Embracing "Audacious Optimism" (ft. Shanna Adamic)

Thanks for tuning to Digital Voices podcast, where we chat digital transformation challenges and opportunities across healthcare and life sciences. And now, your host, Ed Marx. Ed here. Welcome to another edition of Digital Voices. Super excited, as I always am, because we have awesome guests like Shauna Adamek. Shanna, welcome to Digital Voices.

Thank you so much. I'm so happy to spend some time with you, Ed.

Yeah, you're a longtime healthcare person like I am. You know the industry super well. We'll get into that. But you also wrote a new book on Audacious Optimism, and I just love the title in and of itself. And I really want to jump deep into that also. So I'm really looking forward to our conversation.

Thank you so much. Yeah, it just, you know, writing a book has been a labor of love and it's not for the faint of heart. So I know, you know.

Yes. Yes. We, we can commiserate, but yeah, it's definitely a labor of love. And once it's out there, you look back and you're like, I'm glad I went through that.

And absolutely.

So we really just met sort of via social media. You are doing some great things at Oracle, I think formerly with Cerner, if I understood your trajectory correctly. So I was like super intrigued, plus I love, love, love to promote other authors, and especially on a topic like this. But the most important question that we ask Shawna in all of our Digital Voices time together are, what songs are on your playlist?

Okay, the songs that are on my playlist that are kind of— I would consider them, you know, I'm in my car by myself, I'm going to turn these songs on, and it's always the same. It's anything from Journey to Broken and Beautiful, Kelly Clarkson. Everything she sings or covers is fantastic. To some of the old hits, like from Better Than Ezra and to Taylor Swift. The song that I'm always going to belt out when it comes on is probably Journey's Don't Stop Believing. That's, that's one of the ones that just stays a staple on every playlist that I have.

Yeah. And that ties in to one of your life messages, I think, also in terms of optimism. But speaking of life messages, are there sort of mantras or messages that Absolutely.

I think that, you know, the number one— I don't think, I know— is that optimism is an audacious act of bravery and self-trust. And it's one that has been, you know, developing on this journey that I've seen. I pulled this thread of optimism through and then realizing what it truly is and means and what it isn't and understanding the power that it can have in my own life.

Yeah. Love it. Yeah. And we're going to unpack. Some of that. So yeah, tell us about yourself. Like, who are you? What's your story? Where did you grow up? Let's just start there and then just fill us in all the way till now.

I grew up in small town Liberty, Missouri. Nobody ever knows where it is, but it's, you know, it's in the loosely defined area of Tornado Alley across the Midwest. And so it was, you know, I had a wonderful family, wonderful community. I also dealt with a lot of things that early on from my father who passed away in the VA hospital of leukemia lymphoma and seeing what that did to my family dynamic. Thereafter and not having a lot, having to kind of watch that my single mom with myself and my 2 older brothers struggle to, you know, pay the bills, bring things to the table, and even do things as small to some people as allow us to play sports. Sports were expensive. And so one of the things that I talk about that truly changed my life is that my mom asking a local dance studio if I, at 11 years old, if I could work there part-time to earn dance lessons, a choice that my mom made that really changed the trajectory of my life as I took on dance. I earned a scholarship into college. I knocked on the door of the NFL and all of this alongside of what would become my passion and working and doing the serendipitous dance with healthcare. Yeah.

Oh, I love it. That's awesome. And what a great mom.

She is a great mom. I talk about her quite a bit that it's that, you know, she has a, she had a personality that was Timid and shy. And then she has this daughter, that's me, that's, I was so outspoken and always had these big dreams. And I learned so much from her, from how to use my voice to how to, to walk in this world with grace, but with boldness and to fill up some space.

Yeah, it's amazing what moms in general, you know, they're such the advocates for their children and protectors and it's a beautiful story. So thank you for sharing. So, you alluded to your career a little bit. So, you started off as a reporter and now you're an executive at Oracle. So, take us through that journey. So, you were a reporter and then what happened next?

