Her Story
About Mary
Mary Howe is a nurse practitioner based in Navarre, Florida. Since March 2020, she has reviewed medical disability claims for veterans to ensure timely processing of benefits that support their well-being and help prevent veteran suicide. She also works as a sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE), providing on-call examinations and evidence collection in coordination with law enforcement. Prior to this role, Howe spent eight years in Air Force Special Operations as an aerial gunner on the AC-130U, completing four deployments, which fostered her commitment to the veteran community. She earned a master's degree as a family nurse practitioner from Chamberlain University and is certified by the ANCC. Howe attributes her success to discipline through consistent micro-decisions and values integrity, personal growth, and service-oriented leadership above all.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Mary
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think being disciplined. It's understanding that you're not going to have landslide decisions every day. It's the micro-decisions that you make every day to just move the needle. And consistently doing that, and it's not going to look like anything in the day-to-day, but just knowing that you have to do it. Those are going to be the things that I think that have really helped me stay on track, is when it's hard, just push through it and do those one, two, three things, even.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Everybody learns something. It's everywhere. I always keep learning. Never stop.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Don't expect the confidence to come on the first day. Don't let that stop you. We get so caught up that we're gonna show up on day one and be confident. The fact is, you have to kind of stumble through, and that's okay, because those missteps and areas where maybe you get it wrong are going to help build the road to get it right, and that's where the confidence comes.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Integrity is number one. Personal growth. And then, service-oriented leadership. Those three are like my go-to.
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