From Bedside to Boardroom: A Nurse's Journey to AI Leadership

Episode Transcript
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Tonya J. Long (00:06):
Welcome home friends.
I'm Tonya Long, and this isRESET, where purpose meets
possibility.
Each week, we shareconversations with thought
leaders, innovators and thedreamers and doers who are
reshaping the future of work,technology, longevity and
purpose.
Whether you're navigating AI'simpact, reimagining your career

(00:30):
or searching for deeper meaning,you're in the right place.
So settle in, open your mindand let's explore what happens
when purpose meets possibility,happens when purpose meets
possibility.
Hello everyone and welcome toRESET with Tonya.
And we are here today on KPCR92.9 FM in Los Gatos with our

(00:57):
special guest, Melinda Yormick,and we're here to talk about
RESET, pivots and transitions,and Melinda has had so many
interesting transitions just inthe last couple of years.
We'll talk more about itthrough the show, but Melinda is
a perioperative nurse turnedtech CEO, building AI to improve

(01:18):
hospitals and save lives, so weare thrilled to have her here.
Her journey has brought herfrom across the states to
Seattle, now into the Bay Area,and she's making a difference on
so many different levels, andwe're thrilled to have her.
Melinda, welcome to the showTonya.

Melinda Yormick (01:35):
thank you so much for having me.
Thanks for creating this spaceto let others share their
journeys and their RESET.

You know, we all should take a deep breath in
life, because that is what thisis all about creating spaces for
each other, and spaces for eachother to share.
I've been doing a podcast for acouple of months now on this
and it's been remarkable whatpeople have described having the
opportunity to share theirjourney.
So tell us a little about whatyou've been up to.

(02:04):
Why are you here Not in thisroom here at KPCR 92.9, but why
are you here in the Bay Area?
What have you been working on?

Yeah, so I am building a company called CLARA
with an absolutely amazing teamof folks that have been in
industry and building techpreviously.
So essentially what CLARA is iswe get people and things to
patients when they need it mostin hospital, and that is a

(02:34):
result of my own experiencesthroughout being a travel nurse,
being a nurse manager inoperating rooms and just coming
to a place where realize there'sa significant gap in the way
that we serve.

Now, I'm aware of your origin story as it comes
to what led you here.
Can you share that with ouraudience?
What brought you and why thatmoment became your?
Why?

Absolutely so.
You know, after I've been anurse since 2012, and I have
worked at over seven differenthospitals as a travel nurse,
when I moved out to the WestCoast just trying to figure out
what hospital system I want tosettle down at, and I was able
to look at these organizationsfrom what's the same, what's
different, what leadershipstyles and structures I liked,

(03:26):
and what I realized was you know, there are a lot of
similarities across the boardDecided to settle down in
organizations that I felt wereinnovative and wanted to support
constant improvement.
And my most recent position,where I was running an operating
room, I had a patient that losthis life because we couldn't

(03:46):
get the right people with theright skill set and the right
equipment to him when he neededit most.
And this was an electiveprocedure and really, after
doing root cause analysisdetermines, you know, we can do
something.
There is technology availableto us that will allow us to
change healthcare.

You have a way on your website of describing your
product that's very consumeraware.
Do you want to share thatlittle?
It's not a tagline, but it kindof.

Yeah sure.
So we say oftentimes, we sayWaze or the Waze app plus air
traffic control, and what thatreally means is the experience
of using the application issimilar to how you would use any
GPS, apple, google Mapsoutdoors.
And we want that because wewant people to have a

(04:36):
familiarity, we want it to bereally easy to use and we want
them to be able to get wherethey need to go seamlessly.
But then we add the air trafficcontrol layer, which means that
we, through our knowledge ofcritical clinical workflows,
join that with something that isfamiliar to people and provide

(04:59):
a wholly new standard of careExcellent.

You know I try by design to have very little to
do with hospitals, but I nowhave you as one of my friends
and colleagues in the ecosystemthat we have here, and I have a
best friend from undergrad whois the leader at HCA down in
Miami for nursing quality.
So I have just a little bit oftouch on it.
And when I think about, likeyou have a patient who's coding

(05:26):
and they don't have adefibrillator in every single
room, that's just not practicalfrom an expense standpoint.
So to be able to have sensors onthings with our newly evolving
technologies and to be able toknow the nearest defibrillator,
is you know three doors down inthat supply closet or a resource
, a particularly skilledphysician in a crisis moment, to

(05:51):
be able to have the sensors ontheir badges that say, oh, dr
Smith is in between proceduresand he's on a break, he's in the
break room and be able to gethim to a patient fast.
It's just remarkable to thinkabout how that could enable
saving lives in a very real way,right.
And then frustration.
We're all pretty aware there'sbeen a nursing crisis, and to

(06:14):
think about them being able toget what they need and not
experience what you did, I thinkmakes them feel better about
what they're able to do everyday makes them feel better about
what they're able to do everyday.

Absolutely, Absolutely.
The key story that goes alongwith the event that I was
sharing was we literally couldnot get the airway cart the
emergency airway cart to thepatient Intubation.
If you watched ER back in theday, okay, and the code response
team was unable to find thepatient that was dying and this
is a standard operating room andit's across the board, this is
not just one hospital.