Absolutely. Well, when I went to college, I had this idea in my mind that I was going to be the next Katie Couric. And so, I was like, yes, this is my destiny. And leaving college, I had this passion for journalism. And it was more about really like I was just interested in every story. And At that moment, they wanted to change me to a different market, and I couldn't at at that time go to a smaller market that was further away from my home. Staying home close to my mom for several reasons, needed to help out just a little bit. And I had this conversation with this team and this woman who they had started a small foundation and a company that was called Cerner. And at that time, it was foundation of three, and the foundation they had started was. Closing the gaps in healthcare for children around the world, and I'll never forget when I started having this conversation about possible philanthropy, and she said to me, "She goes, 'You know, I know you want to be a reporter, but let me teach you how to tell stories that will save some people's lives.'" And it really changed the course of my life while really tapping into something I was truly passionate about. So that's where my story turned and began, and then I started to live this course of my life that was was dedicated to philanthropy and advocating. For these children to receive this care that they needed, this access to healthcare that, you know, for children around the world and walking alongside my colleagues who were digitizing healthcare and really living in the space of excitement of taking the most dangerous thing out of a doctor's hand, which was the pen and really seeing that happen in real time. And so, it was an exciting shift and turn and one that I never realized I would experience at such a personal level and how much of, again, I'll go back to that term, serendipitous dance I would do with healthcare.

Yeah, I love that. And yeah, Neil Patterson and Cerner are such great philanthropists, right, in the community in Kansas City, in that area. And that's, that's super that you had that opportunity to do what you did. And you are a longtime cheerleader, as you mentioned as well. How did that prepare you for being an executive today?

Oh, you know what, I was, yeah, I was a cheerleader for the Kansas City Chiefs for nearly a decade and, you know, got to live out my dream of being a professional athlete alongside of growing my career. And so, I, you know, I make this joke sometimes that during my 20s, I really never had a life outside of my work during the day, practice at night, games on the weekends, but I loved it. There's so much that being a professional athlete teaches you. It teaches you definitely, you walk in there as something, you know, I worked on my sport and my art and my craft for hours. And then I was part of the best of the best. And it's this, this definite incredible combination of humility and this championship mindset and this, you know, this work ethic that, that you start to perfect. And I mean, it just is a time in my life that taught me so much in terms of, you know, persistence, resilience, coming together, collaboration, teamwork, leadership, leading other leaders. I mean, I was able to be a captain of that team for several years, and I wasn't the best dancer. I wasn't the best athlete on that team, but it's, you know, when you are among the best of the best and you can say that about any industry, not just in professional sports, it really teaches you so much about what you can get done together as a group of professionals in the industry that you're in. And so, it taught me so many things. And I kind of, in a cheeky way, I say sometimes, you know, I can definitely come into a room and I can pep up a crowd. I know how to kick high when the score's low. put a smile on my face when things are down. But in all honesty, there were some times, Ed, where the Kansas City Chiefs stadium was empty and we were still cheering. So I will tell you, it teaches you a lot in terms of just being able to push through in moments where it's like things aren't going so well.

Yeah, that's why I asked the question, because I knew you'd have a lot of insights from being a professional athlete. And yeah, sometimes it's to hundreds of thousands or, and Sometimes it's, uh, to much less. And yeah, I can definitely see the benefit.

So many, so many connections. And it's, and, you know, I, I've been asked many times, I'm not even asked. I would just say people have assumed sometimes when they say, when they know I was a professional cheerleader, they're like, well, of course you're an optimist. And I'm like, no, no, no, no. I'm not an optimist because I was a cheerleader. I was a professional athlete because I know how to, to practice audacious optimism.

Yeah, I love that. And that's going to be a key point I'm sure we're going to talk about. So, one last thing before we dive into Audacious Optimism, because you're also a great speaker. I've seen your speaker reel and I've seen some examples of your speaking. And so, you also do this really well. Obviously, it must have been an evolution. You just weren't born a great speaker, but you learned along the way. Any, you know, one or two tips that you might have for the average person out there, you know, the average executive that's watching that has to get up in front of their peers, the C-suite, the board, and present?

