559 - > 00:22:06,240 When you see someone on one of your teams at a crossroads 385 00:22:06,559 - > 00:22:11,119 considering a big change that others might, you know, might 386 00:22:11,119 - > 00:22:16,079 question, you know, the natural action as a as a one type of 387 00:22:16,079 - > 00:22:19,920 boss or supervisor, you obviously don't want to lose 388 00:22:19,920 - > 00:22:23,359 that employee because there may be a lot of time, money, efforts 389 00:22:23,359 - > 00:22:25,680 invested in that person to get them there. 390 00:22:25,920 - > 00:22:30,720 But as a I don't want to say a caring boss, but as a as a 391 00:22:30,720 - > 00:22:35,279 supervisor who is there and is looking out for the betterment 392 00:22:35,279 - > 00:22:38,799 of the folks that work with them, you want the best for 393 00:22:38,799 - > 00:22:39,039 them. 394 00:22:39,359 - > 00:22:46,160 So what's what's your advice or any experience on folks that 395 00:22:46,160 - > 00:22:49,599 you've worked with over the last several years that have maybe 396 00:22:49,599 - > 00:22:53,440 been in the same sort of situation that Tog has been in, 397 00:22:53,839 - > 00:22:56,960 contemplating major career life changes? 398 00:22:57,119 - > 00:22:59,359 And what advice have you given them? 399 00:23:00,640 - > 00:23:08,640 SPEAKER_01: Man, I am so blessed by the opportunities that I've 400 00:23:08,640 - > 00:23:16,240 had to encourage people and um lift people up. 401 00:23:17,279 - > 00:23:23,759 I I get, Steve, I get so many messages weekly out of the blue. 402 00:23:23,839 - > 00:23:25,440 I just forget about these things. 403 00:23:25,599 - > 00:23:30,319 Whereas somebody will message me last week, I had someone message 404 00:23:30,319 - > 00:23:35,200 me, you know, all of the successes that I've had. 405 00:23:35,359 - > 00:23:39,440 I went from a shy nurse to a clinical lead, an educator. 406 00:23:39,599 - > 00:23:40,960 Now I'm a nurse manager. 407 00:23:41,119 - > 00:23:44,000 I would not have accomplished anything like that if you hadn't 408 00:23:44,000 - > 00:23:44,960 believed in me. 409 00:23:45,200 - > 00:23:49,279 Those things are and they're just life-changing 410 00:23:49,279 - > 00:23:50,000 opportunities. 411 00:23:50,160 - > 00:23:56,880 And I I had a I I had just gotten promoted to director of 412 00:23:56,880 - > 00:23:57,759 oncology. 413 00:23:58,319 - > 00:24:04,640 And when I took that position, uh, one of the uh nurse managers 414 00:24:04,640 - > 00:24:10,720 told me, she said, you have one teammate that's out on maternity 415 00:24:10,720 - > 00:24:15,839 leave, but when she comes back, she wants to transfer out of 416 00:24:15,839 - > 00:24:19,599 this department, still within the organization, but to a 417 00:24:19,599 - > 00:24:24,240 hospital about 30 miles away, because she just had her second 418 00:24:24,240 - > 00:24:28,240 child and she wants to schedule to be able to spend more time 419 00:24:28,240 - > 00:24:28,799 with the child. 420 00:24:28,880 - > 00:24:31,759 So a few weeks later, her name's Chelsea. 421 00:24:31,920 - > 00:24:33,039 Chelsea called me. 422 00:24:33,119 - > 00:24:38,160 I had never met Chelsea before, and Chelsea called me and I 423 00:24:38,160 - > 00:24:39,039 answered the phone. 424 00:24:39,119 - > 00:24:40,079 I knew it was her. 425 00:24:40,319 - > 00:24:44,480 My assistant had told me it was her, and I said, Well, are you 426 00:24:44,480 - > 00:24:46,960 ready for me to sign your transfer paperwork? 427 00:24:47,119 - > 00:24:50,319 And she said, Well, I want to ask you about something. 428 00:24:50,559 - > 00:24:51,440 I said, Okay. 429 00:24:51,920 - > 00:24:58,160 She said, I would rather stay in oncology, but she said, There's 430 00:24:58,160 - > 00:24:58,799 a problem. 431 00:24:59,119 - > 00:25:00,640 Okay, what's the problem? 432 00:25:00,880 - > 00:25:06,000 She said, I can't work a weekend shift for at least six months. 433 00:25:06,400 - > 00:25:08,160 And I said, Okay, that's no problem. 434 00:25:08,319 - > 00:25:09,119 Well, it's done. 435 00:25:09,279 - > 00:25:11,039 She was like, What do you mean it's done? 436 00:25:11,200 - > 00:25:12,480 And I was like, Done. 437 00:25:12,640 - > 00:25:14,160 Like, I'll prove it. 438 00:25:14,559 - > 00:25:18,400 And her, she said, well, you don't have to ask Deborah. 439 00:25:18,559 - > 00:25:21,920 So Deborah was the vice president that I reported to. 440 00:25:22,400 - > 00:25:24,160 And this is exactly what I told her. 441 00:25:24,319 - > 00:25:26,799 I said, Why the hell am I gonna ask Deborah? 442 00:25:26,960 - > 00:25:28,319 She's gonna say no. 443 00:25:28,960 - > 00:25:32,079 I'm not asking her, I'm just gonna do it. 444 00:25:32,640 - > 00:25:36,799 And that person, instead of transferring to a different 445 00:25:36,799 - > 00:25:40,880 facility, she stayed with me. 446 00:25:41,440 - > 00:25:45,279 Six months later, she became the clinical lead educator on the 447 00:25:45,279 - > 00:25:45,839 unit. 448 00:25:46,160 - > 00:25:49,519 About a year after that, she became the nurse manager working 449 00:25:49,519 - > 00:25:50,880 on the unit for me. 450 00:25:51,359 - > 00:25:56,640 Now, I don't know if if you're familiar, but a lot of nurses 451 00:25:56,640 - > 00:25:59,359 graduate, even though the nursing program, all the 452 00:25:59,359 - > 00:26:02,559 prerequisites in the nursing program, it ends up being four 453 00:26:02,559 - > 00:26:04,400 years of full-time college. 454 00:26:04,880 - > 00:26:07,920 A lot of the programs, when you graduate, you have an 455 00:26:07,920 - > 00:26:09,359 associate's degree. 456 00:26:10,079 - > 00:26:12,480 And she had an associate's degree. 457 00:26:12,640 - > 00:26:15,839 Well, I knew she could not go higher than nurse manager with 458 00:26:15,839 - > 00:26:17,599 an associate's degree. 459 00:26:18,000 - > 00:26:22,880 So I called her to my office one day, and I had pulled up the 460 00:26:23,200 - > 00:26:29,119 admissions for Western Governors University, and I got all of her 461 00:26:29,119 - > 00:26:33,839 information out of our HR file, and I signed her up for a 462 00:26:33,839 - > 00:26:38,480 program that would take her from associate's degree to master's 463 00:26:38,480 - > 00:26:39,279 degree. 464 00:26:40,480 - > 00:26:45,599 And when I left director of oncology into the position I'm 465 00:26:45,599 - > 00:26:50,000 in now, because she had her degree, at that point, she was 466 00:26:50,000 - > 00:26:53,119 able to become the director of oncology. 467 00:26:53,599 - > 00:26:55,920 SPEAKER_00: So that man, that that's a wonderful story. 468 00:26:56,000 - > 00:26:59,359 And and she would probably she would probably do anything for 469 00:26:59,359 - > 00:27:03,279 you in this world because you because because the investment 470 00:27:03,279 - > 00:27:03,759 of time. 471 00:27:42,480 - > 00:27:45,039 You've I mean, this is a loaded question. 472 00:27:45,279 - > 00:27:49,759 You found that to be true in your climb from staff nurse to 473 00:27:49,759 - > 00:27:51,119 COO, correct? 474 00:27:51,519 - > 00:27:52,400 SPEAKER_01: Absolutely. 475 00:27:52,640 - > 00:27:53,920 Absolutely, 100%. 476 00:27:55,440 - > 00:28:01,680 I uh man, when I came back to work at the hospital as the CNA 477 00:28:01,839 - > 00:28:08,880 clinical tech, nobody knew it, but every day when I put on my 478 00:28:08,880 - > 00:28:13,680 scrubs, I had a t-shirt that went under my scrubs that said 479 00:28:13,680 - > 00:28:14,559 110%. 480 00:28:17,119 - > 00:28:21,599 I had probably 10 of those shirts made, and I put it on 481 00:28:21,599 - > 00:28:27,039 every day and had to look myself in the mirror and you know 482 00:28:28,079 - > 00:28:32,640 commit to the patients deserve 110%. 483 00:28:34,160 - > 00:28:36,559 The people that I work with deserve 110%. 484 00:28:36,960 - > 00:28:40,640 And if I can't do that and commit to that, I am not going. 485 00:28:41,440 - > 00:28:47,200 And for three years, nobody ever knew I had that t-shirt on under 486 00:28:47,200 - > 00:28:47,680 my scrubs. 487 00:28:47,759 - > 00:28:51,359 I never worked a day without it on, not one day. 488 00:28:51,759 - > 00:28:57,759 And I was in the trauma bay that day and just got my scrubs just 489 00:28:57,759 - > 00:29:01,759 completely soiled, and I had to change into some of those 490 00:29:01,759 - > 00:29:04,559 operating room scrubs, the ugly green looking scrubs. 