Tiffany Hughes

I'd say my family. My husband is my rock. I wouldn't be able to do any of this without him. He is 100% the reason why I am who I am today, and I'd say my kids motivate me and they push me to want to be better, so I would definitely say my family.

The best advice I ever received was from my previous CEO, Debbie James, who always told me to not be afraid to speak my mind. I know it's very simple and kind of common sense, but when you get into those rooms with higher-up individuals, it can be intimidating and overwhelming to where you don't know if you should say anything. You might feel like you're going to sound silly or that they'll think you don't know what's going on. But when she told me that, I took it to heart, and I definitely feel like that is why I'm in the role I am today. I speak my mind, and if I don't agree with something, I let it be known - and I always have stuff to back it up with proof and data, of course. I think that has earned me respect more than anything, because now people come to me for opinions on things they're working on. I've learned that my biggest asset is to speak my mind and share my thoughts and be upfront and honest and transparent. I feel like that's more appreciated than anything else so far in my career.

I tell them, don't be scared to speak up and speak your mind and fight for what you believe in. Sometimes it takes being bold to get things done, and to not be afraid to be emotional, because I feel like a lot of times women are told they're too emotional and they don't get moved up into leadership positions because they're always feeling things and expressing themselves. I say do it, because that is going to open doors that you didn't even know could be opened, especially if you get in front of the right people. So I'd say be bold and always trust your gut.

Definitely insurance. Anybody that has to deal with anything healthcare-related knows that's a pain in the butt, and it's no different for us. We're always advocating. We're actually going to be in Capitol Hill next week for our TRICARE families, because military insurance does not cover the treatment. We're going to be out there in person meeting with congressmen and women, trying to present our case and our ask of them to cover the treatment. We actually have two families who are going to come with us in person. Our organization actually started this particular treatment and we created the code for insurance, and it's always been a battle trying to get it covered because a lot of people consider it cosmetic. We've always had to battle with insurance, but I think in general, healthcare is having a pain with insurance everywhere. So I'd say that's the biggest challenge - just dealing with politics and that sort of thing when it comes to insurance.

I truly value transparency, and I think that's why I love working for Cranial Technologies, because the leaders I have had have always been honest about their intentions and why we're doing certain things. Companies are always going to have changes, and sometimes you don't understand it and might be confused about why we're doing these things, but I've always appreciated that they're transparent. I feel like we always have our families and our parents in mind when we make decisions, and that's something very important to me. Most businesses are obviously going to want to do what's best for the company and what's going to get us to budget and meet our goals in all of those data sets we have, but I've appreciated that we make decisions to help the business, but at the end of the day, if it's going to hurt our families being able to treat, we don't do it. Those are the things I appreciate - just the honesty with the company.