March 26, 2024 • 35 mins
Catch the latest HTM On the Line episode featuring Andrea Brainard remarkable journey in healthcare technology management, a testament to resilience and dedication. Her insights serve as a example for leading with heart and intellect, shaping a legacy of empowerment and growth. Tune in for inspiration!
This podcast is sponsored by The College of Biomedical Equipment Technology. You can find out more information about this outstanding institution at CBET.EDU.
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Episode Transcript
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Bryant Hawkins Sr. (00:01):
Welcome to HTM On the Line.
I'm your host, Bryant HawkinsSr.
In this episode, we're joinedby Andrea Brainard, Senior
Director at Children's Health inDallas, Texas, who brings over
25 years of expertise in thehealthcare technology management
industry, From her initialsteps as a biomed tech to her
(00:25):
influential role as a seniorleader.
Andrea embodies a leadershipphilosophy rooted in trust and
empowerment, demonstrating itspivotal role in fostering team
development and learning.
Our conversation explores thechallenges and triumphs within
the HTM field, from enhancingteam dynamics to addressing
(00:49):
critical issues likecybersecurity and the ongoing
technician shortage inhealthcare technology management
.
Stay tuned for an insightfulepisode with Andrea Brainard.
Andrea Brainard, how are youdoing this evening?
(01:21):
Glad to have you on.
Andrea Brainard (01:24):
HTM Online.
Thanks for having me, bryant,good to talk to you.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (01:31):
Yeah, finally we get to get on the
podcast.
We talk a lot, we see eachother in person, but this is, to
me, long overdue.
I'm glad you've given me thischance.
You've been on other people'sshows.
I won't say you know I gotta.
Andrea Brainard (01:45):
I won't say no names, but well, thank you for
having me.
It's an honor, thank you right.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (01:53):
Yeah, we kind of both have something
common.
We both work for children'shospitals, so I think we can
have a great conversationbecause we see the same same
environment every day.
But before we get going, whydon't you introduce yourself to
the ones that may not know whoyou are, but just give us a
(02:14):
little background on you.
You don't have to go into nodeep 30-minute.
I know you can go a long timeyou've been doing this a while
but just give us a briefbackground of yourself.
Andrea Brainard (02:24):
Yeah, all right .
Andrea Brainerd, I'm the seniordirector at Children's Health
in Dallas.
I've been with the company forgoing on 21 years this year been
in the HTM community oh geez,I'm going to date myself here.
Almost 30 years now.
It's all I've ever done since Igraduated college as a wee
(02:48):
little girl, and I've kind ofworked my way up into the
position I'm in now.
I did field service for acouple of years prior to coming
on with children's as a biomedtech too, but pretty much it.
I mean that's all I've done.
My whole life is just HTM, um,but pretty much it.
I mean that's all I've done mywhole life is just HTM.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (03:06):
How long have you been in their
leadership role that you were in?
I guess not in the role youwere in now but how long have
you been in a leadershipposition?
Andrea Brainard (03:17):
Oh man, now I'm gonna have to put the way back
on, way back machine on, causeyou know COVID kind of took out
a couple of years that you knowwe're all going to forget about
Gosh.
If I had to put a number to it,at least close to 10 years
maybe.
Okay, right, right so if not,if not, I'm gonna have to look
(03:38):
on my LinkedIn profile, Causethat's where you know, that's
where all the stats and datesare 10 years feels like 31 years
.
Right, it all runs together.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (03:50):
How would you define Andrea's leadership
style if you had to put it intowords?
Andrea Brainard (03:57):
Oh, that's a tough one.
I try to stay hands off for themost part.
I don't hover, I don'tmicromanage.
I want people to grow and learn, but I want to kind of do it.
(04:19):
Not that I'm not engaged I amvery engaged with my leaders but
I don't like to hover.
My leaders know when they cometo me that I'm going to provide
them with the guidance orwhatever they need.
But my approach from a day today is you're in this position
because you know what you'redoing, so you run, you run your
business and if you need me, I'malways here.
(04:41):
So that's kind of high level myapproach.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (04:45):
The towns we live in.
Obviously, things have evolvedin HTM so quickly.
What do you think may haveplayed a part in some of your
hands-off leadership style withregards to the way things are
evolving in HTM right now?
Andrea Brainard (05:04):
Yeah, honestly, I don't know that it has.
You know it's an evolution.
It's more of I've had leadersin the past that I didn't like
their style.
So as I continue to grow andeducate myself and read all
these leadership books and takeleadership classes, my style
(05:25):
kind of evolved from that.
I try to be very, you know, Iapproach things as I want people
to do things the way that Iwould want them taught to me.
If that makes sense, so do asyou're told or whatever you know
.
So I didn't want to go down theroad of well, I don't like how
(05:48):
I'm being treated by this leader, so I know this is not what I
want to do.
So that's kind of how my stylehas evolved over the years is
just what would I like and whatmakes how do I think people
learn best?
And we have these conversationsin our leadership huddles about
you know, hey, what do you need, what kind of approach do you
(06:08):
like?
And most of the leaders thatreport to me they like the same
thing.
They're like you know you letme do my job and if I need
something I come to you.
So that has just kind ofevolved over the years Because I
don't like I've had leadersthat hover and tell me how to do
things, as opposed to lettingme do it and potentially fail.
(06:30):
They just tell me how to do itand I'm like well, I'm not
learning anything from that,right, so it's, I don't like
that approach, so I try not totake it, and I've tried not to
be that way with my leaders.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (06:42):
Like you wouldn't ask anything of them.
You probably wouldn't doyourself as a leader.
Andrea Brainard (06:47):
Exactly, or that I probably haven't done,
and that even goes to frontlinestaff.
When I first went intoleadership, it was a very hard
transition for me personally togo from a technician to a
manager Because again there werecertain expectations of being a
leader and one of those waswell, you can't be at the bench
(07:11):
every day.
Like that's just not feasible.
So it was very hard for me tolet go of that little piece of
me and it took me a long time.
And back then there was arunning joke that oh, if Andrea
comes in and scrubs, watch out,she's gonna do circles around
time.
And back then there was arunning joke that oh, if Andrea
comes in and scrubs, watch out,she's going to do circles around
somebody.
And over the years you know,that has, just as I evolved into
more late you know, growing inmy leadership position that has
(07:34):
kind of dwindled.
But yet I've done everybody'sjob in the shop, like I know how
to do it and I've been thereand I've done that and I, as as
people, have moved on, kind of.
When I was a tech that knew meas a technician.
Now the new people, they don't.
They don't all they know me asas a leader, they don't know
(07:55):
that I was once a biomed otherthan, yeah, I was once in your
position.
But I try to look at it fromthe lens of I'm not going to ask
somebody to do something thatis that I haven't either done
myself or I know it can't can bedone by you.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (08:10):
So what type of challenges would you say
being a female leader, what typeof challenges you think you've
seen in the industry for femaleleaders?
Andrea Brainard (08:20):
I believe in the principle of give it your
best work and you're going toget rewarded for that work and I
feel like that's that's why I'min the position.
I'm in the principle of give ityour best work and you're going
to get rewarded for that workand I feel like that's why I'm
in the position I'm in.
