Meredith Hestand

Guiding conversations with community leaders.

In this podcast, we'll explore the human journey of leaders, their stories of humility, triumph, roadblocks and lessons learned. Come join us as we journey together and uncover the questions you've always wanted to know. This podcast is brought to you by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce, perhaps providing resources, connections and belonging for business professionals.

And Rocket Space, an event and meeting venue in the heart of the East Valley with a full service four person podcast studio. And we're back today. Sarah, we have a Kansas girl with us today.

Oh, I can already feel the energy.

Jones in this one already. This is a good day. This is a good day. Who do we have with us today?

Today we have with us one of our community's heroes. She grew up in Lincoln, Kansas and survived bacterial meningitis at the age of four, which even at that young age, provided her with a clarity of her calling. She lost her father to homicide at the age of 14. Decades later, this tragedy led her to one of the most powerful moments of her own life. Today, she has been married to her husband, Brandon for more than 20 years and they share two children, Raven and Carter. She packages her life experiences into her incredible work and leadership as the Chief Nurse Executive Officer at Mercy Gilbert Medical Center. Please welcome Meredith Heston.

And you said it right. Good job.

Did I say it right?

Thank you for having me today.

Thank you for being here.

We're so glad you're here. We're going to start off with what we call rapid fire round.

Excellent morning beverage of choice.

Oh, Vanilla Coke.

Okay.

How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?

Oh, 45 minutes or an hour.

Beach or mountains?

Oh, beach. Easy.

Name one thing you cannot live without.

Can I say Vanilla Coke twice or should I use something like family or.

Well, we introduced you to something new today, so maybe.

Okay, yeah, maybe we should go there. I'd have to go with family. Most definitely.

Oh, this one's painful. Favorite sports team?

Oh, okay. Well, it's Chiefs season, so we're gonna go Chiefs. We could also cover Jayhawks or Royals.

Almost perfect. Okay, where is the most beautiful place you've ever been?

Oh, wow. You know, I actually. And I know you started off with Kansas girl, but that to me, home is the most beautiful place I've ever been. My office is full of pictures of home. Wide open, rolling hills.

Let's define home.

Semi mountains, you know. Lincoln, Kansas.

Lincoln, Kansas.

Back home. Right in the middle of the plains.

Yep.

Spender or saver?

Oh, spender.

Describe yourself in three words.

Driven. I hope Someone would say compassionate and kind. That's what I hope someone would say.

Best room in your house.

The family room. Like where? The tv, kitchen, all that. Anything with the food, all the action. Yep, exactly.

Okay, last question. Glass half full, half empty, half full.

Most definitely optimist.

Kansas.

Yeah, absolutely. Midwest. What can I say?

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That's 480-848-3037. All right, well, let's get going. Sarah, you got the first question.

Well, I know. So that was sort of a hefty and heavy introduction. So you spent the first 25 years of your life living in a small town with less than 2,000 people. Take us back there. What was life like? And what called you eventually to leave?

Yeah, you know, growing up in a small town, I wouldn't trade that. In fact, there's times I look at my own kids and wish that they had that same experience that I had back in that little tiny town. And when I was there, there were about 1,800 people. My graduating class was 28 kids. You just knew everybody. You knew everybody's business, too, which that was a plus and a minus. But the sense of community and, you know, someone had cancer, people made meals, and they. You just never had to ask a question. It was what I call Midwest people. Kansas people, to be specific. You just had a real sense of community, and you could let your kids out. And we played outside all the time. We made mud pies and, you know, nobody had phones, et cetera. But even now, that's still more of the culture there than it is here, for example. So, yeah, it was a really great experience. And I was there my whole life up until I was 25. I did go to college, of course, at Fort Hays, which is a big city to me at the time down the road, but I came home most weekends and. And I started CNA work when I was young. So I worked in the rest homes and took care of people who had been my teachers when I was in grade school. And you go to the grocery store and you weren't out of there for at least an hour because you'd see people you knew.

And every day, not because of shopping, because of talking.

Right, right. You only needed cheese, but you talked to 50 people. And there's a website that one of the jokes they have is the Midwest goodbye. And that it takes at least an hour to get out into Midwest goodbye. And it's true because you just see people, you know, and everywhere. And I loved that world growing up. I find it very hard to think about going back to that now and being in that small of a world without Target and restaurants right down the street. However, I miss home. My parents are still there, so we get to go back every now and then. But it was a community that surrounded me my whole life, so I never lacked for support.