Oh, yeah. It's all about cause connection. It's all about, you know, I've learned so much through the years of speaking. And early on, I can even remember thinking back and thinking about getting excited for something I was going to talk about. And it was really, I was really focused on the words and how I was going to present and what I was going to say. And then through the years, and even being, you know, going back again to that story of this incredible person in my life saying, I'm going to teach you how to tell stories that are going to save people's lives. It was this understanding through that time and this philanthropy that started and that work I was doing and working in healthcare of the things I was saying and the way I was able to talk. Nothing was about what I was saying, the words that were coming from my mouth, me being on stage. It was about the people that were listening. It was about the person I was talking about. It was about, about bringing this story together and making every single time that I get up there, Making the audience feel like they are in the journey too. It's not about the speaker. It's about them. And when I started to really realize that, it's when I, the transition of my speaking, and that's really where it took shape. Understanding that every time I get up, there's somebody in the audience who's going to maybe be, you know, connected in a way that, that I can't even explain because they're able to see themselves in the story. So when you think about it like that, like even if you're getting up in front of a team meeting, an organization, whatever it might be.

Yeah.

Every single moment you get up, you wanna create cause connection. You want them to be connected to the story and to the idea that what you are doing is bigger than just the words you're saying.

Yeah, love that. Yeah, thank you so much. That's really good. So, let's dive now into Audacious Optimism. How did the book idea emerge? What prompted you to write it?

Gosh, you know, what prompted me to write it was, you know, Ed, I went on such a profound health journey of my own That started in 2011. I make this joke that I retired from cheerleading in 2011 at 31, but it was retirement. I retired with the nickname the Fossil, by the way, because I cheered for nearly a decade. So I was one of the many fossils that cheered. But I started to lose my hearing on my right side. And then when I went to my primary care physician and others, they did their best job to try and figure out what's going on, but it was blamed on me cheering in the loudest stadium in the NFL. And then my symptoms started growing. And then And that felt wrong. And over 6 years, I engaged with a PCP, a specialist, an ER 109 times and with growing symptoms. And so this was a journey then that led me to a life-threatening diagnosis. And so I experienced at a very interesting level all of this technology that we had been creating, which we needed to create, but I was also experiencing the interesting part of it, which was the disconnect it was creating to the patient. And so, and then, you know, knowing then it almost made me more passionate about why we need to create that connection piece, like how we needed to bring the doctor and the patient back together to see eye to eye and start making those connections in healthcare. But during that time, got that diagnosis, the diagnosis that saved my life, and was able to receive the right care, the right treatment, had a remarkable recovery along the way. And then I started to think like, man, I need to share this story. I'm not the only one who's ever experienced this. So I started to write things down and pull things together, and I thought if nothing else for my kids who don't even know what what I went through because they were so young at this time. And then during that time, I also recorded something for YouTube that was put out, and it was a little bit about my health journey. It got a lot of views, and I started to get reach out on LinkedIn, on Instagram, and from people who were experiencing a health journey similar to mine, even not, but just watched the video. And then it was the moment that I had started journaling all of these pieces, you know, thinking maybe I'll do something with it. That I got a reach out from a young. Girl in Cape Town, South Africa. And she said to me, she DM'd me on Instagram and she said, I have the same diagnosis you do. And she was much younger than me, but she said, I left my doctor and I just felt like there was no hope. I feel like my life is over. And then she said that her doctor's office in Cape Town, South Africa sent her an email with a link to my video and said, this girl's going to show you that there's hope. And it was at that moment, Ed, that I was like, okay. She saw herself in that video, in that story, and she saw that life is going to continue and life can go on. And so I was like, I'm going to write this story because it's not just about a health journey. It could be about a major change in life no matter what, or it could just be that life feels like the great odyssey and you're in it and you don't know how to handle it. And so I just started to put it all together and pull through this thread of optimism and this idea of optimism that I was really faced with at The hardest time of this health journey. And so that's how the story began.

Yeah, that's, that's remarkable. What are 2 or 3 key messages that you hope readers take away from the book?