I have proven myself that I cando the job.
So I was.
You know, given thoseopportunities, I've had a couple
of bad leaders here and therethroughout the years, but I
(08:41):
would say, since I've been inleadership, that I've had good
leaders that support me andthey've all been males.
So I feel like I haven't hadsome of those challenges in my
leadership position.
Now, when I was a technician myvery first job out of college
(09:01):
yes, I definitely had challengesthere.
At the particular hospital Iwas working at, there was some
older generation there that areprobably fixing to retire.
So you know you're talking 30years ago somebody that was in
their 50s or 60s and they wereof the mindset still that women
(09:22):
should be at home cooking andcleaning and they were very
vocal about certain things.
And they were vocal about myheritage and where I came from.
So I had challenges being afemale in that aspect very early
on in my career.
But I think, as I've progressed, those challenges to me seem to
diminish, or I just didn't payattention to them and I just I'm
(09:46):
going to work my butt off andI'm going to.
This is what I want to do andI'm going to keep proving myself
.
And my leaders as I grew up, soto speak, saw that and you know
I was I was afforded theopportunities to progress in my
career.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (10:00):
Awesome.
I promise you I won't beat youup with female questions in the
HTA industry, but you mentionedyour culture and background.
Now, diversity and inclusion isa huge thing today.
Now how do you foster aninclusive culture within your
team?
Andrea Brainard (10:23):
I treat everybody equally.
I mean everybody has a voice,everybody has a seat at the
table.
You know speaking, you knowdiversity and culture.
You know A lot of companies,particularly mine.
They're doing a lot of trainingaround that and I think it's a
good thing, because there'sthere is still a lot of biases
(10:46):
out in the world today.
I mean I think we're seeing it,you know, on the news daily, so
it's it's tough.
I get it.
I feel like I have my eyespretty open Again.
I'm not from this country,originally Born and raised in
Germany.
Both of my parents are German.
I've had diversity in my life.
(11:09):
You know, back when I was bornthere was East and West Germany
and not to get.
I'm sorry if I'm getting intotoo many details, but I think
that you know this kind of lendsto my thinking.
You know I grew up being calleda Nazi because I was born and
raised in.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (11:27):
Germany.
Andrea Brainard (11:28):
Yet I was born in West Germany, grew up there,
I was there when the wall fell.
So I have, I feel likepersonally and I could say this
till I'm blue in the face andpeople might not believe me, but
I don't I have a wholedifferent outlook on people in
general.
I didn't see my first AfricanAmerican person until I came to
(11:52):
the United States and to me itwas like okay, I mean, they're a
different color, but so what?
Like I don't, I don'tdifferentiate when it comes to
certain things, and I thinkthat's helped me keep my eyes
open, so to speak, and and bemore diverse and have a
different outlook when it comesto diversity and inclusion.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (12:16):
I noticed one time before probably
stalking your page a while ago,you had, um, and I think I
teased you about your team y'alldressed up in was it sports
jerseys?
I think was it during htm week.
I think something.
Something's going on and Ithought that was.
I threw my dig and they're likewhere's?
Where are the saints jerseys?
So I think that's a pretty coolthing y'all did that week and
(12:40):
dressing up in different teamsports what other type of things
in that aspect you do to makefun, things where you get
everyone's coming together fromdifferent types of liking,
whether it's sports or cultureor music, whatever that you may
do with your team.
Andrea Brainard (12:59):
You know, definitely during HTM week we do
a lot of things.
Um, you know, this year or lastyear we had we had a lot of fun
.
One was, you know, dress up,flat throwback Thursday.
So dress up.
You know, I had people comingin in the seventies gear and
sixties gear and a lot ofeighties and things like that.
So HTM week is always a funweek, cause I try to make it.
(13:20):
You know, we try to have funthat week Throughout the year.
I mean we do.
We always do a traditionalThanksgiving potluck for the
entire HTM team and we have 65people now.
So it's it's a large group, butwe all I I pre-book a room
early in the year and everybodybrings a dish and we just chill
out.
And this year, you know, weplayed some games and people got
(13:44):
prizes and I think everybodyhad a great time.
And then, around you know,christmas holidays, we always do
a gift exchange.
Usually it's, you know, $20,$25 gift.
You wrap it.
It's a white elephant type ofthing.
Last we tried somethingdifferent, where it was you have
to bring a funny or weird muglike coffee mug and a bottle of
(14:07):
your favorite, a mini likeairplane bottle of your favorite
liquor.
Um, so that was fun and andinstead of doing the white
elephant, we read.
We read the left right game.
So you, you know, you come upwith a story and I just pick
them off the internet and everytime you say left, it gets
passed to the left, and everytime you say right, it gets
passed to the right in the story.
(14:28):
So, uh, we did that andeverybody, you know, I think
everybody had fun and everybodywalked away with a cool new bug.
And then a little, you know,mini airplane bottle of liquor.
But you know who't like liquor,especially on my team.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (14:44):
Me and you constantly run into each other
at the trade shows and obviouslythe reason we go to the trade
shows so we can stay withwhatever the latest things
happen in our industry.
So just my answer to thisquestion how do you stay ahead
of this industry that's changingso much with regards to
(15:05):
technology trends?
How do you stay ahead of thatwith you and your team on the
forefront.
Andrea Brainard (15:19):
We're trying to get tools in our tool belt that
helps our team to move forward,make sure our equipment is safe
.
You know I'm, I subscribe to.
You know all the newslettersand all the blogs and everything
that comes out and I just tryto, you know, on my way home
(15:39):
from work or if I don't have ameeting and I'm just doing
emails.
You know I turn on a podcastand just try to educate myself
and then I usually share thatwith my team, especially if it's
something important, noteverything I, because then it's
overload for them.
It's like oh, why are yousending me this other thing?
But there's always hot topicsthat come up and we talk about
those.
The HTM manager currently doesweekly huddles and if there's
(16:04):
something that is of note Icommunicate that to him and he
communicates it to the team.
You know, most recently I got aemail forwarded to me from one
of the biomed groups directorsthat I'm on for all the
children's hospitals about acybersecurity attack.
(16:25):
Hey, just FYI, so-and-so gothacked.
Just sharing, sharing is caring.
And of course I send that to mycybersecurity guys and then I
send it to my team to say, hey,you guys see anything weird or
unusual.
You need to make sure you letsomebody in leadership know.
So we can.
We can escalate that to see ifthere's a true issue.
(16:47):
But I try to.
You know I try to forwardemails that are pertinent to the
team and if it needs, if it'snoteworthy that we need to talk
about it, you know we'll grab aquick huddle and chat as those
things come up.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (17:01):
Yes, that's great.
Now I hear you mentioning yourhuddles.
It seemed like you meet withyour managers very often, or at
least once a week.
Now I don't know if you can dothis, but is there something you
maybe can you share?
A particular project in thepast or right now that you guys
(17:21):
was working on and it was verychallenging, but then you
successfully worked together toget over that challenge.
Is there something you couldshare with us?
Andrea Brainard (17:33):
Yeah, so we actually just finished deploying
, uh, all of our new Alarisinfusion pumps literally last
week, and I, you know, htmcomprised.
