Leading With Heart and Purpose | Kathleen Lee

Kathleen Lee: I think creating the culture for us, whether it’s, you know, patients coming in and being really thankful and just being happy to come in and seeing the staff that we have, and also just knowing the fact that we’re a

very collaborative team and that people enjoy coming to work, and I think that’s what I’m really proud of, of being part of this Reston ENT because you’re here most of your day and you wanna make sure whether it’s patients coming walking in the door or staff or you know, providers coming in.

I think that having that kind of culture that we’re a team, that we work well and we wanna be here to provide the best care for our patients efficiently, effectively, but also and compassionately. I think that’s really important to me.

Anderson Williams: Welcome to Everyday Heroes, the podcast from Shore Capital Partners that highlights the people who are building our companies from the inside every day, often out of the spotlight.

With this series, we wanna pull those heroes out of the shadows. We want to hear their stories, we want to share their stories. We wanna understand what drives them, why they do what they do, how they might inspire and support others to become everyday heroes too.

In this episode, I talk with Kathleen Lee, the Practice Administrator at Reston

ENT, which is part of SENTA Partners Kathleen’s everyday hero journey at SENTA started long before SENTA and long before she was even a practice administrator or working in healthcare for that matter.

For 15 years, Kathleen worked part-time as a biller for Reston as she balanced work with being a stay-at-home mom with three children. Her college degree is actually an education which she put to use early in her career as an elementary school teacher. Today she runs what her Everyday Hero nomination calls the best practice at SENTA.

Kathleen Lee: My name is Kathleen and I’m the Practice Administrator for Reston ENT. Our practice is located probably about 30 to 45 minutes outside the Washington DC area.

I have been a practice administrator here since 2019, right before COVID. And before then I used to work part-time as the biller for this practice for, gosh, I would say over 16 maybe, yeah, 15 years as a medical part-time for the practice before coming on full-time as an office for the practice administrator here.

My interest level varies really, but I love all things art. I feel like I’m a very creative person. I love working with my hands. I like creating things, implementing and seeing it from beginning to end. I love hiking. We try to go once a month with a group of friends doing that. I have a loving husband. I have three grown kids, college level and up. So just really excited to be here.

Anderson Williams: It’s not every day that I get the opportunity to talk about art at work, so I definitely wanted to hear more about that passion and where it comes from for Kathleen,

Kathleen Lee: I think I’ve always enjoyed anything creative. I think there’s a little bit of maybe something that’s part of my family that I know that have relatives who are really into art. I love drawing. I love working with my hands, just creating thing, any kind of crafting, building things. I think there’s just always a knack and desire.

I love going to Home Depot. I mean, it’s just, you know, I have friends who are like Home Depot, what? I just love looking at things and how things are built. If I had a way of, you know, redoing my house, I would by myself and that’s one of the things I’m hoping to do later in life with my husband. But yeah, I just loved every aspect of it.

I didn’t really have the opportunity to study it when I was going in through high school and college, but it had always been some kind of a creative bent that I’ve always enjoyed.

Anderson Williams: I think what you’re describing is something that I learned is that creative process wasn’t something that I liked to do. It was something I discovered was about who I am. It wasn’t really a choice.

Kathleen Lee: I completely agree. Yeah. ’cause I think some people are just born a certain way with certain gifts and talents. I. And I think I just have a desire or just like a leaning towards things. I’m looking at things in a creative way.

When I was a stay-at-home mom at a certain point even, or just throughout the, you know, raising them, I did incorporate crafts or any kind of thing that would really open their eyes to making new things and kind of putting art into it.

Anderson Williams: So you were, you said 16 years with Reston as a biller and then became the practice administrator back in 19.

Talk a little bit about that transition and why it happened and how it happened.

Kathleen Lee: Yeah, I think it just happened organically. I knew the practice, you know, early on just being, working from home as a biller. And then I guess around that time, the previous practice administrator was retiring and, uh, the owner at that time, the provider asked me if I wanted to take, come on board and, and thought that I had the skills and ability to do so, which I was a little hesitant about it in the beginning, to be honest with you, but I was able to decide it.

Okay, let me give it a try. And since September. I even know the exact date, September 26th, 2019, when I came full-time on board as a practice administrator here.

Anderson Williams: And when you think about that transition, you were working part-time, also assume focused on raising your kids, and then mmhmm. Transitioning full-time into work and into a new role.

What was the biggest challenge for you? What’s the area you had to grow most to make that transition?

Kathleen Lee: I would say, I think multitasking. I think I’m very good at multitasking, to be honest, and being able to adapt to change, you know? ‘Cause I was a stay-at-home mom for a long time and then working part-time from home and then transitioning from there.