491 00:29:05,599 - > 00:29:12,160 And um the rector of the level one trauma center, he happened 492 00:29:12,160 - > 00:29:14,799 to walk in when I was putting my scrub top on. 493 00:29:14,960 - > 00:29:17,599 He's like, What's that t-shirt you got right there? 494 00:29:17,759 - > 00:29:19,680 And I said, Oh man, it's just a t-shirt. 495 00:29:19,759 - > 00:29:20,480 You know how it is. 496 00:29:20,640 - > 00:29:23,039 He's like, I know you better than that, man. 497 00:29:25,440 - > 00:29:30,960 So I remember after the shift that day, I called Brock on my 498 00:29:30,960 - > 00:29:34,160 way home, and we were talking about it. 499 00:29:34,240 - > 00:29:37,359 And Brock said, Well, you know that awareness. 500 00:29:37,440 - > 00:29:41,279 Now he knows, man, that awareness is gonna be even more 501 00:29:41,279 - > 00:29:42,720 responsibility, you know. 502 00:29:43,200 - > 00:29:48,480 And and I got to thinking about it, and I was like, man, you're 503 00:29:48,480 - > 00:29:48,640 right. 504 00:29:48,880 - > 00:29:52,559 And so then everybody started finding out about my t-shirt. 505 00:29:52,640 - > 00:29:55,920 So I ended up making little bracelets, you know, these 506 00:29:55,920 - > 00:29:57,359 little rubber bracelets. 507 00:29:57,519 - > 00:30:00,480 And yeah, and when I see people going above and beyond, I would 508 00:30:00,480 - > 00:30:02,640 give them a 110% bracelet. 509 00:30:02,720 - > 00:30:06,079 And then I ended up, nurses love pens, so I had a bunch of lapel 510 00:30:06,319 - > 00:30:06,720 pens made. 511 00:30:06,799 - > 00:30:09,359 I have one on my jacket right now, 110%. 512 00:30:10,240 - > 00:30:14,160 So I I just believed in in giving that 110%. 513 00:30:14,559 - > 00:30:18,079 And it it's a big motivator, you know, people want to be on Club 514 00:30:18,079 - > 00:30:18,960 110. 515 00:30:19,680 - > 00:30:20,880 SPEAKER_00: That's that's awesome. 516 00:30:21,200 - > 00:30:24,160 And and and I want to talk about that, that drive, that drive, 517 00:30:24,240 - > 00:30:27,119 that 100%, 110% drive. 518 00:30:27,440 - > 00:30:32,480 So here's what the remarkable thing is about this, about the 519 00:30:32,480 - > 00:30:33,119 timeline. 520 00:30:33,359 - > 00:30:35,440 Timeline now, eight years. 521 00:30:36,079 - > 00:30:40,240 In eight years, you went from staff nurse to chief operating 522 00:30:40,240 - > 00:30:41,039 officer. 523 00:30:41,359 - > 00:30:41,920 Yeah. 524 00:30:42,400 - > 00:30:45,200 And that doesn't happen by accident. 525 00:30:45,359 - > 00:30:47,599 It happens by 110%. 526 00:30:49,119 - > 00:30:51,759 What what's what's driving that? 527 00:30:51,920 - > 00:30:53,039 What's the driver? 528 00:30:53,200 - > 00:30:55,359 I know we talked about purpose and stuff like that. 529 00:30:55,519 - > 00:30:57,039 Is that is that what's driving it? 530 00:30:57,200 - > 00:31:03,119 Tell me what tell me what's driving Tog to do this in eight 531 00:31:03,119 - > 00:31:03,759 years. 532 00:31:06,000 - > 00:31:10,720 SPEAKER_01: Man, you know, there's there's so many parts to 533 00:31:10,720 - > 00:31:11,039 that. 534 00:31:12,000 - > 00:31:16,480 You know, I can take it all the way back to, you know, 1970 and 535 00:31:16,880 - > 00:31:18,240 72 and 3. 536 00:31:18,559 - > 00:31:22,000 And those years were not real good for me. 537 00:31:25,599 - > 00:31:31,440 Man, my mom struggled, you know, several marriages, four kids, 538 00:31:31,920 - > 00:31:34,160 four kids, three different dads. 539 00:31:34,400 - > 00:31:36,480 My mom barely has a G D. 540 00:31:37,519 - > 00:31:41,279 But my older sister has a master's degree. 541 00:31:41,599 - > 00:31:43,279 She's also a nurse. 542 00:31:44,480 - > 00:31:47,519 My younger brother is a nurse practitioner. 543 00:31:47,599 - > 00:31:51,759 He has a master's degree, and he works with the trauma team in 544 00:31:51,759 - > 00:31:52,400 Macon. 545 00:31:52,480 - > 00:31:54,799 And my youngest sister is an attorney. 546 00:31:54,880 - > 00:31:59,039 She's actually the lead attorney general counsel for Stellanis 547 00:31:59,119 - > 00:32:02,880 Automotive Group, which is Dodge, Chrysler, G, Alfa Romeo, 548 00:32:03,039 - > 00:32:04,480 Fiat, Maserati. 549 00:32:05,359 - > 00:32:12,559 So I was the last kid of the four, even though I had had 550 00:32:12,559 - > 00:32:14,160 successes along the way. 551 00:32:14,960 - > 00:32:17,680 I was the last one that didn't have a master's degree. 552 00:32:17,759 - > 00:32:19,759 And I was like, come hell or how I work. 553 00:32:20,319 - > 00:32:26,240 My mom, my mom is going to have all of her kids at least have a 554 00:32:26,240 - > 00:32:27,279 master's degree. 555 00:32:27,440 - > 00:32:29,920 You know, so that was a big motivator for me. 556 00:32:30,160 - > 00:32:36,799 It wasn't about me or my successes, it was about how 557 00:32:36,799 - > 00:32:38,400 amazing my mom is. 558 00:32:38,720 - > 00:32:39,920 SPEAKER_00: That's awesome, man. 559 00:32:40,240 - > 00:32:42,960 That is an awesome, that is an awesome story. 560 00:32:43,119 - > 00:32:46,000 That is, that's that's fantastic. 561 00:32:48,000 - > 00:32:52,000 You've you've had to have come across some some pretty awesome 562 00:32:52,000 - > 00:32:55,039 leaders during this climb. 563 00:32:55,359 - > 00:32:57,759 Ones that have kind of shaped shaped you. 564 00:32:58,000 - > 00:32:58,160 unknown: Yeah. 565 00:32:58,400 - > 00:33:00,079 SPEAKER_00: The ones that have the ones that have kind of 566 00:33:00,079 - > 00:33:03,519 showed you what good leadership actually looks like. 567 00:33:04,240 - > 00:33:08,240 So I know you've probably come across several. 568 00:33:08,720 - > 00:33:12,160 Think about one or two that come to mind and why. 569 00:33:12,480 - > 00:33:14,480 SPEAKER_01: Well, I'll go back to George Bryce. 570 00:33:14,880 - > 00:33:15,119 unknown: Yep. 571 00:33:15,839 - > 00:33:16,559 SPEAKER_00: You mentioned George. 572 00:33:17,039 - > 00:33:21,119 SPEAKER_01: Yep, and still have a wonderful relationship with 573 00:33:21,119 - > 00:33:22,400 George today. 574 00:33:22,640 - > 00:33:27,519 And another one I'd like to bring to the forefront is Johnny 575 00:33:27,759 - > 00:33:28,400 Williams. 576 00:33:28,799 - > 00:33:33,759 Johnny Williams is the director of the Level One Trauma Center 577 00:33:33,759 - > 00:33:34,559 in Macon. 578 00:33:35,039 - > 00:33:37,200 Now, funny story about Johnny. 579 00:33:37,519 - > 00:33:41,599 Brock and I have, we had an uncle, his name was Johnny, 580 00:33:41,680 - > 00:33:44,799 Johnny Goss, but his middle name was Frank, so we always called 581 00:33:44,799 - > 00:33:46,160 him Johnny Frank. 582 00:33:46,400 - > 00:33:53,359 And and as a um a young male in our family, everybody looked up 583 00:33:53,359 - > 00:33:54,079 to Johnny. 584 00:33:54,240 - > 00:33:56,799 And that was kind of the benchmark. 585 00:33:57,519 - > 00:34:02,799 And I go to work in the ER, not thinking that Johnny Williams 586 00:34:02,799 - > 00:34:05,119 was going to hire me, but he did. 587 00:34:05,200 - > 00:34:10,480 And when I interviewed, I went in there and said, hey, my plan 588 00:34:10,719 - > 00:34:14,719 was to go back to school and come to work in the ER down 589 00:34:14,719 - > 00:34:15,039 here. 590 00:34:15,679 - > 00:34:18,960 And he said, Well, did you have an alternate plan? 591 00:34:19,039 - > 00:34:21,679 And I was like, no, that's A and Z right there. 592 00:34:21,760 - > 00:34:22,480 I don't have a V. 593 00:34:22,800 - > 00:34:23,280 That's all. 594 00:34:24,239 - > 00:34:30,960 And he hired me, he believed in me, and he is the most 595 00:34:30,960 - > 00:34:36,960 instrumental person in the beginning path of me in 596 00:34:36,960 - > 00:34:42,239 healthcare and working in healthcare because Johnny saw 597 00:34:42,559 - > 00:34:51,440 something early on, and he would not allow me to remain in the ER 598 00:34:51,760 - > 00:34:52,480 forever. 599 00:34:52,639 - > 00:34:55,760 I probably would have, to be honest with you. 600 00:34:56,000 - > 00:35:02,079 But Johnny told me I had applied for a clinical leave slash 601 00:35:02,079 - > 00:35:05,599 charge nurse position, and he didn't hire me for the position. 