Where I work, htm comprised of65 people, that is, you know,
you've got the traditionalbiomed group.
If you will, I also managemedical equipment, so they're
(17:55):
the ones that distribute,centrally distribute, all
medical devices, including theAlaris pumps.
They clean it, maintain PARs onthe floors, etc.
Everybody came together to getit done in a week, as opposed to
if it was just put on, you know, two or three people, we'd
(18:16):
still be doing it.
So my team, they do a reallygreat job at hey, we've got a
task and if we all get out thereand do it, we'll get it done
that much faster.
So we just stop operations fora couple of days, knock it out
and then get back to it.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (18:37):
What do you see the biggest challenges
facing our industry in the nextthree to five years, not
mentioning cybersecurity,because we know that's there.
Other than cybersecurity, whatdo you see some other challenges
facing us in the next three tofive years?
Andrea Brainard (18:51):
Not enough technicians.
I mean, I think it's somethingwe're already seeing.
Covid kind of exasperated that,as everybody you know, the
older generation decided, oh,I'm just going to go ahead and
retire.
But I think that's going to bea huge challenge.
We don't have enough studentscoming out of some of these
(19:12):
colleges.
Technicians are getting harderto find.
In larger metropolitan areaslike DFW, where I'm at,
everybody's vying for the samepositions.
So if somebody leaves it'sprobably because another
hospital is paying them a littlebit more, and I think that's a
(19:33):
huge issue.
We've got to get this industryout in the forefront.
There's still people that haveno clue what we do.
Industry out in the forefront.
There's still people that haveno clue what we do.
I was.
I got an article the other dayabout the top 100 jobs.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (19:51):
You've never heard of, and medical equipment
repair was number five.
I saw that same article fromyou, right?
Andrea Brainard (19:55):
And so I started digging into it and I
was like, okay, so it's the top100.
And then there was another onetop top 100.
Now I can't remember I don'tknow if it was the best paid or
jobs or something but on thatlist medical equipment repair
was 26.
You know, I do feel like we'vealways been underpaid in general
(20:16):
.
I won't say what I was making30 years ago, it's crazy.
But I mean the exponentialincrease in starting pay is
ridiculous.
It's crazy.
You know, we're still underpaidcompared to some of our IT
counterparts when we've gotcompliance and regulatory
(20:37):
requirements that we have toabide by, regulatory
requirements that we have toabide by.
But I mean, we're getting there.
But the shortage of techniciansand trying to figure out how do
we get more people to knowabout this?
Because it's not.
I don't want to dismiss it,it's not a hard job, if you will
.
To me it's a very rewarding joband I can teach anybody how to
(21:00):
fix medical equipment.
To me it's a very rewarding joband I can teach anybody how to
fix medical equipment.
But I think you mentioned it inone of your podcasts that you
know you're going to the highschools and talking to students
and stuff and that's fantasticand we need more of that.
But I almost feel likesometimes in some of the high
schools, by the time they're youknow, sophomores, juniors some
(21:22):
of these kids already know whatthey want to do and they've got
their mind made up.
My kid's a freshman.
He knows exactly what he wantsto do when he graduates and I'm
like that's fantastic because Ican tell you, when I graduated
high school, I had no clue whatI wanted to do.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (21:37):
Yeah, they have resources and things, I
think, to help them.
But I'm going to tell you thismuch what you mentioned is
exactly true, and that's thereason I go to the high schools
and for some of those kids, forthe ones that know what they
want to do I guess it depends onthe high schools you go to,
because I go to some highschools they'll tell me they
(21:58):
know what they want to do.
I'm like, oh, that's great.
So I asked them the nextquestion.
I said well, how many creditsdo you need to obtain what you
want to go do in college?
I don't know what schoolteaches what you want to do, I
don't know how much it's goingto cost.
So sometimes they'll say whatthey want to do, but then, you
know, ask them a little deeper.
Okay, so what school does whatschool presents that?
(22:21):
And some people are telling methat's kind of a hard question
to ask a kid Like nah, thesekids are brilliant, they can go
on that internet and find anyand everything, so they can
figure out that part too.
I said, and I just think withour industry, seniors are almost
too late.
You gotta catch them asfreshmen, freshmen, I think,
(22:44):
even in middle school by thetime elementary, I mean, if you
put it on their mind withelementary.
We need to catch them.
We need some older ones.
We can't wait to.
We can't start 15 yearshopefully to get there.
But if we catch them like nightgraders and they see you every
year, that's what it's going totake Not just a few people, it's
(23:04):
going to take all of us,because that's the only way
we're going to have to invest inour industry, because it's a
great industry.
Like you said, it's notchallenging.
I mean it's challenging, butyou have the tools.
Andrea Brainard (23:17):
It has its challenges.
Yeah, everybody's got the tools.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (23:21):
Exactly, and I ain't talking about physical
tools.
We have all tools and right.
There's a saying.
I always say you give me thewheel, I'll teach him the skill,
Cause that's the challenge.
That's the challenges I have isfinding people that just have
the passion like you and you'renot going to find that all the
(23:43):
time, but it's all about thatleadership role you play and
look like that's why you have agreat team, because you were
there and you know what they'regoing through, because you've
been in their shoes and that'sreflecting on your team.
And as far as this um, thischallenge with staffing, like
you mentioned, these young kidscould fix that so quick.
We just got to get to them.
Andrea Brainard (24:04):
Well, and I and I think a piece of that too is
hitting some of the parents too.
Jewel and I talked about this awhile back.
You know it's like let's thinkoutside of the box.
It's like we need to talk tothe parents because and and the
other one was the underservedcommunity, right, the ones that
can't afford to go to afour-year college.
(24:25):
I paid.
I think my degree cost me$8,000.
I mean, that's nothing.
You know some of the two-yearcolleges, biomed programs.
You know they're less thanthey're less than 10 grand
easily in today's world.
And it's like well, what, whatdo we?
We hit, we've got to hit those,try to hit those specialized
(24:47):
pockets where it's like, hey,look, here's an affordable
degree and here's what you getback on your investment day one
out of college.
Like we have those numbers.
And you know, I get thoseparents to kind of help us push
like, hey, here's this, here'sthis career field that is an
excellent return on yourinvestment.
(25:07):
As soon as you get out andyou're I mean in today's society
like you're going to get a job.
There's so many jobs openacross the country.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (25:16):
I'm actually this one here just like a
personal question.
I'm actually this one here justlike a personal question.
Oh boy, if you had to reflecton your career, because it's
been a couple of decades there Iwon't say triple, but we'll say
a couple what are you?
What are you most proud of?
Andrea Brainard (25:34):
going back to school and finishing my
bachelor's degree.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (25:39):
Awesome.
Andrea Brainard (25:41):
I um, now I got my associate's degree, I
started working.
Um, I I had my kid a littlelater in life tried to go back
to school when I had him.
I couldn't do it.
Um, everybody was thought youknow everybody's like oh, you're
, you're not gonna be able to doit.
I'm like sure I can, I can havea baby and go to school, no
(26:01):
problem.
