How Helen Johnson Turned Getting Lost Into a 30-Year Healthcare Leadership Journey

[0:00]  you're you're always accountable when you're the CEO or the chief nurse. You're always accountable for the care. But I think it just it magnifies that responsibility and I I get real um it's this is deep for me when I think about taking care of my old high school track coach who as a young kid, he helped me.

[0:23]  I mean, he he made me believe in myself. He pushed me. And now here he is at the end of his life and I'm able to do something for this man that did so much for me all those years ago as a 14-year-old girl. Welcome back to another episode here on the Heart and Hustle podcast. Helen, I I want to say thank you kind of get really into it. You once said healthcare isn't just a job, it's a lifestyle. I really got to ask, when do you feel that that truth uh you just felt it in your bones really for the first time? Yeah, I think for me um as a

[1:11]  young college student, I was not necessarily on the healthcare path and when I got lost one day and went through this nursing department and very logically made a list of why I should be a nurse. Um, but then when I started getting into the classes and seeing the the cool stuff that we were doing and taking care of people, um, I would come home and talk about it to my family and they could see that like passion and fire in me. And it's just since since then, 18, 19 years old, it's just been really interwoven into how I live my life.

[1:49]  And you originally had your eyes though in environmental science. How did Narson sneak into the picture? Totally by accident. Um, this is when you look at your life and you're like, "Oh, that's a what I would call a godwink." Um, he was like, "Yeah, this is not for you. You should not be in a lab somewhere. You need to be with people." So, I was on my way to a math class and got lost in the building and wandered through the nursing department and for whatever reason, I just stopped and started looking. They had all these billboards and uh it looked really exciting and for a young poor college student when I said saw that I could be out and making money like in a year and a half I was like I should investigate

[2:37]  this. This makes a lot more sense to me. What what is over here on this side? Exactly. That is so good. And just to kind of, you know, sometimes getting lost, it it may seem so crazy, but sometimes getting lost, people truly find themselves, right? And find what their calling may be, what their purpose is, and that has led you to where you're a CEO. So, was it the right path? Oh, yeah.

[3:04]  Yes. Yeah. Yeah. There was mentorship in this moment though, right? That really changed the trajectory as well. what what did they say or do that really made you step into the leadership instead of just doing the job? Yeah, I I loved being a bedside nurse and taking care of patients and there's that immediate satisfaction of seeing somebody um be less painful, seeing their some of their health issues resolve. Um, but I had I had an opportunity to get into hospice leadership and my boss pulled me in her office and you know in healthcare we we look at administration and we call them the suits and I wasn't really sure that I wanted to be a suit. Um I because I loved I love that interaction with the

[3:52]  patient and their family and my boss pulled me in her office and she said um Helen I think you should I think you should really think about it. um do you know how many patients I touch every day? And I thought, lady, you sit in your office all day. You're not touching anybody. Um you are a suit. And it was interesting to me because she said, "Helen, I touch all of your patients and Sandy's patients and Grace's patients."

[4:20]  And she explained to me how creating that environment that the rest of us were working in, she was impacting patient care. And I'm a bit of a nerd. So it I just started thinking exponentially how many more people I could help if I stepped back and worked in leadership. And I those opportunities have just continued to present themselves and until you end up a hospital CEO, I guess. Yeah. I mean it is true. You know, it's funny that you guys have this term suit. I never would have known. Now I feel like I'm in the in what's happening in nursing world. Um but just to think that Yeah. as a leadership perspective, there is a sense of having to to step away sometimes and realize the bigger impact you're making when you're leading a team because now

[5:06]  you're leading 10 people that may touch 10 15 on their own and as long as that you've got good leadership then it's actually looking good on on your perspective and just to see that happening at that you know there's growth there so yeah definitely a change for you yeah it's it was interesting to me and if you and you may not have picked up on that but if you watch in any of like the little healthcare dramas I've been binging the pit lately and the lady that comes down literally in a suit to the ER. I don't watch Listen, I don't watch a lot of TV, but now I'm going to be on the lookout for it. Now, now it's going to make sense to me. Yeah, now it's definitely going to make sense. I I remember the factory flooring and then to healthc care floor like totally different worlds. What did working in that factory uh teach you that still sticks with you today as a hospital CEO? Because there's always something you can learn from, you

[5:54]  know, your past or your last job. What was that? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think working in a in a food packing plant was interesting. It definitely taught me that I wanted to go back to school. Um because I did drop out for a while. Um kind of lost my path and got back in. But those are hard physical jobs and um I still have a lot of family members that do do work like that. And you know, props to them. We all need applesauce.