602 00:35:05,920 - > 00:35:08,880 He told me that I had the best interview. 603 00:35:09,039 - > 00:35:12,480 And he said, I'm not talking about the best interview of this 604 00:35:12,480 - > 00:35:13,280 interview cycle. 605 00:35:13,440 - > 00:35:16,639 He said, That was the best interview I've had in 31 years 606 00:35:16,639 - > 00:35:18,000 of leadership. 607 00:35:18,320 - > 00:35:21,280 But he said, I'm not giving you the job because you'll never 608 00:35:21,280 - > 00:35:22,400 leave this place. 609 00:35:22,880 - > 00:35:29,280 Like you need to go out and go into leadership because you have 610 00:35:29,280 - > 00:35:30,000 more to offer. 611 00:35:30,159 - > 00:35:34,480 So without joining, man, I probably would have never left 612 00:35:34,480 - > 00:35:35,199 the ER. 613 00:35:35,599 - > 00:35:35,920 SPEAKER_00: Yeah. 614 00:35:36,159 - > 00:35:37,760 So let's so let's talk about that. 615 00:35:37,920 - > 00:35:43,840 You've you've been through cardiovascular ICU as a clinical 616 00:35:43,840 - > 00:35:46,559 lead and educator, nursing manager. 617 00:35:46,960 - > 00:35:52,559 Then you took on directing the inpatient oncology unit or the 618 00:35:52,559 - > 00:35:54,320 Cancer Life Life Center. 619 00:35:54,480 - > 00:35:59,599 That's man, that's so what does leading people? 620 00:36:00,480 - > 00:36:04,480 You had folks working for you, what does leading people who are 621 00:36:04,480 - > 00:36:08,880 guiding patients through the worst moments of their lives, 622 00:36:09,119 - > 00:36:10,639 potentially, obviously? 623 00:36:11,119 - > 00:36:12,880 Really bad moment in their lives. 624 00:36:13,119 - > 00:36:15,519 What does that do to you as a leader? 625 00:36:15,760 - > 00:36:17,840 You're you're having to be the strong one, right? 626 00:36:17,920 - > 00:36:21,840 You're having to be the be the one that the boss man, the one 627 00:36:22,079 - > 00:36:23,519 you know, the one that's in charge. 628 00:36:23,679 - > 00:36:26,639 What does that do to you as a leader? 629 00:36:27,360 - > 00:36:29,760 SPEAKER_01: Well, I do want to say one other thing about Johnny 630 00:36:29,760 - > 00:36:30,480 before I get into it. 631 00:36:30,639 - > 00:36:31,039 Oh, I'm sorry. 632 00:36:31,119 - > 00:36:31,760 Yeah, yes, sir. 633 00:36:31,920 - > 00:36:32,320 SPEAKER_00: Absolutely. 634 00:36:32,559 - > 00:36:35,679 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mentioned that my uncle was Johnny Frank 635 00:36:35,840 - > 00:36:36,159 Goss. 636 00:36:36,480 - > 00:36:39,599 Well, I come to find out after working for Johnny Williams for 637 00:36:39,599 - > 00:36:42,639 years, I found out his middle name is Frank. 638 00:36:43,760 - > 00:36:47,679 SPEAKER_00: I'm like, only that's only fitting, man. 639 00:36:47,760 - > 00:36:48,559 That's only fitting. 640 00:36:48,800 - > 00:36:52,719 SPEAKER_01: I mean, golly, it's just it was amazing. 641 00:36:52,880 - > 00:36:57,840 And and going back to Johnny basically pushing me out of the 642 00:36:57,840 - > 00:37:04,000 nest, you know, um, I had really no idea where I would was going. 643 00:37:04,639 - > 00:37:09,519 And when I went to the cardiovascular ICU as the 644 00:37:09,519 - > 00:37:13,840 educator, now this is a cardiovascular ICU that is at 645 00:37:13,840 - > 00:37:16,320 the top of cardiovascular ICUs. 646 00:37:16,719 - > 00:37:20,639 When I go into nursing programs, which is regular, and I talk to 647 00:37:20,639 - > 00:37:24,239 people about nursing and ask them what kind of nurse do they 648 00:37:24,239 - > 00:37:24,639 want to be. 649 00:37:24,800 - > 00:37:27,519 If somebody says, Well, I want to be an ICU nurse, the first 650 00:37:27,519 - > 00:37:31,280 thing I say is, Well, do you want to be an ICU nurse or do 651 00:37:31,280 - > 00:37:33,519 you want to be an elite ICU nurse? 652 00:37:33,679 - > 00:37:35,119 Because there's a difference. 653 00:37:35,360 - > 00:37:37,199 And everybody's like, What's the difference? 654 00:37:37,280 - > 00:37:41,599 You know, well, the difference is, is a cardiovascular ICU 655 00:37:41,599 - > 00:37:46,320 nurse can go to the other ICUs, medical ICU, critical care unit, 656 00:37:46,400 - > 00:37:52,079 surgical trauma ICU, neuro ICU, and they can do everything that 657 00:37:52,079 - > 00:37:54,079 those ICU nurses can do. 658 00:37:54,239 - > 00:37:59,679 But those ICU nurses cannot come to the cardiovascular ICU and do 659 00:37:59,679 - > 00:38:00,320 those things. 660 00:38:00,480 - > 00:38:04,239 So I'm going to the cardiovascular ICU as an ER 661 00:38:04,239 - > 00:38:06,559 nurse, old paramedic guy. 662 00:38:06,880 - > 00:38:14,719 And I remember praying, Lord, why in the world am I going to 663 00:38:14,719 - > 00:38:16,719 the cardiovascular ICU? 664 00:38:16,960 - > 00:38:21,119 These people that work in this area are the smartest nurses on 665 00:38:21,119 - > 00:38:21,679 the planet. 666 00:38:21,840 - > 00:38:24,000 There's no way I can teach them anything. 667 00:38:24,239 - > 00:38:27,760 Well, Steve, that was in August of 2019. 668 00:38:28,400 - > 00:38:34,320 So six months later, seven months later, I found out why 669 00:38:34,480 - > 00:38:38,320 the Lord actually wanted me in the cardiovascular ICU. 670 00:38:38,400 - > 00:38:41,760 It certainly was not because of my ability to educate. 671 00:38:43,440 - > 00:38:49,199 It was because COVID was hitting hard, and we became the COVID 672 00:38:49,440 - > 00:38:50,800 ICU unit. 673 00:38:50,960 - > 00:38:58,159 And people's family, friends, no visitors, people, you know, 674 00:38:58,400 - > 00:39:01,519 passing away in that unit alone. 675 00:39:02,159 - > 00:39:05,599 And I knew that's where I was supposed to be, man, to be in 676 00:39:05,599 - > 00:39:10,320 there, to have that opportunity to, you know, just sit with 677 00:39:10,320 - > 00:39:14,079 somebody, hold their hand, put a washcloth on their head, pray 678 00:39:14,079 - > 00:39:15,920 for them, whatever. 679 00:39:16,079 - > 00:39:19,199 You know, we we started an initiative that no one goes 680 00:39:19,199 - > 00:39:19,599 alone. 681 00:39:21,760 - > 00:39:22,400 SPEAKER_00: Wow. 682 00:39:23,199 - > 00:39:30,400 So how how as a leader you're you you you you do a shift, is 683 00:39:30,400 - > 00:39:32,719 it well are they 12-hour shifts, eight hours, eight, eight, 684 00:39:32,800 - > 00:39:34,880 twelve-hour shifts as a nurse? 685 00:39:35,199 - > 00:39:35,599 Yeah. 686 00:39:35,840 - > 00:39:42,239 And then you go home, you get a little break, and then at some 687 00:39:42,239 - > 00:39:44,559 point in time you got to go back and do it all over again. 688 00:39:44,880 - > 00:39:45,519 Yeah. 689 00:39:46,880 - > 00:39:51,360 How the day in, day out, the grind, seeing the things that 690 00:39:51,360 - > 00:39:53,440 you were exposed to. 691 00:39:55,519 - > 00:39:58,480 How do you stay open to that, man, and and and not let it 692 00:39:58,480 - > 00:39:59,119 break you? 693 00:39:59,760 - > 00:40:00,800 That's tough, man. 694 00:40:01,119 - > 00:40:01,760 SPEAKER_01: Yeah. 695 00:40:02,079 - > 00:40:10,000 You know, for me, it it it's because of my faith, I I do not 696 00:40:10,000 - > 00:40:13,920 see how people do it if if they're not leaning on their 697 00:40:13,920 - > 00:40:14,239 faith. 698 00:40:14,559 - > 00:40:22,320 And so, man, it's um the Lord has a way of putting you exactly 699 00:40:22,320 - > 00:40:23,599 where you need to be in health care. 700 00:40:23,760 - > 00:40:29,360 And what I mean by that is if you get a room assignment that 701 00:40:29,360 - > 00:40:32,960 particular day, sometimes some of the younger nurses would 702 00:40:32,960 - > 00:40:35,760 complain, I don't want those rooms, I don't want to be in 703 00:40:35,760 - > 00:40:37,039 that area today. 704 00:40:37,280 - > 00:40:41,199 And I would always tell them one-on-one after I would hear a 705 00:40:41,199 - > 00:40:45,519 comment like that at Shift Huddle, I'd say, you know, I 706 00:40:45,519 - > 00:40:48,480 never complain about an assignment where where I'm at 707 00:40:48,480 - > 00:40:50,960 for that day when I was at bedside. 