And were you an only child?

I was an only child until my mom remarried and then I gained three step siblings, so they were already graduating. They're older than I am, so I really stayed an only child. I was 15 when I was 14 when my mom got remarried. And so I stayed an only child basically. But yep, I do have three steps and things are great.

So Kansas Liberty is a lot like the other small towns. It's either the railroad or grain elevators. Which was it for you guys?

Grain elevators? Yeah, absolutely. Big wheat country, lots of farmers. You either farmed or taught, you know, school or worked in either the rest home or. We had a little hospital there, still do. Little eight bed hospital.

And then what, at 25, what inspired you to leave what you'd always known?

Well, I met my husband and we met online back before that was even a thing. Like just had figured out what a Yahoo chat room was and a friend of mine made a little profile and said, you got to go on here, we can talk over the computer. It's amazing. We only lived about 30 minutes apart, but you can talk. So we got on there and my husband asked me, she had put up a profile picture and I was drinking a beverage and he wrote back, what are you drinking? And just a random guy. And we started talking and we talked for six months and then I made up a really great story about how I had to go to a nursing conference. Yes, I lied to my mother because I was very scared.

This is being recorded.

I know, right? And she's probably going to listen to it. But she knows now. It's okay now. But I was really worried that she'd be worried about me. You know, I was old enough obviously to go do whatever.

She would have been worried about me.

Exactly. A who where? Because there weren't such things as dating sites and such. It was just a random guy. But after six months I was convinced. I think he's an okay guy. So I went to meet him, and I drove over to Colorado. He drove up to Colorado from Arizona. And the first time I met him, I met his dad at the same time, which was really interesting. I'd never seen a picture of him except one from, like, when he was 18. He told me he couldn't afford a webcam. I think that was a lie, but he'd seen a picture of me. And I pulled up, and this truck door opens, and this guy steps out. And I'm like, I don't think that's him, but that's the right truck. I'm like, he's older than I thought he was gonna be. And then out stepped Brandon, my husband. So I met him and his dad in person for the first time together.

Why did his dad come with?

He says, just in case I was dangerous, you know, like an ax murderer. Oh, yeah.

I guess your mom should probably know that.

I know, right? I'm like, so. And I didn't bring along any reinforcements whatsoever. Just myself. Right, Right. I'm from Kansas. I can handle this. So, yeah, they met him, and I moved out here about five months later, and the rest is history. Yeah. And he is the perfect guy for me. There's no doubt. 20 plus years later.

How often do you go back to Kansas?

We try to go at least once a year. With COVID it got harder. So my parents have come out here more. They're actually coming in November and staying until February, so we're getting our longest time to actually get to have them here. And luckily, we all get along great. They can be right in our house and cooking me amazing food. My stepdad's Hispanic, so I get homemade tortillas, and my mom cooks Midwest meat and potatoes for me. And wow.

That's a perfect combination.

It really, really is.

That's awesome.

We need to lobby together to get Allegiant to open back up that flight they had from Mesa to Manhattan. Wouldn't that be amazing?

Well, we take the Wichita one. Okay. So we go straight out of Allegiant from Mesa into Wichita and back. And that works very easy. Yep. I actually didn't know what ever flew.

Into Manhattan right before I bought K State season tickets.

Oh, I'm so sorry.

All right. A lot of Kansas stock.

It was real unfortunate.

Yeah, it was terrible. Go back a little bit back now to the education side when you. You're in the medical industry. Where'd that come from? How'd that come into your world?