[6:22]  we all need, you know, frozen foods and things like that. But it was it was the discipline and, you know, just hard work and um understanding things from the bottom up and um I've done a lot of lean six sigma training around process improvement and that is used a lot in like um car manufacturing, Toyota. There's all these books that you can get into, but they call it the gimba, which is where the work is done. And if you want to run places, you need to go see where the work is done. So, I routinely will, you know, just stand down in the ER and ask them, "What can I do to make it easier for you?" They, you have to make those connections.

[7:12]  Um, I think sometimes they they think we sit in our office and don't know what's going on. And that's probably true for a lot of people, but if you get down there and develop that relationship with them, I think it does make it better in the end. You know, it's true for those that have good leaders, right? Like that's what it is. That that really goes to show a true leader is someone that never forgets where they came from. they don't forget the front line because it's not like we all get gifted this opportunity.

[7:42]  It is something that we work for someone another good leader seen something in us and allowing us to you know be in these seats. So yeah, you definitely always got to come back. And that's how I as a leader, I think those are the most amazing times is when I see someone remembering where they came from, where there was a janitor, you know, it's like, hey, and give that same respect just like you're giving a nurse, you know, and it shows that that that's who you are, you know, and the first time I seen you actually, I think you I asked you, how are you doing? Your response, fabulous. And I'm like, okay, this is a good leader right here. People just say good. You said fabulous. I can imagine the energy that you're putting back into the hospital. and I appreciate it. Yeah, I am pretty high energy. Um, it can be a lot on Monday morning. So, I, you know, need to check myself sometimes because I work with some introverts and I, you

[8:30]  don't want to overwhelm them. You got to let them get a cup of coffee in and kind of ramp up to where you are. So, but I I do try to always come with positive. I mean, there's so much negative. I just feel like why add to that side? um like man put something on the other side of the equation and you know it's a choice like it's a choice I think tell you a story about the energy right you're talking about sometimes having to let them get a cup of coffee when I was a facilitator I had um worked with these two young women and it was like 6:40 in the morning and it's like the first day of one of the classes right because it's like a week long class so 6 something in the morning I hate to be there early anyway so I'm playing music already it's 6 something in the morning I I'm loud and the girls are looking at me like, "Can you please

[9:16]  lower the music and shut up?" Like, it is 6 something in the morning. I haven't even sipped my coffee and I'm going to hear just loud as possible. So, it is there's some people that be like, "Why are you so lit right now? What are you doing?" So, yeah. It's Yeah. It's not drug induced. It's not any sort of like out of control hysteria. It's just um happy to be alive. Yeah. and and excited to connect with people and and like conversations we were having earlier about just um learning from people and hearing their story and um I people can you need to draw people out sometimes and give people that opportunity to have their moment and shine. So, I I always look for that in conversations with people or especially

[10:04]  if I'm in a meeting to, you know, give that credit to whoever did the project. I I very rarely will say I did because I I just don't even if I did 99% of the work, I'm not going to I'm not going to put myself out there like that because it's always somebody else helping me or that helped me get the information or pointed out that there even was a problem to fix.

[10:29]  Yeah, I hear you. No, I hear you. And again, good leadership. You're just showing all the true great amazing leadership skills through the things that you're saying. This is this why you're where you're at today. This is why Helen it took a while to get here, though. This was not a thing. Hey, better late than never. Better late than never, right? You're there. Um, you've also talked about always being on in a small town setting. When work and life blur, how do you actually recharge without the plugin, especially at a high energy, right? Because sometimes when we're high energy, we're always pouring into, but who's pouring into what? So, how do you actually recharge without unplugging? Yeah. I' I've heard that before, that saying, you know, you can't pour out of an empty cup. Yeah. And and you got to make sure that you're recharging yourself. Um I mean, I do that in certain ways of my house is pretty isolated, so I have a lot of

[11:17]  quiet reflection time there. Um just watching wildlife or going on long walks. Um reading. I love to read. uh just listening to podcasts and even things outside of healthcare. I was just listening to a podcast, this whole series called Empire around different um empire building and different civilizations and um just learning about things that are outside of healthcare can shut my brain off a little bit.

