Influential Woman · Healthcare

Kayla Staley

Recruitment Events Advisor, BJC Health

St. Louis, MO

3Awards received

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Business Administration

Her Story

About Kayla

I majored in business administration and started my career in sales, which took me to a sales academy in Belfast, Ireland, where I competed against people from all over the world. Despite struggling with imposter syndrome, I received the Top Performer Award and the Most Improved awards at graduation, which was incredibly rewarding and shocking to me. After working in inside sales selling software for a year, I realized I wanted face-to-face interaction with people, so I moved to outside sales at ATI Physical Therapy. There, I had about 100 physicians that I called on and was responsible for overseeing 8 physical therapy clinics, educating physicians on ATI and trying to get them to send referrals to my clinics versus in-house. That was my first exposure to working in healthcare. However, I found that sales made me constantly anxious because I was always held to a quota and stressed about meeting it, which just wasn't good for my personality. In college, I had worked in the Office of Admissions and loved it, so I decided to switch to higher education where I could feel more passionate about my work. I worked at St. Xavier University for a year and seven months, then at SIUE for 2 years and 9 months, doing really cool work with students. When the Assistant Director of events left SIUE, I became the interim, which helped me gain additional experience being in charge of really large events on campus. When I got pregnant, the first thing that came out of my mouth was 'I need a new job' because in higher ed, you don't do it for the money - the money is not great at all. You do it for the passion and making a difference in students' lives. My husband had worked for BJC, and in our area, BJC is the top healthcare system, so I had my eyes on BJC. When an events opening came up, I applied and got it. I have completely transformed the space from when I started, and they ended up adding another events person and are probably going to add another one, so the team is growing. I love it and think I'll be a BJC lifer. My role involves a lot of project management, and it differs per month - last month I had 6 networking events with hiring leaders from our different hospitals and students. I love these events because they integrate my higher ed experience, and I like to keep them non-intimidating, always telling students to be themselves and ask any questions. Right now, I'm planning two huge events: the Student Nurse Symposium, where top nursing students who have been nominated from their schools will hear from our CNO and a patient named Harper who has had over 10 brain surgeries, and the St. Louis Nurses Celebration at Chicken and Pickle, where we celebrate all the hard work that nurses do for our community with a band, giveaways, food, and drinks. I'm currently in BJC's ACTIVATE program, a leadership program where you have to be nominated by your boss because they see you as someone who should be in BJC's leadership.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Kayla

01What do you attribute your success to?

I would say my parents are a big part of my success. They really sacrificed a lot and had big, big expectations for us, always being our cheerleaders and providing a pathway. They saved up for college, and at 23, I bought my first house, which really helped me to get ahead. They made sure we were involved and really sacrificed to set us up for success. But then also, my husband was a big one in that. When I was going from sales to higher ed, that was quite a big pay cut, but he was like, 'I want you to find something that you're passionate about, something that's going to make you happy every single day.' If it weren't for that, I would probably still be in sales. It allowed me to truly know that money isn't everything, and sometimes it does take taking a step back and trying something else to figure out what your true passion is, because I wouldn't be where I am today if I wouldn't have made the switch.

02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

My biggest advice that I would give to young women in the industry is to not be afraid to try different things. Having majored in business administration, there are so many avenues one can pursue. While I started my career in sales, I learned it was not my passion. I then went on to working in higher education, which taught me additional skills that ultimately helped me to where I am today in planning corporate events. I think that if women are struggling on what to do in life, or having moments - we've all had times that we've worked for people that, you know, it wasn't the right fit - you learn in time where you belong. Where I work now, they love me, and I am my 100% authentic self, so it's like, always be yourself. You'll find the perfect fit, and it might take time, and don't be afraid to try different things.

03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

I would say a big one is that the number of students going into certain professions is decreasing, and just people are having less kids, so there are less candidates to recruit. The job is, you know, each and every year getting harder for hospitals, and you're competing more to get those students to come work for your hospital. But BJC is really working on this, and they just created the BJC Academy, and so BJC covers 100% of the costs. They created a whole new team for this, and they're focusing on underserved communities in St. Louis, letting them know that we have this free academy that will teach you how to be a PCT, and then we provide tuition assistance. So if you want to grow in the healthcare space, we provide that as part of your benefits so that they can continue growing in healthcare. This is all to combat these shortages of students going into certain fields, so that in the future we're not in trouble.

04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

Respect is really important to me. I work with so many people in my current role, and so you work with a lot of personalities, but I think everyone would say that I'm very respectful and caring. I'm very reliable - I stick to my word, and you can always count on me. I think, too, that the Lord is just really big for my family, and we just trust that there's a plan.

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