So I understand.
Yeah, you're not picking onanyone.
You know that it's a problemthat routinely is an issue.

And we didn't have the technology to do this
till recently.
And even the technology that'sout now is not structured
appropriately for hospitals, andso we are building specific for
health care.
We want to provide hospitalswith white glove services in
this area.

Let's take it back to you, because this was a
RESET for and this is all good,I just wanted it to be ground
context for our audience.
You went to school for severalyears to become an RN and then
you progressed in your career.
You managed the OR, become anRN and then you progressed in

(07:28):
your career.
You managed the OR and then youdecided to fix something which
meant you had to leave thatbehind.
So what was that emotionaljourney like for you to make
that decision and then go intothis abyss that is
entrepreneurship?
What was it like for you, froman emotional perspective, to
make the choice to movecareer-wise?

Yeah, I would say that I didn't necessarily
realize it while I was doing it,but I was always an
entrepreneur and I was alwayslooking at problems and wanting
to solve them and not feelinglike that wasn't my job, and so

(08:07):
it was a process of, like,getting creative, finding the
right teams to work with, and sothis transition from the
perspective of problem solvingwasn't as challenging.
I will say that what was thebiggest hump for me to get over
was this thought that everyonewas going to think that I was
crazy.

(08:27):
Why is she walking away fromthis perfectly good leadership
track?
She's got a great team, she'sdoing wonderful things, exactly,
and that stability and Icouldn't not do it, so I had to
be okay, with people looking atme a little funny.

(08:49):
That was huge.

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Understandable.
So you transitioned careers,but it occurs to me that you
also felt compelled to startyour MBA as you started a
company.
I would have advised againstthat had I known you.
Then you had to balance a lot.

(09:12):
You had to balance a partner athome, a spouse at home, a
career shift, and then you threwyourself into a competitive MBA
program.
What was it like for that pivot, for you to go back into a
focused, applied set ofacademics MBAs are hopefully
applied academics these daysmore than just research but what

(09:34):
was it like to throw yourselffrom the chaos and stress of a
hospital OR to the structure andrigidity of an MBA program?

Well, so I guess I'll take it back a little
bit further, because you saidyou would have advised against
it.
I will say that when I was firstapplying for this program, I
didn't know that this was thedirection I was going to choose.
I was planning on climbing thehealthcare leadership ladder.
I wanted to be a chief nurse orsome sort of operations.

(10:07):
I have some mentors that havebeen really impactful to me
along the way and I thought tomyself well, I can be just like
them, and so my goal was to getthe MBA so that I could progress
in my career in the healthsystem.
And when this happened that Istarted the program the exact

(10:30):
same month as I was starting mycompany I had to shift my
mindset and look at this as anopportunity to use my MBA to
really fully understand thebusiness, and it was an
environment shift, though 100%,to have to go from being the

(10:51):
expert to back to learning, andI had been learning more about
the business of healthcare, butnot about business more broadly.
So it opened my eyes to thatworld and helped me embrace what
I'm doing now.

How interesting my mental model was that you
decided to build CLARA and wentand got your MBA concurrently to
build it.
Well, but you found the visionfor CLARA while you were in your
MBA program.

No, I had applied for the program and I
actually.
This is a story that I don'ttell often, but I'll be
vulnerable here.
So the first time that Iapplied for the program, they
said, hey, because this is anexecutive MBA program, we either
want you to have a longer timein leadership or a higher title
and so I said okay, I will giveyou both.

(11:42):
I took a promotion to go overto a different hospital and run
the neural OR in theInterventional Spine Center, and
this was where I had thatpatient never event.
So I had gotten into the programand then I realized that I
needed to start this company.

And then I realized that I needed to start
this company.
So I shifted my mindset to sayuse this program to propel you
to build a team and to make theoh.
Everything's always been easy.
They may not say it, you know,it may not be top of mind, but
it's an assumption that, oh,they're just the chosen ones.
Things are simple and to hearthat someone told you no, they
didn't tell you no, they toldyou not yet yes, and you said I

(12:37):
really want this.
And you moved hospitals sothat's like moving work families
.
So you moved hospitals, took apromotion, all in the name of
getting into this executive MBAprogram For you.
What was so compelling for youabout getting that education?
For anybody who's in ouraudience who might be on the

(12:58):
fence, about the investment timeand money of going back and
getting more credentials onsomeone who's already highly
credentialed?
like you were as an.

RN.

What did you believe that the MBA would do
for you?
I'm not trying to go down a rathole.
I just think it's probably areally good sign for other
people of what they might needto do to get to where they're
going.

Yeah, absolutely, and it's one thing
that I think comes up a lot forme in conversation with coming
from the nursing background,where nurses don't often network
, they're not taught to network,they're not encouraged to do so

(13:41):
, even internally, and one ofthe things that I realized very
early was find people that arevery smart and sit around them,
and when I was thinking aboutthis executive MBA program, I
said I want to be in the cohortwith the best of the best and I

(14:01):
want to not just be learningfrom amazing professors, but I
want to be learning from peoplethat have real industry
knowledge, and that was probablythe biggest thing that
propelled me to return to school.