Well, that didn't work out.
You know life happens,activities, you know school, et
cetera.
And then I was like you knowwhat?
I've got to put my foot downand finish this, if not for me
(26:24):
to show my son that his mom isgoing to finish her degree and
is going to get that.
And I wanted to do it for meand my family, not for anybody
else, not because I needed itfor my position by any means.
So I talked to my husband.
I said, look, I'm gonna needyou to to handle the night stuff
so I can sit down and do myschoolwork every night.
And I did it for about I onlyneeded a couple more credits, so
(26:44):
another.
I think it was a year and ahalf, two years, and everybody
was able to see me walk acrossthat stage and that was awesome.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (26:55):
Now, no doubt for you to accomplish
goals, someone had to bring youthere.
You know we can't do anythingon our own.
Do you have a mentor that maybeshaped your career or helped
you get to where you are?
Andrea Brainard (27:14):
you know I've had a lot of mentors over the
years.
I don't know that I can pickout any one particular person.
I think as I've grown, thementors that I've had in my life
have shaped me to get to thatnext part, to get to that next,
you know, if I'm going from atechnician to a manager, manager
(27:34):
to director, et cetera, I thinkeach person has helped me at
that time, kind of mentor me toget to that next phase of my
career.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (27:46):
Okay, since you said that there's been
multiple mentors that helped you.
How do you approach mentorshipthen?
As far as in the ACM industry,how do you go about now?
Being all the experience youhave, you are now in the
position to be part of amentorship for someone.
So how do you approach that?
Andrea Brainard (28:03):
Right, I mean I would love to be a mentor to
others.
You know, when I go toconferences, you know I say hey,
if you, if you ever want totalk, if you ever have any
questions, you know, whateverformal or informal, you know,
always reach out.
Some people do, some peopledon't.
I'm part of Amy's mentorshipprogram sorry and I've had two
(28:30):
mentors through mentees, throughthat and that was fun.
I just I get excited when I getto talk about biomed.
I get excited about, you know,teaching the younger generation
and and trying to figure outwhat you know.
Do they want to go into aspecialty, um, do they want to
work for an ISO, oem, for thehospital?
(28:51):
And try to try to help themthink through that and not just
automatically, oh, I'm going towork for a hospital.
Well, now you have otherchoices.
There's many other choices thatyou can do.
So I like being a mentor and Itry.
I try to be open about it andsometimes I have people that
reach out and sometimes I don'tand I I mean that's okay.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (29:14):
That's awesome.
And I would tell you something,andrea, you, you.
You can be a mentor to someonewithout them even knowing.
Just by you consistently doingwhat you're doing, I can tell
you, you encourage me and I feedoff your energy and when I see
you in person, I get that samefeeling from you and it's
encouraging just to see youcontinuously doing what you're
(29:35):
doing every day.
That's a mentorship to someone.
Believe me, trust me, becauseit motivates me.
So keep doing a great jobyou're doing and I want you to
give I don't want to say wordsof wisdom, because everybody
uses that word what kind ofadvice could you give for
(29:56):
everyone?
I'm not going to say young orold, but just some general
advice you can give to someonein the HTM industry that can go
across the board, where it canhelp a young person in the
industry, mid-level or just init.
What could you share?
I?
Andrea Brainard (30:14):
know you think I'd have some great wisdom.
I don't.
I mean, I always stick by dounto others as you would do unto
them mentality, and it's okayto brag on yourself Again, do it
appropriately.
But if you did something likesuper outstanding, tell somebody
(30:45):
, tell your leader.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (30:47):
Yeah.
Andrea Brainard (30:48):
Bring it up on your peak.
You have to toot your own horn,otherwise some people you know
somebody nobody ever will.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (30:56):
That's great advice Because it's like you
said, as long as you do it witha mind, with a humility in mind,
you know you're not braggingyou're just sharing
accomplishments you have.
Yeah, exactly, that's greatadvice.
You're not?
You probably got plenty more inthere too, if I pull it up.
Like you said, you have to havehumility also in this industry,
because you're going to havesome challenges, especially when
(31:20):
we deal with the health care.
But the one thing I could saythat I mentioned earlier, we
both work at children'shospitals, so it's like it's a
different.
I've recently started here twoyears ago.
I've never worked in a hospitalwith just strictly children.
It's been nikki, of course butit's just something different
about working in a children'shospital, watching those kids
(31:41):
walk around with that IV pole.
It just makes you feel so muchbetter about what we do every
day, because without that IVpole and pump she couldn't walk
around and see anything of valuebecause she had to be stuck in
the room.
So you come to work.
You're excited about coming towork because children are all
(32:02):
over the place and it's a.
I don't know how your buildinglook, but I'm more than sure
it's painted with multiplecolors and lighting and it's a
beautiful place.
Andrea Brainard (32:11):
Oh yeah, it's pretty, for sure.
Yeah, and I think everybodycomes to work with a different
mindset because they aretreating children and it's.
It's a fun place to work ingeneral, like we do a lot of.
The organization does a lot offun things throughout the year,
(32:32):
so we try to carry that downinto our department.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (32:34):
Yeah, One thing we're doing right now is a
Taylor Swift.
She's coming to New Orleans inthe fall, so the hospital bought
four tickets and they're doinga raffle.
And right now they're doinglike they're promoting it.
They're walking around thehospital.
They'll ask people, they'llsing a few lyrics from the song
and then they ask you to finishand it's hilarious watching
(32:58):
people sing the lyrics to TaylorSwift.
And one of our leadershipmeetings the COO senior vice
president and senior directorthey did a Taylor Swift
performance and the COO had on awig a skirt.
It's on my LinkedIn page.
You gotta check it out, butit's hilarious.
Andrea Brainard (33:22):
I love it.
Yeah, but that's do.
You don't see that type ofenergy at other organizations,
at an you know, an adultfacility.
But yeah, there's there's somecrazy things that happens and
the crazy things you seeleadership do.
Um, but yeah, we love it, we,we love it, we do it for the
children.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (33:41):
Andrea, I appreciate you coming on.
We got to do it again, man,because I know we probably can
go about three hours Right.
I'm glad you came on and we gotto do this again more
frequently, because I think wecan have an episode just talking
about children's hospitals andchallenges.
That'd be a good thing we gotto do.
Andrea Brainard (33:59):
Might be good.
Yeah, might be a good thing.
No, I appreciate you having meon.
Always good to talk to you andwe'll connect soon.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (34:09):
And that wraps up another engaging
episode of HTM on the Line.
A heartfelt thank you to AndreaRaynard for sharing her
profound insights andexperiences with us, providing a
valuable perspective onleadership, team dynamics and
the critical issues facing thehealthcare technology management
(34:29):
industry today To our listeners.
Thank you for tuning in.
We hope today's discussion hasinspired you, enriched your
understanding and sparkedcuriosity about the impactful
world of HTM.
If you found value in ourconversation, please consider
(34:50):
sharing this episode on yoursocial media platforms to spread
the word and foster a widerdiscussion about the HTM
industry.
Don't forget to subscribe toour podcast on your favorite
platform to stay updated withthe latest conversations.
