Amanda Fair

I attribute my success to hard work and determination. I'm very much the type of individual that if I commit to something, I'm gonna do it. And if I want something, I'm gonna work for it. When I set my eyes or my goal on something, I don't stop until I achieve that. Recently, I told my husband I was having a little bit of imposter syndrome because organizations like ADAM nominated me for the board after I'd been working on the Education Committee for a year, and then someone nominated me to be on the Executive Roundtable, which is this organization with the smartest people. I found myself thinking, are you sure you want me? But then I realized that other people are recognizing my work, and it makes me feel really good. If my headstone said I was the most hardworking person, I'd be okay with it - in fact, my daughter wrote that in my Mother's Day card this year, that I'm the most hardworking person she knows.

I think finding the balance in being a female manager is so important. If we're too strict and firm, we're seen as not nice. But if we're too soft, people think we're not doing a good job. So you have to find that balance in the middle, where you're fair but you're firm, you have compassion and you care about your people, but you can't be too much. I feel like that's something that men don't really have to deal with as much. My husband is a police officer who trains other officers, and I feel like he doesn't run into that as much - people just expect it with men. I am extremely compassionate about every single person that works for me. I have an open-door policy, and staff call me when things happen outside of work, and I'm the first one to show up to help. But I'm also not gonna put up with your BS - if you're not showing up and doing your job, we're going to have a conversation. My staff says Amanda will bail us out of jail, but she will also chastise us all the way home. I treat them like my children - we're gonna celebrate your wins, but we're gonna talk about when you're not doing what you're supposed to do. It's taken time to figure out how to be compassionate but also run a tight ship, and I feel like I'm at a good place now where I have a very good relationship with the staff, but they also respect me and show up and do a good job because they don't want to let me down.

Love your people. Lead with compassion. You will go so much further if you lead with compassion. I think people feel like they have to be aggressive to be recognized, and I don't think that's true. I think you can be aggressive when necessary, but I think you can lead with compassion and love your people, and have a really great business that you're running. You can have the respect of your staff and they know that you care about them as humans inside and outside of your office. We have a no-asshole policy in our office - if it is a patient, an employee, a rep, or anybody that comes into our office and is disrespectful to our staff, we have zero tolerance for that. We will ask you to leave and not come back. We protect our people and have their backs, and they know they're not going to come to work and be mistreated. I cannot tell you how many people I have interviewed who say, oh my god, that's so nice, you don't understand, that doesn't happen at most companies. Your staff shouldn't come into work and be abused. I have fired employees, I have fired providers, I have fired patients. You are not going to come into this building, this safe space, and be ugly, because that's not fair and nobody deserves to be treated that way.

Cost is a huge factor in everything that we do. The owner of my business has taught me so much about being smart with money and asking for discounts. When you're in a small practice, you have to really be smart with your money. Every small business is like three bad financial decisions away from being out of business, so we have to be really smart. We take our time, do our research, and make sure we're making good decisions. Then we post-mortem and learn from when we didn't make the right decision - what did we do wrong, and what can we do better to make sure we don't make that same mistake. Insurance reimbursements get less and less every year, and the cost of goods and services get higher and higher, so you have to keep being creative and thinking about creating other streams of revenue to be able to be successful. We have to keep costs as low and efficient as possible, shop around, ask for discounts, and learn from our network. I'm the first person to jump on our Facebook page and ask what other people do in certain situations. Tapping into your resources and asking other people what they do, and learning from other people, has been paramount for us. On a personal level, I've also experienced imposter syndrome - when organizations nominated me for leadership positions, I found myself thinking, are you sure you want me? But then I realized other people are recognizing my work.

Compassion is extremely important to me - being compassionate matters in how I lead and how I treat people. Being fair is essential, as is having integrity. I'm also deeply hardworking - my daughter brought over my Mother's Day gift this morning, and the card said I'm the most hardworking person she knows. If that's on my headstone, I'd be okay with it. I was a single mom for 10 years, and my kids watched me bust my butt to put food on the table and provide a good life for them. Both of them are such hard workers now - my daughter has worked at the same restaurant since she was young, all through college, and my son told me when he was young that he wanted to be in the Air Force, which is the hardest branch to get into. I told him he'd have to work really hard and keep his nose clean, and he did it. I'm really proud that my kids are goal-oriented and hardworking. They're good people, and I couldn't ask for better.