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This week, our guest Christie VanHorne shares her career trajectory into public health from a background in history and involvement in humanitarian efforts. From working as a health educator to creating her own public health consulting business and teaching at Vassar College, Christie's story highlights how hard work, staying true to yourself, and having a solid network are all crucial to building your dream career. Her journey emphasizes the dynamic nature of professional and personal evolution, encouraging listeners to embrace change and growth.
You’ll Learn
- Christie’s path into public health through a passion for human rights and social justice
- Her work in South Africa with the Peace Corps and international health
- Building a strong network to open up doors to new opportunities
- Dealing with toxic workplaces and how Christie founded her consulting business
- How education has been a common factor throughout all of Christie’s career and how her love for teaching led to a decision to pursue a DrPH
- Deciding between a DrPH and PhD and figuring out which path is best for you
- Finding your niche in public health, staying true to yourself, and traversing your journey at your own pace
Today’s Guest
Christie is a seasoned public health consultant with 20 years of experience. In 2015, she founded CVH Consulting, LLC., offering services to create impactful health education and training experiences for her clients. Christie has worked with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), the New York State Department of Health, the Hemophilia Federation of America, and many more organizations to design, develop, and update programs. She is also a subject matter expert on the social determinants and health equity for many continuing education projects for community-based organization staff and healthcare professionals. From her time in the Peace Corps in South Africa to teaching at Vassar College and all the career experiences in between, Christie's dedication to public health shines. Last year, she was recognized with the prestigious ATHENA Award, an international honor for women who demonstrate excellence in their profession, community service, and mentorship of future leaders. One of her current volunteer roles is serving as the Vice-Chair of the National Women’s Health Network Board of Directors. In August, Christie will start her Doctor of Public Health degree at Tulane University, specializing in Equity, Leadership, and Advocacy. She resides in the Hudson Valley, NY, with her beloved pups and husband.
Resources
- Follow Christie on LinkedIn and Instagram
- Learn more about CVH Consulting
Join The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Public health is so broad.
We know that right Like you canwork in FDA training.
There's so many things withinthe field, but then also within
that, there are specific contentareas.
So find that, find what makesyou happy and just take every
opportunity to learn more abouta specific area of content.
(00:20):
There's so many resources andconversations happening that are
recorded online, so just dig inand utilize all the incredible
resources, including yourpodcast, to find out more about
all the different places we cango in this field.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Welcome to PH Spotlight, a community for you
to build your public healthcareer with.
Join us weekly right here, andI'll be here too.
Your host, sujani Siva from PHSpot.
Hey, christy, welcome to the PHSpot podcast, finally I have to
say finally, because this hasbeen something I've wanted to do
(01:05):
for many, many years and Ithink we got connected through
Leah, who's been on the podcastquite a bit.
She is the connector, isn't she?
Speaker 1 (01:14):
She is.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
So definitely worth the shout out there.
And I couldn't remember likewhat year I had reached out to
Christy to ask her to come onthe podcast and like things fell
through.
And finally Christy to ask herto come on the podcast and like
things fell through.
And finally we have connectedand she is here and I'm very
excited to hear her story, howshe got into public health and
where she is today.
So welcome, christy.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Thank you.
Thank you so much for having me.
Thank you for all the work youdo for folks in the field of
public health and inspiring thenext generation of our
leadership.
Yeah, thank you for all you do.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
To subject me I get as much out of it as I think I
put into it.
I feel like when I startedPHBot, I was at the very
beginning of my public healthcareer, right at my master's
program, and recently I realizedthat I hadn't put enough
attention into my own careergrowth and I had written about
this on LinkedIn just last week,I think and so I feel like I
(02:10):
feel how I felt 10 years ago andso I'm able to kind of
empathize with a lot of theindividuals who are starting off
in their career, because I'mlike, okay, how do I want to
reimagine my public healthcareer?
Because I'm a completelydifferent person.
A lot of the goals that weended up setting 10 years ago
are very much different, and youwere kind of talking about that
(02:32):
right.
You're in a very exciting placeright now and you're so glad
we're doing this recording nowversus like years ago.
Yeah, so we're going to get intothat, but tell us how you ended
up discovering the field ofpublic health?
That's always my first questionto any of our guests, and one
that I'm always curious about,because you know it falls into
(02:53):
one of two buckets.
It was like yep, I knew I wasgoing to come into this, and
then the other bucket is.
I had no idea what this was.
I kind of like stumbled my wayinto it.
So which bucket are you in?
I'm a stumbler, I'm a bigstumbler.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
And I think that's the case for a lot.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
I mean, I've been working in the field now for
over 20 years and I thinkespecially before COVID, when
people really had no concept ofwhat public health was.
I think there's a lot of manyof us who fell into public
health.
My story is interesting but alittle roundabout.
So I'm going to start with myundergrad.
I actually studied history andgenocide studies and through my
(03:32):
courses both history andgenocide studies you can imagine
very heavy topics, right, butreally thinking about always
this question being asked howdid we let this happen?
And I really grew tired of itand took an internship at Human
Rights Watch and started tofocus more on humanitarian
efforts that were going onduring that time period.
(03:57):
My focus was in the Africaregion and particularly focused
on HIV misinformation.
In South Africa during that timeperiod there was a myth there
were many myths but one of themwas if you had sex with a virgin
, it would rid you of all ofyour HIV.
(04:19):
So that caused a lot of rapesin the country and that was kind
of my introduction, in thisvery indirect way, into public
health.
Of course, I didn't know it aspublic health at that time, but
I finished my degree in history.
I did a joint program so I alsofinished my master's in
(04:39):
education with that and then Ijoined the Peace Corps.
So that was really a turningpoint for me and I would say,
even as a Peace Corps volunteer,going into the Peace Corps
working on HIV prevention inSouth Africa, I would say I
still didn't know what publichealth was right.
So even through that experiencein two years of living in South
Africa I started to definepublic health through that
(05:01):
experience.
But going into the Peace CorpsI probably still didn't realize
that my goals had changed andfocused into the space of public
health as we know it.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
At any point, whether it was, you know, as you were
pursuing your bachelor's degreeor you were doing your
internships overseas, did youcome across public health
professionals, or like how wasit that you were kind of
thinking like putting the piecestogether OK, I think this is
public health and there's afield out there.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
I mean that's again.
I don't think I did that untilbecause when Human Rights Watch
was very law focused, right andand justice, human rights
focused, even I wouldn't saythey would consider that the hat
they were wearing public health, even though we know it is.
But I think it was probablyduring my time in the Peace
(05:52):
Corps.
You know the trainings that wereceived from folks were working
on the ground in South Africaand HIV prevention efforts,
conferences that I attendedafter I left the Peace Corps
that were focused on HIV.
So I think that's probably whenI first started to realize that
public health was a career pathand the career path that I
(06:18):
wanted to take at that point inmy life, but as far as like when
I actually it must have been atsome point during my Peace
Corps experience, trainings andsuch okay yeah, and then um how
many years did the Peace Corpslast?
so Peace Corps is two years, soI left in January of 2004 and
(06:42):
finished in February of 2006.
So, um, and I lived in onevillage the entire time with a
family and I recentlyreconnected with them.
Just so exciting.
And we're actually my husbandand I are planning a trip to
visit next year.
So even that is a new piece ofmy story.
(07:06):
That's absolutely, you know,just so, so exciting and my host
parents are still with us andyeah, so I'm very excited to to
hopefully return next year andvisit my family.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Oh, that's amazing.
And then when you returned backafter the Peace Corps, like
according to like what I knowbased on your LinkedIn profile-
you ended up working withPlanned Parenthood as an
educator there, so was that avery intentional choice of OK.
I think I'm going to focus inthis like world of health?
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Yeah, no.
So when I got back and mostPeace Corps volunteers will tell
you this it was a challenge inmany, many ways.
So after the Peace Corps, Itraveled for six months in Asia
and so I had not even been onAmerican soil in over two and a
half years.
The transition was unbelievablychallenging for me.
I was also living in upstateNew York, in a rural area, and
(08:05):
just a lot of compoundingfactors, the culture shock,
living in a rural place.
I mean, before school I livedoutside of New York City and
then I lived abroad for almostthree years.
So it was a challenge and Ithink you know I just wasn't in
a good place for about sixmonths.
But I was applying for jobs andI was applying for jobs
(08:26):
specific to you know, entrylevel jobs around HIV, family
planning, the same type of work,education and training work
that I was doing in the PeaceCorps, but here in the States.
I fell into.
I was, honestly, I was at thegym and a friend of mine was
like, oh, like, PlannedParenthood is hiring an educator
(08:47):
, Like and I know the person,this is how it all works, Right,
and they're like this would besuch a perfect job.
I was like the thing is.
At that time in my life I waslike I'm out of here.
I do not want to live inupstate New York, I want to.
I want to be in a city.
I was even looking at jobsinternationally.
I did not plan to stay there,but when this person was like
here, you know like this wouldbe a fantastic job for you and I
(09:15):
got it.
I got the position and thenspent two years there and it was
great.
It was nice to spend time withmy beloved grandmother, who
passed in 2010.
But like I lived with herduring that time period, I met
my husband during that timeperiod.
I loved that job so much.
If you ask me, I've had a lotof interesting jobs, but if you
ask me, like my favorite job ofall of my career, it was that I
(09:35):
loved being an educator atPlanned Parenthood.
It was my favorite job of alltime.
So I think, at least for myjourney, most of it was never
planned and I fell into almosteverything that I've done and,
yeah, I guess that was aforeshadowing to what the rest
of my career would look.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
like I always tell people to like bring in, like
whoever's your support group oryour community in on your like,
not only your goals but thingsthat you're struggling with,
reflections that you're havingrelated to your career, because,
like you will have extra eyesand ears out there for you.
And like I'm curious, how didyour friend that bumped into at
(10:19):
the gym know that this would bea good fit for you?
Like you must have told hersomething around that time
period.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Yeah, I also mentioned that I was living in a
rural area at this time and soeverybody knew that I had just
come back from Africa.
Like the newspaper you knowthis sounds really cheesy, but
it's true the newspaper likeinterviews, wow.
So, yeah, this was.
I mean, I can't believe it was20 years ago at this point that
this happened.
But I also did a lot of andthis was therapeutic for me at
(10:48):
the time.
But I did a lot of educationlike sessions for like Lions
Clubs and different like serviceorganizations about the AIDS
epidemic in South Africa to helpraise awareness.
Another thing I remember doingthat I loved because I love
libraries is I did aninformational table for Peace
Corps Week around Peace Corps inAfrica so like people could
(11:10):
find information, they knew thatI was there and they knew that
I had just come back from Africaand the work that I was doing.
Never underestimate the powerof like small community projects
on like getting your voice outthere and also just the power of
like giving back.
There's so much focus thesedays, at least with my students
(11:33):
that is on, you know, getting aninternship, but there's also so
much value in service and justwant to emphasize that.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Yeah, no, that's an excellent point.
So is that kind of the point intime where you're getting a lot
more clear about the directionthat you want to take your
career.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Is that still clear?
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Yes, yeah, tell us about that.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
So I came back from the Peace Corps, I worked for
Planned Parenthood.
I knew I wanted to get mymaster's in public health.
At this point I met my husband,as I mentioned a few minutes
ago, but we plan to break up.
You know, like again I'm in,like Western New York, there's
(12:17):
not a lot there, not a lot formy future.
So I start looking at programs.
Honestly, if I went to schoolin the States, emory was my top
choice, but I started looking atinternational programs for a
few reasons.
Probably number one, well, two.