Until next time, keep pushingboundaries, stay curious and
(35:15):
remember the future of HTM isnot just about the equipment.
It's about the people who makeit work.
I'm Brian Hawkins senior.
Thank you for joining us on HTMon the line.
Stay safe and stay connected.
Welcome to HTM On the Line.
I'm your host, Bryant HawkinsSr.
In this episode, we're joinedby Andrea Brainard, Senior
Director at Children's Health inDallas, Texas, who brings over
25 years of expertise in thehealthcare technology management
industry, From her initialsteps as a biomed tech to her
(00:25):
influential role as a seniorleader.
Andrea embodies a leadershipphilosophy rooted in trust and
empowerment, demonstrating itspivotal role in fostering team
development and learning.
Our conversation explores thechallenges and triumphs within
the HTM field, from enhancingteam dynamics to addressing
(00:49):
critical issues likecybersecurity and the ongoing
technician shortage inhealthcare technology management
.
Stay tuned for an insightfulepisode with Andrea Brainard.
Andrea Brainard, how are youdoing this evening?
(01:21):
Glad to have you on.
Andrea Brainard (01:24):
HTM Online.
Thanks for having me, bryant,good to talk to you.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (01:31):
Yeah, finally we get to get on the
podcast.
We talk a lot, we see eachother in person, but this is, to
me, long overdue.
I'm glad you've given me thischance.
You've been on other people'sshows.
I won't say you know I gotta.
Andrea Brainard (01:45):
I won't say no names, but well, thank you for
having me.
It's an honor, thank you right.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (01:53):
Yeah, we kind of both have something
common.
We both work for children'shospitals, so I think we can
have a great conversationbecause we see the same same
environment every day.
But before we get going, whydon't you introduce yourself to
the ones that may not know whoyou are, but just give us a
(02:14):
little background on you.
You don't have to go into nodeep 30-minute.
I know you can go a long timeyou've been doing this a while
but just give us a briefbackground of yourself.
Andrea Brainard (02:24):
Yeah, all right .
Andrea Brainerd, I'm the seniordirector at Children's Health
in Dallas.
I've been with the company forgoing on 21 years this year been
in the HTM community oh geez,I'm going to date myself here.
Almost 30 years now.
It's all I've ever done since Igraduated college as a wee
(02:48):
little girl, and I've kind ofworked my way up into the
position I'm in now.
I did field service for acouple of years prior to coming
on with children's as a biomedtech too, but pretty much it.
I mean that's all I've done.
My whole life is just HTM, um,but pretty much it.
I mean that's all I've done mywhole life is just HTM.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (03:06):
How long have you been in their
leadership role that you were in?
I guess not in the role youwere in now but how long have
you been in a leadershipposition?
Andrea Brainard (03:17):
Oh man, now I'm gonna have to put the way back
on, way back machine on, causeyou know COVID kind of took out
a couple of years that you knowwe're all going to forget about
Gosh.
If I had to put a number to it,at least close to 10 years
maybe.
Okay, right, right so if not,if not, I'm gonna have to look
(03:38):
on my LinkedIn profile, Causethat's where you know, that's
where all the stats and datesare 10 years feels like 31 years
.
Right, it all runs together.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (03:50):
How would you define Andrea's leadership
style if you had to put it intowords?
Andrea Brainard (03:57):
Oh, that's a tough one.
I try to stay hands off for themost part.
I don't hover, I don'tmicromanage.
I want people to grow and learn, but I want to kind of do it.
(04:19):
Not that I'm not engaged I amvery engaged with my leaders but
I don't like to hover.
My leaders know when they cometo me that I'm going to provide
them with the guidance orwhatever they need.
But my approach from a day today is you're in this position
because you know what you'redoing, so you run, you run your
business and if you need me, I'malways here.
(04:41):
So that's kind of high level myapproach.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (04:45):
The towns we live in.
Obviously, things have evolvedin HTM so quickly.
What do you think may haveplayed a part in some of your
hands-off leadership style withregards to the way things are
evolving in HTM right now?
Andrea Brainard (05:04):
Yeah, honestly, I don't know that it has.
You know it's an evolution.
It's more of I've had leadersin the past that I didn't like
their style.
So as I continue to grow andeducate myself and read all
these leadership books and takeleadership classes, my style
(05:25):
kind of evolved from that.
I try to be very, you know, Iapproach things as I want people
to do things the way that Iwould want them taught to me.
If that makes sense, so do asyou're told or whatever you know
.
So I didn't want to go down theroad of well, I don't like how
(05:48):
I'm being treated by this leader, so I know this is not what I
want to do.
So that's kind of how my stylehas evolved over the years is
just what would I like and whatmakes how do I think people
learn best?
And we have these conversationsin our leadership huddles about
you know, hey, what do you need, what kind of approach do you
(06:08):
like?
And most of the leaders thatreport to me they like the same
thing.
They're like you know you letme do my job and if I need
something I come to you.
So that has just kind ofevolved over the years Because I
don't like I've had leadersthat hover and tell me how to do
things, as opposed to lettingme do it and potentially fail.
(06:30):
They just tell me how to do itand I'm like well, I'm not
learning anything from that,right, so it's, I don't like
that approach, so I try not totake it, and I've tried not to
be that way with my leaders.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (06:42):
Like you wouldn't ask anything of them.
You probably wouldn't doyourself as a leader.
Andrea Brainard (06:47):
Exactly, or that I probably haven't done,
and that even goes to frontlinestaff.
When I first went intoleadership, it was a very hard
transition for me personally togo from a technician to a
manager Because again there werecertain expectations of being a
leader and one of those waswell, you can't be at the bench
(07:11):
every day.
Like that's just not feasible.
So it was very hard for me tolet go of that little piece of
me and it took me a long time.
And back then there was arunning joke that oh, if Andrea
comes in and scrubs, watch out,she's gonna do circles around
time.
And back then there was arunning joke that oh, if Andrea
comes in and scrubs, watch out,she's going to do circles around
somebody.
And over the years you know,that has, just as I evolved into
more late you know, growing inmy leadership position that has
(07:34):
kind of dwindled.
But yet I've done everybody'sjob in the shop, like I know how
to do it and I've been thereand I've done that and I, as as
people, have moved on, kind of.
When I was a tech that knew meas a technician.
Now the new people, they don't.
They don't all they know me asas a leader, they don't know
(07:55):
that I was once a biomed otherthan, yeah, I was once in your
position.
But I try to look at it fromthe lens of I'm not going to ask
somebody to do something thatis that I haven't either done
myself or I know it can't can bedone by you.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (08:10):
So what type of challenges would you say
being a female leader, what typeof challenges you think you've
seen in the industry for femaleleaders?
Andrea Brainard (08:20):
I believe in the principle of give it your
best work and you're going toget rewarded for that work and I
feel like that's that's why I'min the position.
I'm in the principle of give ityour best work and you're going
to get rewarded for that workand I feel like that's why I'm
in the position I'm in.
I have proven myself that I cando the job.
So I was.
You know, given thoseopportunities, I've had a couple
of bad leaders here and therethroughout the years, but I
(08:41):
would say, since I've been inleadership, that I've had good
leaders that support me andthey've all been males.