[11:45]  Yeah. Yeah, that's true. That's true. And and you talk about nature. U you got plants. Okay. Those plants just give you a little bit of life as well when you get to see them flourish. Yes. Um so, you know, don't forget the plants in there. And the nature, I love that you mentioned nature. One of the things that um my wife asked about, hey, what do you want to do for your birthday? I said, put me in the middle of a forest or something like that cuz I felt just relaxed like just know my mind was there. And we did. We ended up going into nature. And sometimes you do just have to do that. Just surround yourself with life, you know, and it truly does clear your mind. We talk about, you know, plants just sometimes just sitting there repotting something and just thinking like look at all these roots that have grown and and you know all these different things really change the mindset and allows you to get out of the everyday task. So I like that you you

[12:33]  mentioned just nature in itself, you know. Well, and I know I know you're I know you're a plant guy and maybe on a larger scale um there's some uh Japanese techniques called forest bathing. Okay. That you should check out. I mean, we have huge huge force here in northern Michigan and the upper peninsula and just walking out there and the energy that is out there with the trees, the trees actually like communicating with each other. I mean, it's obviously not verbally, but I mean there's there's a communication between the trees and um there's an energy in the forest that I think does create vibration and connection with humans and it's I just feel it's really powerful. Water is another one. Um, definitely a water baby here in the Great Lakes. Got to have

[13:19]  some water. But it's that's my wife. My wife is a a beach baby. Yes. And I can't stand the beach. Like and we move closer to the beach. So now I'm probably like 25 30 minutes away from the beach. And um I still don't go to the beach. Like I I don't It's the sand, the the getting the dirty, then the car gets sandy, all that. Just take me to a pool. Take me to a pool. That might be the city in me, but um No, there's like Yeah. I grew up in Orlando near Universal. So that that's all we had was was pools, you know. I mean, we could always drive out to, you know, a beach, but I wasn't a beach type of guy. But I I love that and I think these are going to be some good things that people can actually uh take in when you're talking about how to re get that energy right and release the mind at times because life could I always say life could be lifing at times. Things are going, you know, whether you're going through

[14:07]  something, your family's going through something, a friend may be going through something, we take on that energy sometimes and it's how do you kind of, you know, let it back out into the world. Um, so I love I love that. And you also mentioned you work in a different type of hospital. Everyone knows everyone, right? Yeah. How do you lead authentically when your staff are also your neighbors? They're your friends or could even be your family members. Well, it definitely adds another element to it when um you need an organizational chart and a family tree. It it is small. I mean, we have probably 300 employees and many of the staff members are related to each other.

[14:47]  Um, I am not originally from this community, so I'm not related to people here, but I have I have worked in communities where um, yeah, cousins worked there, um, family members have worked there. You're certainly taking care of friends and family, old high school teachers. I mean, to me, that makes that makes the care more personal. Um, you're you're always accountable when you're the CEO or the chief nurse.

[15:16]  You're always accountable for the care, but I think it just it magnifies that responsibility. And I I get real um it's this is deep for me when I think about taking care of my old high school track coach who as a young kid, he helped me. I mean, he he made me believe in myself. He pushed me. And now here he is at the end of his life, and I'm able to do something for this man that did so much for me all those years ago as a 14-year-old girl.

[15:48]  Wow. Yeah, that is very deep when you think about it. Someone that is able to kind of help you and mold you into the individual that you were in today. And sometimes we don't know it until we get to these levels and and we come across them like, man, I remember the impact that was made. Um, yeah, it's actually pretty cool when you think about it. A and you're also big on helping people own their their own space at work. I think that's also, you know, great leadership. What's one example where someone surprised you by really stepping up in a big way?