I think there's like tworeasons that were my top reasons
(12:38):
for going abroad for mymaster's degree.
The first was cost.
I already had two degrees froma private school and I already
had, you know, an unbelievableamount of debt.
You know I put myself throughboth of those degrees.
Peace Corps defers your loansbut, as we all know, deferment
(12:59):
doesn't help, it just adds thecost, right?
So it was scary to think aboutwhat we make in public health in
relation to what my debt wouldhave been and this was 20 years
ago, but it was stillsignificant, right?
So cost was one.
And then I knew I wanted to gointo international health.
So why not gain that additionalperspective of studying in
(13:21):
another country.
So between all of these factors, I started looking at schools
in England, australia.
I even looked at a school inSouth Africa, but I really loved
Monash University'sinternational health program
South Africa but I really lovedMonash University's
international health program.
There's a strong emphasis onethics.
There were a lot of studentsinternational students in the
program and there were alsothese intensive classes that we
(13:43):
did.
They were like one week longbut people from the field would
actually come in for theseintensives.
So there were people from allof these different UN related
agencies, nonprofits, who wouldcome in for these intensive to
either take it or teach.
The learning that we receivedwas so practical, hands-on.
(14:03):
Another fun fact I'm not jokingwhen I say Emory was like my top
choice if I stayed here.
I got to Australia and I did aninterview for an internship and
they're like why are you here?
I did the same question why didyou come to Australia?
And I did an interview for aninternship and they're like why
are you?
Why are you here?
I did the same question why,why did you come to Australia?
And during this interview andBB was her name asked me you
(14:24):
know well, where were youlooking in the States and I said
you know Emory and she's likeyou're kidding me.
The head of the department thatyou're in, like she was in the
ethics department but theinternational health department
overall, worked at the CDC andtaught at Emory for over 20
years.
Oh wow, and I was like I gotchills and I was just like, okay
(14:46):
, like it's just anotherconfirmation that I was in the
right place.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
And I don't know Australian schools too well, but
to know that a professor fromEmory, somebody who worked at
the CDC, was teaching there, Iwould think it's uh, he was
Australian.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
But yes, yeah, like well, well known, but still he's
running the program, yeah yeahokay, so you go to Australia do
your master's.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
There was that a one year or two year program.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
It was a year and a half.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Year and a half, okay .
And then you come back to NewYork, it seems.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
And you, yeah, okay, and guess why I came back to New
York.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
For love.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
For love.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
It's always the answer.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
It's always the answer.
Yes, it's always the answer.
So, as I mentioned, we tried tobreak up.
It didn't work.
So if anyone has questionsabout long distance
relationships, I am also yourgirl.
But, yeah, that didn't work so Iended up back here.
But the compromise was that wewould move away from Western New
York.
So we ended up in the New YorkCity area, but there was a short
(15:58):
period of time where I workedas a HIV case manager in
Rochester, which was anincredible experience.
But I am not a social worker.
I have so much respect forsocial workers and nurses.
I am not a person that canseparate things like happening
(16:18):
in my work from and dealing withpeople's like.
It was a very, very challengingeight or nine months that I
worked there for me, but Ilearned a lot and it was also
just validation that publichealth is for me, because I'm
not I'm not a social worker forme, because I'm not, I'm not a
(16:38):
social worker and so after thatcame like, I want to say, kind
of a different trajectory foryour career, because you kind of
like start going into likeeducation, which was also the
master's degree that you got.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Yeah, so like tell us about that pivotal moment,
because I think within those fewyears, you also then launched
your own consulting company.
So what happened during thattime?
Speaker 1 (16:59):
I love this question.
I've always worked in education.
So, as a Peace Corps volunteer,I was doing education right in
training at Planned Parenthood.
I was in education and I wasdoing training.
So that was a theme throughoutmy entire career always worked
in the space of education andtraining.
Were you aware of that?
So that was a theme throughoutmy entire career Always worked
in the space of education andtraining.
Were you aware?
Speaker 2 (17:17):
of that theme.
That was like following you, oris that, in hindsight, that
you're kind of noticing?
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (17:22):
I guess I knew One thing.
I was questioned when Irealized, you know, during that
internship at Human Rights Watch, I was like I don't know if I
should finish my master's ineducation and I'm like, well,
why not?
You know I had already startedit.
I started as an undergrad, itwas a dual degree, honors
program, so I did finish it.
(17:43):
I'm so glad that I did, becausethere are so many tools that I
use obviously now as aconsultant and throughout my
career curriculum development,training, development and design
, all of it.
I, you know, have thatfoundation from 20 years ago and
has just I've taken it with me.
Of course I've done I knowwe're getting off on a tangent
(18:04):
here, but I've done, you know,certificates and instructional
design, specifically adultlearning and other courses and
trainings to stay up on all thechanges, because obviously a lot
changes in 20s right, but thathas been a theme throughout my
career is the education andtraining.
I haven't really lost that.
But one thing that did shift forme quite a bit was, I feel like
(18:28):
the first, I guess, PlannedParenthood, not as much, but my
focus was really on wanting togo into international health.
And when I came back and wemade this compromise of sorts.
Marriage is all aboutcompromise.
Those of us who are marriedknow right.
Any relationship is all aboutcompromise.
Don't want to limit that tomarriage, for sure.
(18:50):
But yeah, we decided to movedown and that was also like me,
just trying to find a job sothat we can move closer to the
city.
And then that one I actuallyfound on like Indeed, I think
and ended up getting theposition.
But I worked for the NationalHemophilia Foundation for a
couple of years.
Also loved that job, incrediblecommunity and it was an
(19:13):
incredible opportunity for me inmy career because I actually
wrote research, did all theneeds assessment, all the
initial research for a program,created the entire program and
facilitated it, which is such agift.
I feel like so many of us workon pieces of training.
You know like you work on doingthe interviews or focus groups.
(19:36):
I did all of it from start tofinish and it was really my baby
and they still use it Like itlooks a little different now,
but they still use this training.
Yeah, so it was a, it was acareer moment.
Loved that project.
I loved working with thebleeding disorders community.
They're incredible, incrediblebunch.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
And so your, your decision to go into consulting.
Was that like something youjumped into?
It wasn't a decision.
Oh, it wasn't Okay, Tell us.
Yeah, let's talk about that.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
So I had one last real, quote unquote job before I
started consulting and I workedin maternal infant health for a
year yeah, it's a long story.
I needed to move again and Iwas commuting two hours each way
each, every day to the city forthe national hemophilia job in
the end, because we moved andalso traveling a lot, so I was
(20:33):
literally never home and I justwanted to find something closer
to home.
So it worked in that job.
It was, on paper, a perfect jobfor me.
I was overseeing a coalition, Iwas working with community
health workers, training like itwas a perfect job on paper.
(20:54):
But we all know that perfectjobs on paper don't equate to
perfect jobs in real life.
Right Like, it was the mosttoxic place I've ever been in my
life.
I'm still honestly not over it.
I've been 10 years of therapy.
At this point.
It was one of the mosttraumatic experiences as a whole
of my life and it got to thepoint where I had to walk away
(21:14):
from the job without anythinglined up, which I understand and
want to say is such a privilege.
Right Like, I have my husband,I have his insurance, but I had
to walk away and this was it.
Yeah, the end of, I want to say, 2014.
And within few weeks, somebodyfrom a different hemophilia
foundation, In a few weeks,somebody from a different
hemophilia foundation called meand said you know, we finally
(21:38):
have the funding.
They'd been wanting to hire meto help them update some of
their trainings and workshopsand they said we finally have
the funding for you.
This was like I'm not kiddingyou like a matter of weeks.
It was less than a month that Iheard from them and I was like,
oh my gosh, I cannot believethis is happening.
(21:58):
So I started consulting withthem.
I was with them for four yearsas a consultant, so that was
great for me as I wanted tobuild up my consulting business.
I took other smaller projectsand really learned the ropes.
There's a huge learning curveto being a consultant and having
your own business and thathaving that security.
(22:19):
I mean it wasn't secure at thetime, right, Like it was
probably six months, six months,six, but still it was an
incredible opportunity for me tostart consulting and I learned
a lot in those first few yearsand now I've been doing it for
December.
January will be my 10 yearbusiness anniversary and I get
chills when I say that you knowlike it's very exciting and it
(22:43):
is not for the faint of heart,so I am proud of myself.
You don't know when you'regoing to get paid.
Sometimes you don't know, like,what the next job will be, so
I'm pretty proud that I've comethis far and lasted this long.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
I just have to go back and point out, acknowledge
and also say like I'm so sorryyou had to deal with that.
In a place of work, many of usdo it, many and I've heard of
way too many stories of that.
You know some people being sobrave to actually just leave
within months of starting a newjob without anything lined up.
So very, very brave of you tolike step away.
Yeah, and I was.
(23:28):
I was writing up a post to putup on LinkedIn next week and it
was around like when do you knowlike you're ready for a new job
?
And this is one of those thingsI point out like for some
people they may be like okay, Ineed to get experience for three
years, five years.
Other people it's like I needto get out because this is not a
good place of work for me.
So the timelines are likedependent from person to person
(23:50):
and situation, and I just wantedto say that that's not okay and
I'm here if anybody needs toreach out and just talk it out
and you know.
Christy, you don't need to dealwith that alone.
I've spoken to too many peoplethat have had similar
experiences and I'm here to helpif you just need somebody to
listen to or you're the best.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Yeah, no, absolutely.
I'm here for folks too.
It's scary, but oh my gosh it'salso and I'll just say this
like the stress of not having ajob is obviously really
stressful right, but like you'remore capable of applying for
jobs and looking for new jobs.
if you leave that toxicenvironment, it's really hard to
(24:31):
like even just take care ofyourself.
If you leave that toxicenvironment, it's really hard to
like even just take care ofyourself.
If you're dealing with this,you know toxicity of a workplace
.
So giving yourself that spaceand I think we all know it's
like that that weight that islifted, Like, like I said, I'm
still dealing with some of thetrauma from that job, but it's
still like the weight that wasinitially lifted and knowing
(24:54):
that I didn't have to go backthere.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Yeah, definitely deserve better than that.
Yeah, we all do.
We all do.
Yeah.
I was curious when that otherorganization reached out to you
and said we just got thisfunding.
Like do you want to be aconsultant?
Had the idea of running yourown consulting company ever
crossed your mind?
Never, never crossed my mind.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
So, fun fact, while I was doing this consulting, I
also started a dog walkingbusiness.
I don't think I've ever talkedabout this on a podcast.
I've been on a few podcasts.
I don't think I've ever talkedabout this part.
But I was like, okay, while I'mfiguring things out, I'm gonna
walk dogs because I love dogsand being outside, and like so.
so I did that on the side.
So I actually had twobusinesses going at the same
(25:38):
time.
But, like, even then, I waslike, where am I going?
What does my future look like?
I didn't know.
Honestly, the experience withthat last job was so detrimental
to me that I didn't even knowif I would stay in public health
.
I just felt so burned out.
(25:58):
But I obviously kept consultingand I let the dogs go at some
point because I couldn't handleboth.
But it was a great like momentthat allowed me to, you know,
just figure things out.
And no, I and this was also too.
I want to just point out thiswas a time when, like consulting
(26:22):
wasn't a thing when we started2014, 2015.
Yeah, it wasn't the way it isnow Right Like.
So Leah had her group onFacebook that we're a part of,
and now I don't even knowthere's a lot of hundreds.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Hundreds, I want to say two to 300 people.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Oh my gosh.
Yeah, when we started, I thinkthere were I think I was like
the 28th person in that group,so it just wasn't a thing.
