Alexis McCullough

I attribute my success to my mama. She is a wonderful person who put all of her energy into me and my sister and her family. She showed me that materialistic things are not necessarily important - if a door fell off the hinges, she'd say we're gonna go fix it. Whatever problem comes up, she has at least 3 solutions and then gives you the ability to choose what solution and go in there and fix it yourself. She instilled in me that everything is possible - just go ahead and try, give it a shot, and if it doesn't work, we're gonna go again. She has been so soft, so tender, and so helpful, making me feel like I'm enough, that I rock, that I'm top dog. Confidence has not been something that I've ever struggled with, and I'm grateful for that because I'm happy with who I am. She gave me the ability to help other people see that where you're at in life is okay, that just because you made a mistake or made a choice, that was supposed to happen so you can learn from it and look at who you are now because of it. The biggest thing is instilling the confidence in me that I can do whatever I need to do and show up for those I need showing up for.

The best career advice I've received is to create the job that you want to have. There are always going to be other duties as assigned - take those on and be realistic of what you can give. Set boundaries when you need to say, you know what, this is not my area of expertise, but I would love to give some more feedback into this avenue. Show up every day, leave all of your baggage at the door. When you're here, you're physically present, and each interaction, every conversation that you have, it's that positive body language, that eye contact, that warm and friendly smile, all of those little details. When my mentor offered me this opportunity, she said, I have this opportunity, I really think it's going to be beautiful for you, and I really know that it's not something that's created now, but create the job that you want to have. I want to create the job that I want to have for my directors of customer experience as well - a space where you can go in and focus on those little details so that the bigger picture feels natural, happy, and positive, without having to solve all of the world problems in one full swoop.

For a young woman entering into the healthcare field or customer service field, I think that words have meaning and they have purpose, so communication is going to be key. No matter what you're doing, the way you communicate - that body language, that tone, that nonverbal - fills the room before you even get inside of it. And then now you have that platform that your words have meaning. So when you say something, make sure that it is in the tone, in the way, in the message, because the right message delivered the wrong way becomes the wrong message. Verbal and nonverbal communication is going to be key in customer service.

The biggest challenge and opportunity is the long line of negative perception about nursing homes, skilled nursing, and healthcare as a whole. This does not create a good platform to start on - we're already breaking through negative stereotypes before somebody even chooses to step in our facility. That part makes every interaction even more important because you're not starting off in a good way. You're having to battle all of those stereotypes, so when somebody comes into our facility, that's why it's so important to meet them at the door, give them what to expect, and communicate so clearly about what this next journey is going to look like. People are leaving their most favorite person, their loved one, their mom, their grandma, in the care of us, in trusting these strangers to make sure that they're okay. It is very important in those moments to get soft and just kind of empathize with people in that perception, but making sure that the reality is not greeted with what their perception was.

My big value is that I want to focus on being kind, and not nice. Kind means being honest, being truthful, being consistent, showing up for those that need showing up for. Nice is more the people-pleasing and saying what other people want to hear and putting on that facade, and I've just never been one of those people. I didn't necessarily fit in in high school because I was an athlete and I did really well, but then I also like to hike and play outside and just stay out too late and do all of those things. But at the core of who I am, I know I'm consistent and I know I'm intentional.