So exposure to others and experience that's
different than your clinicalexperience, right, others and
experience that's different thanyour clinical experience and
forced is a horrible word, butit is what propelled you into a
completely different environmentto learn.
I love it.
You are a founder and in thecommunity that we spend a lot of

(14:39):
our time in here in the BayArea, founders have a lot less
world experience.
They might have gone through amaster's or two, depending on
the field, but I work with a lotof founders that are really
early career and don't have thewisdom that you had from your
experiences with people, withbusiness, and I think it's
remarkable that even with thoseI think it was 10 years that you

(15:02):
had you still decided to tackon a different angle and
approach for the MBA work.
Do you think it paid off?

100%.

I guess that's an obvious answer, but how did
that reinforce your success?

courses.
Obviously that very much relateto what we're building at CLARA
and helped us look at things,you know, not only through that
financial lens but also throughthe operational lens and the
problem solving lens, I wouldsay.

(15:40):
The other thing that wasprobably more strategic right
from the start was wanting towork with certain people and
work with them on projects forCLARA throughout the program and
see what it would be like towork with them and see what
value they would bring and whatvalue I would also add for

(16:05):
potentially being involved intheir future through this
company.
So we were able to build theteam through quite a few members
of this highly experiencedexecutive MBA cohort just really
remarkable professionals.

You talk about it as if it was a very important
part of your life.
You light up other people thatcan't see you, that aren't here
in the room you talk about itwith and that was four years ago
, maybe three years ago, it wasnot yesterday and you do glow
when you talk about theexperience.

So it says a lot it does.
Yeah, we graduated in 2024,.
But I have to say the peoplethat, like I glow because I feel
so proud that I get to workwith them.

Yeah, I really do is right smack dab in the
middle of Los Gatos and comingup on Saturday, april 26th, is
the Los Gatos Chamber ofCommerce and I think it's the

(17:11):
15th annual Wine Walk that we'redoing and KPCR will be involved
.
Keep in touch with our websiteand you'll see some of the
activities that we're planning.
We're looking for bands.
There will be wine as part ofthe Wine Walk.
If you're interested, therewill be discounts at some of the
stores here, but wine beingpoured at over 30 places.
Now, to partake of the wine,you need a wine ticket, and that

(17:34):
comes through Eventbrite, justso you can get to what you need
for that Saturday.
If you want to get a memorialglass and walk from store to
store on what we hope will be abeautiful Saturday afternoon at
the end of April.
So April 26th, the Los GatosChamber of Commerce Wine Walk, I
will be here.
I hope to see you here as well.
So back to you, Melinda.

(17:56):
So we've talked abouttransitions out of a clinical
role then into an MBA program,and then I would say your next
big transition was from clinicalmanagerial roles to
entrepreneurship, andentrepreneurship really is the
abyss.

(18:16):
What was it like for you movingfrom very structured you know
what the protocols are when youhave to be there, how much
response time you need to yourcreating and crafting, your go
forward as an entrepreneur.
It's a big whiteboard.

What was that like?
Viewed any leadership ascreativity, as the ability to
build something, and you have todo it together.
So that is, I think, even inhospital, moving.

(19:02):
I started in the operating room, right, and you need all of
those pieces working together.
It's an orchestration, andsometimes, of course, the
surgeon has, like, thepreferences and all of those
things, but you have to beresponsible to your patient,

(19:23):
right, and so it's every personin there.
It's their operating room.

Yes.

And it's their way of orchestrating that
patient's care.
And so it went from that frombedside to team building right.
So now we're seeing how can weprovide the best care through
building teams that have theright training, that are
comfortable in the positionsthat they're in, and from there

(19:53):
moving into COVID.
How do we craft these solutionsso that patients can flow
through, so that we can care forpatients that aren't sick, so
that we can care for patientsthat are sick, so that we can
fully protect our caregivers asmuch as possible?
And that's all creation to me,and so I see it in a very global
fashion where maybe sometimespeople would see it rigid and

(20:16):
structured, but I never have Ithink that's interesting because
I had assumed it was reallyprescriptive.

No pun intended, and to hear you talk about it,
you had a lot more agency than Iwould have expected in a large
metropolitan hospital, so that'sinteresting.
You just mentioned working witha team and how everybody on the
team had roles to care for thatpatient on the team had roles
to care for that patient.
It's the same when you're anentrepreneur building out your

(20:51):
team, whether they're a directteam or outsourced to find the
right roles and the right peopleand the right fit to create
what you're creating.
How did you transfer thosepractices that you built for
team building when you movedinto entrepreneurship?

So I'll go with one specific example.
When I started, running acardiac, thoracic and vascular
operating room was my firstlarge leadership responsibility,
and we didn't have enoughcardiac team members, and so you

(21:33):
can't just automatically hiresomebody and think that they're
going to be ready to do cardiacsurgery right, and also, in
order to move other team membersfrom different areas, you need
to get permissions from theother areas they serve, and then
you need to train them and youneed to become the priority, and

(22:01):
so I guess, in this way I willsay, sometimes you do have to
fight for what you need, andthat translates very well into
entrepreneurship, it sure doesas you describe it that way.

