People & Advocacy
It makes good sense to treat people well and listen carefully to them, it doesn’t matter the context. This applies to public policy and business practices as well as relationships. I have strong feelings about this.
In project management:
While working with the Nebula team at The Spacestation, I made sure to always adhere to the following practices:
Recognize that my team was made of people who would occasionally get sick, need time to recuperate from tragedy, and need the space to fend off creative burnout
Manage schedules and set stakeholder expectations to accommodate my team’s schedule and availability
Remember what was important to my team—birthdays, anniversaries, names of family members, their pets
Think of our audience first, and work to create high-quality materials and products for kids
Keep communication quick and consistent between team members, and address negative situations quickly, discretely, and with compassion
In government work:
In my time with Navajo County, I saw positive results from the following practices:
serving as contact for disgruntled constituents to reach their elected official, and making sure their concerns were heard
Designing the monthly county newsletter for employees, and making sure their submissions were included
Developing and executing the monthly employee recognition program, which continues today
Connecting with tribal leaders, educators and constituents on Navajo, Hopi and White Mountain Apache land to hear their concerns
Connecting experts in data analysis from Northern Arizona University to our regional economic development organization, and making sure every community was well-represented
Listening to concerns of our regional economic development committee and building trust among cities and towns to share business data with each other
In business:
In developing people-first practices for 7Health, I saw the following net gains:
25% increase in revenue
300% increase in patient aquisition
27% increase in patient retention
Doubled the amount of positive Google reviews
I personally took every phone call that was a negative customer service situation, and often was able to find resolution with them
In my personal life:
I am a mother of five children and have been happily married for 15 years. This has taken work and many thousands of hours of constant communication and humility. I have also experienced profound poverty as an adult and a mother, and it has helped me develop compassion for underserved populations.
Here are some gains I’ve been proud of in my personal life:
Committed to anti-racism practices after the murder of George Floyd in 2020
Advocated for the release of an undocumented father of five children after I witnessed his arrest after a routine traffic stop in 2020
Fundraised for said undocumented father to be able to pay attorney fees and begin the paperwork for naturalization
Enrolled my children in dual-language immersion schools for Spanish, and encouraged my peers to do the same
Learned to ask for help
Learned to admit when I’m wrong
Learned to say “no” kindly and firmly
Got good at playing the ukulele and singing along
Wrote a memoir, The World’s Toughest Girl, that is slated to publish in 2024