Can you walk us through your career journey?
I am fortunate to have a 19-year career in recruiting. My path began in college, where I did an internship in college for a Missouri state senator. When that internship was over, part of my job when I returned to college was recruiting for that internship—bringing in candidates to work with legislators and senators at the capitol. I also served as a student ambassador at college which was my first foray into recruiting at Northwest Missouri State University.
I then went to work in the for-profit sector with Apollo Group, recruiting students into their organization and serving as an academic counselor. That role was specifically focused on re-engagement with previous students of Apollo Group. Someone I worked with then recruited me to Chicago where I got my first professional role recruiting insurance professionals to the life, property/casualty, and finance and healthcare arenas; there, I placed interim subject matter experts to step into myriad project work. I did that for three years before I was recruited to MCR nearly 11 years ago.
What are your primary areas of responsibility?
At MCR, I was hired to be the VP of Business Development and then was promoted to Senior Executive Search Consultant and SVP of Business Development. My focus at MCR is sales—specifically, partnering with payor, provider, and support organizations to bring in clients and opportunities for the recruiting side of the business. I was also appointed to the MCR board of directors after my second year—I am going on my ninth year of sitting on the board which focuses on collaborative decision-making around the scope of our firm and where we’re going. I love it when I have the opportunity to travel and see our clients.
How has the healthcare landscape changed from the start of your career to today?
Since joining MCR, a lot has shifted with healthcare in general that has informed what we do. Many states incorporating managed care organizations to serve their long-term care beneficiaries has impacted the work I do. I’ve seen many emerging trends—including acquisitions, a shift in health plans’ focus on value-based care to align with financial models coming out of CMMI and CMS, an uptick in various audits, policy updates, and navigating the global health crisis. The pandemic affected a significant number of our clients—as companies of a certain size were not set up with business continuity planning and assisting them while they navigated that was a big shift.
There have also been numerous shifts in modality, including return-to-work mandates—I’ve seen the impact to healthcare due to those mandates and other trends such as quality scores dipping last year and Medicaid unwinding…as a significant amount of people were eligible as part of Covid-19 and are longer eligible now. I’ve also seen significant technological advancement and a more direct focus on quality care and the whole person.
What do you feel is different about you within your role that helps you guide your clients to success?
I think it’s important to have both art and science aptitude when you do this work—and you likely have to be heavier on the EQ side to be successful. I think I have the right amount of both to provide clients with a high-touch recruitment service. I have also focused on specialization—I’ve found a niche within integrated delivery systems or provider-owned health plans which has allowed me to help expand MCR deeper into new markets since we started in San Francisco in 1995 and get us further into organizations around the country.
For recruitment companies in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, it was enough to have a good network and have a certain level of experience in the industry—and the emerging landscape caused a lot of these firms to close. It used to be that clients focused on a low price, or quality, or time to fill—but today, you need all three to be competitive. We need a little bit more than a network; we need to have a client focus and the ability to deliver the most for the engagement.
Why should healthcare organizations choose MCR to help fill their critical hiring gaps?
I think that there are a lot of recruiters that are vertically focused, serving one functional area across many industries. MCR is industry-focused, and we work in all functional areas—payor, providers, and vendor support companies—so we truly understand how companies work together in the industry itself. Our size is an advantage, because we are small enough so that we can be flexible and nimble, yet we are established enough to have built an amazing network and capabilities. We are able to show our clients and relationships that we are up for any challenge which is why our repeat business is so high.
What are your hopes for the healthcare industry in the future?
I think the future of healthcare will center around innovation and getting further down the road to value-based care and alternative payment arrangements. I think we will continue to see innovation and integration. Clients are learning now more than ever they need to retain top talent and MCR is able to be flexible with companies looking to get top talent and learning how to retain their people.
Executive search is a niche industry that is projected to grow by 2032—so it is critical for companies to maintain quality for their clients as they see growth. I’ve seen many acquisitions and many search firms close their doors—so it is more important than ever to move with the times and truly be there for your clients.
What’s something interesting about you that clients maybe surprised to learn?
I suppose the most interesting thing lately is my new Yorkie puppy, Portia.