I'm thinking corporate, corporate corporate
my journey.
So yeah, I see the parallelsKeep going.

People sometimes don't listen to you or
don't want to hear you untilyou've said it enough or the
right way or, you know, madesure the correct.
I mean, we talk like ICP rightin business, so who's the person
you're supposed to talk to?
How do you have to speak tothem?
Um, what do they want solved?

(22:43):
All of these things areessential, and for you to be
able to make change in ahospital, you just have to do
the same thing.
It's just you're selling tokeep patients safe.
Right, I'm still doing the samething.
I'm selling to keep patientssafe, that team building

(23:15):
perspective.
I think you asked, like it's,how do you also get people to do
something really hard for areally long time when?
you know we're all trying topush for this great change and I
think that's really what it isis that we all believe in what
we're doing and we know that wecan make this change.

I love it.
I love it.
So we just keep transitioningdown your timeline for the last
five years.
You decided to make the move atemporary move.
You moved, you left yourhusband and, I think, a dog in
Seattle.

And a kid.

And a kid and a kid in Seattle.
Okay, now I'm just surprisedshe's 50 and she's amazing All
the conversations that you andI've had and I did not know that
you had a daughter, because wealways talk business, so shout
out to your daughter.
I know Doug Rose, I love you Awsee, but that just it just

(24:00):
amplifies what a sacrifice youmade.
I don't want to get all teary.
What a sacrifice you made.
I don't want to get all teary,but a sacrifice that you made to
be here for the ecosystem thatthe Bay Area is, for
entrepreneurs and to raisefunding.

So I think my question is you moved from
Seattle to San Francisco.
What was that like?
And I think that was earlier,that was six months ago or so.
Yeah, I moved, uh.
December okay and obviouslywent home for the holidays but
um came back and stayed.
I've been here ever since justreally trying to and you're like
a local.

I'll tell you.
I see you at least once a weekand you, you've really built a
network here, as if you're goingto be here and I realize you
won't because you have a reallife to get back to.

Well, you know though, okay, so this is not a
nothing.
Stop for me right Like this iswhere a lot of innovation comes
out of and, at the very least, Isee myself very often going
back and forth.
And you know this area, itmoves things and it does.

It's remarkable to be here, isn't it?

It's compelled me to for sure know that I'll be
back and forth quite often.

Yeah, and Seattle's no slouch when it
comes to entrepreneurship, youknow one of the companies I work
with is headquartered inSeattle and they like to say
they're the home of cloud, and Ijust zip my mouth.
There are several largeentities up there that have been
game-changing for the worldfrom the cloud side, but giving

(25:38):
them credit for that still, yousee the value in being here.
And similar to the questionabout what did the mba take you
into?
What did moving to sanfrancisco temporarily bring you
into?

well, I know we've talked about it a couple
times, but I did move into afounder house, oh my god, yeah,
and so also known as a hackerhouse.

Yes, she's calling it a founder house,
which sounds so much morepleasant.
Well going with theprofessional.
Yes, yes, yes.

And it was very intentional.
I had originally found adifferent place and somebody
which I loved, by the way, ifyou're listening, because she
probably is but I wanted to besurrounded by other people that
were building.
Again, it's sit in the space,and so I will.

(26:29):
One of the promises, actually,that I made to my team a while
back was you can find me in thethings, find me in the places
where the things are happening,and that's something that you
know.
This journey is hard, and Ithink that gives you the best
shot at being lucky, and so I'mtrying to be lucky.

Wow, okay, and again it shows your amazing
commitment to your journey.
Just like leaving the hospitalenvironment was a commitment,
Getting an MBA was a commitment,now leaving your two peeps in
Seattle to be here to get thisdone is an absolute heart and

(27:16):
soul commitment for you, andthat's remarkable.
I think a lot of people don'trealize the stories when we meet
people around.
Nearly everyone has made a bigshift in their life, a big pivot
in some way to be able to dothis Right.
What are you experiencing inthe networks that you're

(27:38):
participating in here that helpyou understand?
I actually remember.
I was at a conference with youabout a week and a half ago at
the Women and Wealth CatalystSummit.
Yes, and I interviewed youthere with my friend Nick Larson
and Nikki Estes, and you saidbeing here makes me realize I'm
not alone.

Right.

And that was such a heartfelt statement because
that entrepreneurial journey isso isolating.
That's right is so isolating.
That's right, unless you dowhat you're doing, which is to
throw yourself out into theseecosystems to be able to help
people and to be helped.
So that's my, that's what I seein what's happening.

(28:18):
What's your experience ofwhat's happening?

Yeah, I would say that what you see is pretty
well accurate.
Listening to a podcast recentlyand I'm disappointed I can't
remember the name of who it wasbut one of the things that she
said was like realizing thatyou're not that special just

(28:41):
allows you to get through morechallenging things.
And so coming to a place whereyou literally are not alone,
like you are surrounded by otherpeople that are just grinding
out and pushing to find thesuccess that they need for their
companies, it just makes yourealize like, oh okay, like I'm
just doing normal things.