So I feel like I haven't hadsome of those challenges in my
leadership position.
Now, when I was a technician myvery first job out of college
(09:01):
yes, I definitely had challengesthere.
At the particular hospital Iwas working at, there was some
older generation there that areprobably fixing to retire.
So you know you're talking 30years ago somebody that was in
their 50s or 60s and they wereof the mindset still that women
(09:22):
should be at home cooking andcleaning and they were very
vocal about certain things.
And they were vocal about myheritage and where I came from.
So I had challenges being afemale in that aspect very early
on in my career.
But I think, as I've progressed, those challenges to me seem to
diminish, or I just didn't payattention to them and I just I'm
(09:46):
going to work my butt off andI'm going to.
This is what I want to do andI'm going to keep proving myself
.
And my leaders as I grew up, soto speak, saw that and you know
I was I was afforded theopportunities to progress in my
career.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (10:00):
Awesome.
I promise you I won't beat youup with female questions in the
HTA industry, but you mentionedyour culture and background.
Now, diversity and inclusion isa huge thing today.
Now how do you foster aninclusive culture within your
team?
Andrea Brainard (10:23):
I treat everybody equally.
I mean everybody has a voice,everybody has a seat at the
table.
You know speaking, you knowdiversity and culture.
You know A lot of companies,particularly mine.
They're doing a lot of trainingaround that and I think it's a
good thing, because there'sthere is still a lot of biases
(10:46):
out in the world today.
I mean I think we're seeing it,you know, on the news daily, so
it's it's tough.
I get it.
I feel like I have my eyespretty open Again.
I'm not from this country,originally Born and raised in
Germany.
Both of my parents are German.
I've had diversity in my life.
(11:09):
You know, back when I was bornthere was East and West Germany
and not to get.
I'm sorry if I'm getting intotoo many details, but I think
that you know this kind of lendsto my thinking.
You know I grew up being calleda Nazi because I was born and
raised in.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (11:27):
Germany.
Andrea Brainard (11:28):
Yet I was born in West Germany, grew up there,
I was there when the wall fell.
So I have, I feel likepersonally and I could say this
till I'm blue in the face andpeople might not believe me, but
I don't I have a wholedifferent outlook on people in
general.
I didn't see my first AfricanAmerican person until I came to
(11:52):
the United States and to me itwas like okay, I mean, they're a
different color, but so what?
Like I don't, I don'tdifferentiate when it comes to
certain things, and I thinkthat's helped me keep my eyes
open, so to speak, and and bemore diverse and have a
different outlook when it comesto diversity and inclusion.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (12:16):
I noticed one time before probably
stalking your page a while ago,you had, um, and I think I
teased you about your team y'alldressed up in was it sports
jerseys?
I think was it during htm week.
I think something.
Something's going on and Ithought that was.
I threw my dig and they're likewhere's?
Where are the saints jerseys?
So I think that's a pretty coolthing y'all did that week and
(12:40):
dressing up in different teamsports what other type of things
in that aspect you do to makefun, things where you get
everyone's coming together fromdifferent types of liking,
whether it's sports or cultureor music, whatever that you may
do with your team.
Andrea Brainard (12:59):
You know, definitely during HTM week we do
a lot of things.
Um, you know, this year or lastyear we had we had a lot of fun
.
One was, you know, dress up,flat throwback Thursday.
So dress up.
You know, I had people comingin in the seventies gear and
sixties gear and a lot ofeighties and things like that.
So HTM week is always a funweek, cause I try to make it.
(13:20):
You know, we try to have funthat week Throughout the year.
I mean we do.
We always do a traditionalThanksgiving potluck for the
entire HTM team and we have 65people now.
So it's it's a large group, butwe all I I pre-book a room
early in the year and everybodybrings a dish and we just chill
out.
And this year, you know, weplayed some games and people got
(13:44):
prizes and I think everybodyhad a great time.
And then, around you know,christmas holidays, we always do
a gift exchange.
Usually it's, you know, $20,$25 gift.
You wrap it.
It's a white elephant type ofthing.
Last we tried somethingdifferent, where it was you have
to bring a funny or weird muglike coffee mug and a bottle of
(14:07):
your favorite, a mini likeairplane bottle of your favorite
liquor.
Um, so that was fun and andinstead of doing the white
elephant, we read.
We read the left right game.
So you, you know, you come upwith a story and I just pick
them off the internet and everytime you say left, it gets
passed to the left, and everytime you say right, it gets
passed to the right in the story.
(14:28):
So, uh, we did that andeverybody, you know, I think
everybody had fun and everybodywalked away with a cool new bug.
And then a little, you know,mini airplane bottle of liquor.
But you know who't like liquor,especially on my team.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (14:44):
Me and you constantly run into each other
at the trade shows and obviouslythe reason we go to the trade
shows so we can stay withwhatever the latest things
happen in our industry.
So just my answer to thisquestion how do you stay ahead
of this industry that's changingso much with regards to
(15:05):
technology trends?
How do you stay ahead of thatwith you and your team on the
forefront.
Andrea Brainard (15:19):
We're trying to get tools in our tool belt that
helps our team to move forward,make sure our equipment is safe
.
You know I'm, I subscribe to.
You know all the newslettersand all the blogs and everything
that comes out and I just tryto, you know, on my way home
(15:39):
from work or if I don't have ameeting and I'm just doing
emails.
You know I turn on a podcastand just try to educate myself
and then I usually share thatwith my team, especially if it's
something important, noteverything I, because then it's
overload for them.
It's like oh, why are yousending me this other thing?
But there's always hot topicsthat come up and we talk about
those.
The HTM manager currently doesweekly huddles and if there's
(16:04):
something that is of note Icommunicate that to him and he
communicates it to the team.
You know, most recently I got aemail forwarded to me from one
of the biomed groups directorsthat I'm on for all the
children's hospitals about acybersecurity attack.
(16:25):
Hey, just FYI, so-and-so gothacked.
Just sharing, sharing is caring.
And of course I send that to mycybersecurity guys and then I
send it to my team to say, hey,you guys see anything weird or
unusual.
You need to make sure you letsomebody in leadership know.
So we can.
We can escalate that to see ifthere's a true issue.
(16:47):
But I try to.
You know I try to forwardemails that are pertinent to the
team and if it needs, if it'snoteworthy that we need to talk
about it, you know we'll grab aquick huddle and chat as those
things come up.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (17:01):
Yes, that's great.
Now I hear you mentioning yourhuddles.
It seemed like you meet withyour managers very often, or at
least once a week.
Now I don't know if you can dothis, but is there something you
maybe can you share?
A particular project in thepast or right now that you guys
(17:21):
was working on and it was verychallenging, but then you
successfully worked together toget over that challenge.
Is there something you couldshare with us?
Andrea Brainard (17:33):
Yeah, so we actually just finished deploying
, uh, all of our new Alarisinfusion pumps literally last
week, and I, you know, htmcomprised.
Where I work, htm comprised of65 people, that is, you know,
you've got the traditionalbiomed group.
If you will, I also managemedical equipment, so they're
(17:55):
the ones that distribute,centrally distribute, all
medical devices, including theAlaris pumps.