708 00:40:51,280 - > 00:40:55,679 Because before the end of that 12-hour shift, the Lord will 709 00:40:55,920 - > 00:40:58,960 show you why you have that room assignment for that day. 710 00:40:59,119 - > 00:41:01,280 And that is a fact. 711 00:41:03,280 - > 00:41:08,079 So there are there are a lot of a lot of things that I'm still 712 00:41:08,079 - > 00:41:08,559 learning. 713 00:41:08,719 - > 00:41:14,719 And and when I went to the oncology unit, I was scared to 714 00:41:14,719 - > 00:41:15,679 death of that, man. 715 00:41:17,119 - > 00:41:18,719 I was scared to death of that. 716 00:41:19,840 - > 00:41:25,599 And the reason I was scared to death of that, when I was a 717 00:41:25,920 - > 00:41:31,039 child, I don't know if Brock went into this with you, but 718 00:41:31,599 - > 00:41:34,480 Brock's mom passed away when he was very young. 719 00:41:35,360 - > 00:41:35,679 He did. 720 00:41:35,840 - > 00:41:36,800 Yeah, he did. 721 00:41:37,519 - > 00:41:43,440 So I was 14 years old when she passed away, so I knew his mom 722 00:41:43,440 - > 00:41:46,159 very well, spent a lot of time with her. 723 00:41:46,639 - > 00:41:51,440 And I just remember when she was first diagnosed and the years 724 00:41:51,440 - > 00:41:56,000 and years of treatment and surgeries, and I was so scared 725 00:41:56,000 - > 00:42:00,239 of oncology and cancer patients because that my mind 726 00:42:00,239 - > 00:42:01,920 automatically Yeah. 727 00:42:02,159 - > 00:42:03,119 SPEAKER_00: That's where you went. 728 00:42:03,599 - > 00:42:04,159 Went with it. 729 00:42:04,239 - > 00:42:05,280 Yeah, absolutely. 730 00:42:05,519 - > 00:42:06,159 SPEAKER_01: Yeah. 731 00:42:06,480 - > 00:42:12,800 And but I trusted, you know, the faith, I trusted, and man, it 732 00:42:12,800 - > 00:42:15,360 was one of the best experiences of my life. 733 00:42:16,960 - > 00:42:18,639 It was just amazing. 734 00:42:18,960 - > 00:42:21,679 SPEAKER_00: Well, and you know, it's like dog, it's almost like 735 00:42:21,679 - > 00:42:22,880 full circle, right? 736 00:42:23,119 - > 00:42:26,960 You you you you you had that experience when you were young, 737 00:42:27,360 - > 00:42:30,000 and then grown up, and as a young, as a young 738 00:42:30,079 - > 00:42:35,760 40-some-year-old nurse now, you it becomes full full circle and 739 00:42:35,760 - > 00:42:39,760 you find yourself thrust back into that situation. 740 00:42:41,039 - > 00:42:42,079 Full circle, man. 741 00:42:42,159 - > 00:42:43,840 That's that's that's an amazing. 742 00:42:44,000 - > 00:42:48,079 And you know, when you have stories and when you you lead 743 00:42:48,400 - > 00:42:55,119 and you you serve from the heart, folks know, and they can 744 00:42:55,119 - > 00:42:55,360 tell. 745 00:42:55,840 - > 00:42:58,239 SPEAKER_01: Well, that's the thing about leadership in my 746 00:42:58,239 - > 00:43:01,840 mind, you know, it it's it's all about that. 747 00:43:01,920 - > 00:43:04,159 It's about servant leadership. 748 00:43:04,320 - > 00:43:05,840 At least that's my style. 749 00:43:06,079 - > 00:43:06,719 SPEAKER_00: Yes, sir. 750 00:43:06,960 - > 00:43:11,920 SPEAKER_01: I I never ask anyone to do something that they're not 751 00:43:12,239 - > 00:43:13,440 seeing me do. 752 00:43:14,000 - > 00:43:18,559 It was funny, just a couple of weeks ago, somebody caught me 753 00:43:18,559 - > 00:43:22,079 dust mopping the hallways at the hospital real early in the 754 00:43:22,079 - > 00:43:26,079 morning and took a picture, you know, and they were picking at 755 00:43:26,079 - > 00:43:26,719 me about it. 756 00:43:26,880 - > 00:43:30,400 But if I'm walking down the hall and I see a piece of paper on 757 00:43:30,400 - > 00:43:32,159 the floor, I'm gonna stop and pick it up. 758 00:43:32,480 - > 00:43:34,320 Every job is my job. 759 00:43:34,639 - > 00:43:38,960 And people also realize when you're just genuine about 760 00:43:38,960 - > 00:43:42,639 something and you just really want to help people, you know, 761 00:43:42,880 - > 00:43:47,199 that they'll walk over hot coals for you if they respect you and 762 00:43:47,199 - > 00:43:48,320 they trust you. 763 00:43:48,639 - > 00:43:52,880 And that was something that I learned at an early age. 764 00:43:53,199 - > 00:43:56,559 Actually, when I was in law enforcement, my first supervisor 765 00:43:56,559 - > 00:43:59,599 was very rough. 766 00:44:00,480 - > 00:44:04,719 And he would do things like string fishing lineup across the 767 00:44:04,719 - > 00:44:06,800 alley to make sure we went through there and checked our 768 00:44:06,800 - > 00:44:09,519 buildings that night, you know, and then he would call us out if 769 00:44:09,519 - > 00:44:10,320 we didn't. 770 00:44:10,559 - > 00:44:15,360 But my next supervisor, I loved the guy and I trusted him, and I 771 00:44:15,360 - > 00:44:17,679 would have done anything in the world for him. 772 00:44:17,920 - > 00:44:20,719 So early on, I was like, man, I'm not gonna be like this guy. 773 00:44:20,800 - > 00:44:22,320 I want to be like this guy. 774 00:44:22,559 - > 00:44:27,039 And and that's that's how I started, you know, going down 775 00:44:27,039 - > 00:44:28,880 that path of being a servant leader. 776 00:44:28,960 - > 00:44:31,360 I believe in it, I try to live it. 777 00:44:31,679 - > 00:44:36,159 And I, you know, for me, that's the only way I can lead. 778 00:44:36,400 - > 00:44:36,480 unknown: Yeah. 779 00:44:36,639 - > 00:44:40,480 SPEAKER_00: And it isn't it amazing that we when when when 780 00:44:40,480 - > 00:44:45,360 you talk to folks or you convey a message or you communicate 781 00:44:45,360 - > 00:44:48,400 about leadership, a lot of times it's always, and when you ask 782 00:44:48,400 - > 00:44:52,239 questions like I've asked, you you always are asked questions 783 00:44:52,239 - > 00:44:56,800 about so who are the the leaders who influence you the most and 784 00:44:56,800 - > 00:44:57,840 and this and that. 785 00:44:58,239 - > 00:45:02,960 And nine times out of ten in in in the mind, it's the leaders 786 00:45:02,960 - > 00:45:06,719 that had a posit that had an impact because they were good 787 00:45:06,719 - > 00:45:07,519 leaders. 788 00:45:07,840 - > 00:45:13,519 But in reality, a lot of times you've had bad leaders or you've 789 00:45:13,519 - > 00:45:19,039 had bad supervisors, and you can learn so much more, probably as 790 00:45:19,039 - > 00:45:22,800 much, if not more, from them about how they did things and 791 00:45:22,800 - > 00:45:26,400 being like, yeah, I if I ever become a boss, I don't want to 792 00:45:26,400 - > 00:45:26,800 do that. 793 00:45:27,039 - > 00:45:29,760 I mean, that's that I mean that's an amaz I mean, that's 794 00:45:29,760 - > 00:45:30,480 amazing. 795 00:45:30,719 - > 00:45:33,840 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I had a another guy that was very 796 00:45:33,840 - > 00:45:35,440 influential with me. 797 00:45:35,840 - > 00:45:40,639 I was working as the oncology director, and at that time we 798 00:45:40,639 - > 00:45:47,039 had a a new CEO come into our organization, and he brought a 799 00:45:47,039 - > 00:45:51,599 new COO in with him, and his name is Luis Fonseca. 800 00:45:53,760 - > 00:45:57,519 So Luis was new to the organization, and we had a 801 00:45:57,519 - > 00:46:02,400 monthly nurse leadership meeting where all of the directors and 802 00:46:02,960 - > 00:46:06,320 assistant vice presidents and the chief nurse would come to 803 00:46:06,320 - > 00:46:10,079 that meeting, and he stopped by to visit that day and introduced 804 00:46:10,079 - > 00:46:14,159 himself to us, and he said, Hey, if if any of you guys ever want 805 00:46:14,159 - > 00:46:17,280 to just sit down and talk with me, if you have any ideas or 806 00:46:17,280 - > 00:46:19,760 anything like that, you would like to run by me, just shoot me 807 00:46:19,760 - > 00:46:22,239 an email, and I'd love to talk with you. 808 00:46:22,400 - > 00:46:24,639 Well, of course, I immediately shot him an email. 809 00:46:24,800 - > 00:46:27,679 Like, I mean, I'm shooting one right now before he ever leaves 810 00:46:27,679 - > 00:46:28,480 the room. 811 00:46:28,800 - > 00:46:32,480 So a couple of days later, I went and sat and talked with him 812 00:46:32,800 - > 00:46:37,599 for a couple of hours, and within a month, we were 813 00:46:37,760 - > 00:46:40,960 traveling from Macon to Valdasta, Georgia, which is 814 00:46:40,960 - > 00:46:44,719 about a three-hour drive on a Saturday morning together, going 815 00:46:44,719 - > 00:46:46,320 to a drag race. 816 00:46:46,719 - > 00:46:51,599 And on that trip, I asked him that specific question. 