(29:02):
Yes, they're hard, but I'm justdoing the normal things to make
the world go around.

I love it.
It reminds me in ways peoplewould not understand unless they
had lived there, being inNashville.
I came here from Nashville andthere were so many solid
musicians, so many talented andcreative artists who had put
their lives since they were born.
They were playing the guitarand there were remarkably

(29:29):
talented people who wouldliterally pay to sit in the
Wendy's at the airport and play.
You know, because that was thething as Nashville started to
develop more of a sophisticatedtourism model, the airport put
musicians in literally everylittle airport eatery that had
any floor space and people wouldpay to be there.

(29:49):
And at Christmas people wouldtake almost no pay at the
holidays to play at companyChristmas parties or at people's
homes at their larger parties.
And I always thought it wasjust really sad because you
looked at the big names in musicand you looked at these other
people who just didn't have aname but they had just as much
talent, right, and every roomthey were in, just like for you

(30:12):
and me here, every room thatyou're in is an opportunity for
someone to see you and to take agamble and make a bet on you.

That's right.

And it propelled those people hardest working
people I've ever seen until Igot here.
And it's the same kind ofmindset that I have a skill, I
have a dream and everything Ihave is going into that dream.
That's right, bet on me.

Bet on me.

Bet on Melinda Yormick.
Seattle to San Francisco, Ilove it.
So let's do a quick stationcheck-in.
We are at Pirate Cat Radio,that's KPCR LP 92.9 here in
beautiful, clear day, sunny LosGatos, and also KMRT LP and

(31:00):
that's 101.9 FM out of SantaCruz.
We serve the Central Coast andthe Bay Area with creative
programming for what ourlisteners want to hear.
And today I hope that you areenjoying hearing about RESET and
Transitions with MelindaYormick.
From Bedside to Boardroom iswhat I titled our session A

(31:23):
Nurse's Journey to AIEntrepreneurship.
So we've been moving into a lotof conversations around your
transitions, but for youpersonally, we talked about I
called it the leap.
You know you've made severalleaps into new things, but now
I'd like to switch it to be evenmore about you, for the

(31:45):
personal transformation that youmust have undergone with so
many.
They don't feel like full pivots, but they are definitely life
impacting navigational times toget to your, to where you're
ultimately headed on yourjourney, right?
So what have you learned aboutyourself?

(32:06):
A and I hate this, but I willnot just as an entrepreneur, but
as a female founder.
What have you learned aboutyourself while you've been
raising capital in a very maledominated and I will not whine
about it, but it's a verywell-known stat 2% of VC funding
goes to women and you areswimming upstream as hard as

(32:28):
your little fins will go.
So what's it been like for youas a female founder in an
ecosystem with so much talent?

So I don't know if this is exactly the right
direction to go with it, but Ifeel moved.

Every direction is the right direction.
I'm going to jump.

So I have about 20 years of my life in martial
arts.
Oh good, yes, yes.
And so I have a black belt inKoshishori Rukempo and I have a
fifth degree black belt inBlantwaka Srema.
And these are not nothing,burgers.
This is something that I feelreally did prepare me for this.

(33:05):
Luckily Nice, because I wassurrounded by other very strong
men, giant men.
You know.
I was teaching at variousstages throughout, and one of my
best students was like six foottwo hundred and something
pounds, 200 and something pounds, and, like you, just learn that

(33:33):
you are to be respected in thespace and you have as much right
to be there as anybody elsethrough that sort of play and
interaction and coming down here.
Of course, it's for a differentthing and so thing, and so the
activities are very different,but the mindset needed to be
applied there and so that is theshift is how do I just show up,

(33:58):
as this is where I'm supposedto be, and I think everything
else follows from that.
This is obviously a tough marketfor everyone right, yeah right,
but my goal is to show up andbe present and be here as much

(34:22):
as you know have a right to behere just as much as anybody
else does.

I love it.
I love it and I love that wewere able to work in your
martial arts story, because thatis fascinating about you.
Everybody has some littlesurprise bullet point on their
journey and for me, you know,you surprised me today when
there's a 15-year-old back home.
But when I learned that you hadmartial art fifth degree black

(34:54):
belt, that also was surprising.
So I think everybody hasstories when you take the time
and make a space to listen, andthat's what we're here for today
, right?
So, as we keep focusing on youand your transitions and what
you've learned through theseRESET, being down here while
you've got a husband and ateenager at home has to be tough

(35:15):
, and you're living in a hackerhouse.
I get to say that it's a hackerhouse with, I think, 30,
probably mostly young, muchyounger men.
So what's it like balancing?
You know your daughter wants totell you about what's happening
at school.
A 15 is an important age, yeah,um, and your husband just
misses talking to you becauseyou've been home for all those

(35:36):
years.
So what's it like balancingthat with?
We're pretty relentless downhere.
You know we're out every nightin crowds to help people and to
be useful in this world.
So, you're balancing two verydifferent worlds.
What's that?

like entrepreneurial journey, is
framed in my mind as somethingthat I have a great
responsibility to my team tomake go right, and I also have a