And I remember Laura reachingout to me on LinkedIn and I was
like, oh my gosh, there areother people doing this.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
And just to clarify like consulting in public health
was not a thing.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Yeah, exactly yes.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Yes, it existed in the world, but it's like people
in public health doing this astheir Exactly.
Thank you for the clarification.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Yeah, and now, wow, there's so many and I think it's
really great.
But yeah, the landscape hasshifted quite a bit since we all
started.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
I have a couple of thoughts on that, but I don't
want to sidetrack theconversation away from you, like
your story, so maybe we'll comeback to that after.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Maybe we'll come back .
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Yeah, it'll come back .
So you said, with this firstconsulting project you were
doing that and then you had someother additional ones that you
were also a consultant on.
Was that?
Did I hear that right?
Okay, and like this one kind ofyou know landed in front of you
, but those other first fewcontracts, how did you like get
(27:47):
in front of organizations andlike what advice would you give
to anybody kind of thinking of Imight want to try this out for
myself.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
So I think there's a few things have a strong network
.
I know some people will slap myhand for this, but I'm not a
big RFP person.
I just applied for one and it'svery rare that I apply for them
because they typically know whothey want already and the
amount of time you have to putinto applying for them is just
(28:17):
insane.
So I only apply for RFPs if I'mlike a perfect fit or I feel
like I'm a perfect fit for therole.
Again, a lot of it was word ofmouth.
Most of the jobs that I've hadas a consultant were word of
mouth, except for the one withthe Institute for Healthcare
Improvement, and they found mebecause they were specifically
(28:41):
searching for somebody whoworked in the intersection of
instructional design and publichealth.
But I think most of my otherprojects have been word of mouth
.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
That's good to know.
Instructional design that'skind of the area that you focus
on in your consulting.
Could you tell us a little bitabout kind of like what that
looks like and what your day today would look like or it's
probably changed in the past, myday to day is no one yet or
maybe like your week or yourmonth or maybe like your week or
(29:18):
your month.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
So my day to day is very different, especially now
that I teach.
But one thing is every day Iwake up and read and snuggle
with my dogs and drink my coffee.
It's like my, the best ritual Ihave to have.
It it wakes me up and, yes, andthen I think I typically check
emails.
We'll have client calls, prepfor school, go to school and
(29:39):
teach, actually do the clientwork, whatever that looks like.
I'm also on a board ofdirectors and I'm the vice chair
.
We have an in-person boardmeeting in June.
So that is also dominating mylife and my time right now.
So, yeah, every day looks verydominating my life and my time
right now.
So, yeah, every day looks very,very different.
I think that that's one of thethings that most of the
(30:00):
consultants you talk to.
Actually we like that right,like, yeah, like that Our days
don't look the same.
The projects we work on arealways changing.
It's exciting.
I do like that.
At the same time, I don't wantpeople to think that, like, all
of these things just fall intoour lap, like it's stressful, it
(30:20):
takes a lot of like curating ofrelationships and, yeah, it can
be challenging at the same time.
So I also think, you know, nothaving any sort of I talked to
my doctor about this all thetime too because it's like
really hard for me to have anysort of regular schedule, so
like people will get up and goto work and then exercise, or,
(30:43):
you know, get up, exercise, goto work Like it's really hard
for me to do that because mydays never look the same, so I
don't have any sort ofconsistent schedule, which can
be a challenge A lot ofself-discipline, yeah.
Thanks.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Self-discipline.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
It's really nice of you to point out.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
It was a compliment to say that, like you know, yeah
, Okay, Let me let me say I live.
I live with an entrepreneur too, so my husband went full time
into entrepreneurship.
Yeah, so I get it and I I tellhim like I'm quite proud of,
like his ability to like managehis own schedule because like
(31:26):
you don't have this hypotheticallike start and finish that,
like you know when you'restarting and you know when
you're finishing, and so that'salmost easier.
But for him, it's easy for youto just like lounge around the
whole day and then not doanything and then you know, like
it like, and I told him I'mlike I feel like quite proud
that you've like done this sowell and he's only gone full
(31:49):
time like a year and five monthsnow.
So yeah, it's exciting.
So I understand it all year andfive months now.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
So yeah, it's, it's exciting, so I understand it all
.
Yes, having a live-inentrepreneur, that does make
sense, you do understand yeah,yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
And then the cycles like tell us about the cycle of
finding client.
Like there's obviously like youneed to do a little bit of
sales, you need to do a little,a little bit of marketing, right
?
And then there's an ongoingcycle that you have to maintain.
Do you feel like you've gotthat cycle down?
You're asking this question.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
It's such a unique time in my business.
So, as I mentioned, I've beendoing this for 10 years.
I am coming like the week.
Well, last week I don't knowwhat day it is In the last two
weeks I've finished up a verylarge grant with the New York
State Department of Health and alocal nonprofit, and I am also
finishing the semester right now.
(32:45):
So I'm going to have aboutthree months before I start my
doctorate where I don't have alot going on.
It's the first time in 10 yearsthat this has actually happened
to me, which is not I've beenvery lucky.
I'm still waiting on an RFP,mind you, but, as I've already
said, I don't have much faith inthe fact that I'll get that.
(33:06):
But I did recently apply forone and I'm waiting to hear back
.
So that could be something.
But other than that, I'mworking on two very small
projects one with IHI, that theschool year, and I'm going back
to school.
(33:39):
So I'm trying to find grace andnot worry that things will come
right like, and I am trying togive myself this time.
Because here's the thing If Istart really looking for work,
it probably wouldn't comethrough until when I need to go
(34:02):
back to school, both schools,right Back to school to get my
doctorate and I haven't been inschool in like 15 years at this
point and back to teaching.
So I'm trying to just let thisbe and if something a good
project comes up or a smallproject comes up, I'm excited
about that possibility, alsogiving myself space to say, if I
(34:23):
don't get a project right nowand I just focus on schools,
that's also okay, I want to askyou two quick questions before
we jump into your decision topursue a DRPH.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
Like 15 years after being in, when and why did you
decide to go and teach at?
Uh, I think it was uh oh, atvassar vassar.
Yes, sorry, yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
So again, this is the short my story, right?
If there's a theme here, it'sthat I fell into every single
thing, that I've done, all thegood things in my life I really
fell into.
So I was on the bioethicscommittee at Vassar for I think
five years.
So really just as a communityliaison, I would join these
(35:08):
meetings and honestly don't tellanybody, but like sometimes
they would be on topics I didn'teven understand they just need
a community person to be a partof this and say, like, do you
have any concerns as a community?
And I did have a concern Sorry,side note, I did have a concern
when one of the students wasdoing research on spiders.
I'm like you better make surethey stay at Vassar.
(35:30):
So I was worthwhile.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
Having me around was worthwhile for a couple of
reasons anyway, and one of theprofessors on that ethics
committee came to me and saidyou know, we're interviewing for
public health positions.
There's a professor there whotaught a current issues in
public health course.
He got a new grant.
He couldn't teach that courseand they needed somebody else to
(35:57):
teach an additional 300 levelcourse.
So he's like if you want tothrow your hat in the ring I
mean honestly, vassar is anelite university here in the
United States I would not haveeven put my hat in the ring.
I wouldn't have.
Just because I would think tomyself like I don't have my
doctorate, so I I don't evenqualify.
And he's like well, as anadjunct you do and you have so
(36:17):
much experience that you know weactually think you'd be a great
fit for these particularcourses.
So I sent him my application,went through the process and I
got it, which is like still mindboggling to me.
I pinch myself every time I goto school.
Me, I pinch myself every time Igo to school.
It is such an honor to teach.
(36:38):
I am privileged to teach, so Idon't take it lightly.
I always knew that I wanted toteach, but I always thought it
would be on the side, never, youknow, for a year somewhat
prestigious university.
So yeah, and I I had so much.
(36:58):
I think it's worth noting thatmy imposter syndrome, my first
semester was almost debilitating.
Like I was so worried aboutgoing, like even with the
students I was even afraid of amI?
I was like saying like go readyour resume, like stop.
And I've overcome that and Ialso just want to know like the
(37:22):
faculty, the students, the staff, every single person I have
come in contact with at Vassarhave been nothing but incredible
.
I have learned so much.
They've been so accepting of meand appreciative of me, even.
So, yeah, again, I kind of fellinto it, like I said I wouldn't
(37:42):
have applied.
I wouldn't have applied to thisposition because I would have
thought I don't have mydoctorate, so this school is not
going to take me right.
But they did and I'm still thereand they've let me create two
courses from scratch and I justappreciate every single moment
that I'm there and with thosestudents and I love teaching, I
(38:07):
think like worth noting here isfrom that, that first position
at Planned Parenthood, thatfirst consulting gig that came
your way.
Speaker 2 (38:18):
This opportunity, like a lot of it, is around the
relationships that you hadcreated.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
All of them.
Speaker 2 (38:23):
And so like I hope people can hear these examples
and like know that it's not justabout applying to jobs posted
on a website, because whenyou're building these
relationships.
It's easy for people to justtalk to somebody within their
network and ask them if theywant that opportunity, versus
like going through a fullapplication process, going
(38:44):
through 400 resumes like that'snot easy for them, right?
So establishing thoserelationships are key.
I forgot my second question.
So we're just going to jumpinto the DRPH.
Like what was the reason?
You said, like 15 years after?
Let's start with, you have abachelor's degree and you have
two master's degree and then youhave a dozen other certificates
(39:07):
.
Why the DRPH at this point ofyour career, when you're like
extremely established on paper?
Like you said, go read yourresume like incredible.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
My husband said that not me, so it's my students.
I love teaching.
I don't know if I've ever beenhappier in my entire career than
I am in the classroom and I'vealways loved teaching.
I've my whole career and not inthe traditional classroom
setting setting, but like I'vebeen a teacher, I've been an
(39:38):
instructor, facilitator myentire career.
But it's different and Iactually, as a side note, I was
emailing with a couple of peoplewho were guest speakers in my
class.
A couple of the students madenotes and I actually sent them
to them just to kind of boostmorale and they're like you know
(40:00):
, I wish you could teach morestudents and I was like I wish I
could too, and I've beenthinking like my.
My goal at this point is I wantmy DRPH, because I would
eventually like to teach in aDRPH program or master's level
programs.
I want to teach in a school ofpublic health level programs.
I want to teach in a school ofpublic health, but I currently
(40:20):
teach undergraduates and seeingthe impact that you can have on
somebody's path and those ahamoments that you have with
students who think, because theylive through a pandemic, they
understand public health and theproblems that we have in the
space, right, like I teach acritical issues in public health
course.
So, and it's a 200 level, andyou just see so many students
(40:40):
come into that class thinkingthey know what public health is,
but they don't.
And when they have those ahamoments around, you know the
relationship between racism andhealth and the social
determinants and what those are,and it's just an incredible
opportunity to be able to teachthem, especially considering
(41:00):
where I teach.
Many of them are going on tomedical school.
They're going to become lawyers, some of them.
Vassar actually has a four plusone program with Columbia.
I even have students who arealready in Columbia's School of
Public Health.
Again, to be able to be withthem and teach them is just such
an honor.
So that's why, again, I couldtalk about teaching all day, but
(41:23):
that's why I'm getting my DRPH.
And I know some people might belistening to this and saying
well, if you wanna teach,shouldn't you get your PhD?
So I did a lot of researcharound this and I think where I
am in my career if I teach, Idon't want to give up my
business.
I still want to consult.
I see myself as a leader in thefields and research has never
(41:45):
been something that I've done.