817 00:46:51,840 - > 00:46:56,960 I said, everybody has that leader, that individual that 818 00:46:56,960 - > 00:47:02,800 they've worked with in their career, that believed in them 819 00:47:02,800 - > 00:47:07,920 and helped them get to the level that they knew they could lead 820 00:47:07,920 - > 00:47:08,239 at. 821 00:47:09,039 - > 00:47:11,119 I said, Who was that person for you? 822 00:47:11,679 - > 00:47:14,639 And he said, a guy named Henry. 823 00:47:15,119 - > 00:47:17,119 And he started telling me the story. 824 00:47:17,280 - > 00:47:22,079 When Luis got out of the military as a young man, he had 825 00:47:22,079 - > 00:47:26,239 gotten, he had been trained as an electrician in the military. 826 00:47:26,639 - > 00:47:30,400 And when he got out of the military, he went to work at a 827 00:47:30,400 - > 00:47:35,199 hospital in Texas in facilities working as an electrician. 828 00:47:35,440 - > 00:47:39,440 And he worked his way up to chief operating officer of some 829 00:47:39,440 - > 00:47:42,559 of the large healthcare systems in the United States. 830 00:47:42,719 - > 00:47:47,840 So a guy named Henry believed in him, and Luis Fonseca believes 831 00:47:47,840 - > 00:47:48,480 in me. 832 00:47:48,800 - > 00:47:51,280 SPEAKER_00: That's that's a great story, man. 833 00:47:51,519 - > 00:47:53,599 So let's talk about where you are now. 834 00:47:54,320 - > 00:47:59,440 A CEO opportunity came up at with Atrium Healthcare Navicent, 835 00:47:59,599 - > 00:48:02,719 I think that's how you pronounce it, Baldwin in Milledgeville, 836 00:48:02,800 - > 00:48:04,880 Georgia, rural hospital. 837 00:48:06,159 - > 00:48:07,679 Why that role? 838 00:48:08,079 - > 00:48:13,039 And specifically, this hits home to me, rural health care, 839 00:48:13,519 - > 00:48:17,119 because I worked for an at an electric cooperative for 35 840 00:48:17,119 - > 00:48:21,199 years, and we serve the rural areas. 841 00:48:21,360 - > 00:48:25,679 We serve where the IOU investor owned utilities didn't want to 842 00:48:25,679 - > 00:48:27,440 go and and provide power. 843 00:48:27,599 - > 00:48:31,679 So rural communities have a special place in my heart. 844 00:48:31,920 - > 00:48:34,079 So why Millsville, Georgia? 845 00:48:34,239 - > 00:48:37,679 Why a rural hospital, and why that role? 846 00:48:38,079 - > 00:48:45,199 SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I again it's it's just man, it's just the 847 00:48:45,199 - > 00:48:46,159 Lord's plan. 848 00:48:46,559 - > 00:48:48,960 I I had never worked in a rural hospital. 849 00:48:49,119 - > 00:48:53,360 I had only worked, so just a quick history lesson. 850 00:48:53,599 - > 00:48:57,199 The Medical Center of Central Georgia became the medical 851 00:48:57,199 - > 00:49:00,559 center of Central Georgia and Navasa Health because we were 852 00:49:00,559 - > 00:49:02,719 expanding beyond one hospital. 853 00:49:02,960 - > 00:49:09,039 And then Navasa Health had a merger with Carolina Health 854 00:49:09,039 - > 00:49:11,199 Systems and became HRIM Health. 855 00:49:11,920 - > 00:49:16,320 And now we've expanded even more through the Midwest. 856 00:49:16,480 - > 00:49:21,440 So now we're HRIM Health in the Southeast region, advocate 857 00:49:21,440 - > 00:49:22,880 health in our Midwest region. 858 00:49:22,960 - > 00:49:26,800 So we're the third largest healthcare system in the United 859 00:49:26,800 - > 00:49:27,360 States. 860 00:49:27,679 - > 00:49:31,599 But I have only worked basically at the Medical Center of Central 861 00:49:31,599 - > 00:49:31,920 Georgia. 862 00:49:32,000 - > 00:49:34,559 It's the second largest hospital in the state of Georgia. 863 00:49:35,119 - > 00:49:37,760 And I had never worked in rural health care. 864 00:49:39,119 - > 00:49:44,880 But this opportunity came available, and where I live, I'm 865 00:49:44,880 - > 00:49:49,440 20 miles from the Medical Center of Central Georgia or 21 miles 866 00:49:49,440 - > 00:49:52,159 from Baldwin, the facility in Millsville. 867 00:49:52,400 - > 00:49:54,320 So I'm right in the middle. 868 00:49:54,639 - > 00:49:59,599 And Luis Fonseca felt like this would be a really good 869 00:49:59,599 - > 00:50:00,960 opportunity for me. 870 00:50:01,440 - > 00:50:05,840 And with my relationships that I've built in the community in 871 00:50:05,840 - > 00:50:10,480 Gray Georgia, which is 21 miles from here, I moved to Gray 30 872 00:50:10,480 - > 00:50:13,599 years ago, have a lot of relationships in these rural 873 00:50:13,599 - > 00:50:14,239 areas. 874 00:50:14,480 - > 00:50:16,400 He just felt like it would be a good fit. 875 00:50:16,559 - > 00:50:19,920 He believed in my ability to lead the hospital. 876 00:50:20,159 - > 00:50:24,719 So at this particular facility, I'm the chief operating officer, 877 00:50:25,039 - > 00:50:29,519 but there I'm the highest ranking executive at this 878 00:50:29,519 - > 00:50:30,079 hospital. 879 00:50:30,239 - > 00:50:35,519 So we do not technically have a CEO on site here, so the COO 880 00:50:35,760 - > 00:50:37,440 runs the hospital. 881 00:50:38,079 - > 00:50:39,119 SPEAKER_00: That's awesome. 882 00:50:39,760 - > 00:50:41,360 And so let's talk about that. 883 00:50:41,519 - > 00:50:49,199 Let's talk about some of the things that you're able to do at 884 00:50:49,199 - > 00:50:54,320 a rural at a rural hospital, a community hospital, probably 885 00:50:54,320 - > 00:50:58,400 some things that that you might not be able to have be 886 00:50:58,400 - > 00:51:03,280 accomplished, or they may take have taken longer to come to 887 00:51:03,280 - > 00:51:06,239 fruition at a at a bigger hospital. 888 00:51:06,480 - > 00:51:13,679 Tell me about the Life Jacket Lunar Station at the local at 889 00:51:13,679 - > 00:51:14,880 the local river park. 890 00:51:15,039 - > 00:51:18,159 That's not something that you typical hospital that's not a 891 00:51:18,159 - > 00:51:26,239 typical hospital initiative, but at your place in a rural 892 00:51:26,239 - > 00:51:30,480 setting, rural community, you saw a need, and I'm assuming you 893 00:51:30,480 - > 00:51:34,880 you stepped up, but but talk to me about that life jacket loaner 894 00:51:34,880 - > 00:51:35,440 station. 895 00:51:37,039 - > 00:51:39,599 SPEAKER_01: Well, you're right. 896 00:51:40,159 - > 00:51:44,079 In a rural healthcare setting, there are there are so many 897 00:51:44,320 - > 00:51:47,599 opportunities to partner in the community. 898 00:51:48,320 - > 00:51:55,840 And I feel like leaders in rural hospitals should do more of that 899 00:51:55,840 - > 00:51:59,280 if they can, if they have the resources and the means to do 900 00:51:59,280 - > 00:51:59,599 that. 901 00:52:00,960 - > 00:52:09,679 And for historical here, Greg Joyner is the emergency medical 902 00:52:09,679 - > 00:52:12,559 services manager here at Baldwin. 903 00:52:12,639 - > 00:52:16,960 But we've expanded his role to include other rural services 904 00:52:16,960 - > 00:52:21,039 that we have in Wilkinson County and Jones County. 905 00:52:21,920 - > 00:52:29,599 But back in the day, as we like to say, 1996, Greg Jorner was my 906 00:52:29,599 - > 00:52:30,880 paramedic partner. 907 00:52:31,519 - > 00:52:36,159 So there's a lot of relationship there, a lot of years there. 908 00:52:36,320 - > 00:52:40,000 And Greg and I rode the ambulance together every shift 909 00:52:40,000 - > 00:52:40,800 for years. 910 00:52:41,039 - > 00:52:45,679 And he's the manager for the EMS services here at HM Helton House 911 00:52:45,840 - > 00:52:46,480 at Baldwin. 912 00:52:46,719 - > 00:52:48,639 So Greg came to me. 913 00:52:49,280 - > 00:52:53,840 The Life Vest Lawner Station has nothing to do with me. 914 00:52:54,079 - > 00:53:01,360 Greg came to me and said, in our area, we have a large water 915 00:53:01,599 - > 00:53:02,000 area. 916 00:53:02,159 - > 00:53:07,119 We have Lake Sinclair, we have Lake Oconee, we have River. 