Gosh, you know, when I think about the, the idea of audacious optimism and it really kind of being at the root of it, you know, this, this idea of bold hope, I truly believe, Ed, that hope is our most valuable birthright, that when all else is gone, False identifiers, things that matter right now, like title, job, are you married? Do you have kids? Do you have— how many followers do you have on social media? When all of those things are gone, even, you know, even people who we love the most are gone. The one thing we have left is this ability to hope. And so the message I hope people take is that it is a bold action to step into hope and to step into, into believing in yourself. It's not a passive option. And that's one piece. And then this idea of optimism being this audacious act of bravery and self-trust, it's self-empowering. It's something that you can bring into your life, not just personally, but professionally, because, you know, they're so intertwined. Um, and then from a healthcare side, there is this undertone of my book that, that is just, just underneath this idea of audacious optimism that I'm an optimist in healthcare as well. And I believe that. You know, this path that we're living now in healthcare and what we're doing to create this new path and what we, how we have digitized in the past is going to change healthcare. It's going to create moments of early detection, early diagnosis, more patient and physician interaction. It's going to empower the physician and it's going to empower the patient.

Yeah, I love that. And don't you think optimistic people are just more fun to be around anyways?

Yeah, I think, you know, that's so funny because, Ed, I will tell you, like, I think anyone can be an optimist. And a lot of times, like, I have friends who are on the spectrum of if you think positive and negative, they're always the people that are like, there's holes in everything and the coffee is not hot. It's like, I love you and you can still choose to be an optimist even in those moments. But it is, you get really energized by people who are even in that scale, no matter where they are, energized when people start to think There's a way, right? There's a way. And we can, and we can find that way and we can start walking that way.

Yeah. And yeah, it all goes back to that hope that you spoke about at first. So do you think humans are wired for optimism? Are we born with optimism and it gets taken away from us? Or, or is it blank slate and depending on how we're raised? Any thoughts about that?

I, there's several thoughts I have on that. I think as humans, We are hardwired to want to see hope because I think it's like, goes back to, you know, we're hardwired for survival and hope is part of that. So we can get on a very deep conversation about that piece. But I think that environment and, um, pieces in your environment can take away from that. How, what you experience growing up, how you experience the world around you can take away from that. And I think that, um, some of the truly most truly remarkable people, Are those who have faced the most adversity in their life and have been able to triumph in that tragedy. And those are the stories you look at and you read and you're like, how? But truly every single person in this world is living their own, you know, odyssey. And so it's just a matter of being able to hone in on those pieces that allow you to step into optimism, allow you to think optimistically. Yeah.

And I just think life is more fun and adventurous, at least my experience, you know, if you're an optimist, because you do see hope even in dark situations. And it's just, I don't know, that's my personal journey anyways.

You're an optimist.

Yes. Oh yeah, man. I have to be. I mean, I couldn't imagine not being. So that's why I was so enamored with your book. And you talk about optimism as a choice and a strategy. Can you say a little bit more about that? Yeah.

Optimism is a choice. I started to really realize that optimism was a choice when I started to realize what it wasn't. It wasn't happiness, because happiness is finite. It's fleeting. It's not positivity. Positivity is part of it and can activate it, can fuel it, but positivity can be blind and toxic, something we've all experienced, something we've all dished out along the way. I mean, just as a side to that, have you ever— I make this joke sometimes, like, have you ever been fined to death? Like, as a leader, sometimes we're like, it's fine.

It's fine. Right.

And it's like, that's, that's that note of like, no, that's not optimism. That's actually some toxic positivity. It's not a feeling and it's not a personality. And, and so when, when figuring out what it wasn't, it's, you know, there was this moment where 8 weeks after this major surgery I went through in this recovery where I looked in the mirror and I didn't recognize the woman staring back at me. She looked weak. She looked broken. She didn't look like a person who had, who had, you know, climbed this corporate ladder. She didn't look like a professional athlete. She wasn't someone who could pick up her kids. She didn't feel strong. And I remember thinking to myself, who am I? And that's the moment I realized that the choice I was going to make when I answered that question was going to change how I was going to step forward. And what I did after that point was I went to the table by my bed. I wrote myself a note and it said, I will smile with all my teeth. I will close my eye completely. I will chew with both sides of my mouth. I will be a better version of me, and I put it in front of my reflection. At that moment, that's when I realized truly that optimism was a choice, and they gave me a less than four percent chance of regaining back my facial function on my right side. And I think it's you know regardless if I would have or if I wouldn't have, I accepted at that moment that I made the choice.

