Lyndsey Murphy

I attribute my success to leading by example and showing my son that you can accomplish whatever you set your mind to, even when you don't have people to help you. Getting my dual master's while working full-time and being a mom, writing papers at his football practice, was important to me because I wanted to demonstrate that it's possible. My background in sales and marketing gave me an edge in understanding operations and communicating well with the community, which helped me in crisis work. I've always believed in hiring people smarter than me and working as a team, brainstorming together, because there's always something in the moment that I might not think of. My open-door policy and team-based approach have made my staff feel comfortable coming to me no matter what, and we work through challenges together. I also think having the courage to advocate for yourself is crucial, because if you don't advocate for yourself, who will? The worst somebody can say is no. My experience working with an attorney who emphasized education and mental health, combined with my natural gift for connecting with people, helped me find my purpose in this field.

Network and talk to as many people as you can in the field. Get to know and understand your demographic and what kinds of things start to interest you a little bit more so you can hone in on your focus. Find people that you feel like you align with and learn from them, just be a sponge for those people. Ask questions, be curious. My biggest advice is, if you don't advocate for yourself, who will? And what's the worst somebody can say? No. You just gotta have some courage, which is hard, but the more that you do it, it becomes natural. I also think it's important to know that in the mental health field, you can progress quicker and further as a female because it's a field where women have real opportunities to climb the corporate ladder.

The biggest challenges in my field are twofold. First, it is difficult work, and we're not always at the point where it pays much money. It can be difficult if you're trying to support your family because while you can climb up, it tends to not be a ton of money for the work that you do. Secondly, self-care is a huge challenge. You have to learn how to not take the work home with you. You're working with nothing but people that are in need, and that's tough to not take home. You have to learn how to balance and really work on your own self-care to make sure that you can do the job, because how can you take care of others if you can't take care of yourself? I also think therapists, especially community workers who go in the field and into people's homes dealing with psychosis, suicidal thoughts, and very scary situations, don't get emphasized nearly as much as they probably should compared to nurses and first responders.

The most important value to me is being of service to others and empowering them to know they can succeed. I want to let people know that I started from the ground up too, and it's very possible. If I can do it, they can. One of my favorite quotes really captures this: a sign of a good leader is not how many followers you have, but how many leaders you create. I believe people need to network and pick brains as much as they can to get that confidence to know that they can do it. Leading by example has always been important to me, especially showing my son that you can accomplish whatever you want even if there's not people to help you. I also value making a positive impact in my community and being part of something larger that creates real change.