917 00:53:07,519 - > 00:53:11,119 So we deal with a lot of drownings every year in this 918 00:53:11,119 - > 00:53:11,440 area. 919 00:53:11,519 - > 00:53:15,760 So Greg was like, hey man, why don't we have a life vest loaner 920 00:53:15,760 - > 00:53:19,840 station where people can come up and and they can just get a life 921 00:53:19,840 - > 00:53:22,079 vest if they forgot theirs or they don't have one? 922 00:53:22,239 - > 00:53:26,159 We can have different sizes, we can put a throw ring on there as 923 00:53:26,159 - > 00:53:30,800 well, and we can get community partners to help us resupply the 924 00:53:30,800 - > 00:53:32,960 life vest as they're taken. 925 00:53:33,519 - > 00:53:38,639 So Greg Joyner and Sierra Petway, one of his supervisors, 926 00:53:39,280 - > 00:53:41,440 completely put that together. 927 00:53:41,760 - > 00:53:46,079 And just with with me just saying, Yeah, you know, go get 928 00:53:46,079 - > 00:53:46,239 them. 929 00:53:46,320 - > 00:53:49,679 You know, you guys do a great job, and and I'll support you 930 00:53:49,679 - > 00:53:50,559 any way I can. 931 00:53:50,719 - > 00:53:52,480 But man, that was all them. 932 00:53:52,639 - > 00:53:55,920 I'm just glad I was able to support them and be a small part 933 00:53:55,920 - > 00:53:56,320 of it. 934 00:53:56,639 - > 00:54:00,719 SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you did, but now, yeah, you did make a a 935 00:54:00,719 - > 00:54:05,280 statement, a quote, and I and I'm attributing it to you. 936 00:54:05,920 - > 00:54:10,719 It was said, if we if we just stop one drowning, we're 937 00:54:10,719 - > 00:54:11,519 successful. 938 00:54:11,760 - > 00:54:15,519 And I want you to know, buddy, buddy roe, that quote stopped 939 00:54:15,519 - > 00:54:15,840 me. 940 00:54:16,320 - > 00:54:21,039 Because, you know, in an era of healthcare matrix and dashboards 941 00:54:21,119 - > 00:54:27,440 and ROI calculations and uh and and and everything that is so 942 00:54:27,440 - > 00:54:31,119 financially driven, you're holding on to that kind of 943 00:54:31,119 - > 00:54:32,559 simple human accounting. 944 00:54:32,719 - > 00:54:37,360 And to just talk about that a little bit, man. 945 00:54:38,159 - > 00:54:42,800 SPEAKER_01: Man, the the uh those things that you just 946 00:54:42,800 - > 00:54:47,679 mentioned before this uh conversation we're having, I 947 00:54:47,679 - > 00:54:49,760 just left a three-hour budget meeting. 948 00:54:50,000 - > 00:54:55,440 I'm sure and those things are very important, but it's not the 949 00:54:55,440 - > 00:54:56,880 core of what we do. 950 00:54:57,679 - > 00:55:05,119 And I believe it's just that simple to look at every single 951 00:55:05,119 - > 00:55:11,440 person as the most important and to provide every resource we can 952 00:55:11,920 - > 00:55:16,400 to save as many lives as we can, but not only that, but just be 953 00:55:16,400 - > 00:55:18,159 helpful in so many ways. 954 00:55:18,400 - > 00:55:23,119 I I want to tell you about Lois Richardson. 955 00:55:24,239 - > 00:55:33,199 Lois Richardson is my trusted, amazing executive assistant. 956 00:55:33,360 - > 00:55:35,920 So she's been on all of our emails, you know, to get this 957 00:55:35,920 - > 00:55:36,239 going on. 958 00:55:36,400 - > 00:55:36,719 Yes, sir. 959 00:55:36,880 - > 00:55:37,599 SPEAKER_00: Yes, sir. 960 00:55:38,880 - > 00:55:44,000 SPEAKER_01: We were at a point right after I came to Baldwin, 961 00:55:44,880 - > 00:55:53,280 we were at a a very we were in a crisis mode because we had four 962 00:55:53,280 - > 00:55:57,119 OB providers in this area that delivered babies at the 963 00:55:57,119 - > 00:56:00,800 hospital, but three of them were no longer gonna be practicing. 964 00:56:00,960 - > 00:56:05,360 One moved out of the state and two retired, which only left 965 00:56:05,360 - > 00:56:05,679 one. 966 00:56:06,719 - > 00:56:12,079 So we were in a dire situation that we were going to have to 967 00:56:12,079 - > 00:56:15,679 close those services here at this hospital, which is 968 00:56:15,920 - > 00:56:20,159 something that is happening across this country at levels 969 00:56:20,159 - > 00:56:21,840 that are astonishing. 970 00:56:22,079 - > 00:56:26,159 If we had closed the labor and delivery services here, it would 971 00:56:26,159 - > 00:56:31,039 have left a seven-county desert of no labor and delivery. 972 00:56:31,440 - > 00:56:37,760 And we were able to not only keep that service line open, but 973 00:56:37,760 - > 00:56:43,039 we opened a women's services clinic on site, offering full 974 00:56:43,039 - > 00:56:48,000 services, and we continue to deliver babies here, and we're 975 00:56:48,000 - > 00:56:51,440 expanding our residency program from Macon to here. 976 00:56:51,840 - > 00:56:58,639 But part of that was starting classes, family birthing 977 00:56:58,880 - > 00:56:59,679 classes. 978 00:57:00,000 - > 00:57:04,719 So we had a young lady that came to the very first family 979 00:57:04,880 - > 00:57:08,639 birthing, was the only one there that day. 980 00:57:09,039 - > 00:57:11,920 The first class, and only one person showed up. 981 00:57:12,480 - > 00:57:17,599 And about two weeks later, she had a car accident and totaled 982 00:57:17,599 - > 00:57:18,480 her car out. 983 00:57:19,840 - > 00:57:24,400 So she was not sure how she was going to get to her 984 00:57:24,400 - > 00:57:28,559 appointments, and she was not sure how she was going to come 985 00:57:28,559 - > 00:57:30,000 back to the classes. 986 00:57:30,639 - > 00:57:32,559 And Lois Richardson. 987 00:57:35,599 - > 00:57:40,719 She picked her up, took her to every appointment, and took her 988 00:57:40,719 - > 00:57:41,280 home. 989 00:57:41,599 - > 00:57:44,639 And that's the difference in rural health care. 990 00:57:45,119 - > 00:57:46,000 SPEAKER_00: Rural health care. 991 00:57:46,639 - > 00:57:48,800 Well, man, yeah, that's an amazing story. 992 00:57:49,039 - > 00:57:52,400 And and it's hard not to be motivated by when you see your 993 00:57:52,400 - > 00:57:53,360 boss doing things like that. 994 00:57:53,440 - > 00:57:58,320 I mean, I'm you you would never that's Lois doing that, but but 995 00:57:58,639 - > 00:58:01,920 we we we do what we see done. 996 00:58:02,079 - > 00:58:04,639 SPEAKER_01: And and so you would never I know you're trying to 997 00:58:04,639 - > 00:58:08,960 get it out of me, but the common theme here is it was Lois, it 998 00:58:08,960 - > 00:58:10,239 was Greg, it was Sierra. 999 00:58:10,719 - > 00:58:11,920 SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, I get it, man. 1000 00:58:12,079 - > 00:58:12,880 Yeah, I get it. 1001 00:58:13,039 - > 00:58:16,079 But now I I do want to share with my listeners this. 1002 00:58:16,559 - > 00:58:19,280 You guys are doing a lot of amazing things there, and 1003 00:58:19,280 - > 00:58:20,880 there's not a question in this. 1004 00:58:20,960 - > 00:58:23,199 I've got a couple questions left, and then we're gonna go to 1005 00:58:23,199 - > 00:58:24,800 rapid fire, which I didn't share with you. 1006 00:58:24,880 - > 00:58:27,119 Those are quick, quick, quick hitting questions. 1007 00:58:27,360 - > 00:58:30,079 But you guys are doing a lot of amazing things. 1008 00:58:30,320 - > 00:58:33,039 Granted, you are the third largest healthcare system in the 1009 00:58:33,039 - > 00:58:36,639 country, but you're doing this uh in a in a rural setting. 1010 00:58:36,880 - > 00:58:41,119 You're gonna offset 40% of your hospital's power through solar 1011 00:58:41,119 - > 00:58:41,760 energy. 1012 00:58:42,079 - > 00:58:46,559 You're modernizing EMS operations with technology that 1013 00:58:46,559 - > 00:58:50,639 connects ambulances directly to physicians in real time. 1014 00:58:51,519 - > 00:58:54,159 You're gener you've generated your or you're generating almost 1015 00:58:54,159 - > 00:58:57,280 a million dollars through the hospital's Georgia Heart program 1016 00:58:57,440 - > 00:59:00,079 that's gonna help fund a new MRI machine. 1017 00:59:00,320 - > 00:59:00,639 SPEAKER_01: Yep. 1018 00:59:00,880 - > 00:59:02,800 SPEAKER_00: These these aren't small moves, man. 1019 00:59:04,239 - > 00:59:09,679 I mean, this is happening in the in a rural setting, rural 1020 00:59:09,679 - > 00:59:15,039 hospital, bold investment, and you're doing it in the rural 1021 00:59:15,039 - > 00:59:15,440 setting. 