[16:16]  Well, most recently, um, my chief nurse, um, is moved back to New Mexico. I don't know why she'd want to leave the upper peninsula and move to like a place that has you what, 310 days of sunshine, but she did. And um so I have a uh my director of surgery came to me and said, "I I think I'm ready to kind of level up and have some of these other people report to me." So I was, "Yeah, let's do that." Really excited.

[16:48]  Um, obviously we're still going to be looking for a chief nurse, but this young lady is in that stage of her life where she has young kids and she's a little nervous about that. Like, how do I balance being a mom and, you know, this nursing leader and maybe I even need to go back to school? So, for me to share my experiences with her of this is how I did it. This is how I was a young mom. This is how I stayed connected with my kids, stayed connected with my husband, was able to still advance my career. And I love that. I love that this woman um has the confidence to step forward and raise her hand and say, you know, put me in like I want I want a shot.

[17:34]  Hey, real quick. Have you enjoying the podcast? We first want to say thank you and we also just want to give you a little insight of what we're up to at Francis. Some don't even realize that we're working with organizations to help them use AI to create that real human communication experiences. Whether that's actually supporting your your families, those patients or the entire community. We're actually creating tech that connects. Check it out.

[18:00]  Francis.ai. And I think it's really to the culture you've, you know, you've created where people want to show up fully and bring their best. like how do you even create a workplace like that where people are excited to want to do more? A lot of times people just want to clock out, especially in the nursing industry, right? They already feel like there's a lot. So, how do you create that? Um, again, I think some of it is bringing it back to purpose and bringing it back to mission. Um, most people in healthcare got into healthcare because they want to help people. And I'll I'll tell you, every time when I was in nursing school and they would we'd have a new class and they'd go around the room and they'd say, you know, why did you get into nursing and everybody had these wonderful heartfelt stories of um you know, my mom was a nurse or I saw my dad get sick and those nurses were they were so wonderful and I wanted to do

[18:48]  that. I wanted to be that. So tapping tapping back into their why um and really talking about why are you here? Like what is your purpose? what is your why? Uh having them remember that because yeah, shifts are long. Healthc care is hard. It's it's a tough place to work because there is a lot of Most people are having a a tough day when they're coming to us. It's most people don't choose to come to the ER for fun.

[19:17]  Absolutely not. Yeah. It's, you know, and I I will joke with them and I'll say, you know, it's hard to be here. Like they have to pay me to come. I don't I don't come here for nothing. So having so true though. Yeah. Having a little humor with them um lighten it and then still connecting them back to purpose of talking about why is this important to you and the difference that you're making. When you see that other mom, you know, at the soccer field or up here, the hockey field, um you know, you you want the care to be good.

[19:51]  Have you ever had a moment where you had to actually like choose between what felt right emotionally and what was actually required operationally? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Um during COVID especially um we had I I was in another hospital and we had a a gentleman that was um just clinically we we would say actively dying. So he had actually coded. His heart had stopped a couple of times. He was really really very bad.

[20:20]  But we had very limited visiting hours and and visiting access. So only his wife was allowed in. Um I mean this is early COVID. Like we're not sure how much is out there. We're not 100% sure how people are getting it. We didn't have any vaccines yet. Uh we had limited PPE which is crazy that everybody knows what PPE is now. Um personal protective equipment. So, um, this man was dying and his son was in the parking lot and the staff was not letting him in at the front door because we weren't supposed to let people in. Yeah. And the care team that was taking care of him, the doctor and the nurses, um, called me and

[21:09]  I'm in administration and they said, "We need you down here stat." And I'm thinking, "What do you need stat from administration?" like is that budget? Like is that policy? I I don't understand what you're talking about. And I I get down there and they were wanting me to make the call. Are we going to let this son in and potentially expose my entire staff because we didn't know? Mhm. Or or are we not going to let this son have this moment with his dad? And I had to I had to make the call on that. That was really hard to potentially expose, you know, 10 or 15 people, but to potentially not allow this man to have that moment with with his dad and with his mom.