(36:19):
great responsibility to myfamily, and so maybe in that way
, that's where I find thebalance, because, even though
I'm not with them, even thoughI'm not talking to them as much,
and even though, yes, as yousaid, I'm hustling every day, I
am doing this for them, I'mdoing this for my team and I'm

(36:42):
doing this for a largercommunity, a larger global
perspective.
That gives me stability andcomfort, and I think I would
feel less stable if I was not,if I shied away from doing

(37:04):
something just because it pulledme away from those things that
are quote unquote normal, and Iknow that there will always be
some degree of difficulty infinding the right amount of time
that somebody else needs.
When people respect each other,when people respect each other,

(37:30):
they take turns and they keeplearning, and that's kind of the
way that I look at it from afamily perspective.
I know, on the other side ofthis, what my husband, my
daughter and I will be able tosay that we did to make the
world a better place will be awin for all of us.

Yeah, and I don't know what your daughter's
talents or interests are at thispoint in her life, but I can
only imagine seeing a mama outthere doing all the things
you're doing, not just to builda better paperclip, but to
really shift the world and savelives and make a meaningful
difference, and she must be soproud, thank you lives and make

(38:07):
a meaningful difference, and shemust be so proud.
Thank you, she's amazing, shedeserves it.
Yeah, wonderful, I love it.
I love it.
You've also I don't want totalk about self-care, but I
stink at self-care, but I thinkyou've developed some
interesting hobbies or I don'tknow if it's a hobby or just
interest that you've startedexploring.
I asked you when you were onyour way here if you would share

(38:31):
one of those hobbies with us.
You want to tell us what youand is this a new thing, or is
this something that you've beendoing before arriving?

This is a brand new thing.

Yeah, ok, I felt like it was.
Yeah so tell me what it is.

You know that I live in a hacker house, Call it
what it is, yes, so I also takethe bar to a lot of places.
And one night got off and heardthis noise and it was just like
calling to me.
And it was this woman's voicethat was very powerful and

(39:07):
beautiful and she was telling astory.
So I walked over and realizedthat there were a whole bunch of
people standing in a circle andif you go inside this chalk
circle you can read poetry tothe world, to this corner of SF,
and it just made me think.
You know, everybody hassomething to say and it's people

(39:29):
in all different walks of lifestanding around this circle and
listening to each other.
And I thought that was amazingand for me, when I'm going
through this journey and sooften, like as entrepreneurs,
they say it's a lonely journeyWell, that's true, it's
definitely there and sometimesyou take in a lot and you need

(39:52):
to figure out how to also letthat out.
So what was happening in thatcircle was spoken word poetry.

Okay, spoken word poetry, that's right.

That's right, and I was just so compelled that
I went home that night andwrote a poem and went back the
following week because they doit every Thursday at 10 o'clock
at night and I read my poem andfrom there on I realized that
this was really healthy for meto be able to get thoughts out

(40:29):
that I didn't need to storeinside as extra weight because I
have a job to do.

Yes, I think it's remarkably brave.
I speak on a lot of stages, butI speak about facts or I
facilitate, and to me that'seasy facilitate and to me that's
easy, but to open up your heartand pour it into words, that
you then deliver as an art formis remarkably courageous.

(40:55):
Thank you, were you scared thefirst time you got up and
started to with a mixed groupmeaning not everybody
understands your journey rightyeah, yeah.

I think there's very limited experiences that I
can say that for the first timeI wouldn't be a little bit
nervous right so like for sure,like even though I was standing
on a street inside of a chalkcircle, I was like I've never
done this before and I don'tknow if my poem is.
If people are going to thinkit's terrible, right, it means

(41:28):
something to me.
But I think as you start, yourvoice might be a little shaky at
first, and then you find yourfeet and then you start to get
louder and you just again dothat thing that I was talking
about earlier, where you decidewhat I don't, I can't
necessarily care so much like.
This is my story, this is myjourney, and some people are

(41:50):
going to like it, some peoplearen't, and that's fine, and I'm
going to speak to the world.
So then I got comfortable thenyou got comfortable.

There's a term you're using that is not
familiar to me.
Are you saying chalk circle?

like chalk on a chalk board, like they were
literally like kid, like kidschalk.

Yeah, yeah, they drew pictures and like all sorts
of so is a chalk circle and I'mmaking this up I'm imagining
like a big 50 foot circle thateveryone stands within so that
they're in hearing distance isthat what a chalk circle is?

yes, so everybody stands outside of the
circle outside the, the onlyperson that can speak.
It's like a TED stage Insidethe circle.

It's like a chalk TED stage.
You know that red dot that youstand on when you're doing a TED
talk.

That's right.
I love it, yeah.

This is very educational.
I did not know about this.
Would you like to sharesomething with us today?
I I gave you the option a whole12 minutes before you arrived.

I would love to .
So.
This poem is called Perceptions.
You wake up one day, eventhough you were already awake.
This is eyes open, different.

(43:06):
Today, the world is turningsame as yesterday, but you are
turning counter.
You are ready to create, writesomething different under your
name, something other than whatfits in a standard frame.