So why, 20 years into my career, would I shift into doing
research when it's not a goodfit for me or my goals?
Essentially because if I teach,I want to be teaching things
around leadership and equity andreally not research.
So I want to be a clinicalprofessor where I'm just
(42:09):
teaching, not focused as much onresearch, and I want to
continue working as a consultant.
So the DRP, drph for me is aperfect fit.
I don't think it wouldnecessarily be the case for
everyone whose end goal is toteach.
Speaker 2 (42:24):
If that makes sense.
Yeah, no, that makes totalsense.
And so I think you gave us alittle bit of a glimpse into
what you hope, you know, theDRPH is going to do and how your
business is going to be, kindof, you know, still part of your
life, and I'm assuming theprogram is like four or five
years.
Yes, yeah, okay, what do youenvision your like post DRPH
(42:48):
career to look like, or, ideally, what would you like it to look
like?
So it's, it's funny I'm gonna.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
I don't normally talk about my husband this much.
I'm going to come back to him.
So he's a teacher.
He's a 10 year teacher in highschool and he has a very good
pension in New York.
But he's older than me.
So by the time I finished this,my goal is to finish before I'm
50.
I'm going to turn 45, like 10days before I start my DRPH
which is exciting.
(43:19):
Yeah, yeah, I'm, I'm excitedabout that and but my goal is to
finish it before I'm 50.
That's my goal, and then myhusband will be in a place where
he can retire and I get to callthe shots for once.
But at the same time because Ido want to keep consulting I
have some flexibility to nothave the pressure of trying to
find a job right away, right.
(43:39):
So, like, I think that timeperiod will be like looking for
different jobs, teaching andtrying to figure that out.
Fun fact, I would actuallyreally like to teach and move
abroad.
I just like living abroad andwe'll see what happens.
(44:00):
But yeah, I would love anopportunity to live and move
abroad or stay here and teach it.
You know a school of publichealth in their master's program
or drph program.
So, yeah, who knows?
But I want to teach, yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:19):
I do have to say like thank you on two fronts, just
personal reflections that I'mhaving as you're telling me your
story.
I'm, like I'd say, about 10years behind in terms of like
number of years of experience ormy age with you.
And I think sometimes, like Iwas like so caught up first few
years of my career to be likeokay, I got it, like I'm done my
(44:41):
master's, I got this job, andlike I need to do my doctorate
at the perfect time and like theperfect time was like
immediately.
And you know we put all of thatpressure on ourselves.
And what I'm getting from youis like and I and I know I kept
asking you this like was this anintentional decision?
Was this an intentional choice?
(45:02):
And even though most of it wasnot like I really do, like the
way you were able to like reallyreflect on what it is that you
wanted in your life at eachpoint.
I'm taking personal inspirationthere and to know and you're
kind of like the second person Iknow who's gone into a PhD or
(45:22):
DRPH around like that same timeframe and I guess it's like
forcing me to just like stoptrying to run behind these like
arbitrary timelines that wethink ourselves and just be like
slow it down right, slow itdown, right time.
Oh my gosh, advance itself.
It'll happen.
Speaker 1 (45:43):
So two things I never , ever, ever wanted my doctorate
period.
And I, even when I startedteaching at Vassar and fell in
love with teaching, I still wasadamant that like no, I'm not
getting my doctorate.
You know who changed my mind?
My therapist of all people, mytherapist.
(46:05):
So I was talking to her I don'teven know, it must've been a
year and a half ago at thispoint and I said to her I'm like
you know, I think I was talkingabout how happy I am at Vassar
teaching, and she was like well,why don't you get your
doctorate?
And I was like because I'mnever going to get it, like I
don't want it, it's too much,I'm too old, there's too many
(46:27):
reasons, right?
And she was like, well, she didthe same thing as me, she was
teaching part-time at Fordhamand somebody told her like you
should really get your doctorateso that you can teach.
And she did.
She was the same age as me andshe's like Christy, it was one
of the best decisions I've evermade and it totally shifted my
(46:51):
perspective on it.
And that's when I started doingresearch about different
programs and when I found theDRPH.
That's when I started doingresearch about different
programs and when I found theDRPH.
It was almost like a breath offresh air because the program
feels so right for me.
Then I had the moment of likewell, if I'm getting this
because I want to teach, can Iactually teach with a DRPH?
(47:11):
So then I did more research andfound out yes, absolutely.
You know, research positions,phd positions in public health
are so competitive and that'snot even where I want to be.
So there's a lot of value forme having a DRPH, not only for
my business but also, I think,for what I want to teach and in
the direction that I want to go.
So just yeah, do your research.
Never say never.
(47:32):
I will say one other thing.
I had lunch today with twostudents and one of them is
going.
She's a junior and she'sgetting very anxious about
medical school and like howshe's going to be studying for
MCATs and I'm like, why don'tyou take a year off?
Like you need to take a year.
No, I need to get.
Like no, you don't like yourlife.
But going to your point aboutlike having the check times, I
(47:57):
think that's a.
I just want to put this outthere to everyone that that's
something that society istelling you you need to do
what's right for yourself,especially if you're going into
things like a doctorate Timeinvestment money investment.
Consume your life and cost anexorbitant amount of money.
Speaker 2 (48:15):
Yeah, it's like I had a mini aha moment right now.
It's like there's a group thatgoes on to do a doctorate degree
to like build up their career,which is like one way to do it.
And then I'm finding people whoare doing a doctorate degree
for the pure joy and for thesatisfaction of their soul, like
(48:35):
even the other colleague thatI'm referring to like she's
nearing retirement and doing herPhD on how live events in areas
of like war-torn regions aroundthe world are kind of like
helping people rebuild, and I'mjust like, wow, like you're
doing this not because it'sgoing to help you build in your
career like you've worked inthat area, but just exploring
(48:56):
this topic it's incredible, it'syeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (49:04):
I have made a couple of comments that, yes, I'm
getting a doctorate so I canmake less money, yeah, and be
happy right.
Speaker 2 (49:08):
Yeah exactly that's what it's about.
Speaker 1 (49:10):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (49:12):
Yeah, my, my husband is like, so against the
education, like the traditionaleducational system, but I think
recently I've I was able toconvince him that eventually,
when I do a doctorate degree,it's going to be like for pure
joy of just learning.
And he's like, ah, okay, I getit now.
Yeah, like yes, that that isthe reason I would do it.
Looking back, christy, at youknow your, your journey, uh,
(49:33):
whether it was like 10 years ofyour consulting journey or 20
years in public help, what arelike moments that you think back
to a lot and either like you'rereally proud of that moment or
you know maybe you wanted to dosomething differently at that
point.
What are some reflections thatyou have?
Speaker 1 (49:52):
So I think that one of the things I'm most proud of
is that I have always stayedtrue to myself as far as my
business values and just myvalues as a person.
Integrity is always at the topof my list and it's how I run my
business and it's how I chooseto do things or not do things.
(50:13):
And an example of this is, youknow, I've done a couple of
projects for pharmaceuticalcompanies, and every time I do,
when there comes to like, areyou going to extend your
contract, I never do.
And it's been a lesson to methat, like, I just need to not
work for pharmaceuticalcompanies, right, like that's a
boundary for me.
(50:33):
It might pay well, but I neverfeel good when I do it, and that
matters.
And I've done this in a numberof areas of my business, of my
life, and I think that's whatI'm most proud of, and I just I
want to send that message tofolks, because it's really hard
to stay in age, to stay true toyourself or even know who your
(50:55):
true self is right, becausewe're so bombarded by messages
and what everybody else is doing.
But, like, at this point in mylife, I would say that that's
one of the things I'm most proudof.
I'm also we haven't talkedabout this, but I am I'm an
advocate.
I've put myself on the line forcauses that I care about,
specifically abortion, and I'mproud of those moments too.
(51:18):
I would not take any of thosemoments back, and I'm proud that
I always stay true to myself,even when it's not easy or it
means that I will make lessmoney.
Those aren't easy decisions tomake.
Speaker 2 (51:31):
Do you think that that feels easier now versus
early on in your career, becauseI know I struggled with that
quite a bit Absolutely Earlyyears, yeah we always will Like.
Speaker 1 (51:42):
I think it will always be like this question
right, but like it gets easieras you get older.
It really does, yeah, I believethat.
Speaker 2 (51:50):
What's one piece of wisdom that you want to leave
our listeners with, as they're?
Figuring out figuring out theircareers, whether it's like a
student I'm sure you talk to alot of students, oh, I do.
Speaker 1 (52:03):
There's lots of similar, I think, advice that
probably comes up right and yes,I think, for you know public
health in general, some of mygreatest advice would be to find
your niche.
Finding your niche is such akey component when you're going
into or are currently in thefield of public health and
(52:25):
trying to figure out what bringsyou joy.
You can work in FBA training.
There's so many things withinthe field, but then also within
that, there are specific contentareas, which makes it even more
specified.
So find that, find what makesyou happy, and ways to do that,
(52:48):
in my opinion, are volunteering,internships, taking a class
Like is undergrads, mph, like,whatever it is.
Taking a class that like mightactually be outside of your
comfort zone and thinking aboutlike does this interest me?
Just take every opportunity.
Maybe you don't want to take awhole class on a topic, but
(53:11):
maybe there's a one hour lecturethat your university is
offering to learn more about aspecific area of content.
You know AI and health is a hottopic right now.
I think of that as an example,right, something that my
students are very interested in.
And maybe you don't want totake a whole class on it, but
there's so many resources andconversations happening that are
(53:31):
recorded online.
So just dig in and utilize allthe incredible resources,
including your podcast, to findout more about all the different
places we can go in this field.
Speaker 2 (53:45):
And I think to your earlier point and I know it's
easier said than done and I wasan early career professional
myself.
So the advice of don't be sohard on yourself, like it's okay
not to get it right the firsttime, and that pressure we put
on ourselves.
Yes, I know I put a lot ofpressure on myself to get it
right, every single decision Imade.
It had to be the perfectdecision, but you know what it's
(54:08):
it maybe not the perfectdecision, that's okay, it is
okay, yes, it's, it really isokay.
Speaker 1 (54:15):
It is yeah, and we learned from it, we grow from it
, and I will say too, like weevolve as professionals, we
evolve as people.
It's okay If you don't go inthe exact direction that you
thought you were going to.
I think that's even greatsometimes, right?
Speaker 2 (54:33):
And it's okay to evolve as a person and have
different things that you likeand enjoy.
Speaker 1 (54:39):
I mean, I hope we would right, yeah, I hope that
we would.
Speaker 2 (54:43):
Yeah, I like myself now.
I love how I evolve.
Thank you so much, christy.
I think I've personally beeninspired by hearing your journey
.
I took away quite a few thingsthat I'm actually going to
action, so I'll tell you aboutthis after we stop recording.
But thank you so much, and foranybody listening that wants to
(55:04):
follow along Christie's journey,I'm going to point them to your
LinkedIn because that's where Ifollow you.
Speaker 1 (55:09):
Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 2 (55:10):
Okay, we'll link that up in the show notes page.
Speaker 1 (55:14):
And we can Instagram too.
I can give you my Instagram.
I'm pretty active there.
Speaker 2 (55:18):
Okay, so Instagram and LinkedIn follow along the
DRPH journey that Christy isgoing to be on.
Exciting and we'll we'll cheerher on and maybe, like, bring
you back partway through yourDRPH and then, after you're done
, and see.
That would be incredible.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's do thatabout the Public Health Career
(55:53):
Club.
So if you've been looking for aplace to connect and build
meaningful relationships withother public health
professionals from all aroundthe world, you should join us in
the Public Health Career Club.