You know, my mom tells that story better than I do because she remembers when that started, I can remember knowing by the time I was in grade school that I definitely either wanted to be a teacher or I wanted to be a nurse, one of the two. But my mom can pinpoint the exact time. And you know, as you said in the intro, I had bacterial meningitis when I was 4. I don't remember the early part of that, but interestingly, I remember bits and pieces of the end of the recovery and then months that follow, little bits and pieces, just enough like I can still picture my pediatrician coming in to talk to me after I had a temp of 108. Which now as a nurse, I think, oh my gosh. And when I listen to the story from my mom, it was one of those they're not sure she's going to make it through the night kind of things, very sick kind of ordeals, which I don't remember that part, thank goodness. But when that was all over with in those weeks that followed, I was around 5. So that was when I was 4. When I was 5, mom was talking to me about what I wanted to be when I grew up and I said, I want to be a nurse or I'm going to be a teacher. And at that point my mom said, well, don't you want to be a pediatrician like Dr. Freeman? And I guess at that point I told her, well, why would I want to do that? Nurses are the ones who take care of the patients. Because in the hospital, nurses took care of me the whole time. So whatever those nurses did for me when I was 4 years old left an impression that carried on into the rest of my life. As I got older, teaching still appealed to me and I still really enjoy making a bulletin board or copying papers and stapling them together. There's things that I helped my mom with when my mom was a second grade teacher for many 30 plus years. And so some of those teacher functions I find fascinating. I love any office supply markers, et cetera. So I just incorporate that into my nursing world. But I became aware the value that we don't place enough value on teachers in terms of pay, et cetera, et cetera. And I thought nursing might be the way I want to go, having no idea that nursing would explode into what it has. New grads obviously now make many times more than I did coming out of school. It definitely wasn't a money thing at the time, but it was more the three 12 hour shifts and you know, you just had a different life as a nurse.

Well, the needs and the style of lifestyle has changed since COVID and all these things. Right. It's like a whole different.

It really is.

But I. I find it interesting that you actually translated that feeling into your career. So, I mean, some people might. Might go into a specific career because, you know, it's something that their family is in their family or it's an interest to them. But you to. You acted on a few feeling, and you translate that even today into your leadership style. And I'm just curious how you continue to tap into that and not get bogged down by getting things done.

Yeah, you know, you definitely get bogged down in the. Especially you take on those leadership roles. And it used to be patients, and I loved taking care of my patients, and I did that, of course, for the first number of years as a nurse. And when the opportunity came up the first time to be in a leadership position, it kind of just happened. It wasn't premeditated. It wasn't a thing came up. And they're like, I think you'd be good at doing this. Do you want to apply? I'm like, well, I guess I could try it out. And my cousins and such would tell you I was always a little bit. Bossy would probably be the word they'd use. I would say leader. They would say bossy. I was the oldest cousin amongst us, so I always liked to lead whatever we were doing. Good, bad. I like to be the leader. And so I thought, well, maybe I can try this and help the staff around me. Maybe we can together do something different and make some improvements. So I applied, I got the job, and that's what we did. That team that started out with myself, plus about 60 nurses, grew into a team of myself, plus 108 was the max that I had in that role. And we worked together to make an outstanding unit and one that was driven by care and compassion. And then I began to learn words as I learned more like servant leadership. What is that? And trying to fit your own leadership style. And I felt like that's who I want to be. I want to be the person that I'm here to lead my team. But it's such a team effort. I don't ever looking back, there's not a moment where I can say I. There's always us. And I've just tried, no matter what we're doing, to carry that over. And as I rose up through different opportunities, which just. I'm so fortunate. I look at dignity, health, and the opportunities I've had with them. And now being a chief nurse at Mercy and really looking at a team of hundreds of nurses now and what can I do to serve what they need? And the last two years have just been devastating everywhere across. There's not a discipline across that hasn't been affected in some way. And in healthcare, we not only were affected, but we saw patients dying, we saw patients so sick, so scared. And we had to somehow rally together and pull that team and our desire to serve each other through the roughest. With serving the patients through the roughest and so very rewarding. And I came into this job right in the middle of that 19 months ago during our first bad surge, and spent the first few months just trying to figure out where do I put beds, where do I put patients? And my team is amazing. So we just continue to try to translate that, not just for myself, but with the people I work with.

Yeah. So I will share with you. And my stepfather passed away at Mercy Gilbert from COVID Oh, I'm so sorry. And it was the first time I. I translated the. The fact that these nurses were physically and emotionally carrying that load with them too. And yet, you know, they were his nurse, his end of life nurse was young. And so, I don't know, I just. I just remember her face. I remember her vulnerability and how much she truly invested in her patient when they were going through so much. And it was almost a. If death can be beautiful, it was a beautiful experience and a really hard time. And I could feel. I could feel the care. It was pretty amazing.

