1. What lessons have you learned throughout your life that have helped you in your career?

Something I learned a long time ago is to listen intently to what people are saying and pay attention to what they're saying because you learn a lot. This is true no matter what you’re doing, but certainly in your career, it's something that's very helpful.

2. What inspired you to form your own company, Commonwealth Care of Roanoke, in 2001?

After I left the company I had been with for 20 years, I formed another company with a developer, which I worked on for around 5 years. We developed old properties and facilities that needed to be replaced and turned around troubled facilities in the state of Virginia. It was our plan that we would sell them at some point. However, when we did end up selling, it was very hard for me because I'm an operator at heart, and I love the development piece. I knew I wanted to go out on my own because we had been successful with that venture, and I had the capital resources that I needed. While I wasn't opposed to selling before, I wanted to control my destiny and be able to create something reflective of me and my partners' values.

3. What is your favorite part of being chairman and chief executive officer of Commonwealth Care?

Generally speaking, I am more involved in strategic planning. If we're looking at a potential acquisition or development of a certain project, I am involved in the details of that. I'm also very big on the culture of the organization. One of the things I started early on with this company is making sure we live the culture we espouse to have. With COVID-19, I've been more involved in the day-to-day just to be an additional help, but the things I enjoy doing a lot now include fostering the company culture and working on strategic planning.

4. Could you describe your company’s culture?

Our tagline is Committed. Caring. Responsive. We want to be committed to doing things the right way, in a caring way. There are times when working with medicine and people, things don't always go how you'd like so you want to be responsive and make sure mistakes aren’t repeated. We treat our patients, our residents, and all of our employees the way we would like to be treated. We can't always say yes to everything an employee wants, for example, but we can respond to them, we can explain it, we can understand it, and we can be kind and considerate. We look for those qualities in the people we hire and try always to build and maintain those values. It’s crucial that you not only take care of people's health and medical needs but you also take care of that whole person and realize that quality of life makes such a huge difference. In regards to employees, we all spend a tremendous time at work, so it’s important to enjoy it as best as we can. There are always going to be challenges. At any company, it's not always going to be smooth sailing, but there will also be good times and you want to try to create a work environment that people will enjoy.

5. What skills have you learned from being on the GOVA Region 2 Council?

I’ve learned a great deal more about the mechanics of how economic development works, particularly in regards to the state as a whole. Seeing how some of that is handled has made me better at doing that sort of work in my own company. I also learned a lot about other companies and aspects of the economy that I haven’t dealt with directly.

6. How have you been able to transfer that knowledge to your role at Commonwealth Care?

Having worked so closely with Virginia Tech, there were certain things I was aware of by virtue of being involved with the university, but I have learned more about initiatives in the health technology arena in particular. In this region, we're strong in healthcare and life sciences, and it's always helpful for me to hear about what's going on in the region in the healthcare industry as well as other industries. For example, sometimes there is an IT discussion that comes before us, and I think about how this theory could be a possibility for the healthcare industry.

7. Is there anything GO Virginia has planned for the future that you are looking forward to?

I feel like we're being productive when I can follow the projects’ progress. I personally think regional development makes so much sense. It takes a while to see that because the projects don't happen overnight; they're in different phases. What I'm really looking forward to is seeing how the projects progress and come to fruition. If one isn't as successful as we hoped it would be, we can learn from that and focus on what we can do to improve for the future. I also always look forward to seeing what is being presented as the proposals come along. There is so much potential in the region given all the resources we have: our beautiful location, access to water, our universities, and our healthcare, manufacturing, and IT sectors.

8. Do you have a favorite memory/part of being a GO Virginia council member?

I have a couple of favorite memories. One was when we established how GO Virginia Region 2 was going to operate and function, which I really enjoyed. I also enjoyed when we broke out into three focus groups so that we could work on understanding employment and staffing difficulties, and how those issues dovetail with higher education or technical education. In the focus group I was in, there were folks from the four-year and community college system, from all various areas of the region. It was really interesting to share information and to see all the synergies that were there. I think it was a great foundation for being able to move forward in this region, so when somebody brings a proposal forward, we have a better understanding of how the people in Lynchburg, the New River Valley, Covington, or Clifton Forge are handling matters.

9. What activities do you like to take part in outside of work?

Now that I'm a grandmother, I love spending time with my little grandbaby. I really like to read, and gardening is my favorite hobby when the weather's nice. My husband and I really enjoy boating, and we love to travel.

10. What is your favorite vacation spot?

For more routine vacation spots, we go down to Sanibel Island in Florida. It’s a very nice, laid-back place, and we ride our bicycles to breakfast and lunch. Italy is one of my favorite places in the world to spend some time and we've been fortunate to travel to some pretty interesting places. We went to Antarctica a few years ago, which was really interesting and a very enjoyable trip. It was very different from anything else, and not the kind of thing you do every year. We also went to Croatia and really enjoyed that. I'd love to spend a little more time there. We enjoy boating so we also like going where there are beautiful islands. I love seeing visiting different parts of the world and spending a little time trying to get a sense of how people live there.