We launched the club with thevision of becoming the number
one hangout spot dedicated tobuilding and growing your dream
public health career.
(56:15):
And in addition to being able toconnect and build those
meaningful relationships withother public health
professionals, the club alsooffers other great resources for
your career growth and success,like mindset coaching, job
preparation clinics and careergrowth strategy sessions in the
form of trainings and talks, alldelivered by experts and
(56:35):
inspiring individuals in theseareas.
So if you want to learn more orwant to join the club, you can
visit our page at phspotorgslash club and we'll have all
the information there.
And you know, as a space that'sbeing intentionally curated to
bring together like-mindedpublic health professionals who
are not only there to pushthemselves to become the best
(56:58):
versions of themselves, but alsoeach other, and with that, I
can't wait to see how this isgoing to have a ripple effect in
the world, as we all worktogether to better the health of
our populations and just haveimmense impact in the world, and
I hope you'll be joining us inthe Public Health Career Club.
Public health is so broad.
We know that right Like you canwork in FDA training.
There's so many things withinthe field, but then also within
that, there are specific contentareas.
So find that, find what makesyou happy and just take every
opportunity to learn more abouta specific area of content.
(00:20):
There's so many resources andconversations happening that are
recorded online, so just dig inand utilize all the incredible
resources, including yourpodcast, to find out more about
all the different places we cango in this field.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Welcome to PH Spotlight, a community for you
to build your public healthcareer with.
Join us weekly right here, andI'll be here too.
Your host, sujani Siva from PHSpot.
Hey, christy, welcome to the PHSpot podcast, finally I have to
say finally, because this hasbeen something I've wanted to do
(01:05):
for many, many years and Ithink we got connected through
Leah, who's been on the podcastquite a bit.
She is the connector, isn't she?
Speaker 1 (01:14):
She is.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
So definitely worth the shout out there.
And I couldn't remember likewhat year I had reached out to
Christy to ask her to come onthe podcast and like things fell
through.
And finally Christy to ask herto come on the podcast and like
things fell through.
And finally we have connectedand she is here and I'm very
excited to hear her story, howshe got into public health and
where she is today.
So welcome, christy.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Thank you.
Thank you so much for having me.
Thank you for all the work youdo for folks in the field of
public health and inspiring thenext generation of our
leadership.
Yeah, thank you for all you do.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
To subject me I get as much out of it as I think I
put into it.
I feel like when I startedPHBot, I was at the very
beginning of my public healthcareer, right at my master's
program, and recently I realizedthat I hadn't put enough
attention into my own careergrowth and I had written about
this on LinkedIn just last week,I think and so I feel like I
(02:10):
feel how I felt 10 years ago andso I'm able to kind of
empathize with a lot of theindividuals who are starting off
in their career, because I'mlike, okay, how do I want to
reimagine my public healthcareer?
Because I'm a completelydifferent person.
A lot of the goals that weended up setting 10 years ago
are very much different, and youwere kind of talking about that
(02:32):
right.
You're in a very exciting placeright now and you're so glad
we're doing this recording nowversus like years ago.
Yeah, so we're going to get intothat, but tell us how you ended
up discovering the field ofpublic health?
That's always my first questionto any of our guests, and one
that I'm always curious about,because you know it falls into
(02:53):
one of two buckets.
It was like yep, I knew I wasgoing to come into this, and
then the other bucket is.
I had no idea what this was.
I kind of like stumbled my wayinto it.
So which bucket are you in?
I'm a stumbler, I'm a bigstumbler.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
And I think that's the case for a lot.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
I mean, I've been working in the field now for
over 20 years and I thinkespecially before COVID, when
people really had no concept ofwhat public health was.
I think there's a lot of manyof us who fell into public
health.
My story is interesting but alittle roundabout.
So I'm going to start with myundergrad.
I actually studied history andgenocide studies and through my
(03:32):
courses both history andgenocide studies you can imagine
very heavy topics, right, butreally thinking about always
this question being asked howdid we let this happen?
And I really grew tired of itand took an internship at Human
Rights Watch and started tofocus more on humanitarian
efforts that were going onduring that time period.
(03:57):
My focus was in the Africaregion and particularly focused
on HIV misinformation.
In South Africa during that timeperiod there was a myth there
were many myths but one of themwas if you had sex with a virgin
, it would rid you of all ofyour HIV.
(04:19):
So that caused a lot of rapesin the country and that was kind
of my introduction, in thisvery indirect way, into public
health.
Of course, I didn't know it aspublic health at that time, but
I finished my degree in history.
I did a joint program so I alsofinished my master's in
(04:39):
education with that and then Ijoined the Peace Corps.
So that was really a turningpoint for me and I would say,
even as a Peace Corps volunteer,going into the Peace Corps
working on HIV prevention inSouth Africa, I would say I
still didn't know what publichealth was right.
So even through that experiencein two years of living in South
Africa I started to definepublic health through that
(05:01):
experience.
But going into the Peace CorpsI probably still didn't realize
that my goals had changed andfocused into the space of public
health as we know it.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
At any point, whether it was, you know, as you were
pursuing your bachelor's degreeor you were doing your
internships overseas, did youcome across public health
professionals, or like how wasit that you were kind of
thinking like putting the piecestogether OK, I think this is
public health and there's afield out there.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
I mean that's again.
I don't think I did that untilbecause when Human Rights Watch
was very law focused, right andand justice, human rights
focused, even I wouldn't saythey would consider that the hat
they were wearing public health, even though we know it is.
But I think it was probablyduring my time in the Peace
(05:52):
Corps.
You know the trainings that wereceived from folks were working
on the ground in South Africaand HIV prevention efforts,
conferences that I attendedafter I left the Peace Corps
that were focused on HIV.
So I think that's probably whenI first started to realize that
public health was a career pathand the career path that I
(06:18):
wanted to take at that point inmy life, but as far as like when
I actually it must have been atsome point during my Peace
Corps experience, trainings andsuch okay yeah, and then um how
many years did the Peace Corpslast?
so Peace Corps is two years, soI left in January of 2004 and
(06:42):
finished in February of 2006.
So, um, and I lived in onevillage the entire time with a
family and I recentlyreconnected with them.
Just so exciting.
And we're actually my husbandand I are planning a trip to
visit next year.
So even that is a new piece ofmy story.
(07:06):
That's absolutely, you know,just so, so exciting and my host
parents are still with us andyeah, so I'm very excited to to
hopefully return next year andvisit my family.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Oh, that's amazing.
And then when you returned backafter the Peace Corps, like
according to like what I knowbased on your LinkedIn profile-
you ended up working withPlanned Parenthood as an
educator there, so was that avery intentional choice of OK.
I think I'm going to focus inthis like world of health?
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Yeah, no.
So when I got back and mostPeace Corps volunteers will tell
you this it was a challenge inmany, many ways.
So after the Peace Corps, Itraveled for six months in Asia
and so I had not even been onAmerican soil in over two and a
half years.
The transition was unbelievablychallenging for me.
I was also living in upstateNew York, in a rural area, and
(08:05):
just a lot of compoundingfactors, the culture shock,
living in a rural place.
I mean, before school I livedoutside of New York City and
then I lived abroad for almostthree years.
So it was a challenge and Ithink you know I just wasn't in
a good place for about sixmonths.
But I was applying for jobs andI was applying for jobs
(08:26):
specific to you know, entrylevel jobs around HIV, family
planning, the same type of work,education and training work
that I was doing in the PeaceCorps, but here in the States.
I fell into.
I was, honestly, I was at thegym and a friend of mine was
like, oh, like, PlannedParenthood is hiring an educator
(08:47):
, Like and I know the person,this is how it all works, Right,
and they're like this would besuch a perfect job.
I was like the thing is.
At that time in my life I waslike I'm out of here.
I do not want to live inupstate New York, I want to.
I want to be in a city.
I was even looking at jobsinternationally.
I did not plan to stay there,but when this person was like
here, you know like this wouldbe a fantastic job for you and I
(09:15):
got it.
I got the position and thenspent two years there and it was
great.
It was nice to spend time withmy beloved grandmother, who
passed in 2010.
But like I lived with herduring that time period, I met
my husband during that timeperiod.
I loved that job so much.
If you ask me, I've had a lotof interesting jobs, but if you
ask me, like my favorite job ofall of my career, it was that I
(09:35):
loved being an educator atPlanned Parenthood.
It was my favorite job of alltime.
So I think, at least for myjourney, most of it was never
planned and I fell into almosteverything that I've done and,
yeah, I guess that was aforeshadowing to what the rest
of my career would look.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
like I always tell people to like bring in, like
whoever's your support group oryour community in on your like,
not only your goals but thingsthat you're struggling with,
reflections that you're havingrelated to your career, because,
like you will have extra eyesand ears out there for you.
And like I'm curious, how didyour friend that bumped into at
(10:19):
the gym know that this would bea good fit for you?
Like you must have told hersomething around that time
period.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Yeah, I also mentioned that I was living in a
rural area at this time and soeverybody knew that I had just
come back from Africa.
Like the newspaper you knowthis sounds really cheesy, but
it's true the newspaper likeinterviews, wow.
So, yeah, this was.
I mean, I can't believe it was20 years ago at this point that
this happened.
But I also did a lot of andthis was therapeutic for me at
(10:48):
the time.
But I did a lot of educationlike sessions for like Lions
Clubs and different like serviceorganizations about the AIDS
epidemic in South Africa to helpraise awareness.
Another thing I remember doingthat I loved because I love
libraries is I did aninformational table for Peace
Corps Week around Peace Corps inAfrica so like people could
(11:10):
find information, they knew thatI was there and they knew that
I had just come back from Africaand the work that I was doing.
Never underestimate the powerof like small community projects
on like getting your voice outthere and also just the power of
like giving back.
There's so much focus thesedays, at least with my students
(11:33):
that is on, you know, getting aninternship, but there's also so
much value in service and justwant to emphasize that.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Yeah, no, that's an excellent point.
So is that kind of the point intime where you're getting a lot
more clear about the directionthat you want to take your
career.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Is that still clear?
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Yes, yeah, tell us about that.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
So I came back from the Peace Corps, I worked for
Planned Parenthood.
I knew I wanted to get mymaster's in public health.
At this point I met my husband,as I mentioned a few minutes
ago, but we plan to break up.
You know, like again I'm in,like Western New York, there's
(12:17):
not a lot there, not a lot formy future.
So I start looking at programs.
Honestly, if I went to schoolin the States, emory was my top
choice, but I started looking atinternational programs for a
few reasons.
Probably number one, well, two.
I think there's like tworeasons that were my top reasons
(12:38):
for going abroad for mymaster's degree.
The first was cost.
I already had two degrees froma private school and I already
had, you know, an unbelievableamount of debt.
You know I put myself throughboth of those degrees.
Peace Corps defers your loansbut, as we all know, deferment
(12:59):
doesn't help, it just adds thecost, right?
So it was scary to think aboutwhat we make in public health in
relation to what my debt wouldhave been and this was 20 years
ago, but it was stillsignificant, right?
So cost was one.
And then I knew I wanted to gointo international health.
So why not gain that additionalperspective of studying in
(13:21):
another country.
So between all of these factors, I started looking at schools
in England, australia.
I even looked at a school inSouth Africa, but I really loved
Monash University'sinternational health program
South Africa but I really lovedMonash University's
international health program.
There's a strong emphasis onethics.
There were a lot of studentsinternational students in the
program and there were alsothese intensive classes that we
(13:43):
did.
They were like one week longbut people from the field would
actually come in for theseintensives.