I'm so sorry that happened. Unfortunately, that story repeated itself over and over, and it's devastating for everyone. And I'm sorry you went through that as well.

And I think that's what made it so meaningful, is that we know that that story was happening all around them, and yet when she entered that room, he was the only patient and it just made it okay.

Yeah.

But you forget, as a patient or a family member of a patient, that nurses go through this regularly and that they're going through things in their own lives as well. And it takes a huge amount of skill and probably emotional stability to be able to handle that.

Yeah. And that's really been where we, as leaders have focused is how do we refill their buckets at the end of the day and try to give them the courage and strength and tools to come back tomorrow and do it again for the next family with the same love and care and compassion and individualized care. And if there's anything that I, as a leader would hope that I can instill within my team, that and that they instill right back into me. I get back. Everything I give, I get back from them. But that that's how we want to be. And I'm so fortunate to have the kind of caliber of nurses around that I do.

That's hard.

So I love learning about the history of who influenced who, our guests. And so you mentioned your mother was a teacher. I can totally relate to that. And I know I can understand where a lot of that motivation. But when the nursing side comes through, there's a lot of schooling and education involved in that. You probably had some mentors along the way. Anybody stick out when I say that?

Yeah, absolutely. Gosh. There's all kinds of professors and people who you just connect with along the way. And so there's some of those. When I got out and started working, I was very fortunate to have some real rock stars around me who both helped me to see that there was more potential there that I could do more. I have a really close person who's I've had the privilege of working alongside who's also reported to me. Shauna, who truly says to me, you can do whatever. I follow you anywhere, that kind of thing, which really gives you a lot of, you know, that good love feeling that, hey, I can do this. I had an amazing director my first seven years as a supervisor. She trusted me wholeheartedly. She gave me wings. She'd say, take off, do, I've got your back. I'm gonna trust your judgment. And I learned so much from her that I. Her name was Julie, if I didn't already say that. And she definitely influenced the kind of leader that I wanted to be for other people too. How do you not just use your leadership skills to build yourself up, but who's behind you? If I'm not there tomorrow, who can do this job? How do I promote others to believe in themselves? And I've been so fortunate to have people who have the skills and sometimes they just need that little bit of, I trust you, I believe in you. There's no reason you can't do this too, to walk alongside them. But Julie taught me a lot about that, and I was very fortunate to report to her for seven years.

That's cool. That's great. Now, another side of your history here, it talks about your father.

Yeah.

And that sounds like a very interesting. Want to untangle that for us.

