Influential Woman · Healthcare Vendor Management
Kendra Foy
PMP
Relationship coach, The Recoverist LLC
Atlanta, GA
Her Story
About Kendra
I started my career at Comcast as a field technician in 2002, working in people's homes and attics, up poles with steel-toed boots and a ladder. I had to prove all the guys wrong who thought I couldn't do it because I was 'too pretty' or had nails. Those same guys ended up reporting to me. When I reached the supervisor level, I chose to go into vendor management rather than field supervision because I appreciated being the liaison between the business and the suppliers, handling the day-to-day challenges. That path has been fulfilling for me, and it's just kind of gone up from there. I've been in vendor management ever since, working internationally across 13 countries in the BPO space, then moving into the healthcare and IT space. Now I work for Blue Cross Blue Shield, where since November 2023 I've been responsible for contracts up to $100 million, managing a portfolio of supplemental benefit suppliers for Florida Blue in the Medicare Advantage space. I work with vendors who provide services like vision, dental, transportation, and fitness for populations over 65, and I have to work with CMS and government regulatory groups to ensure our plans and suppliers meet Medicare compliance standards. What keeps me moving forward is constantly reinventing myself and continuing to stretch and grow so that I stay challenged and fulfilled. No matter what comes my way, I'm open to find a solution and look for the opportunity and growth that will elevate me.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Kendra
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think the thing that has kept me continuing to move forward is constantly reinventing myself and continuing to stretch myself and to grow, so that I stay challenged, so that I stay fulfilled, so that no matter what comes my way, I'm open to find a solution. I don't get caught up in the 'oh God, this happened to me, why me' mentality. I always look forward and ask what's the opportunity, what's the growth here, what's the path forward that's going to elevate me? I look at life a lot different than the way other people do. Where some people would give up, I see things differently. My entire immediate family is gone - my mom, dad, father, grandmother, everybody above me is wiped out, and I buried my brother last year. But for me, that just means that I'm now the matriarch of this family. I have to stand up and carry forward the traditions and values of those before me, and help my son who's now married, instilling things to him and his wife and preparing them for their children. Life happens, and we all have that appointment one day, but to me it's just life, and how can I show up and make the time that my family and loved ones and friends experience me something that will live on well past when I'm gone.
02What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I appreciate being able to be part of an organization that helps people and offers something meaningful and adds something meaningful to people's lives. If I'm going to work somewhere, it has to be somewhere where I feel like the work that I contribute is going to make a difference for someone, which is why I really settled in and leaned into the healthcare space. Even though I'm doing it from maybe a mile away, I'm still contributing to that person's life. I may not be reaching out and touching our members personally, but what I do contributes to their experience, and their health, and their well-being. It's always that - somewhere I have to be helping people. In my personal life, I have to stand up and carry forward the traditions and values of those before me. I want to show up and make the time that my family and loved ones and friends experience me something that will live on well past when I'm gone.
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