So there were people from allof these different UN related
agencies, nonprofits, who wouldcome in for these intensive to
either take it or teach.
The learning that we receivedwas so practical, hands-on.
(14:03):
Another fun fact I'm not jokingwhen I say Emory was like my top
choice if I stayed here.
I got to Australia and I did aninterview for an internship and
they're like why are you here?
I did the same question why didyou come to Australia?
And I did an interview for aninternship and they're like why
are you?
Why are you here?
I did the same question why,why did you come to Australia?
And during this interview andBB was her name asked me you
(14:24):
know well, where were youlooking in the States and I said
you know Emory and she's likeyou're kidding me.
The head of the department thatyou're in, like she was in the
ethics department but theinternational health department
overall, worked at the CDC andtaught at Emory for over 20
years.
Oh wow, and I was like I gotchills and I was just like, okay
(14:46):
, like it's just anotherconfirmation that I was in the
right place.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
And I don't know Australian schools too well, but
to know that a professor fromEmory, somebody who worked at
the CDC, was teaching there, Iwould think it's uh, he was
Australian.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
But yes, yeah, like well, well known, but still he's
running the program, yeah yeahokay, so you go to Australia do
your master's.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
There was that a one year or two year program.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
It was a year and a half.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Year and a half, okay .
And then you come back to NewYork, it seems.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
And you, yeah, okay, and guess why I came back to New
York.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
For love.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
For love.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
It's always the answer.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
It's always the answer.
Yes, it's always the answer.
So, as I mentioned, we tried tobreak up.
It didn't work.
So if anyone has questionsabout long distance
relationships, I am also yourgirl.
But, yeah, that didn't work so Iended up back here.
But the compromise was that wewould move away from Western New
York.
So we ended up in the New YorkCity area, but there was a short
(15:58):
period of time where I workedas a HIV case manager in
Rochester, which was anincredible experience.
But I am not a social worker.
I have so much respect forsocial workers and nurses.
I am not a person that canseparate things like happening
(16:18):
in my work from and dealing withpeople's like.
It was a very, very challengingeight or nine months that I
worked there for me, but Ilearned a lot and it was also
just validation that publichealth is for me, because I'm
not I'm not a social worker forme, because I'm not, I'm not a
(16:38):
social worker and so after thatcame like, I want to say, kind
of a different trajectory foryour career, because you kind of
like start going into likeeducation, which was also the
master's degree that you got.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Yeah, so like tell us about that pivotal moment,
because I think within those fewyears, you also then launched
your own consulting company.
So what happened during thattime?
Speaker 1 (16:59):
I love this question.
I've always worked in education.
So, as a Peace Corps volunteer,I was doing education right in
training at Planned Parenthood.
I was in education and I wasdoing training.
So that was a theme throughoutmy entire career always worked
in the space of education andtraining.
Were you aware of that?
So that was a theme throughoutmy entire career Always worked
in the space of education andtraining.
Were you aware?
Speaker 2 (17:17):
of that theme.
That was like following you, oris that, in hindsight, that
you're kind of noticing?
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (17:22):
I guess I knew One thing.
I was questioned when Irealized, you know, during that
internship at Human Rights Watch, I was like I don't know if I
should finish my master's ineducation and I'm like, well,
why not?
You know I had already startedit.
I started as an undergrad, itwas a dual degree, honors
program, so I did finish it.
(17:43):
I'm so glad that I did, becausethere are so many tools that I
use obviously now as aconsultant and throughout my
career curriculum development,training, development and design
, all of it.
I, you know, have thatfoundation from 20 years ago and
has just I've taken it with me.
Of course I've done I knowwe're getting off on a tangent
(18:04):
here, but I've done, you know,certificates and instructional
design, specifically adultlearning and other courses and
trainings to stay up on all thechanges, because obviously a lot
changes in 20s right, but thathas been a theme throughout my
career is the education andtraining.
I haven't really lost that.
But one thing that did shift forme quite a bit was, I feel like
(18:28):
the first, I guess, PlannedParenthood, not as much, but my
focus was really on wanting togo into international health.
And when I came back and wemade this compromise of sorts.
Marriage is all aboutcompromise.
Those of us who are marriedknow right.
Any relationship is all aboutcompromise.
Don't want to limit that tomarriage, for sure.
(18:50):
But yeah, we decided to movedown and that was also like me,
just trying to find a job sothat we can move closer to the
city.
And then that one I actuallyfound on like Indeed, I think
and ended up getting theposition.
But I worked for the NationalHemophilia Foundation for a
couple of years.
Also loved that job, incrediblecommunity and it was an
(19:13):
incredible opportunity for me inmy career because I actually
wrote research, did all theneeds assessment, all the
initial research for a program,created the entire program and
facilitated it, which is such agift.
I feel like so many of us workon pieces of training.
You know like you work on doingthe interviews or focus groups.
(19:36):
I did all of it from start tofinish and it was really my baby
and they still use it Like itlooks a little different now,
but they still use this training.
Yeah, so it was a, it was acareer moment.
Loved that project.
I loved working with thebleeding disorders community.
They're incredible, incrediblebunch.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
And so your, your decision to go into consulting.
Was that like something youjumped into?
It wasn't a decision.
Oh, it wasn't Okay, Tell us.
Yeah, let's talk about that.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
So I had one last real, quote unquote job before I
started consulting and I workedin maternal infant health for a
year yeah, it's a long story.
I needed to move again and Iwas commuting two hours each way
each, every day to the city forthe national hemophilia job in
the end, because we moved andalso traveling a lot, so I was
(20:33):
literally never home and I justwanted to find something closer
to home.
So it worked in that job.
It was, on paper, a perfect jobfor me.
I was overseeing a coalition, Iwas working with community
health workers, training like itwas a perfect job on paper.
(20:54):
But we all know that perfectjobs on paper don't equate to
perfect jobs in real life.
Right Like, it was the mosttoxic place I've ever been in my
life.
I'm still honestly not over it.
I've been 10 years of therapy.
At this point.
It was one of the mosttraumatic experiences as a whole
of my life and it got to thepoint where I had to walk away
(21:14):
from the job without anythinglined up, which I understand and
want to say is such a privilege.
Right Like, I have my husband,I have his insurance, but I had
to walk away and this was it.
Yeah, the end of, I want to say, 2014.
And within few weeks, somebodyfrom a different hemophilia
foundation, In a few weeks,somebody from a different
hemophilia foundation called meand said you know, we finally
(21:38):
have the funding.
They'd been wanting to hire meto help them update some of
their trainings and workshopsand they said we finally have
the funding for you.
This was like I'm not kiddingyou like a matter of weeks.
It was less than a month that Iheard from them and I was like,
oh my gosh, I cannot believethis is happening.
(21:58):
So I started consulting withthem.
I was with them for four yearsas a consultant, so that was
great for me as I wanted tobuild up my consulting business.
I took other smaller projectsand really learned the ropes.
There's a huge learning curveto being a consultant and having
your own business and thathaving that security.
(22:19):
I mean it wasn't secure at thetime, right, Like it was
probably six months, six months,six, but still it was an
incredible opportunity for me tostart consulting and I learned
a lot in those first few yearsand now I've been doing it for
December.
January will be my 10 yearbusiness anniversary and I get
chills when I say that you knowlike it's very exciting and it
(22:43):
is not for the faint of heart,so I am proud of myself.
You don't know when you'regoing to get paid.
Sometimes you don't know, like,what the next job will be, so
I'm pretty proud that I've comethis far and lasted this long.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
I just have to go back and point out, acknowledge
and also say like I'm so sorryyou had to deal with that.
In a place of work, many of usdo it, many and I've heard of
way too many stories of that.
You know some people being sobrave to actually just leave
within months of starting a newjob without anything lined up.
So very, very brave of you tolike step away.
Yeah, and I was.
(23:28):
I was writing up a post to putup on LinkedIn next week and it
was around like when do you knowlike you're ready for a new job
?
And this is one of those thingsI point out like for some
people they may be like okay, Ineed to get experience for three
years, five years.
Other people it's like I needto get out because this is not a
good place of work for me.
So the timelines are likedependent from person to person
(23:50):
and situation, and I just wantedto say that that's not okay and
I'm here if anybody needs toreach out and just talk it out
and you know.
Christy, you don't need to dealwith that alone.
I've spoken to too many peoplethat have had similar
experiences and I'm here to helpif you just need somebody to
listen to or you're the best.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Yeah, no, absolutely.
I'm here for folks too.
It's scary, but oh my gosh it'salso and I'll just say this
like the stress of not having ajob is obviously really
stressful right, but like you'remore capable of applying for
jobs and looking for new jobs.
if you leave that toxicenvironment, it's really hard to
(24:31):
like even just take care ofyourself.
If you leave that toxicenvironment, it's really hard to
like even just take care ofyourself.
If you're dealing with this,you know toxicity of a workplace
.
So giving yourself that spaceand I think we all know it's
like that that weight that islifted, Like, like I said, I'm
still dealing with some of thetrauma from that job, but it's
still like the weight that wasinitially lifted and knowing
(24:54):
that I didn't have to go backthere.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Yeah, definitely deserve better than that.
Yeah, we all do.
We all do.
Yeah.
I was curious when that otherorganization reached out to you
and said we just got thisfunding.
Like do you want to be aconsultant?
Had the idea of running yourown consulting company ever
crossed your mind?
Never, never crossed my mind.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
So, fun fact, while I was doing this consulting, I
also started a dog walkingbusiness.
I don't think I've ever talkedabout this on a podcast.
I've been on a few podcasts.
I don't think I've ever talkedabout this part.
But I was like, okay, while I'mfiguring things out, I'm gonna
walk dogs because I love dogsand being outside, and like so.
so I did that on the side.
So I actually had twobusinesses going at the same
(25:38):
time.
But, like, even then, I waslike, where am I going?
What does my future look like?
I didn't know.
Honestly, the experience withthat last job was so detrimental
to me that I didn't even knowif I would stay in public health
.
I just felt so burned out.
(25:58):
But I obviously kept consultingand I let the dogs go at some
point because I couldn't handleboth.
But it was a great like momentthat allowed me to, you know,
just figure things out.
And no, I and this was also too.
I want to just point out thiswas a time when, like consulting
(26:22):
wasn't a thing when we started2014, 2015.
Yeah, it wasn't the way it isnow Right Like.
So Leah had her group onFacebook that we're a part of,
and now I don't even knowthere's a lot of hundreds.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Hundreds, I want to say two to 300 people.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Oh my gosh.
Yeah, when we started, I thinkthere were I think I was like
the 28th person in that group,so it just wasn't a thing.
And I remember Laura reachingout to me on LinkedIn and I was
like, oh my gosh, there areother people doing this.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
And just to clarify like consulting in public health
was not a thing.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Yeah, exactly yes.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Yes, it existed in the world, but it's like people
in public health doing this astheir Exactly.
Thank you for the clarification.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Yeah, and now, wow, there's so many and I think it's
really great.
But yeah, the landscape hasshifted quite a bit since we all
started.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
I have a couple of thoughts on that, but I don't
want to sidetrack theconversation away from you, like
your story, so maybe we'll comeback to that after.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Maybe we'll come back .
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Yeah, it'll come back .
So you said, with this firstconsulting project you were
doing that and then you had someother additional ones that you
were also a consultant on.
Was that?
Did I hear that right?
Okay, and like this one kind ofyou know landed in front of you
, but those other first fewcontracts, how did you like get
(27:47):
in front of organizations andlike what advice would you give
to anybody kind of thinking of Imight want to try this out for
myself.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
So I think there's a few things have a strong network
.