Yeah.

Of how I was going to move forward.

Yeah. I love that because someone could always say, well, it's easy for you to write a book about optimism because, you know, you've got it all together. You've got this perfect life. And indeed, while there's been some fabulous parts of your life, you had this tragic situation. You didn't know what the outcome was going to be as you described, and you had to make this choice. So for someone who's listening right now and something's happened in their life and they're in a kind of a low place. And maybe they were an optimist, you know, maybe they're kind of bubbly people like ourselves, but something's hit them hard. What, what's one piece of advice you would give them right now as they're listening?

I think sometimes that optimism in those moments where there's a clear dividing point between before and after, and maybe that's where one, a listener feels like they, there's a second before and then something in their life has happened where it creates that second after and life changes. Or maybe they just feel like they're in the hamster wheel of life. I think it's just the knowledge that sometimes that hope looks like, and stepping into this idea of optimism that can activate this belief in your future, it just looks like getting up. It looks like deciding that you're going to see 3 things that day are, that are beautiful beyond that broken, that aren't even connected to the broken. It's the hot cup of coffee. It's the note from a friend. It's the walk outside, whatever it might be. But sometimes stepping into optimism and finding that ability to continue on optimistically starts so small, especially in those moments when it's so painful. And, you know, I'm going to date myself, but there is a movie that I love. Thank you. I'm going to say thank you to my mom again. Thank you. Thank you, Mom. Sleepless in Seattle, where I remember this line where he said, it's just waking up and breathing in and out.

Yeah.

Just that simple act is actually that motion that happens in some of our saddest points. And one thing I tell people all the time is that you're not going to choose optimism many times when you are happy, when things are good. Those are great moments. You're going to choose it when it is a gritty, gritty form of hope.

Yeah. Love it, Shawna. Thank you so much. And I'm sure it really has helped some of the listeners. So I'm going to put in the show notes everything about you and how to reach you and also how to get the book, because I highly recommend it. And I think after everyone listens to this particular segment, they'll want to get it as well. I want to pivot now to leadership because you're also a great leader and I don't want to lose the opportunity to learn a little bit from you. And you've already talked a little bit about some early life experiences. Anything else that sort of prepared you for the leader that you are today?

You know what? I think that leadership is learned. And I have, I have learned so much. In the last couple decades through leadership, I have, I have tried things, I have failed big, and I have had to revisit. One thing I have learned is that you have to be a servant leader. You have to be there for the people who are, who are working for the mission, who are working for the cause. And I have learned that my job as a leader is to remove barriers, get things out of their way to make sure they can get the job done. And I started to understand that and stepped out of my own way of just being a manager of people and thinking that that was, that was the path of a leader. When I started to realize that, man, some things really shifted and, and the path for my team, for our mission we were leading, for the work we're doing, and also for me as a leader. It just, you get out of your own way.

Yeah, that's sage advice right there. And you are today a Fortune 100 executive. Pretty cool. I'm always a little weird on this question because I'm selfish. And so the question is really about what advice would you have for other females specifically who aspire to be the same? But to me, I want to be, I want to learn from you too. So I hate, you know, bifurcating male or female, but sometimes I know that people want to speak specifically to other women because you're a great role model. So what advice would you have to someone that's hearing this, watching you, seeing your videos, Reading your book and they wanna be like you there?