I certainly can, because it definitely. When you think about one person's life trajectory, that experience and the moments around that shaped, no doubt, who I have become. I hope mostly In a good way. So my dad struggled with addiction. He was a Vietnam vet. He was in the Tiger Force, which was. Now that I'm older and have read about a very brutal part of Frontline combat. A lot of secret missions, a lot of. Just when I read about it, it just makes. It is so painful to think that someone who's my daughter's age now, I can look at my daughter, she's 18, almost 19, that my dad at that age. And I look at my daughter and think, oh, my word, how could you drop a child like that, a child into the midst of that kind of combat? And that's what happened to him and to millions, you know, but he was over there. He came back not. Not the same as so many, unfortunately, did not come back the same. And my mom married him not long after he returned. And now that I'm also older, I can see that she lived a difficult life with him. He was a wonderful man. When he was good, he was good. But he had alcohol and drug addiction from the time he returned and that. And probably mental health, definitely mental health issues. But I think definitely the effects of the alcohol, the drugs, and the trauma added to probably what was already underlying many issues. They were married until I was 13. And I can so clearly remember the moment that we knew that. And I can remember my mom talking to me about, we've reached a point where I think this has to. We have to separate. And when they did, my dad said to me, I won't live a year after. I won't live. I won't live without you and your mom. I won't live a year after this. He was becoming more paranoid. He was definitely. We weren't sure if he was dealing drugs. We weren't sure he was definitely using them. But he had a lot of friends who were pretty iffy. But then he could turn around and be. When he was sober and everything was good, he was the best guy. And, you know, when I said, I want to be a ballerina, he bought toe shoes. You know, it just. Whatever it was that I was after, he thought I could be a tennis player. So he built this big wall on the side of the house. No HOAs in central Cannes. So let's say that. Built this big wall and said, you can be Martina Navratilova. Here you go. Here's a wall. I'm like, okay, well, I don't even know what a tennis racket, but all right. You know, he just was that person, too, who, from the time I was born, was like, I Believe in you. You want to do that? Let me build you a big wall, you know, your biggest fan, right? Exactly. So he was this wonderful man with this horrific problem. And so they did divorce. And 11 months later, I was playing Cinderella in an 8th grade musical or so, let's see, let me get this right. That would have been my seventh. Eighth grade musical. Sorry, yes. Eighth grade musical. I was playing Cinderella and he was in California helping a buddy out. And he seemed to be on a decent track. It was one of his Vietnam buddies that had some work he could do. So he had driven from Kansas to California to help him out with this house build or something. And he was coming back. And despite all the issues, I talked to him every few days at most. And he said, I'm leaving California. Of course, this was before you had a mobile phone with you, right? I'm leaving California. I'll be there whatever day. I'll be there to watch you in the play. And the play came and he didn't show up. And that was weird. But at the same time, well, you know, who knows what happened along the way, right? He could have stopped somewhere, I don't know. But the next day came and we still hadn't heard anything. So my mom called in a missing persons report to our little Lincoln, Kansas place, you know, to our police office. And at that point they weren't real concerned. You know, he had a history of all sorts of issues. And we called his friend and he said, yeah, he definitely left. He was going to stop in Garden City, which is another town along the way between. It's in Kansas, and said he's going to stop there and maybe that's where he is. But we didn't have anyone's numbers. We didn't know. So a few months go by, we don't hear anything. He hasn't called. I mean, after a few days, I can remember very clearly saying to my mom, something's happened. I mean, he doesn't go time without calling. Something's clearly happened. And I'm thinking, did he have a wreck somewhere? Are we going to hear something? And ultimately, six months went by. That was May in November. Somewhere between. In that timeframe between May and November, the kbi, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, reached out to my mom. And at that point we learned that he had been working basically as a narc for them. So not only had he been dealing drugs, he had been selling drugs and. Or I mean, he was dealing drugs as well as narcing on other people who were. So at this point, they're saying he's been mixed up with some really bad people. And we don't know what's happened, but we're gonna try to figure it out for you. And in November, I'd been babysitting at a volleyball match downtown, a little community volleyball thing. And I drove home and my grandma, her car was in the driveway. My mom's mom's car was in the driveway. And she didn't go out of the house after, you know, six o', clock, seven o' clock at night. And I thought, oh, this is it, and walked inside. And sure enough, they had found him and the friend of his. Ultimately, as the story played out, it was a friend of his that he had stopped to see who believed that he had left a list of contacts and drug things that he was going to narc on. He'd left this list somewhere and he was trying to get the list and all this, and ended up beating him to death over the course of a day. And they buried him in a silo out in rural Kansas. And the KBI managed to find him and bring him home. And, you know, it was at that point I was 15, and it definitely, you know, I had all that love for him. I had all the frustration. You know, I think any child, especially when you're young, why can't you just put that stuff down? And why am I not enough that you can't walk away from that bad stuff and you feel that way. But then you get older and you grow up and you go, okay, it's not that easy. You know, he clearly had struggles beyond anything that anyone could help. And so I was glad he was at peace. It was terrifying. I had to testify at the trial for. I know, right? I'm holding it semi together right now. That's okay. No, I'm on the edge. I testified at the trial for the man who was accused of killing him. And that man told a really good story about how another man actually was the one who did it. So he ended up just getting a few years in jail for kidnapping and a few other things, drug charges. And so that man served about maybe three or four years of his sentence and was let go. And I, for a little while, kind of tracked that and watched that. And I never went to a parole hearing. I never, you know, I just. I felt like, it's done. I want to walk away. I want to live my life. And, you know, even in high school, I just felt strongly that I needed to go forth and live my life the way my dad believed I could. Which was, you know, let me build you a wall, let me buy you ballet shoes, because why can't you do toe shoes on the first day, right? I never became a ballerina at all, by the way, dancing. Anything that involves balance is not for me.

How are you at tennis, though?