I know some people will slap myhand for this, but I'm not a
big RFP person.
I just applied for one and it'svery rare that I apply for them
because they typically know whothey want already and the
amount of time you have to putinto applying for them is just
(28:17):
insane.
So I only apply for RFPs if I'mlike a perfect fit or I feel
like I'm a perfect fit for therole.
Again, a lot of it was word ofmouth.
Most of the jobs that I've hadas a consultant were word of
mouth, except for the one withthe Institute for Healthcare
Improvement, and they found mebecause they were specifically
(28:41):
searching for somebody whoworked in the intersection of
instructional design and publichealth.
But I think most of my otherprojects have been word of mouth
.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
That's good to know.
Instructional design that'skind of the area that you focus
on in your consulting.
Could you tell us a little bitabout kind of like what that
looks like and what your day today would look like or it's
probably changed in the past, myday to day is no one yet or
maybe like your week or yourmonth or maybe like your week or
(29:18):
your month.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
So my day to day is very different, especially now
that I teach.
But one thing is every day Iwake up and read and snuggle
with my dogs and drink my coffee.
It's like my, the best ritual Ihave to have.
It it wakes me up and, yes, andthen I think I typically check
emails.
We'll have client calls, prepfor school, go to school and
(29:39):
teach, actually do the clientwork, whatever that looks like.
I'm also on a board ofdirectors and I'm the vice chair
.
We have an in-person boardmeeting in June.
So that is also dominating mylife and my time right now.
So, yeah, every day looks verydominating my life and my time
right now.
So, yeah, every day looks very,very different.
I think that that's one of thethings that most of the
(30:00):
consultants you talk to.
Actually we like that right,like, yeah, like that Our days
don't look the same.
The projects we work on arealways changing.
It's exciting.
I do like that.
At the same time, I don't wantpeople to think that, like, all
of these things just fall intoour lap, like it's stressful, it
(30:20):
takes a lot of like curating ofrelationships and, yeah, it can
be challenging at the same time.
So I also think, you know, nothaving any sort of I talked to
my doctor about this all thetime too because it's like
really hard for me to have anysort of regular schedule, so
like people will get up and goto work and then exercise, or,
(30:43):
you know, get up, exercise, goto work Like it's really hard
for me to do that because mydays never look the same, so I
don't have any sort ofconsistent schedule, which can
be a challenge A lot ofself-discipline, yeah.
Thanks.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Self-discipline.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
It's really nice of you to point out.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
It was a compliment to say that, like you know, yeah
, Okay, Let me let me say I live.
I live with an entrepreneur too, so my husband went full time
into entrepreneurship.
Yeah, so I get it and I I tellhim like I'm quite proud of,
like his ability to like managehis own schedule because like
(31:26):
you don't have this hypotheticallike start and finish that,
like you know when you'restarting and you know when
you're finishing, and so that'salmost easier.
But for him, it's easy for youto just like lounge around the
whole day and then not doanything and then you know, like
it like, and I told him I'mlike I feel like quite proud
that you've like done this sowell and he's only gone full
(31:49):
time like a year and five monthsnow.
So yeah, it's exciting.
So I understand it all year andfive months now.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
So yeah, it's, it's exciting, so I understand it all
.
Yes, having a live-inentrepreneur, that does make
sense, you do understand yeah,yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
And then the cycles like tell us about the cycle of
finding client.
Like there's obviously like youneed to do a little bit of
sales, you need to do a little,a little bit of marketing, right
?
And then there's an ongoingcycle that you have to maintain.
Do you feel like you've gotthat cycle down?
You're asking this question.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
It's such a unique time in my business.
So, as I mentioned, I've beendoing this for 10 years.
I am coming like the week.
Well, last week I don't knowwhat day it is In the last two
weeks I've finished up a verylarge grant with the New York
State Department of Health and alocal nonprofit, and I am also
finishing the semester right now.
(32:45):
So I'm going to have aboutthree months before I start my
doctorate where I don't have alot going on.
It's the first time in 10 yearsthat this has actually happened
to me, which is not I've beenvery lucky.
I'm still waiting on an RFP,mind you, but, as I've already
said, I don't have much faith inthe fact that I'll get that.
(33:06):
But I did recently apply forone and I'm waiting to hear back
.
So that could be something.
But other than that, I'mworking on two very small
projects one with IHI, that theschool year, and I'm going back
to school.
(33:39):
So I'm trying to find grace andnot worry that things will come
right like, and I am trying togive myself this time.
Because here's the thing If Istart really looking for work,
it probably wouldn't comethrough until when I need to go
(34:02):
back to school, both schools,right Back to school to get my
doctorate and I haven't been inschool in like 15 years at this
point and back to teaching.
So I'm trying to just let thisbe and if something a good
project comes up or a smallproject comes up, I'm excited
about that possibility, alsogiving myself space to say, if I
(34:23):
don't get a project right nowand I just focus on schools,
that's also okay, I want to askyou two quick questions before
we jump into your decision topursue a DRPH.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
Like 15 years after being in, when and why did you
decide to go and teach at?
Uh, I think it was uh oh, atvassar vassar.
Yes, sorry, yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
So again, this is the short my story, right?
If there's a theme here, it'sthat I fell into every single
thing, that I've done, all thegood things in my life I really
fell into.
So I was on the bioethicscommittee at Vassar for I think
five years.
So really just as a communityliaison, I would join these
(35:08):
meetings and honestly don't tellanybody, but like sometimes
they would be on topics I didn'teven understand they just need
a community person to be a partof this and say, like, do you
have any concerns as a community?
And I did have a concern Sorry,side note, I did have a concern
when one of the students wasdoing research on spiders.
I'm like you better make surethey stay at Vassar.
(35:30):
So I was worthwhile.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
Having me around was worthwhile for a couple of
reasons anyway, and one of theprofessors on that ethics
committee came to me and saidyou know, we're interviewing for
public health positions.
There's a professor there whotaught a current issues in
public health course.
He got a new grant.
He couldn't teach that courseand they needed somebody else to
(35:57):
teach an additional 300 levelcourse.
So he's like if you want tothrow your hat in the ring I
mean honestly, vassar is anelite university here in the
United States I would not haveeven put my hat in the ring.
I wouldn't have.
Just because I would think tomyself like I don't have my
doctorate, so I I don't evenqualify.
And he's like well, as anadjunct you do and you have so
(36:17):
much experience that you know weactually think you'd be a great
fit for these particularcourses.
So I sent him my application,went through the process and I
got it, which is like still mindboggling to me.
I pinch myself every time I goto school.
Me, I pinch myself every time Igo to school.
It is such an honor to teach.
(36:38):
I am privileged to teach, so Idon't take it lightly.
I always knew that I wanted toteach, but I always thought it
would be on the side, never, youknow, for a year somewhat
prestigious university.
So yeah, and I I had so much.
(36:58):
I think it's worth noting thatmy imposter syndrome, my first
semester was almost debilitating.
Like I was so worried aboutgoing, like even with the
students I was even afraid of amI?
I was like saying like go readyour resume, like stop.
And I've overcome that and Ialso just want to know like the
(37:22):
faculty, the students, the staff, every single person I have
come in contact with at Vassarhave been nothing but incredible
.
I have learned so much.
They've been so accepting of meand appreciative of me, even.
So, yeah, again, I kind of fellinto it, like I said I wouldn't
(37:42):
have applied.
I wouldn't have applied to thisposition because I would have
thought I don't have mydoctorate, so this school is not
going to take me right.
But they did and I'm still thereand they've let me create two
courses from scratch and I justappreciate every single moment
that I'm there and with thosestudents and I love teaching, I
(38:07):
think like worth noting here isfrom that, that first position
at Planned Parenthood, thatfirst consulting gig that came
your way.
Speaker 2 (38:18):
This opportunity, like a lot of it, is around the
relationships that you hadcreated.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
All of them.
Speaker 2 (38:23):
And so like I hope people can hear these examples
and like know that it's not justabout applying to jobs posted
on a website, because whenyou're building these
relationships.
It's easy for people to justtalk to somebody within their
network and ask them if theywant that opportunity, versus
like going through a fullapplication process, going
(38:44):
through 400 resumes like that'snot easy for them, right?
So establishing thoserelationships are key.
I forgot my second question.
So we're just going to jumpinto the DRPH.
Like what was the reason?
You said, like 15 years after?
Let's start with, you have abachelor's degree and you have
two master's degree and then youhave a dozen other certificates
(39:07):
.
Why the DRPH at this point ofyour career, when you're like
extremely established on paper?
Like you said, go read yourresume like incredible.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
My husband said that not me, so it's my students.
I love teaching.
I don't know if I've ever beenhappier in my entire career than
I am in the classroom and I'vealways loved teaching.
I've my whole career and not inthe traditional classroom
setting setting, but like I'vebeen a teacher, I've been an
(39:38):
instructor, facilitator myentire career.
But it's different and Iactually, as a side note, I was
emailing with a couple of peoplewho were guest speakers in my
class.
A couple of the students madenotes and I actually sent them
to them just to kind of boostmorale and they're like you know
(40:00):
, I wish you could teach morestudents and I was like I wish I
could too, and I've beenthinking like my.
My goal at this point is I wantmy DRPH, because I would
eventually like to teach in aDRPH program or master's level
programs.
I want to teach in a school ofpublic health level programs.
I want to teach in a school ofpublic health, but I currently
(40:20):
teach undergraduates and seeingthe impact that you can have on
somebody's path and those ahamoments that you have with
students who think, because theylive through a pandemic, they
understand public health and theproblems that we have in the
space, right, like I teach acritical issues in public health
course.
So, and it's a 200 level, andyou just see so many students
(40:40):
come into that class thinkingthey know what public health is,
but they don't.
And when they have those ahamoments around, you know the
relationship between racism andhealth and the social
determinants and what those are,and it's just an incredible
opportunity to be able to teachthem, especially considering
(41:00):
where I teach.
Many of them are going on tomedical school.
They're going to become lawyers, some of them.
Vassar actually has a four plusone program with Columbia.
I even have students who arealready in Columbia's School of
Public Health.
Again, to be able to be withthem and teach them is just such
an honor.
So that's why, again, I couldtalk about teaching all day, but
(41:23):
that's why I'm getting my DRPH.
And I know some people might belistening to this and saying
well, if you wanna teach,shouldn't you get your PhD?
So I did a lot of researcharound this and I think where I
am in my career if I teach, Idon't want to give up my
business.
I still want to consult.
I see myself as a leader in thefields and research has never
(41:45):
been something that I've done.
So why, 20 years into my career, would I shift into doing
research when it's not a goodfit for me or my goals?
Essentially because if I teach,I want to be teaching things
around leadership and equity andreally not research.
So I want to be a clinicalprofessor where I'm just
(42:09):
teaching, not focused as much onresearch, and I want to
continue working as a consultant.
So the DRP, drph for me is aperfect fit.
I don't think it wouldnecessarily be the case for
everyone whose end goal is toteach.
Speaker 2 (42:24):
If that makes sense.
Yeah, no, that makes totalsense.
And so I think you gave us alittle bit of a glimpse into
what you hope, you know, theDRPH is going to do and how your
business is going to be, kindof, you know, still part of your
life, and I'm assuming theprogram is like four or five
years.
Yes, yeah, okay, what do youenvision your like post DRPH
(42:48):
career to look like, or, ideally, what would you like it to look
like?
So it's, it's funny I'm gonna.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
I don't normally talk about my husband this much.
I'm going to come back to him.
So he's a teacher.
