“My mom was a caregiver and my sister was a licensed vocational nurse. I knew I wanted to be a nurse, but I didn’t have any work experience, and I hadn’t gone to college. I was already married with four children, so I did whatever I could to get my first job at a hospital. I started out as a housekeeper. Even at that time, I set out to be the best. I just thought if I’m going to be a housekeeper, I’m going to be the greatest housekeeper I can be. As I learned more and more at the hospital, I also started to learn in the classroom. The nurses I worked with at John Peter Smith Hospital encouraged me to enroll in the hospital’s nursing diploma program. So I graduated from John Peter Smith School of Nursing. After that, I earned a bachelor’s degree from The University of Texas at Arlington and earned a master’s degree from Texas Woman’s University.
After all these years, one lesson sticks out to me. What I’ve learned is that no job is too little. That stuck with me as I was moving up the ranks. When I was a nurse, I was the greatest nurse I could be. When I started in management, I was going to be the greatest manager I could be. So on and so forth. Every job is an important one. No matter what it is, you should give your best effort.”