They clean it, maintain PARs onthe floors, etc.
Everybody came together to getit done in a week, as opposed to
if it was just put on, you know, two or three people, we'd
(18:16):
still be doing it.
So my team, they do a reallygreat job at hey, we've got a
task and if we all get out thereand do it, we'll get it done
that much faster.
So we just stop operations fora couple of days, knock it out
and then get back to it.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (18:37):
What do you see the biggest challenges
facing our industry in the nextthree to five years, not
mentioning cybersecurity,because we know that's there.
Other than cybersecurity, whatdo you see some other challenges
facing us in the next three tofive years?
Andrea Brainard (18:51):
Not enough technicians.
I mean, I think it's somethingwe're already seeing.
Covid kind of exasperated that,as everybody you know, the
older generation decided, oh,I'm just going to go ahead and
retire.
But I think that's going to bea huge challenge.
We don't have enough studentscoming out of some of these
(19:12):
colleges.
Technicians are getting harderto find.
In larger metropolitan areaslike DFW, where I'm at,
everybody's vying for the samepositions.
So if somebody leaves it'sprobably because another
hospital is paying them a littlebit more, and I think that's a
(19:33):
huge issue.
We've got to get this industryout in the forefront.
There's still people that haveno clue what we do.
Industry out in the forefront.
There's still people that haveno clue what we do.
I was.
I got an article the other dayabout the top 100 jobs.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (19:51):
You've never heard of, and medical equipment
repair was number five.
I saw that same article fromyou, right?
Andrea Brainard (19:55):
And so I started digging into it and I
was like, okay, so it's the top100.
And then there was another onetop top 100.
Now I can't remember I don'tknow if it was the best paid or
jobs or something but on thatlist medical equipment repair
was 26.
You know, I do feel like we'vealways been underpaid in general
(20:16):
.
I won't say what I was making30 years ago, it's crazy.
But I mean the exponentialincrease in starting pay is
ridiculous.
It's crazy.
You know, we're still underpaidcompared to some of our IT
counterparts when we've gotcompliance and regulatory
(20:37):
requirements that we have toabide by, regulatory
requirements that we have toabide by.
But I mean, we're getting there.
But the shortage of techniciansand trying to figure out how do
we get more people to knowabout this?
Because it's not.
I don't want to dismiss it,it's not a hard job, if you will
.
To me it's a very rewarding joband I can teach anybody how to
(21:00):
fix medical equipment.
To me it's a very rewarding joband I can teach anybody how to
fix medical equipment.
But I think you mentioned it inone of your podcasts that you
know you're going to the highschools and talking to students
and stuff and that's fantasticand we need more of that.
But I almost feel likesometimes in some of the high
schools, by the time they're youknow, sophomores, juniors some
(21:22):
of these kids already know whatthey want to do and they've got
their mind made up.
My kid's a freshman.
He knows exactly what he wantsto do when he graduates and I'm
like that's fantastic because Ican tell you, when I graduated
high school, I had no clue whatI wanted to do.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (21:37):
Yeah, they have resources and things, I
think, to help them.
But I'm going to tell you thismuch what you mentioned is
exactly true, and that's thereason I go to the high schools
and for some of those kids, forthe ones that know what they
want to do I guess it depends onthe high schools you go to,
because I go to some highschools they'll tell me they
(21:58):
know what they want to do.
I'm like, oh, that's great.
So I asked them the nextquestion.
I said well, how many creditsdo you need to obtain what you
want to go do in college?
I don't know what schoolteaches what you want to do, I
don't know how much it's goingto cost.
So sometimes they'll say whatthey want to do, but then, you
know, ask them a little deeper.
Okay, so what school does whatschool presents that?
(22:21):
And some people are telling methat's kind of a hard question
to ask a kid Like nah, thesekids are brilliant, they can go
on that internet and find anyand everything, so they can
figure out that part too.
I said, and I just think withour industry, seniors are almost
too late.
You gotta catch them asfreshmen, freshmen, I think,
(22:44):
even in middle school by thetime elementary, I mean, if you
put it on their mind withelementary.
We need to catch them.
We need some older ones.
We can't wait to.
We can't start 15 yearshopefully to get there.
But if we catch them like nightgraders and they see you every
year, that's what it's going totake Not just a few people, it's
(23:04):
going to take all of us,because that's the only way
we're going to have to invest inour industry, because it's a
great industry.
Like you said, it's notchallenging.
I mean it's challenging, butyou have the tools.
Andrea Brainard (23:17):
It has its challenges.
Yeah, everybody's got the tools.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (23:21):
Exactly, and I ain't talking about physical
tools.
We have all tools and right.
There's a saying.
I always say you give me thewheel, I'll teach him the skill,
Cause that's the challenge.
That's the challenges I have isfinding people that just have
the passion like you and you'renot going to find that all the
(23:43):
time, but it's all about thatleadership role you play and
look like that's why you have agreat team, because you were
there and you know what they'regoing through, because you've
been in their shoes and that'sreflecting on your team.
And as far as this um, thischallenge with staffing, like
you mentioned, these young kidscould fix that so quick.
We just got to get to them.
Andrea Brainard (24:04):
Well, and I and I think a piece of that too is
hitting some of the parents too.
Jewel and I talked about this awhile back.
You know it's like let's thinkoutside of the box.
It's like we need to talk tothe parents because and and the
other one was the underservedcommunity, right, the ones that
can't afford to go to afour-year college.
(24:25):
I paid.
I think my degree cost me$8,000.
I mean, that's nothing.
You know some of the two-yearcolleges, biomed programs.
You know they're less thanthey're less than 10 grand
easily in today's world.
And it's like well, what, whatdo we?
We hit, we've got to hit those,try to hit those specialized
(24:47):
pockets where it's like, hey,look, here's an affordable
degree and here's what you getback on your investment day one
out of college.
Like we have those numbers.
And you know, I get thoseparents to kind of help us push
like, hey, here's this, here'sthis career field that is an
excellent return on yourinvestment.
(25:07):
As soon as you get out andyou're I mean in today's society
like you're going to get a job.
There's so many jobs openacross the country.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (25:16):
I'm actually this one here just like a
personal question.
I'm actually this one here justlike a personal question.
Oh boy, if you had to reflecton your career, because it's
been a couple of decades there Iwon't say triple, but we'll say
a couple what are you?
What are you most proud of?
Andrea Brainard (25:34):
going back to school and finishing my
bachelor's degree.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (25:39):
Awesome.
Andrea Brainard (25:41):
I um, now I got my associate's degree, I
started working.
Um, I I had my kid a littlelater in life tried to go back
to school when I had him.
I couldn't do it.
Um, everybody was thought youknow everybody's like oh, you're
, you're not gonna be able to doit.
I'm like sure I can, I can havea baby and go to school, no
(26:01):
problem.
Well, that didn't work out.
You know life happens,activities, you know school, et
cetera.
And then I was like you knowwhat?
I've got to put my foot downand finish this, if not for me
(26:24):
to show my son that his mom isgoing to finish her degree and
is going to get that.
