Callie Corrigan

The best career advice I've ever received came from my current manager at Craneware. From the very beginning, he told me to be as fluid as I can and say yes to everything I can. I also describe myself as having the gift (and) the curse of discernment at the same time - I'm able to tell what rooms I add value to, which rooms I don't, what groups I'm going to learn from and which I'm not. I have that confidence now in myself to be able to say, okay, this is something I think I could really see myself growing in, this is something that could be beneficial, or I could bring value to, and I can also recognize which ones aren't for me. But just being able to put myself in any situation that will have me, where I see learning opportunity, and being able to make that choice then - that's been incredibly valuable advice.

I'm sure you hear this from every woman you speak with, but most industries are very male-dominated. I came into my role as the youngest person and also the youngest woman that's ever stepped foot in this company. The team I was on when I first started was 7 other men. I could see how somebody could take that as intimidating, but I kind of took it as an opportunity to bring more life and personality to the team. Honestly, I definitely did, and I created really great relationships with these guys - they're still great friends of mine to this day and have really shaped my career and growth here. My advice is just not being afraid. I feel like it's kind of rooted in women to move in a certain way, like we're taught that we have to shrink ourselves when we're working in a male-dominated field, and we really don't. Women have such special value in life, but also in business and in any kind of role that you're in. Just be able to recognize that and use it the way it's really meant to. I bring value in places where the men I work with cannot, and vice versa. I am not interested in competing with any of the guys I work with, because at the end of the day we have completely different strengths and weaknesses. Find out what yours are and capitalize on them. Being a woman is something to really be proud of.

Honestly, the biggest challenge I'm facing right now is something I haven't faced before in my current role, and it's government-related and how that affects the financial health of health systems. Up until last year, I hadn't worked in this space during an election year, and all last year we experienced spending freezes, the uncertainty of the election and which direction our country would be going, because that obviously affects Medicare and how hospitals are funded. So we had a pretty interesting six months of this weird slow period of, like, where is this going to go? How is this going to look for our territories and our current customers? That was a huge learning curve for me, just being able to navigate that and being resilient for whatever did happen. We were just going with the flow of what our customers needed from us, how the industry was changing, how we had to adapt to the market and things like that. It's definitely an ongoing thing - I wouldn't say it's let up yet, since healthcare is always changing. This challenge though is also a major opportunity for myself as well as the entire company - having the reputation and proven track record of being a solid vendor in this space, a team that stays resilient throughout any healthcare environment and a trusted partner to these health systems as they also navigate these transformations.

First and foremost, my faith is definitely the most important value to me. It's extremely important - that goes across the board in my personal life and my work. Every place I've gone in my life and every different stage has definitely been a tribute to my faith. Beyond that, integrity is crucial to me, as well as honesty, self awareness, emotional intelligence, and grit.