(43:30):
I am not defined in a 4x6, awallet sleeve or album fame.
Sometimes we choose to fitbecause it gives us a safe space
.
Don't be scared when I tell youthat never existed in the first
place.
My box only exists if youbelieve it's true, and your box

(43:55):
only exists if I think so too.
So let's stop asking questionsand start stating facts, even if
we are wrong about exacts,because my box was built by
someone who didn't know thatwhat they built cannot contain

(44:16):
my soul.
What we say today won't beperfect for tomorrow, but we
cannot be afraid to turn counter.
I tell you, glass ceilingsaren't above my fingertips,
rather under my feet.
Looks like diamonds in thestreet, like the sparkle in your

(44:45):
eye, the light in your smileand the feeling of freedom.

Wow.

Wow, thanks for letting me share that.

Wonderful and powerful and I know you saw me
get a little teary.
Um, I don't know what happenedwhen I turned 50, but you know
the tears I didn't shed thefirst 50 years just come so much
more easily now when I'm movedby expression and thought and
excellence, and so thank you forsharing.
And now my mind's racing alittle bit.
I can't help it.
Wouldn't it be great to bringfour or five people into this

(45:31):
studio to share, and we have thecreative license to do that
here.
Kpcr 92.9 is all aboutcreativity.
Some of its music, and I thinkthat the spoken word would be
welcome.
That could be a veryinteresting thing for us to put
together, because it touches sodeeply into what people are

(45:52):
thinking about, how they'refeeling, the things they don't
get to say in the normal courseof their lives, right?
So let's work on that.
That would be a lot of fun.

I love that yeah.

Good, good.
So, speaking of KPCR 92.9, I'vejust said how we foster,
advocate and share creativity ofall forms.
We are a nonprofit communityradio station, so we champion

(46:22):
makers, creators like you.
We have lots of emerging andunderground artists, so I think
you'd love this community.
The sound of Pirate Cat isshaped by those who take part,
and so not you, Melinda, but tothe world that's listening.
We invite that world to takepart, but also not just to

(46:43):
listen but to contribute.
So we are a listener-fundednonprofit radio station and if
you feel compelled, just go tokpcrorg on the web and you'll
see little support buttons allover the homepage to contribute
to keep this going so that wecan do programs like the work

(47:03):
that'll happen on April 26th atthe Wine Walk, like pulling
together creative artists of adifferent type, you know, not a
band, but a group of spoken wordartists.
So if you'd like to contribute,we'd love to have you
participate in multiple ways bylistening and contributing at
kpcrorg, by listening andcontributing at kpcrorg, and

(47:26):
just hit that support button.
So I love what you justdelivered.
Thank you for that.
Thank you.
Let's move out of that and backinto, oh, the wisdoms of
millennia.
So I mentioned earlier.

(47:48):
We've got a nursing crisis.
We've got a lot of crises indifferent verticals and
industries, with people thatserve, that are on the front
lines, right.
What would be your advice tohealthcare professionals who are
thinking about transitioning ordoing more to create change
Healthcare?
You and I are fairly technical,so we see what we can build and

(48:09):
how we can redesign workflowsto change how healthcare
operates, to be better atdiagnosis, prescriptive medicine
, all those things but what'syour advice to people who are
kind of on that cliff of tryingto decide whether to improve it
or to exit it?

So I think that sometimes it's really easy to
jump easy to jump and we all getideas.

(48:53):
And in healthcare there I mean,it's such a big industry and
it's run by such large systemsit makes it hard to have
everything running perfectlyefficiently.
So, that said, we see a lot ofgaps and a lot of potential for
change.
However, I would say that takeyour time and be in the space

(49:14):
you know, especially for, like,new grads going into healthcare,
and not necessarily.
I know some things aredifficult, it's tricky to learn
certain things and beingshort-staffed is hard.
I'm not trying to lessen any ofthose things, but being in that
space, maintaining a positivemindset and going through and

(49:39):
experiencing opportunities forchange internally, will prepare
you, will set you up for successfor the time that you do.
Find that one thing that sticksout at you that says you can't
not solve me, you can't not fixme, because if you don't, you

(50:01):
won't be happy.
And making sure that we arebuilding our networks.
I think that's huge culture.
It is to talk to other peopleso that you're always prepared

(50:27):
for what could potentially benext, to move to the place where
you can make your greatestcontribution, and it doesn't
have to be starting a techcompany right like.
This is my journey, but itmight be running the operating
room and you should feel youknow inspiring as somebody
that's running the operatingroom and you should feel you
know inspiring as somebodythat's running the operating
room.
It might be learning cardiacservice line.

(50:50):
You should feel inspired andinspiring in those shoes also.
I think those two would be mybiggest pushes.
Do things inside with a smile,take challenges as opportunities
and don't be afraid to knoweveryone.

Say more about that last part.
Don't be afraid to knoweveryone, yeah.

I think the good, the bad and the ugly.
You need to know it all.
You need to have all theinformation to be able to
operate Right.
So don't shy away becausesomething makes you
uncomfortable.
There's often clicks indifferent places like you can't
buy into.
That, right, right.

You won't run away from it.
It will be everywhere you land.

Well, it will be, and there are people that
provide a lot of value outsideof those clicks, and so if you
define yourself to that, you'rereally limiting yourself as well
, and so it's just a lot ofopening a lot of open doors for
yourself.

