Not Just a Medical Services Professional

Thirty years and counting, I have self-identified with the medical services profession. My life managing and directing credentialing and enrollment programs for various healthcare organizations have been very life-encompassing. But ask me now how I identify myself today. My answer is semi-retired from healthcare, and I am currently a full-time author and speaker. That internal elevator speech made me question myself this weekend as I celebrated my achievement as a Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM). I met the Toastmasters International requirements for the DTM in 2020, received the plaque via mail, and celebrated myself with a glass of wine. Unfortunately, the pandemic prohibited the usual celebration. And because I was working hard and obligated elsewhere to do the healthcare thing, I missed the virtual celebration in 2021. This past weekend I was thrilled to be recognized for my accomplishments in person. I took the Walk of Fame with others who recently received their awards in 2020, 2021, and 2022. It was like attending the Oscars. I looked at it as a practice run.

A pratice run? Yeah, a practice run. As I mentioned, I am an author. My pride and joy are my romantic suspense series, The Sperling Chronicles. The first in the series, Dreams Thrown Away, was nominated for the Georgia Author of the Year Award-First Novel by the Georgia Writers Association in 2010. In addition, it was placed as a quarterfinalist in the Screencraft Cinematic Book Contest in 2018. So, of course, with that recognition, I continued to write, adding Split Images and No Tears for Dead Men to the series, which has a fourth in the works. Another book already published is non-fiction, A Comprehensive Guide to Finding the Right Doctor. I wrote that book because many friends and family members asked me about doctors. But, of course, I couldn’t help them, so I gave them a guide to vet their own healthcare providers.

So, where am I going with this? I had to remind myself that I am more than a career, a mom, grandmom, wife, and definitely more than a certified medical services professional. I am a woman with many dreams and a lot of gusto to follow my dreams. I would love to accept a real Oscar for a screenplay one of these days, preferably one based on The Sperling Chronicles. So here I am, still celebrating my DTM, happy to have a Certified Professional Medical Services Management (CPMSM) designation, and thrilled at the possibilities ahead. My goal is to help others find their voices through speaking and entertaining, educating, and enlightening others through writing. Who are you? What’s your internal elevator speech?