Mary Kate Thompson, RN

I grew up with a mother that was very similar in mindset. She grew up very poor and didn't always have much to eat, and she would tell me these stories, but she was one of the most generous people you will ever know. She died this year, but she would take her clothes off her body to give to you if you need something. I would say my mother's influence had a lot of impact on me. I've lived in a lot of different scenarios - I've been married, I've been a single mom, I've been stretched for extra money, I've been comfortable. I think there's a lot of people out there working really hard to try to make ends meet and have jobs, and it's still extremely hard, especially the single moms and single parents. I've been there, and I know what it's like, so that fulfills me as well, knowing that I'm helping in some way.

Having work-life balance makes you a better professional. There's been times where I worked a lot just to sort of climb that ladder, right? And the only way to be able to sustain a professional job is you have to take the time for yourself and then for your family, or you won't sustain that high level. So making sure you have that nice balance and taking time - whether it's starting a new hobby or getting involved with something like I do - getting yourself away from the grind is really, really important. The times that I didn't do that work-life balance is when I've almost walked away.

You have to be resilient and be okay with people saying no. If you're the kind that the door closes and you want to not go back and knock on it again, that's not the right field for you. Because it's a lot of no's before you get any yeses. Whether that's sales, marketing, fundraising, it's all the same. You have to have resilience and you have to have a strong backbone. So if that's not your personality, do not go into this. But if it is, you could do great things with it, and it is a great career. I've been doing it for 25 years in some shape or form. Have resilience, be strong, but make sure it's something you find joy in and you want to do, because it's a hard job. You need to find joy in it and have thick skin.

I think right now, given the issues we're having with inflation and politics, people aren't feeling like they want to give anymore. So raising funds and raising awareness and people gifting to us is extremely hard. We don't take that for granted. But getting people to volunteer their time as well is very hard these days, because I think people are burned out and tired after work. Whether it's giving their money or their time is extremely challenging in the world we live in now.

I think that it's important even in the professional world to somehow give back to the community, whether it be as a team in the workplace, but like volunteering your time. A lot of people don't have the money to give, but they have their time, so I think making sure that we present as one in the community is very important to me. I love the idea of my child needs a procedure and you're not gonna get turned away because you don't have a co-pay. I love the idea of I don't have fresh groceries for my family, so you can drive through and you don't have to be embarrassed by it. There's plenty of people that are not just considered poor, I'm talking about middle class that are really struggling to take care of their families. So to me, it's my way of helping educate the community and give back, and especially women and single women, that just lays sort of heavy on my heart at times because I've been there and I know what it's like.