[21:57]  And yeah, I made the right call. Yeah, 100%. I let him in. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'm getting emotional just saying it because I can't even imagine someone telling me no, you know, and what how that person would truly feel. Yeah. not being there to see maybe witness your you know dad's last breath and it was and yeah yeah see even better of a a reason um and I'm pretty sure you felt it I'm pretty sure that you you felt it I I mom moms always have this mom instinct okay so I know that you felt it something about moms I don't know if dads have it but I definitely know my wife is is really good at it so you know you you talked I want to kind of go back because you really mentioned how you have to sometimes navigate the guilt or pressure that often comes with um being a working parent in leadership, right?

[22:44]  You talked about leading someone else through this. What like how did you lead a hospital a hospital while also raising a family while also probably, you know, going through these things um mentally? Yeah. Um well, I have a wonderful husband still husband. Yes. Shout out to the dads and the husbands. Um because I don't know. I mean, he he did so much.

[23:09]  Um, made appointments for our kids, took my daughter to dance, coached our son's football team, um, cooked. He's just amazing. Um, and it was tough. It was tough to really balance that. And, and I would have guilt about that. And I would come in and I'd be rushed in the morning getting my kids to school. And I would come in and tell my secretary, "Oh man, I like yelled at my kids this morning."

[23:35]  Because I was telling them, "Hurry up. hurry up. We got to get, you know, get in the van. We got to get you to school cuz I had to get to meetings. And and my secretary would be like, you know, they don't really care about that, don't you? Like, they're not even thinking about that. Like, you're just hanging on to that. And those kids just moved on.

[23:51]  Like, they're fine. Yeah. But I I feel bad, too. Sometimes when I when I have to tell my daughter to go to bed for the fifth time, and then now you got to holl at her, then you got to take her stuffed animals and now she's really, you know, she's drama. Fouryear-old. Yeah. So now she's having a hard time and I feel so bad cuz that's like the last of what she seen before in going to bed. But then she wakes up and hi dad, you know, like nothing ever happened. Like they just bounce. Yeah. They say whatever they want to say and be like, "Okay." Like my my uh my daughter the other night says, "That's why I hate you and I don't want nothing to do with you." So the next morning I said, "Do you remember what you said?" Yes. She's like, "I I didn't really mean that." I'm like, I know.

[24:30]  They're so manipulative. They are so much, man. Especially when they pin me and my wife together. Like they know, especially my little one. I have a one-year-old. He's not doing it so much right now. But my four-year-old, she knows what she's doing. She's she There's a behavioral health term for that. It's like splitting. That's what she's doing. Me and my wife, we only got to tell her we're a team. Okay. You're not going to get us to turn on each other. We are a team. Whatever he says, whatever she says, I'm I'm agreeing. I'm backing it.

[24:56]  Yeah. You got to you got to you you know another cool thing about you and healthcare is that I mentioned AI and you get excited. Yeah. The first time that we talked you you were so excited about it and that's not really norm space. Some people are kind of a little nervous. It's a little slower to adopt in the healthcare but what is why is this so exciting to you? Like what was the first piece of tech that made you say okay this could really work? Yeah.

[25:21]  The fir probably one of the first things I saw was a a documentation um ambient listening that was being done in a a demonstration in Chicago. And I think about how much time physicians and providers as we call them now um nurse practitioners, physician assistants, how much time they have to spend documenting. And I think about I mean I've been in healthcare for a long time.

[25:46]  We're talking 30 plus years. like there this documentation thing was not as arduous and as heavy as it is now. Um we I mean we documented obviously we gave care but it's pages and pages and understanding the appropriate codes and all the things that the physicians have to worry about and honestly man I just want them to take care of the patient.

[26:09]  Like I'd like them to actually look at the patient and not be looking at their computer the whole time. Y um patients want to feel cared for. They want to hear. They want to feel heard and listened to. And when that doctor has their head in the computer the whole time, which they kind of have to do, uh I I think it takes away from the authenticity and the trusting relationship that you're developing. And these ambient listening AI software tools that are out there, they let the doctor go like this. They let the doctor go, I see you. I'm listening to you. Tell me what's going on. Um, and all of that doc, some of that documentation can happen in the background. I love that. I love that.