1022 00:59:15,599 - > 00:59:18,239 So you can't, I named several of them. 1023 00:59:18,320 - > 00:59:21,519 I'm I'm not even gonna give you a chance to say whoever's 1024 00:59:21,519 - > 00:59:22,400 responsible for that. 1025 00:59:22,480 - > 00:59:26,880 I'm I'm just gonna I'm gonna move on and say, say that Todd 1026 00:59:26,880 - > 00:59:31,280 Goss is is somewhere, Todd Goss is is responsible for you know 1027 00:59:31,360 - > 00:59:33,119 for some of that happen happening. 1028 00:59:33,280 - > 00:59:34,960 I want to bring this back full circle. 1029 00:59:35,039 - > 00:59:36,159 I got a couple questions. 1030 00:59:36,239 - > 00:59:38,559 You mentioned your mom, you mentioned masters. 1031 00:59:39,119 - > 00:59:43,599 You're currently enrolled in in an MBA program while running a 1032 00:59:43,599 - > 00:59:44,480 hospital. 1033 00:59:45,199 - > 00:59:50,719 Most people at your career level have stopped adding degrees. 1034 00:59:52,480 - > 00:59:54,719 I know why you haven't. 1035 00:59:55,280 - > 00:59:57,760 Because you you've told that story. 1036 00:59:58,000 - > 00:59:58,480 Yeah. 1037 00:59:58,800 - > 01:00:03,199 But what does what this is the question that I that I've got. 1038 01:00:03,679 - > 01:00:07,440 What did you what do you think it says to the folks that are 1039 01:00:07,440 - > 01:00:10,480 around you that are working at the hospital, that know you, 1040 01:00:11,280 - > 01:00:15,360 that don't know necessarily the motivation behind that MBA 1041 01:00:15,760 - > 01:00:16,960 because you just haven't shared. 1042 01:00:17,119 - > 01:00:18,239 That that's a personal story. 1043 01:00:18,400 - > 01:00:19,440 You haven't shared it. 1044 01:00:19,519 - > 01:00:20,000 Yeah. 1045 01:00:20,239 - > 01:00:25,679 What do you hope that by you doing this, that communicates to 1046 01:00:25,679 - > 01:00:28,719 them, or what kind of message do you hope it sends to them? 1047 01:00:30,079 - > 01:00:33,119 SPEAKER_01: Well, it's it's there's a lot of message there, 1048 01:00:33,280 - > 01:00:37,760 but one is never sell yourself short. 1049 01:00:38,079 - > 01:00:41,920 Believe in yourself, positive thoughts produce positive 1050 01:00:41,920 - > 01:00:42,800 outcomes. 1051 01:00:43,119 - > 01:00:47,679 And I hope that it just continues to motivate people to 1052 01:00:48,480 - > 01:00:50,960 push forward, continue pushing forward. 1053 01:00:51,280 - > 01:00:57,280 I have one nurse about a year ago came into my office and I 1054 01:00:57,280 - > 01:01:01,119 was talking with her about continuing her education. 1055 01:01:01,360 - > 01:01:04,400 She had gone about as far as I felt like she could with a 1056 01:01:04,400 - > 01:01:05,760 bachelor's degree. 1057 01:01:06,000 - > 01:01:11,679 So I talked her into a MSN Master of Science in Nursing, 1058 01:01:11,840 - > 01:01:14,559 which is one of the master's degrees I have. 1059 01:01:14,800 - > 01:01:21,440 And I talked Amy into doing that with the with the guarantee that 1060 01:01:21,440 - > 01:01:24,400 I would be her preceptor, which I did. 1061 01:01:24,800 - > 01:01:27,440 And she got her master's degree as well. 1062 01:01:27,599 - > 01:01:31,440 So I hope that it just motivates one more person, man. 1063 01:01:31,519 - > 01:01:32,559 Just one more. 1064 01:01:33,119 - > 01:01:34,320 SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's a man. 1065 01:01:34,400 - > 01:01:35,199 That's awesome. 1066 01:01:35,440 - > 01:01:36,239 That's awesome. 1067 01:01:36,400 - > 01:01:40,559 So the last question before I get to the to the rapid fire. 1068 01:01:41,360 - > 01:01:45,920 When it's all said and done, when Todd Goss has left this 1069 01:01:45,920 - > 01:01:51,039 role and this chapter closes, what do you want people to say 1070 01:01:51,679 - > 01:01:53,519 about the way that you led? 1071 01:01:57,840 - > 01:01:59,679 SPEAKER_01: Man, I don't think that one was on the list. 1072 01:01:59,760 - > 01:02:02,000 SPEAKER_00: You no, it was. 1073 01:02:02,159 - > 01:02:03,679 You must have just you missed it. 1074 01:02:03,760 - > 01:02:07,760 But but but I mean that's a good one because that's a good 1075 01:02:07,760 - > 01:02:08,639 question, isn't it? 1076 01:02:09,039 - > 01:02:17,039 SPEAKER_01: The reality is, is um first off, I hope everyone 1077 01:02:17,039 - > 01:02:21,599 knows that I just did it with good intentions. 1078 01:02:21,760 - > 01:02:25,840 You know, every decision might not seem that it's that way. 1079 01:02:26,000 - > 01:02:29,440 It's hard for everybody to think every decision I make is with 1080 01:02:29,440 - > 01:02:32,559 good intentions, but it truly is. 1081 01:02:33,199 - > 01:02:39,199 And I hope they say, man, no matter what, man, he gave it 1082 01:02:39,199 - > 01:02:40,079 110%. 1083 01:02:42,639 - > 01:02:43,599 SPEAKER_00: That's awesome. 1084 01:02:43,679 - > 01:02:45,599 That yeah, that's that's awesome, man. 1085 01:02:45,679 - > 01:02:46,559 That's awesome. 1086 01:02:46,719 - > 01:02:48,960 So I'm gonna, you haven't seen these. 1087 01:02:49,119 - > 01:02:52,880 That was there, you must you didn't see it, but I'm gonna ask 1088 01:02:52,880 - > 01:02:53,360 you some things. 1089 01:02:53,440 - > 01:02:54,079 There's some funny stuff. 1090 01:02:55,920 - > 01:02:58,079 Yeah, she yeah, she hid that one from you. 1091 01:02:58,400 - > 01:03:01,840 So there's uh there's some funny things, some some serious 1092 01:03:01,840 - > 01:03:02,079 things. 1093 01:03:02,159 - > 01:03:05,199 I I just want you to, first thing that comes comes to your 1094 01:03:05,199 - > 01:03:06,000 mind, okay? 1095 01:03:06,320 - > 01:03:08,960 First one, coffee or tea? 1096 01:03:09,519 - > 01:03:10,159 Tea. 1097 01:03:10,960 - > 01:03:15,519 Law enforcement, firefighting, or paramedicine, which one gave 1098 01:03:15,519 - > 01:03:18,079 you the biggest adrenaline rush? 1099 01:03:19,360 - > 01:03:21,679 SPEAKER_01: Biggest adrenaline rush, firefighting. 1100 01:03:22,239 - > 01:03:22,559 SPEAKER_00: Okay. 1101 01:03:23,199 - > 01:03:27,440 Best advice you ever received, and who gave it to you? 1102 01:03:28,800 - > 01:03:31,119 SPEAKER_01: If you say you're gonna do something, do it. 1103 01:03:31,360 - > 01:03:32,719 George Bryce. 1104 01:03:33,599 - > 01:03:36,400 SPEAKER_00: Law enforcement, healthcare, or landscaping 1105 01:03:36,400 - > 01:03:36,880 business. 1106 01:03:37,119 - > 01:03:41,280 Which one taught you the most about running a business? 1107 01:03:42,719 - > 01:03:43,840 SPEAKER_01: Landscaping. 1108 01:03:45,280 - > 01:03:46,400 SPEAKER_00: I can see that. 1109 01:03:46,719 - > 01:03:53,920 Biggest leadership myth that needs to die, to go away and 1110 01:03:54,239 - > 01:03:54,559 die. 1111 01:04:03,039 - > 01:04:05,599 I would, yeah, I didn't I'd agree with that. 1112 01:04:05,920 - > 01:04:10,559 One leadership habit you practice every single day 1113 01:04:10,800 - > 01:04:12,320 without fail. 1114 01:04:17,119 - > 01:04:18,480 Absolutely. 1115 01:04:20,079 - > 01:04:21,440 Absolutely. 1116 01:04:21,840 - > 01:04:22,480 Yep. 1117 01:04:23,119 - > 01:04:25,760 That's a great way to start start your day, man. 1118 01:04:26,239 - > 01:04:31,119 You're a CEO, a COO running a hospital, and you're still in 1119 01:04:31,119 - > 01:04:31,760 school. 1120 01:04:32,079 - > 01:04:38,320 What does a typical Tuesday, Wednesday look like for TOG when 1121 01:04:38,320 - > 01:04:40,719 you're in class, taking classes? 1122 01:04:41,199 - > 01:04:47,199 SPEAKER_01: So I um I get to work at uh about 3:30, 4 a.m. 1123 01:04:47,760 - > 01:04:52,320 and I get as much done as I can before 7 a.m. 1124 01:04:53,199 - > 01:04:55,519 And then my actual day starts. 1125 01:04:55,760 - > 01:05:00,159 So I try to get as much of that done as I can between four and 1126 01:05:00,159 - > 01:05:00,719 seven. 1127 01:05:02,960 - > 01:05:03,280 SPEAKER_00: Okay. 1128 01:05:03,679 - > 01:05:06,719 SPEAKER_01: And I mean the day really ends after that because 1129 01:05:06,719 - > 01:05:12,559 at that point my daily uh calendar kicks in, and most days 1130 01:05:12,880 - > 01:05:15,199 my work day is from about 4 a.m. 1131 01:05:15,519 - > 01:05:18,880 until probably nine or ten at night. 