I think this is for anyone, cuz I wanna speak to, to everyone, but I think that I started to understand how to trust my own voice. And the way I wanna describe that is that we all have our inner self, that inner, inner voice that is, I always put my hand right on my chest and it's like you get that knocking on your chest to do more, to say more, to push more, to advocate for yourself, to advocate for someone else. Many times we don't listen to it, but I started to learn how to listen to it and when, when to use it. And one way that I have, I have really, that I really honed into it throughout the course of, of my career is really to learn how to ask and not in a way of asking for just saying, asking for support or inclusion, but, but asking in a way of knowing what I want for the future. Ask to be at the table. And I was, I remember many times that I would say, hey, could I just be invited to the meeting? I won't even say anything. I just want to come. And then as soon as I started asking for myself, it's like I'd look to my right and left and pull up a chair for somebody else. And because I'm always about carrying people forward too, but asking. And so I encourage people all the time, I'm like, you should have an ask a day. And that ask looks like, hey, I met, I met someone really intriguing when it comes to a profession that I'm interested in. I'm going to ask them for a virtual coffee to just ask them a few questions. And so, but that's one of the ways I think that through my career, I have been, I've really leaned into the ability of just saying, OK, I'd love to be there. I'd love to be included. What opportunity could I have, or how could I work to get where that person is? And just keep asking the questions.

So, Shauna, you're like super mom, super exec, super everything, right? You write a book, you speak, you do all these different things. What do you do for downtime? What is your, your, your keys for like getting a break, refreshing yourself, you know, recharging the batteries?

Absolutely. That's such a good question. And I have to actually actively remind myself to take downtime because you can burn yourself out. Like with everything, and that's any everybody's busy. I think for me personally, I have two areas of like two areas of my life where where I love to that's considered my downtime. Every single morning, I have thirty minutes chiseled out that is just my my workout time, whether it's Pilates, strength training, running, whatever it might be. Thirty minutes, and I don't have my phone. I have nothing, and it's just like it's just me. And then I think the other downtime I have is I love. Books, and I love anything I can get my hands on as far as a book. Very much a I listen to books that are similar in my genre, like the learning, the motivation, the inspiration, the educational. But then I read. I read anything from fantasy to sci-fi. I'm on Fourth Wing right now. I'm still Ed, the only person I think now that brings an actual book on airplanes, and I pull it out, and every single time I pull it out, someone's like. I haven't seen an actual book on a plane in a while. I'm like, it's, I'm that person. That's what I do.

Yeah, those are some good practices. So I love it. I'm the same way. In fact, I was just kind of staring behind my computer here at the last book I just brought on a plane to read. That's awesome. So, Shana, this has been fascinating. We talked a lot of different things, everything from music, your life message, obviously all around optimism and the whole concept of being brave and the self-trust that we later broke down. And then just your background, your story, and the beautiful story you relate about your mom and how she She really was very sacrificial in her love for you and your brothers. And then your career, how you went from reporter and simultaneously a professional athlete and then rose to be a Fortune 100 executive. And you talked about the book quite a bit. And again, we'll put all that information in the show notes because we want everyone to buy the book and just the different key messages that were important to the book and that optimism is a choice and you can really change your life and it's all based You know, it's grounded into this concept of hope that you spoke about. And I love what you said also. We didn't spend a lot of time on it, but I picked up on it is the toxic positivity versus optimism, right? It's kind of like there's a big difference there. And then we talked a lot about leadership and just your whole growth and advice that you have for others. And I loved it. It was like, trust your own voice, ask, ask a day and helping others. Those 3 things, amazing. And, you know, what you do for downtime, taking care of your, your body and spiritually and all that kind of stuff. So fascinating. What did we miss? Anything you want to double down on? I'll give you the last word.

You know, I think I just would love to double down on the fact that, you know, audacious optimism to me is something that's very personal. And I, I do firmly believe that optimism is an audacious act of bravery and self-trust. And it's one that is not just for your personal life. It is for your professional life as well. And it's one that helps me live more intentionally and live in a way that, you know, really brings my life into a frame that I see for the future. And I hope that empowers others to do the same.

Shawna, you're an awesome person. I'm so glad that I reached out. I made the ask.

Thank you.

And I took your advice even though I hadn't heard it yet and, and just connected with you. You're amazing. And thank you for being my guest.

Oh, I appreciate it. Thank you, Ed. You're amazing. So I appreciate you very much. Thank you for listening to Digital Voices Podcast with Ed Marx.

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