[26:54]  And I actually heard I was talking to this nurse. He was he was more kind of in the tech space. To know that you're in a tech space in nursing was kind of like, oh, that's very different, but that's what he was doing, right? So, he was he would mention how those are some of the things that he was seeing in the things that he was trying to adapt in some of these um hospitals. And it is so true. I think people may feel a little bit more comfortable when the nurse or the doctor can actually look at them versus always looking away in a sense.

[27:20]  Um because people just want to be heard. They want sometimes it's just that sense of respect like they okay the doctor respects what I'm saying. They're listening. They're trying to help me. And I don't think that people get that all the time which is why people don't make those visits often. Exactly. You know I think it is. So I love that that's where your mind goes. But when people think that it's not really happening, like we we really got robots mixing medicines. Nothing that is sci-fi is truly happening. It's in Michigan.

[27:46]  How are you balancing innovation with that closed uh knit community care? Yeah. Um I mean, we don't we don't have a ton of robots here in the little hospital that I'm in, but in other hospitals I've worked in um I've even seen robots that deliver the food. I mean, they'll get on the elevator, they'll override the elevator. Um, they deliver um supplies and linens to the different departments, which is cool because those are those are hard physical jobs. And if you can get a robot to do that, to push the cart, deliver the food, deliver the supplies, uh that's less strain and wear and tear on a human. So, and those are those are not always the highest paying jobs. So, if you can use tech to expand your

[28:34]  workforce, I I think that's pretty cool. Do you do you do you also see AI in a space where it could really communicate differently, whether it's internal, external, with your teams? Yeah, absolutely. Um, I think it helps with treatment algorithms. I think that there's lots of different spaces in there that are yet to be discovered that can help us with communicating. Um, I think about the support of even some of the apps that you could put together to support um, pregnant women and making sure that they're getting uh, I know I'm old school. I had the book What to Expect When You're Expecting, What to Expect the First Year, What to Expect When You Have a Sassy Teenager, I guess, that just keeps going. Um, but that's that's not how young people are now. That's not

[29:23]  how a lot of pregnant women would interact today. But if you were to have that in bite-sized pieces that could come to a pregnant woman, you know, you're six months pregnant, this is what is going on with your baby. This is the food you should be eating, the exercise, the how much water you need to be drinking. And then even some of the um behavioral health support that women need that families need as you're going through this pregnancy. Uh it's emotional, it's scary, and then after you have the baby, you know, continue on. talk to those parents about well child visits and vaccinations and reading to your baby. Reading to your baby when you're pregnant even. It's it's so important. And I think a lot of that can come in those bite-sized pieces.

[30:09]  You know, you say reading to your baby, it's almost like a good thing and a bad thing because my daughter still wants me to read to her every night and I'm like, and then it be one book, okay, two books, okay, three books. And I'm like, okay, girl, you're gonna have to learn how to read because I'm reading these books to you. No, but that is so true.

[30:23]  And and I I when people look at my daughter and she was talking very early and they always kind of kudos to the baby talking obviously it was very mom but mom was doing all these things. All right you talking about reading before you know the baby was even out or reading to the baby every night when the baby probably wasn't even really understanding what we were saying. So yeah all that is is truly impactful long term. People may not see at that moment but it's having to continue to do it over and over. So, it's cool that you guys are I I think there is spaces where people can get that information for sure and that communication at a higher level. Um, I want to kind of go back into the next generation that you're raising. You're you're ideally maybe raising future healthcare and science leaders under one roof, right? I'm trying. Um, what do you teach what do they teach you? I would say actually

[31:11]  about leadership. Oh gosh, they teach me so much because my kids are 23 and 25. So, you know, I'm not as hip as I used to be. So, people don't even say hip. So, whatever. Um, you look good. I'm saying if you got a 23, 25 year old, I I would never have known. Yeah. I mean, I I think it's um it's important that you understand generationally um what what that generation is looking for. And it's different. I mean, I'm a I'm a Gen X. I mean, we were just looking for a job. we're just looking for like, you know, I'm gonna climb that ladder. I'm gonna do these things. And and my kids are not like that. They, you know, they say they're they're looking for more life balance. They're looking for different things. I think they're

[31:58]  very involved in um community. They see the world in a bigger and different way than I did when I was their age. I mean, I wasn't thinking about global impact of some of the things that I was doing. And I think that generation does. I think they're a lot more politically savvy. I think they're a lot more um culturally savvy and in in plugged into things that I wasn't at that age. So, and as a as a hospital leader, um you have to think about that. You have to think about what makes sense to that 23, 25, 30 year old and how do I connect with them?