He's a 10 year teacher in highschool and he has a very good
pension in New York.
But he's older than me.
So by the time I finished this,my goal is to finish before I'm
50.
I'm going to turn 45, like 10days before I start my DRPH
which is exciting.
(43:19):
Yeah, yeah, I'm, I'm excitedabout that and but my goal is to
finish it before I'm 50.
That's my goal, and then myhusband will be in a place where
he can retire and I get to callthe shots for once.
But at the same time because Ido want to keep consulting I
have some flexibility to nothave the pressure of trying to
find a job right away, right.
(43:39):
So, like, I think that timeperiod will be like looking for
different jobs, teaching andtrying to figure that out.
Fun fact, I would actuallyreally like to teach and move
abroad.
I just like living abroad andwe'll see what happens.
(44:00):
But yeah, I would love anopportunity to live and move
abroad or stay here and teach it.
You know a school of publichealth in their master's program
or drph program.
So, yeah, who knows?
But I want to teach, yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:19):
I do have to say like thank you on two fronts, just
personal reflections that I'mhaving as you're telling me your
story.
I'm, like I'd say, about 10years behind in terms of like
number of years of experience ormy age with you.
And I think sometimes, like Iwas like so caught up first few
years of my career to be likeokay, I got it, like I'm done my
(44:41):
master's, I got this job, andlike I need to do my doctorate
at the perfect time and like theperfect time was like
immediately.
And you know we put all of thatpressure on ourselves.
And what I'm getting from youis like and I and I know I kept
asking you this like was this anintentional decision?
Was this an intentional choice?
(45:02):
And even though most of it wasnot like I really do, like the
way you were able to like reallyreflect on what it is that you
wanted in your life at eachpoint.
I'm taking personal inspirationthere and to know and you're
kind of like the second person Iknow who's gone into a PhD or
(45:22):
DRPH around like that same timeframe and I guess it's like
forcing me to just like stoptrying to run behind these like
arbitrary timelines that wethink ourselves and just be like
slow it down right, slow itdown, right time.
Oh my gosh, advance itself.
It'll happen.
Speaker 1 (45:43):
So two things I never , ever, ever wanted my doctorate
period.
And I, even when I startedteaching at Vassar and fell in
love with teaching, I still wasadamant that like no, I'm not
getting my doctorate.
You know who changed my mind?
My therapist of all people, mytherapist.
(46:05):
So I was talking to her I don'teven know, it must've been a
year and a half ago at thispoint and I said to her I'm like
you know, I think I was talkingabout how happy I am at Vassar
teaching, and she was like well,why don't you get your
doctorate?
And I was like because I'mnever going to get it, like I
don't want it, it's too much,I'm too old, there's too many
(46:27):
reasons, right?
And she was like, well, she didthe same thing as me, she was
teaching part-time at Fordhamand somebody told her like you
should really get your doctorateso that you can teach.
And she did.
She was the same age as me andshe's like Christy, it was one
of the best decisions I've evermade and it totally shifted my
(46:51):
perspective on it.
And that's when I started doingresearch about different
programs and when I found theDRPH.
That's when I started doingresearch about different
programs and when I found theDRPH.
It was almost like a breath offresh air because the program
feels so right for me.
Then I had the moment of likewell, if I'm getting this
because I want to teach, can Iactually teach with a DRPH?
(47:11):
So then I did more research andfound out yes, absolutely.
You know, research positions,phd positions in public health
are so competitive and that'snot even where I want to be.
So there's a lot of value forme having a DRPH, not only for
my business but also, I think,for what I want to teach and in
the direction that I want to go.
So just yeah, do your research.
Never say never.
(47:32):
I will say one other thing.
I had lunch today with twostudents and one of them is
going.
She's a junior and she'sgetting very anxious about
medical school and like howshe's going to be studying for
MCATs and I'm like, why don'tyou take a year off?
Like you need to take a year.
No, I need to get.
Like no, you don't like yourlife.
But going to your point aboutlike having the check times, I
(47:57):
think that's a.
I just want to put this outthere to everyone that that's
something that society istelling you you need to do
what's right for yourself,especially if you're going into
things like a doctorate Timeinvestment money investment.
Consume your life and cost anexorbitant amount of money.
Speaker 2 (48:15):
Yeah, it's like I had a mini aha moment right now.
It's like there's a group thatgoes on to do a doctorate degree
to like build up their career,which is like one way to do it.
And then I'm finding people whoare doing a doctorate degree
for the pure joy and for thesatisfaction of their soul, like
(48:35):
even the other colleague thatI'm referring to like she's
nearing retirement and doing herPhD on how live events in areas
of like war-torn regions aroundthe world are kind of like
helping people rebuild, and I'mjust like, wow, like you're
doing this not because it'sgoing to help you build in your
career like you've worked inthat area, but just exploring
(48:56):
this topic it's incredible, it'syeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (49:04):
I have made a couple of comments that, yes, I'm
getting a doctorate so I canmake less money, yeah, and be
happy right.
Speaker 2 (49:08):
Yeah exactly that's what it's about.
Speaker 1 (49:10):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (49:12):
Yeah, my, my husband is like, so against the
education, like the traditionaleducational system, but I think
recently I've I was able toconvince him that eventually,
when I do a doctorate degree,it's going to be like for pure
joy of just learning.
And he's like, ah, okay, I getit now.
Yeah, like yes, that that isthe reason I would do it.
Looking back, christy, at youknow your, your journey, uh,
(49:33):
whether it was like 10 years ofyour consulting journey or 20
years in public help, what arelike moments that you think back
to a lot and either like you'rereally proud of that moment or
you know maybe you wanted to dosomething differently at that
point.
What are some reflections thatyou have?
Speaker 1 (49:52):
So I think that one of the things I'm most proud of
is that I have always stayedtrue to myself as far as my
business values and just myvalues as a person.
Integrity is always at the topof my list and it's how I run my
business and it's how I chooseto do things or not do things.
(50:13):
And an example of this is, youknow, I've done a couple of
projects for pharmaceuticalcompanies, and every time I do,
when there comes to like, areyou going to extend your
contract, I never do.
And it's been a lesson to methat, like, I just need to not
work for pharmaceuticalcompanies, right, like that's a
boundary for me.
(50:33):
It might pay well, but I neverfeel good when I do it, and that
matters.
And I've done this in a numberof areas of my business, of my
life, and I think that's whatI'm most proud of, and I just I
want to send that message tofolks, because it's really hard
to stay in age, to stay true toyourself or even know who your
(50:55):
true self is right, becausewe're so bombarded by messages
and what everybody else is doing.
But, like, at this point in mylife, I would say that that's
one of the things I'm most proudof.
I'm also we haven't talkedabout this, but I am I'm an
advocate.
I've put myself on the line forcauses that I care about,
specifically abortion, and I'mproud of those moments too.
(51:18):
I would not take any of thosemoments back, and I'm proud that
I always stay true to myself,even when it's not easy or it
means that I will make lessmoney.
Those aren't easy decisions tomake.
Speaker 2 (51:31):
Do you think that that feels easier now versus
early on in your career, becauseI know I struggled with that
quite a bit Absolutely Earlyyears, yeah we always will Like.
Speaker 1 (51:42):
I think it will always be like this question
right, but like it gets easieras you get older.
It really does, yeah, I believethat.
Speaker 2 (51:50):
What's one piece of wisdom that you want to leave
our listeners with, as they're?
Figuring out figuring out theircareers, whether it's like a
student I'm sure you talk to alot of students, oh, I do.
Speaker 1 (52:03):
There's lots of similar, I think, advice that
probably comes up right and yes,I think, for you know public
health in general, some of mygreatest advice would be to find
your niche.
Finding your niche is such akey component when you're going
into or are currently in thefield of public health and
(52:25):
trying to figure out what bringsyou joy.
You can work in FBA training.
There's so many things withinthe field, but then also within
that, there are specific contentareas, which makes it even more
specified.
So find that, find what makesyou happy, and ways to do that,
(52:48):
in my opinion, are volunteering,internships, taking a class
Like is undergrads, mph, like,whatever it is.
Taking a class that like mightactually be outside of your
comfort zone and thinking aboutlike does this interest me?
Just take every opportunity.
Maybe you don't want to take awhole class on a topic, but
(53:11):
maybe there's a one hour lecturethat your university is
offering to learn more about aspecific area of content.
You know AI and health is a hottopic right now.
I think of that as an example,right, something that my
students are very interested in.
And maybe you don't want totake a whole class on it, but
there's so many resources andconversations happening that are
(53:31):
recorded online.
So just dig in and utilize allthe incredible resources,
including your podcast, to findout more about all the different
places we can go in this field.
Speaker 2 (53:45):
And I think to your earlier point and I know it's
easier said than done and I wasan early career professional
myself.
So the advice of don't be sohard on yourself, like it's okay
not to get it right the firsttime, and that pressure we put
on ourselves.
Yes, I know I put a lot ofpressure on myself to get it
right, every single decision Imade.
It had to be the perfectdecision, but you know what it's
(54:08):
it maybe not the perfectdecision, that's okay, it is
okay, yes, it's, it really isokay.
Speaker 1 (54:15):
It is yeah, and we learned from it, we grow from it
, and I will say too, like weevolve as professionals, we
evolve as people.
It's okay If you don't go inthe exact direction that you
thought you were going to.
I think that's even greatsometimes, right?
Speaker 2 (54:33):
And it's okay to evolve as a person and have
different things that you likeand enjoy.
Speaker 1 (54:39):
I mean, I hope we would right, yeah, I hope that
we would.
Speaker 2 (54:43):
Yeah, I like myself now.
I love how I evolve.
Thank you so much, christy.
I think I've personally beeninspired by hearing your journey
.
I took away quite a few thingsthat I'm actually going to
action, so I'll tell you aboutthis after we stop recording.
But thank you so much, and foranybody listening that wants to
(55:04):
follow along Christie's journey,I'm going to point them to your
LinkedIn because that's where Ifollow you.
Speaker 1 (55:09):
Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 2 (55:10):
Okay, we'll link that up in the show notes page.
Speaker 1 (55:14):
And we can Instagram too.
I can give you my Instagram.
I'm pretty active there.
Speaker 2 (55:18):
Okay, so Instagram and LinkedIn follow along the
DRPH journey that Christy isgoing to be on.
Exciting and we'll we'll cheerher on and maybe, like, bring
you back partway through yourDRPH and then, after you're done
, and see.
That would be incredible.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's do thatabout the Public Health Career
(55:53):
Club.
So if you've been looking for aplace to connect and build
meaningful relationships withother public health
professionals from all aroundthe world, you should join us in
the Public Health Career Club.
We launched the club with thevision of becoming the number
one hangout spot dedicated tobuilding and growing your dream
public health career.
(56:15):
And in addition to being able toconnect and build those
meaningful relationships withother public health
professionals, the club alsooffers other great resources for
your career growth and success,like mindset coaching, job
preparation clinics and careergrowth strategy sessions in the
form of trainings and talks, alldelivered by experts and
(56:35):
inspiring individuals in theseareas.
So if you want to learn more orwant to join the club, you can
visit our page at phspotorgslash club and we'll have all
the information there.
And you know, as a space that'sbeing intentionally curated to
bring together like-mindedpublic health professionals who
are not only there to pushthemselves to become the best
(56:58):
versions of themselves, but alsoeach other, and with that, I
can't wait to see how this isgoing to have a ripple effect in
the world, as we all worktogether to better the health of
our populations and just haveimmense impact in the world, and
I hope you'll be joining us inthe Public Health Career Club.
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