I feel like those two areas helped me be able to adapt to change and also knowing the fact that my kids were kind of older so that I felt comfortable and feeling they could, you know, handle mom not being always there. So, I think with the level of that and the comfort level and the desire to try something new, I think that really helped me.

Anderson Williams: Well, and I’m sure just a stage of life and being able to focus, knowing that your kids were becoming more self-sustaining, I won’t say self-sustaining, but getting there, you know, enabling you to kind of turn back to your own professional growth, I imagine.

Kathleen Lee: Absolutely. I think knowing the fact that I knew that my kids were gonna be fine without mom always being home. So, I think that was really one of the driving forces. And also, the aspect of this is an opportunity for me to grow as a person.

And not to say that being a practice administrator was something that I went to school for. And actually, I went to UVA. I grew up in northern Virginia. Went to grade school here all the way through college level, and I actually, my degree is in education, so I was a schoolteacher, elementary school teacher for a long time for at least, you know, until I had kids.

Anderson Williams: Well, now we’re getting really interesting.

We’ve got art and education. Tell me about that background and what you know and learn from that experience being an educator and how does that play into your practice administration?

Kathleen Lee: I think it really, it’s two different areas for sure, but it’s ability to adapt, to change, knowing to be, you know, think quick on your feet.

Also, lots of organization, and also knowing how to set expectations of whether it’s in the classroom or in at the practice, that when you’re clearly communicate, you know your goals, what to do for the day, and be able to communicate that clearly. I think anything that you do can be successful.

Those two areas. It seems so far apart, but I feel like in terms of what I did at the school level, in the classroom can transition. It’s just very obvious at the practice too, so.

Anderson Williams: Let’s take a step back and for anybody listening who’s not familiar with what it means to be a practice administrator, and particularly in the ENT space, will you just describe your role and then talk a little bit about what ENT is and kind of what falls under the ear, nose, throat allergy kind of space.

Kathleen Lee: Yeah, I mean ENT, you could think of all aspects of ear, nose, and throat. I mean even on the head, so you could just concentrate on that. I mean, we do very common cases, cold cases, full cases where you know, they might go see a primary care initially, but they’re not feeling any better. Then they might be referred to our specialists here, but we could also see a hearing.

Issues. Something as simple as ear cleaning, getting things foreigners out of your ear to serious cases like cancer or skin cancer that our specific providers are able to do. They do sinus cases, thyroid issues. One of the really popular things that comes to our uh, practice is ringing in ears, dizziness, and vertigo.

Just a lot of various things. Anything that’s concentrated for, you know, the head space and ear, nose, and throat that we are able to see patients for.

Anderson Williams: And what does it mean to be a practice administrator in that setting?

Kathleen Lee: Gosh, you know, as a practice administrator for Westin, I think I wear many hats at our practice.

I’m the only administrator currently right now for, uh, practice. So, I could, you know, just basically making sure that our practice is run smoothly day to day in the front as well, in the back level, and then of course on the business side as well. Basically, ultimately our goal is to provide, you know, exceptional care for our patients, but at the same time doing it efficiently and our everyday workflow is smooth, and that for the providers too, as well as our staff, that everybody is happy coming to work and also being cared for when they come to our office.

Anderson Williams: Your Everyday Hero nomination said that Reston, and specifically it said you run the best practice at SENTA.

Kathleen Lee: I’m not sure what that means. I’m not sure why I got no notification on that, to be honest with you, but.

Anderson Williams: I don’t know why, but it’s really impressive. So, I want to hear you talk about how you approach your work and what it means to do that level of work in your role.

Kathleen Lee: Well, to be honest, I think for us, one of the core values for SENTA is teamwork. For us as a practice, even before joining SENTA, collaboration and teamwork is the essence of our practice across whether it’s amongst the providers. Or with, as a staff team or as a whole practice together, I think we do an exceptional job of working together.

That’s the culture that we try to create for our staff, our providers. I think without them, there’s no way that I could do what I do every day, whether it’s front desk medical assistants or audiologists, or physician assistants, or provider, or physicians themselves. They all contribute to make our practice successful.

So, I don’t necessarily, it’s all about me. I definitely think that it’s all of us working together to achieve the status that SENTA has allocated to us, which is amazing and great. Very thankful to hear that.

Anderson Williams: This was a classic, everyday hero answer. I’ve yet to meet an everyday hero who likes to talk about her own accomplishments rather than speaking to the successes and contributions of her team.