[32:40]  That's so good. That's so good. I can only imagine they come home all the time and you're just like, "What? What are you talking about?" But yeah, I mean to be able to adapt that back into the work space at your level, you're looking like a genius. Like, wait a minute, how did Helen know that? You know, but you got these young kids that out there. How does she know what sauce is?

[33:02]  I love it. I truly love it. Um, this is so good. And we're coming to an end here, but you I I want to talk about curiosity because last time we talked about it, it was something that you you'd love to talk about. Curiosity and optimism. Where do you where do you go when you need to refuel um that fire?

[33:18]  Are we are we back into nature? Like what? Yeah. Yeah. It's that it's um like I said, I I love to have these big My family loves to have these big um intellectual conversations and challenge each other because we're we're different, you I mean, we're different politically. We're different um we live in different social environments. My son lives in San Francisco, which is very different than the upper peninsula of Michigan. And um we'll we'll send each other different information. Did you see this? Did you see that? So that like I said, they just recently sent me a podcast called Empire that I'm listening to and it has nothing to do with healthcare, but it's really interesting.

[34:01]  Do you do you prefer to listen audio or do you like to watch like when I listen to podcast I don't like to just listen to audio. I play it on YouTube. I'm washing dishes usually. Yeah. Earbuds in my ear. How are you watching or listening to the podcast? What does that look like for you? Usually when I'm driving so I don't watch.

[34:18]  Got it. But um I will have some pretty long drives like maybe four or five hours of driving at a time. So I I'm always looking for a good podcast. If you have something send it to me. Um, okay. But yeah, it's usually listening. So now one day you're gonna have to listen to your own podcast and you're gonna be sitting in the car just listening to Helen dropping all the gems here on the hard podcast. Um, I love it.

[34:43]  If if someone's listening right now and they're they're that's kind of curious about healthcare but kind of scared of the unknown, what would you actually tell them? Yeah, I would say healthc care is more than just um doctors and nurses and we are a space that will help you grow into whatever you want to do with your career. You know, I started out as uh a nurse's aid and they poured into me education and experience and wisdom and exposure to things that stretched me. So I I've seen people come from working in our materials management, working on a loading dock and and work their way up to be a hospital president. So it's we need all sorts of people in healthcare. We need people that are carpenters. We need

[35:29]  people that are accountants, um media people that are out there telling our stories. So healthcare is a big tent and I know we can find places for people that are interested in just lifting up their community and you showing up. I want to talk about how you show up for your team and your town because I think that's when you talk about community people are kind of scared to go back into their communities because it seemed very challenging right people may know you maybe the respect level whatever that maya case may have been but what's your message to anyone actually still wondering if they can make that difference where they actually are living? Yeah, I there's so many organizations that are out there looking for volunteers. Um, Feeding America is one that comes to our community and a group of us go out and unload boxes and and put together food boxes for people.

[36:15]  Um, schools, I think, are always looking for people to come and help. And like you said, you read your daughter all the time. That's wonderful. There's some little girls out there that don't have people doing that for them. So, you know, find a way, whether it's volunteering at a church, um some other religious organization, volunteering at a school, uh go to a nursing home even and play bingo with some of the older people, and they have such wonderful stories. We're losing some of those World War II vets and Korean War vets and people that live through stuff that history repeats itself. Learn from them.