And I wanted to do it for meand my family, not for anybody
else, not because I needed itfor my position by any means.
So I talked to my husband.
I said, look, I'm gonna needyou to to handle the night stuff
so I can sit down and do myschoolwork every night.
And I did it for about I onlyneeded a couple more credits, so
(26:44):
another.
I think it was a year and ahalf, two years, and everybody
was able to see me walk acrossthat stage and that was awesome.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (26:55):
Now, no doubt for you to accomplish
goals, someone had to bring youthere.
You know we can't do anythingon our own.
Do you have a mentor that maybeshaped your career or helped
you get to where you are?
Andrea Brainard (27:14):
you know I've had a lot of mentors over the
years.
I don't know that I can pickout any one particular person.
I think as I've grown, thementors that I've had in my life
have shaped me to get to thatnext part, to get to that next,
you know, if I'm going from atechnician to a manager, manager
(27:34):
to director, et cetera, I thinkeach person has helped me at
that time, kind of mentor me toget to that next phase of my
career.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (27:46):
Okay, since you said that there's been
multiple mentors that helped you.
How do you approach mentorshipthen?
As far as in the ACM industry,how do you go about now?
Being all the experience youhave, you are now in the
position to be part of amentorship for someone.
So how do you approach that?
Andrea Brainard (28:03):
Right, I mean I would love to be a mentor to
others.
You know, when I go toconferences, you know I say hey,
if you, if you ever want totalk, if you ever have any
questions, you know, whateverformal or informal, you know,
always reach out.
Some people do, some peopledon't.
I'm part of Amy's mentorshipprogram sorry and I've had two
(28:30):
mentors through mentees, throughthat and that was fun.
I just I get excited when I getto talk about biomed.
I get excited about, you know,teaching the younger generation
and and trying to figure outwhat you know.
Do they want to go into aspecialty, um, do they want to
work for an ISO, oem, for thehospital?
(28:51):
And try to try to help themthink through that and not just
automatically, oh, I'm going towork for a hospital.
Well, now you have otherchoices.
There's many other choices thatyou can do.
So I like being a mentor and Itry.
I try to be open about it andsometimes I have people that
reach out and sometimes I don'tand I I mean that's okay.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (29:14):
That's awesome.
And I would tell you something,andrea, you, you.
You can be a mentor to someonewithout them even knowing.
Just by you consistently doingwhat you're doing, I can tell
you, you encourage me and I feedoff your energy and when I see
you in person, I get that samefeeling from you and it's
encouraging just to see youcontinuously doing what you're
(29:35):
doing every day.
That's a mentorship to someone.
Believe me, trust me, becauseit motivates me.
So keep doing a great jobyou're doing and I want you to
give I don't want to say wordsof wisdom, because everybody
uses that word what kind ofadvice could you give for
(29:56):
everyone?
I'm not going to say young orold, but just some general
advice you can give to someonein the HTM industry that can go
across the board, where it canhelp a young person in the
industry, mid-level or just init.
What could you share?
I?
Andrea Brainard (30:14):
know you think I'd have some great wisdom.
I don't.
I mean, I always stick by dounto others as you would do unto
them mentality, and it's okayto brag on yourself Again, do it
appropriately.
But if you did something likesuper outstanding, tell somebody
(30:45):
, tell your leader.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (30:47):
Yeah.
Andrea Brainard (30:48):
Bring it up on your peak.
You have to toot your own horn,otherwise some people you know
somebody nobody ever will.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (30:56):
That's great advice Because it's like you
said, as long as you do it witha mind, with a humility in mind,
you know you're not braggingyou're just sharing
accomplishments you have.
Yeah, exactly, that's greatadvice.
You're not?
You probably got plenty more inthere too, if I pull it up.
Like you said, you have to havehumility also in this industry,
because you're going to havesome challenges, especially when
(31:20):
we deal with the health care.
But the one thing I could saythat I mentioned earlier, we
both work at children'shospitals, so it's like it's a
different.
I've recently started here twoyears ago.
I've never worked in a hospitalwith just strictly children.
It's been nikki, of course butit's just something different
about working in a children'shospital, watching those kids
(31:41):
walk around with that IV pole.
It just makes you feel so muchbetter about what we do every
day, because without that IVpole and pump she couldn't walk
around and see anything of valuebecause she had to be stuck in
the room.
So you come to work.
You're excited about coming towork because children are all
(32:02):
over the place and it's a.
I don't know how your buildinglook, but I'm more than sure
it's painted with multiplecolors and lighting and it's a
beautiful place.
Andrea Brainard (32:11):
Oh yeah, it's pretty, for sure.
Yeah, and I think everybodycomes to work with a different
mindset because they aretreating children and it's.
It's a fun place to work ingeneral, like we do a lot of.
The organization does a lot offun things throughout the year,
(32:32):
so we try to carry that downinto our department.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (32:34):
Yeah, One thing we're doing right now is a
Taylor Swift.
She's coming to New Orleans inthe fall, so the hospital bought
four tickets and they're doinga raffle.
And right now they're doinglike they're promoting it.
They're walking around thehospital.
They'll ask people, they'llsing a few lyrics from the song
and then they ask you to finishand it's hilarious watching
(32:58):
people sing the lyrics to TaylorSwift.
And one of our leadershipmeetings the COO senior vice
president and senior directorthey did a Taylor Swift
performance and the COO had on awig a skirt.
It's on my LinkedIn page.
You gotta check it out, butit's hilarious.
Andrea Brainard (33:22):
I love it.
Yeah, but that's do.
You don't see that type ofenergy at other organizations,
at an you know, an adultfacility.
But yeah, there's there's somecrazy things that happens and
the crazy things you seeleadership do.
Um, but yeah, we love it, we,we love it, we do it for the
children.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (33:41):
Andrea, I appreciate you coming on.
We got to do it again, man,because I know we probably can
go about three hours Right.
I'm glad you came on and we gotto do this again more
frequently, because I think wecan have an episode just talking
about children's hospitals andchallenges.
That'd be a good thing we gotto do.
Andrea Brainard (33:59):
Might be good.
Yeah, might be a good thing.
No, I appreciate you having meon.
Always good to talk to you andwe'll connect soon.
Bryant Hawkins Sr. (34:09):
And that wraps up another engaging
episode of HTM on the Line.
A heartfelt thank you to AndreaRaynard for sharing her
profound insights andexperiences with us, providing a
valuable perspective onleadership, team dynamics and
the critical issues facing thehealthcare technology management
(34:29):
industry today To our listeners.
Thank you for tuning in.
We hope today's discussion hasinspired you, enriched your
understanding and sparkedcuriosity about the impactful
world of HTM.
If you found value in ourconversation, please consider
(34:50):
sharing this episode on yoursocial media platforms to spread
the word and foster a widerdiscussion about the HTM
industry.
Don't forget to subscribe toour podcast on your favorite
platform to stay updated withthe latest conversations.
Until next time, keep pushingboundaries, stay curious and
(35:15):
remember the future of HTM isnot just about the equipment.
It's about the people who makeit work.
I'm Brian Hawkins senior.
Thank you for joining us on HTMon the line.
Stay safe and stay connected.
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