1132 01:05:21,519 - > 01:05:23,679 SPEAKER_00: What keeps you up at night? 1133 01:05:29,199 - > 01:05:36,400 SPEAKER_01: Not providing all of the resources that I feel like I 1134 01:05:36,400 - > 01:05:39,519 should be providing so my team can be successful. 1135 01:05:40,159 - > 01:05:41,840 SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's a great answer. 1136 01:05:42,400 - > 01:05:46,480 If you could go back and have one conversation with your 1137 01:05:46,480 - > 01:05:50,800 younger self, the guy who was just starting in law enforcement 1138 01:05:50,800 - > 01:05:52,639 because he wanted to get in firefighting, but it was a 1139 01:05:52,639 - > 01:05:56,079 five-year wait list, what would you tell him? 1140 01:05:57,119 - > 01:05:58,639 One conversation. 1141 01:06:01,519 - > 01:06:08,320 SPEAKER_01: I would reassure that person that the Lord's 1142 01:06:08,320 - > 01:06:14,559 plans for him are perfect and his plans are terribly flawed. 1143 01:06:16,079 - > 01:06:21,599 I would tell myself, hey bro, do not develop your own plan 1144 01:06:21,679 - > 01:06:23,840 because it's gonna fail every time. 1145 01:06:25,360 - > 01:06:26,559 SPEAKER_00: Absolutely. 1146 01:06:26,880 - > 01:06:28,639 Final rapid fire. 1147 01:06:29,039 - > 01:06:33,119 You've been a first responder, an entrepreneur, a nurse, and 1148 01:06:33,119 - > 01:06:35,199 now a hospital executive. 1149 01:06:36,079 - > 01:06:40,559 One word, just one word, that connects all of it. 1150 01:06:45,440 - > 01:06:46,159 Caring. 1151 01:06:46,880 - > 01:06:47,440 Caring. 1152 01:06:48,079 - > 01:06:51,840 Dog, that's the perfect place to end the rapid fire. 1153 01:06:52,079 - > 01:06:54,480 And I just want to tell you, man, this is just this has been 1154 01:06:54,480 - > 01:06:57,360 an incredible, incredible conversation. 1155 01:06:57,679 - > 01:07:00,400 Thank you for your time, for your stories. 1156 01:07:00,800 - > 01:07:04,320 And mostly I can I know this, and thank you for your heart, 1157 01:07:04,480 - > 01:07:04,800 man. 1158 01:07:05,280 - > 01:07:08,000 I'm grateful for you joining me on the couch today, man. 1159 01:07:08,079 - > 01:07:09,199 I appreciate it. 1160 01:07:09,679 - > 01:07:11,440 SPEAKER_01: Appreciate the opportunity. 1161 01:07:11,760 - > 01:07:15,280 You know, it just the the time went by so quick. 1162 01:07:15,760 - > 01:07:20,320 And man, again, I hope we just were able to reach one person 1163 01:07:20,559 - > 01:07:21,119 today. 1164 01:07:21,360 - > 01:07:25,440 And and I do want to say too, man, you know, I talked about uh 1165 01:07:25,679 - > 01:07:30,639 going through a divorce early in life, and and I've talked about 1166 01:07:30,639 - > 01:07:31,519 my faith. 1167 01:07:32,079 - > 01:07:38,800 But I will say that no matter what anyone's faith is, take 1168 01:07:38,800 - > 01:07:43,360 time to be thankful for the things you have, and don't 1169 01:07:43,360 - > 01:07:46,880 really worry or compare about the things that other people 1170 01:07:46,880 - > 01:07:47,199 have. 1171 01:07:47,679 - > 01:07:50,800 Just focus on yourself with a positive mindset. 1172 01:07:51,199 - > 01:07:54,400 I remember being that single dad at home. 1173 01:07:54,719 - > 01:08:01,039 My kids would be asleep in their room, and I would pray, Lord, it 1174 01:08:01,119 - > 01:08:03,280 I mean, this is just how simple I am. 1175 01:08:03,519 - > 01:08:04,880 I would literally pray like this. 1176 01:08:05,039 - > 01:08:08,239 I'd be like, Lord, it's obvious I do not have the ability to 1177 01:08:08,239 - > 01:08:09,360 choose my own wife. 1178 01:08:09,760 - > 01:08:11,360 I mean, it's terrible. 1179 01:08:11,760 - > 01:08:15,280 But I would really appreciate it if you help a brother out and 1180 01:08:15,280 - > 01:08:16,239 send me perfect. 1181 01:08:17,359 - > 01:08:18,640 And he did that. 1182 01:08:18,960 - > 01:08:23,279 And all of the things that we've talked about today, from going 1183 01:08:23,279 - > 01:08:29,199 back to school in a new job, moving through that job into 1184 01:08:29,199 - > 01:08:34,000 leadership, not one thing would have been accomplished if it 1185 01:08:34,000 - > 01:08:37,199 were not for Courtney Goss, my wife. 1186 01:08:38,000 - > 01:08:38,880 SPEAKER_00: That's awesome. 1187 01:08:38,960 - > 01:08:42,479 That that is that is a very, very, very fitting way to 1188 01:08:43,119 - > 01:08:44,960 conclude this this interview. 1189 01:08:45,039 - > 01:08:48,319 And you're right, time went by by extremely fast. 1190 01:08:48,720 - > 01:08:52,159 I I can already see where this is going. 1191 01:08:52,560 - > 01:08:57,039 Next time we do this, we're gonna have three screens up 1192 01:08:57,039 - > 01:09:00,239 there, and we're gonna have your nephew. 1193 01:09:00,399 - > 01:09:05,680 We're gonna have Brock, Brock, Tog, and Steve, and we're gonna 1194 01:09:05,680 - > 01:09:08,079 talk leadership and we're gonna share it with folks. 1195 01:09:08,239 - > 01:09:11,199 So, Tog, again, appreciate it, man. 1196 01:09:11,359 - > 01:09:12,079 Thank you for everything. 1197 01:09:12,239 - > 01:09:15,840 Keep doing what you're doing, and we'll be in touch. 1198 01:09:15,920 - > 01:09:16,960 Thank you, sir. 1199 01:09:17,359 - > 01:09:18,319 SPEAKER_01: Looking forward to it. 1200 01:09:18,399 - > 01:09:19,439 Thank you, Steve. 1201 01:09:20,399 - > 01:09:22,720 SPEAKER_00: During my worker year, I had the privilege of 1202 01:09:22,720 - > 01:09:24,319 meeting some extraordinary leaders. 1203 01:09:24,399 - > 01:09:27,600 And the ones I remember the most are the ones who had the smooth 1204 01:09:27,600 - > 01:09:28,079 ride. 1205 01:09:28,239 - > 01:09:30,640 They were the ones who were willing to start over, to be the 1206 01:09:30,640 - > 01:09:34,000 rookies again, to get out of their comfort zone. 1207 01:09:34,319 - > 01:09:36,319 Todd Goss is one of those leaders. 1208 01:09:36,560 - > 01:09:39,119 Law enforcement officer, firefighter, paramedic, 1209 01:09:39,199 - > 01:09:42,640 entrepreneur, nursing student, and now the chief operating 1210 01:09:42,640 - > 01:09:45,279 officer of a rural hospital while still going to school to 1211 01:09:45,279 - > 01:09:46,960 get another master's. 1212 01:09:47,760 - > 01:09:50,239 He didn't become a great leader despite starting over. 1213 01:09:50,399 - > 01:09:52,239 He became a great leader because of it. 1214 01:09:52,399 - > 01:09:54,960 Because he knows what it feels like to be the rookie in the 1215 01:09:54,960 - > 01:09:55,359 room. 1216 01:09:55,520 - > 01:09:59,119 Because he's worked every day in every part of that organization, 1217 01:09:59,199 - > 01:10:01,439 and he's traded comfort for meaning. 1218 01:10:02,159 - > 01:10:05,439 If you want to connect with Tog and learn more about his work, 1219 01:10:05,680 - > 01:10:08,399 find him at toggoss.com. 1220 01:10:08,880 - > 01:10:10,640 Toggoss.com. 1221 01:10:11,039 - > 01:10:14,079 And if today's conversation resonates with you, share it 1222 01:10:14,079 - > 01:10:15,439 with someone who needs to hear it. 1223 01:10:15,600 - > 01:10:18,479 An emerging leader, someone who's sitting at cost rates, 1224 01:10:18,800 - > 01:10:20,960 someone who's been told that's too late. 1225 01:10:21,279 - > 01:10:24,239 If you're sitting there wondering what you need to do, I 1226 01:10:24,239 - > 01:10:26,159 think Tog answered that question. 1227 01:10:26,399 - > 01:10:29,119 That's what consulting from the couch is all about. 1228 01:10:29,359 - > 01:10:32,880 Nuggets, tidbits, and takeaways from real leaders who've been in 1229 01:10:32,880 - > 01:10:33,680 the trenches. 1230 01:10:33,920 - > 01:10:37,760 This podcast is brought to you by BLC Consulting, a 1231 01:10:37,760 - > 01:10:40,239 communications and organizational strategy group 1232 01:10:40,479 - > 01:10:42,640 working with service-related businesses. 1233 01:10:42,800 - > 01:10:47,760 Learn more at blcconsulting LLC.com. 1234 01:10:48,000 - > 01:10:51,600 That's BLC ConsultingLLC.com. 1235 01:10:52,000 - > 01:10:55,600 Until next time, keep learning, keep growing, and keep leading 1236 01:10:55,600 - > 01:10:56,079 with heart. 1237 01:10:56,239 - > 01:10:57,600 I'm Steve Goodson. 1238 01:10:57,760 - > 01:10:59,680 Thanks for joining me on the couch.