[36:52]  Go and hear their stories. I used to work at a I used to work for the airline industry. So just when I used to get them on the phone, I would spend a whole hour with them on the phone really just kind of walking them through a website. But it'll be the funniest thing because you have husband and wife in the back and they're just kind of bickering or they're just telling you these funny stories. So that was one of my my favorite jobs and I was from home so it was really great. I was just sitting there. Now you have those bad calls, but every every time you get with someone elder, I did not mind spending an hour because as you mentioned, there was so much it was just fun, you know, and I also knew on the other side sometimes they had no one to talk to, you know. So I I'll definitely just be that for them just because I'm a big believer that what you put out you'll receive.

[37:31]  Absolutely. So it's like I try to make sure that I'm doing this for others because at one point we're in that seat, you know, where are the people that are like where's everyone else? Where who do I talk to? Where's my family? So, you definitely got to play that part. So, I love how you talk about family connection. Your family. Oh, yeah.

[37:47]  They're taking care of you. They're taking care of you, Helen. They're taking care of you. So, it's time for the hot seat. You ready for the blind question? I am. All right. So, I'm going to ask you the blind question, then you get to ask the next leader. Um, this question here was from Bruce Flax. So, shout out to Bruce Flax if you're watching. If someone followed you around for a day, was something about your routine that would completely surprise them?

[38:09]  I don't eat very much and I very rarely get to use the bathroom. That is funny. And and it's because you just feel like you're on go. Yeah. You're just my secretary. I don't know. Maybe maybe she doesn't like me that much, but she she keeps me hopping. I am from thing to thing. So, um yeah, I I think they would be it's it's a it's a lot of energy to follow. So, yeah. Does your husband get mad by the time you get home? And he and you tell him that you haven't ate anything. Yeah. Well, he'll he always gets mad when he says, "When are you coming?" And I'll say, "I'm leaving in 15 minutes." And it's an hour later and then I finally leave. That's funny. My wife, I'm definitely that person. And it's because I get to talking or I get to really deep into another task that I shouldn't have started anyway. Um, but even the eating, like I I would sit here

[38:56]  and have conversations all day with some of my clients or on these podcasts and she's like, "What did you eat?" And it's like 5:00. And I'm like, "Yeah, well, I drank a lot of water. I had a tea. You see, I'm drinking a tea right here. And I might have like a slim gym or something." And she's like, "You have to stop doing that." And then I go work out. So she's like, "What the hell are you working out at this point?" I usually do keep snacks in my car, though. I've learned to do that. You got to Sometimes you do get hungry, especially as you talk about traveling, maybe in between something, you just want to get something to eat. Um, but Helen, what is now is your time to ask the next blind question to one of our leaders here on the Heart of Podcast.

[39:29]  So, what is that that blind question that you have for them? So, I'm just going to stay on theme and say, what are you excited about in the next five years? Okay. I love it. I love it. This has been so good. Where can people find you and connect with you at, Helen? Um, well, I'm on LinkedIn. Um, just Helen Johnson on LinkedIn and Newberry Hospital. And I'm at um our hospital website is www.hnjh.org. We have a ranking website.

[39:59]  You you don't type in the website often. Yeah. Yeah. They did not name the hospital after me. She said, "Wait a minute. What's the website?" Yeah. Exactly. No, I love it. There's no need. You're always working. You're you're really mixing in not just as you would say a suit. I'm down at the bottom line trying to figure out what's happening in our hospital. So, I love you so much for just sharing that with us today, allowing me to really get to know more about the healthcare industry. Now I know my my mother is a um she's a nurse.

[40:29]  So I'm talking to her about it. I think a matter of fact now that I think about it, she's a suit because she doesn't go into scrubs anymore. She's like working in the office and I guess doing all this plugging. I don't know. I I really don't know what it is that she's doing on the back end. But I know she's a suit because she does not wear scrubs anymore. So now I'm call you call her a suit. I'm call I'm tell definitely telling her that when she gets home. But Helen, thank you so much for being here.

[40:49]  Guys, this has been the Heart and Hustle Podcast. For more great conversations like this, make sure that you guys like, subscribe, and just show a friend. Let them know about the healthcare industry and how great leaders are truly making it impactful for them to go to the hospital, um, get that visit in, and know that people actually care for them.

[41:05]  This has been the hardest podcast. We'll catch you guys in the next one. Fight us.