I love that you talked about doing the hard
thing.
I think we've talked about thatbefore doing those hard things.
Those hard things lead topersonal growth.
Right, Looking back on thisjourney, what's the thing that
stands out for you where you didor are doing the hard thing and

(52:22):
what's the personal growththat's coming out of it?
That has surprised and maybeeven delighted you.

So I think, if I do this from a more purely
personal growth perspective, Iwould say when we were
originally talking earlier inthe show about not necessarily
caring as much about what otherpeople think about you, and that
was kind of something that wascrucial for when I was entering

(52:51):
this journey, and along the wayI've realized that I need to
take that one step farther andnot so much treated as I can't
care as much.
It's actually my responsibilityto not be influenced from the

(53:13):
outside overly.
Right, I am the expert in thisspace and individuals that I

(53:48):
allow to have an influence overthe way that I think, the way
that I see the world and the waythat I move at opportunities or
choose not to.
And having that focus, havingthat clarity, I think is not

(54:10):
only good for my mental health,but I believe that it's very
good for the company.

I agree.
I agree as you talk, I'mthinking about a friend of mine
named Margaret and she runsreally big Airstream rallies.
So talk about couldn't befurther from right.
But you know you have a lot ofopinions Right and a lot of
customers.
Frankly, you know they may behelping you put the rally on

(54:36):
because it's largely a bunch ofvolunteers putting something
together, but you've got to keepthem happy.
But they're also contributingand it's a lot to handle.
And her phrase she doesn't useit often or lightly, but she
says I don't crowdsource mypersonal choices yeah um, and I
love that because she needs tostand in her own power and make

(54:58):
her personal choices, alwayswith a lens of who she's serving
, right, but she doesn'tcrowdsource her personal choices
, and that is that was such apowerful statement for me.
When she did somethingpersonally big, she got her own
airstream she got her own umsmaller to tow and it was a big
deal and people were like Iwould have helped.
I would have helped and she saidI don't crowdsource my choices

(55:20):
she went through it and made herbest decision, which is, to me,
parallel to what you're sayingit just means that all of us can
benefit from standing in ourintuition and what we know Right
and leaning into our ability tomake decisions.
So anyway, so shout out toMargaret if she's out there

(55:43):
listening.
I think she's on her way toEurope, but there will be other
Airstream buddies who absolutelyknow who Margaret is.
All right.
So while we've been on ajourney, for this call yes.
So now let's talk about yourvision for the future, whether
it's CLARA specific orhealthcare in general, that both

(56:05):
would resonate, I think withour audience.

What's your vision for what's coming for us?
So for us, yeah, yes, I thinkI'll go with the play off of
kind of the way that you talkabout things, Tonya, because I
think you have a lot of wisdomwhen you speak about AI and how
we can incorporate it into thisnew, changing world, right?
And wanting to make sure that westill keep the human touch of

(56:38):
things, and so I look athealthcare as something that is
very human and technologyobviously very valuable, and
there is an intersection for thetwo.
We can't remove the human fromwell care or sick care without

(57:02):
removing the word care, mm, hmm.
Or sick care without removingthe word care, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
And I see technology playing amassive role in eliminating more
middleman operations orRepeatable yes, yeah, things
that are automatable, lessclinical and obviously certain

(57:38):
things technology will move intoclinical spaces.
I mean, my mother actually hadto change her career from when
she had saying is that I thinkthat it will remain largely
human, and I think that we needto be working with companies
that are working with AI from anethical perspective and from a

(58:05):
very human lens, so that we arecontinuously learning more about
what our patients need and whatour clinical teams need to
provide the best care, the mostenhanced care.

I love it.
I love it.
I hate that our time is up butwe can do more of this.
And you have been absolutelyremarkable.
I knew you would be, but thematurity, the wisdom, I feel
relieved for healthcare thatyou're bringing something to the
world that's going to make ahuge difference and then go on

(58:43):
to your next level of greatnessin terms of impact.
So I look forward to being partof that.

Thank you.

And if listeners would like to get in touch with
you or with CLARA, what's thebest way for them to get in
touch with you?

Yeah, so reach out to me on LinkedIn, Melinda
Yormick, and then info at CLARA.
You can also find that emailthrough our website, which is
claraguide.
com.

Fantastic.
So CLARA, g-u-i-d-e, CLARAWonderful, thank you.
So everyone, we have had themost remarkable hour, From
Bedside to Boardroom, that'sright.
That's right.
A Nurse's Journey to AIEntrepreneurship.
And that has been here on RESETwith Tonya, where purpose meets

(59:36):
possibility, and I see so muchpossibility based on the last
hour.
Thank you, Melinda, we will seeyou soon.
Thank you, Melinda, we will seeyou soon.
Thank you, Tonya, take care.
Thanks for joining us on RESET.
Remember, transformation is ajourney, not a destination.
So until next time, keepexploring what's possible.
I'm Tonya Long and this is home.

(59:59):
This is RESET.

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Tonya J. Long

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}From Bedside to Boardroom: A Nurse's Journey to AI Leadership