Terrible. Also terrible. But I need to go live my life the way he would have wanted me to live my life. And I had my mom, who was an absolute rock, and my stepfather Joe, who also absolute rock, and took me in just as if I was his own. And so I knew I had all the tools. I just needed to focus on the future. And years later, and this was only about three years ago, this gentleman put in for some additional court stuff that involved them needing to let me know that he was requesting certain things as part of his court case and to remove a felony from his record. And I had the opportunity to either just let that go or to go say why I didn't think that was okay. And mind you, this is how many years later, I mean, this man's in his 70s now. He's basically my dad's age and my dad will be in his 70s. And I thought, you know, I just feel this strong urge to go. I feel that to see him again. Last time I saw him, he was a very scary looking man, very intimidating. And I had to walk past him and testify and oh, I feel like I need to go. So I went back to Garden City to the same courtroom, you know, now as a 40 plus year old adult with my own life and kids and my own kids who are now the age I was, and I can't even imagine them living through this, right? But you know, we do, we get through what we get through. And so at that point went back and went through the thing and did the little testify and here's this frail looking gentleman. And I remember when it got to the point that I was asked the question, do you think we should expunge this part or not? And I truly, my heart said, I'm so glad it's not up to me. And that's what came out of my mouth. I said, I'm so glad it's not up to me. I'm a nurse and I see this frail man in front of me who I truly, at this point in my life, wish no ill will. I'm so sorry that we're here, I'm sorry that I have to be here, but I wish him no ill will. And ultimately the judge did not do what he wanted. But afterward I was walking Out. And I heard this voice say my name, and it was him. And I had the chance to stand in front of him and hear him apologize and own it for the first time ever. To say, I was a bad man and I did a bad thing and I'm sorry. And that the weight that came off.

That sounds amazing, you know?

Yeah. I thought it was all gone. I thought it was in the past. And so having that opportunity, that chance, changed so much of how I feel about that part of my life. So I'm so grateful that I had that chance, and it really did shape who I am. And I look. I look at people so differently, I think, sometimes than maybe others do. And we all have caring, compassionate hearts inside of us. I believe that every human has capacity to love and care. Right. Every single human is born to be able to love and care. And then when you have something happen, you can go one way or the other, you can take that and you can become bitter and you can become hard, or you can look at every single person you see and think, I don't know their story, and I don't know what's happening to them. If I cannot contribute to more pain, I want to do what I can to help. And that's how I always. I just. In nursing, when I was on the floor, I never knew which patient that my love or care for, it might change the course of their life. And had some. My dad run into the right person, maybe he would have, too. So that's. I try to use that life experience to apply back into what I do every day. And now mostly for my staff and, you know, for people around me.

Your strength is incredible.

Indeed.

I also think about your mom.

Yeah.

Wow.

Yeah.

Like to be that rock when I can't imagine the anger and frustration and hurt that she went through.

Yeah, absolutely. And now as an adult in a marriage that's very. A wonderful marriage. And knowing what a gift I have, because I look at what she had to have gone through. I know there were domestic violence things that I probably only know the tip of. I can't imagine the anxiety, the angst. And yet she came through that with a. Not just lived through it, but came through it strong and able to translate. Resilience is almost an overused word at this point, but that's what it is like. How do you become resilient? And then I look at my kids who haven't suffered any of those things. Like, I can remember, how do I teach my kids not to want to do drugs or to. I had a really good life lesson. I don't want to do that because of this, but how do I. How do I now in this world that's pretty rosy for my children, teach them also that compassion, that empathy, that fear of these. You know, it just. It was a really different thing. And they know all about Grandpa. They know all about what happened. They knew when I flew to Garden City, why I was doing it. And so just being very open and transparent with them, hoping that they didn't have to go through it, but hopefully they can still learn and live and pass that on, too.

That's an incredible story. Wow.

Yeah.

Strange things happen in the middle of Kansas.

Yes, they do. And great things, too.

They really do. They really do.

Yeah.

Yeah. I just. So much to unpack there. And even, you know, the last point that you touch on about how do we. We spend so much time trying to protect our kids from the hurt and pain or failure or experiences that might alter them, because your ultimate fear is that they won't choose the path that you chose. Right?

Absolutely.

Or that they can't recover from that. And yet we all can. But it's a choice, and it's a conscious choice, and it's not an easy.