It seems to be a fundamental characteristic of those who are making the kind of impact Kathleen is clearly making at Reston and across SENTA. For further context, I asked Rob Collins, the COO of SENTA, and the person who nominated Kathleen, to share more about the scope and scale of SENTA and why Kathleen stands out as an Everyday Hero.

Rob Collins: We are an ENT, an allergy multi-site healthcare organization across seven states. We’ve got close to a hundred doctors and a hundred other advanced practitioners within 75 offices. We’ve been around for five years and treat over a million patients a year.

Anderson Williams: In your Everyday Hero nomination for Kathleen, you mentioned that she runs the best practice in the network.

Will you describe, given that size and scale and scope of where SENTA is today, what that means to you and what makes a great practice from where you sit?

Rob Collins: Yeah, Kathleen’s a model administrator for us. She treats her patients, her employees, and her practice like her own. This includes treating everyone like a friend when they walk in the door as a patient treating the providers.

Our motto is built to serve. Treating like the providers and our patients, like people we were meant to serve and, and that’s what we’re here to do. And then certainly managing the financials of the business and the ins and outs of everyday operations like she would again, do her own business. She’s quick to help and support others.

A leader within our 15 to 16 practice administrator group cohort. So, it means a lot. It means a lot to have her as an experienced administrator that has proven success. To be able to step up and also share best practices and help others across the network who may not be as experienced.

Anderson Williams: And what do you think makes her good at that, right?

That she can both do the relationship side with patients, with your team, as well as the business side in terms of running the day-to-day practice, the financials and so forth. Like what makes her good?

Rob Collins: Yeah. I think these are big businesses that they’re running, and she runs it like a big business, but she’s not above any task.

So, if it requires getting into the weeds or checking in a patient or cleaning a room, right? She’s always there to step in. And what that gives her is an understanding of every single process in the business end to end. So, I think that she’s always open to saying yes, very supportive of both the patients and the clinicians, and no task is too small or, or, uh, above her.

If you will.

Anderson Williams: I love this mindset of no task is too small, which goes back to something Rob said at the beginning of our conversation. Kathleen treats the practice as if it’s her own. Every successful entrepreneur and leader I’ve ever interviewed or worked with surrounds themselves with people. With this kind of mentality.

People who feel that pride and responsibility in their work, people who understand we all succeed through others. People who can build the system and know when it’s time just to step in and get things done. So, I wanted to come back to Kathleen and learn more about what drives her. When you think about what you’ve shared from being a parent of adult children, from being an educator, from your passion and identity as a creator and a creative in the arts and in the craft space, and when you think about your work, what drives you?

What’s the thing that really, if you had to tap into what drives Kathleen, what is it?

Kathleen Lee: I think I’m always looking for ways to improve things. Making sure our current systems, systems set in place, they’re working, and if they’re not, then we’re always looking for ways to improve. And I think sometimes that creative level kind of come in and help contribute to that and making sure that those implementations are done well.

It’s all about creating things and making sure it’s about efficiency without. Compromising, you know, caring for our patients here and making sure the workflow is great and that our staff is happy at the same time, as well as being able to, ’cause you know, you wanna be able to come to work and be glad to come into work.

And so, I think for me, that’s important as well as making sure the systems that I created using my creative background and to try to make sure that our patients is cared for it well.

Anderson Williams: Kathleen Lee is an Everyday Hero whose superpower is her sense of ownership. During this nomination and interview process, I received an email from Robert Foster, the Vice President of Operations at Centa, who wanted to share his own perspective on Kathleen’s nomination.

His words sum it up better than mine. He said Kathleen embodies the true meaning of a practice leader. She has never once brought me an issue without having an accompanying solution to walk through with me. Moreover, in every interaction, she always puts her staff first. Kathleen is a Practice Administrator who cares, and it shows she runs a tight ship.

She does what’s best for the practice. Kathleen embodies the run it and lead it like you own it mentality.

If you enjoyed this episode, check out our other Everyday Heroes at www.shorecp.university/podcasts. There you will also find episodes from our Microcap Moments as well as Bigger. Stronger. Faster. series. Each highlighting the people and stories that make the lower middle market space unique.

This podcast was produced by Shore Capital Partners and recorded in the

Andrew Malone podcast Studio with story and narration by Anderson Williams. Recording and editing by Austin Johnson. Editing by Reel Audiobooks. Sound design, mixing, and mastering by Mark Galup of Reel Audiobooks.

Special thanks to Kathleen Lee and Rob Collins.

This podcast is a property of Shore Capital Partners, LLC. None of the content herein is investment advice, an offer of investment advisory services, nor a recommendation or offer relating to any security. See the terms of use page on the Shore Capital website for other important information nation.