Path, and people need help sometimes. I was fortunate. I got through it with minimal amount of counseling, minimal amount of. I'm very lucky that I recovered from all that with minimal. Some people need more help, and the more I can point people to, that's okay. You need help, let's get you help. Whatever it is you need to help, deal with that. Let's get that. It doesn't matter. There's no shame in any part of it. And everybody reacts to everything so differently. But, yeah, it is so hard. We look at our kids and we want to protect them. And my mom actually gave me a book when I was a senior in high school. I still have a page marked. And she marked it when she gave me the book. And it's just a book where it has a picture and then a quote kind of thing. And there's a quote about, if I could have protected you from everything, would I have? But then how. I wish I'd have brought it with me, but then how calm, how sterilized your life would be. Right. So instead you would have never known. Right. And it's to that vibe and.

And look at the lives you change today because of what you've been through and the way you do it.

Well, and it's very. It's apparent to me, it's crystal clear to me that you are exactly doing what you should be doing. Like this role that you have and the things that you've done. Boy, spot on. You know, I think a lot of us search for what our purpose is sometimes. And just hearing your story and seeing what you're doing today, what a match.

Yeah. I've been very blessed to end up in roles that I feel like a good fit for my personality and for what I have to offer. And this one, of course, being my hugest role so far. I mean, sometimes the weight of the responsibility, you think, my gosh, I need to do this so. Right. But if I, most of the time, if I sit back and trust my judgment, trust where my heart tells me I should go, the decision ends up being the right one.

So let's think ahead now.

Yeah.

What's the future look like for you?

Oh, you know, I've been asked that question. Don't you want to be the CEO of something someday? I'm like, I don't know that I do. It doesn't look like that much fun. You know, we're building at Mercy Gilbert, so I have tremendous opportunity right where I sit right now. As a former OB nurse, my background being labor and delivery, I'm building a women's and children's pavilion. What gets better than getting to have a whole inpatient area and a women's and children's pavilion in this role? So when I think about what will I do for the next 20 plus years, I could do this for the next 20 plus years and just continue to try to drive the profession of nursing and the healthcare of our communities forward and probably be perfectly happy. So from a job standpoint, I don't know what the future holds, but I sure hope that whatever I'm doing that I can positively impact the people I'm with. That whatever reach we have reaches out to the community and provides resources, and that people who do work with me, who have the chance to be around me in a professional role, that their future is bright, too, that we have that chance, that we all look forward the same way. And personally, you just hope your kids, the only thing Brandon and I have ever wished for. Do whatever you want, but be nice. Kind of please be kind humans. Because there's so much out there and if we've ever seen it, it's so apparent now how much, you know, you think about that old song. What the world needs now is love, right? Yeah. If it's ever a time where you hope that you raised compassionate human beings who can get us in a good direction, it would be now. That's the future. I hope that 20 years from now, I look back and I see my kiddos, whatever they're doing, you know, as happy people who love what they're doing and give love to everybody else.

Well, they've got a good mentor in you, so I think they're on the good course there.

I hope so, really. Truly a community hero. Thank you so much for all you do for our community. And I know that Brandon will keep you busy as your children move on to do great things.

So, yeah, maybe we'll get to see each other every now and then.

I hope you do.

Yeah, every now and then. We'll see.

I don't know if that'd be a highlight. I wouldn't put that on my list.

You don't think so? Okay. All right.

I think she's talking about her husband.

Oh, I thought about you.

No, I'm not high on anyone's list, but you and Brandon just spent time together. Well, I'm just. I'm grateful that you shared your story with us today and your journey. It's just this is exactly why we do this podcast, because it's so important that people know each other's journey. And a title is one thing, but the way you got there and the why is so much more.

So thank you for having me. It's really a pleasure. Yep.

Thanks. Meredith, if you liked this episode, as I know you did, because this was an amazing episode with Meredith today, join our tribe. Sign up so you can get all the updates when we send out new recordings. Thanks for being here.

That's it.

Guiding growth conversations with community leaders.

Ben, let me ask you a question. How do you see other community members being involved in this podcast?

This is going to be a great opportunity for so many people in the community to have a chance to be heard if they want to tell their story or if they just want to be part of this journey with us and help sponsor in a way that helps bring more people to the table with us. So I think there's many opportunities at hand, whether you want to again, be on the show. Reach out to us. Let us know what your story is and how you think you could be part of it. We'd love to hear from you. Reach out, let us know, and we'll see if we can make that connection.