From Risk-Averse to Risk-Ready: Katie Davis, MS, RN, AGACNP-BC on Learning to Say Yes in Healthcare Startups
- Mar 25
- 24 min read
Just because you are doing everything right clinically does not mean the organization will survive.
In this episode, Helen sits down with Katie Davis, a nurse practitioner and clinician executive who has spent more than two decades building care models across hospital systems and early-stage healthcare startups. Katie has served as a founding and early clinical leader in multiple venture-backed companies, helping design and operationalize care for high-risk populations in fast-moving environments.
Katie shares her path from taking a 50 percent pay cut to join her first telehealth startup to spending five years building a clinically successful company that ultimately shut down. She reflects on the hard lessons that came with that experience and how it reshaped the way she leads.
Together, Helen and Katie unpack the shift many clinicians struggle with in startups, moving from being the person who flags every risk to the leader who says yes and figures out how to make it work. They explore the tension between mission and margin, why a growth mindset matters more than perfection, and how failure becomes a necessary teacher when building something new.
Now running her own fractional leadership practice, Health Shift Leaders, Katie is focused on helping clinicians learn the business of healthcare faster and with fewer painful lessons. This conversation is full of honest insight for any clinician navigating startup leadership, uncertainty, and growth.
Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments
Katie took a 50 percent pay cut to join her first telehealth startup after a physician colleague recruited her
Her first startup built telehealth for skilled nursing facilities before it was commonly done.
After five years of strong clinical outcomes, the company shut down because it was not profitable; reimbursement codes did not yet exist for the service
Katie shifted from pointing out obstacles to saying yes and figuring out how to make things work
She had to reframe a risk-averse mindset to risk-ready
The shutdown taught her that mission alone cannot sustain a company without margin
At her second startup, Katie scaled clinical operations from zero to 15,000 patients per month
Clinicians need to shift from a fixed mindset focused on avoiding mistakes to a growth mindset that embraces learning
Katie spent nearly 10 years in startups before launching Health Shift Leaders, her fractional leadership practice
She is building a company to teach clinicians the business of healthcare
Board relationships from her first startup created opportunities years later
Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode
"Just because you are doing everything right clinically does not mean the organization is going to survive. You need to blend clinical expertise with operations and financial lens, making sure you go after mission and margin." - Katie Davis
"I learned to say sounds good, great idea, and this is what we will need to do to make it happen, rather than articulating why it would be difficult." - Katie Davis
"Clinicians often have a fixed mindset and want to avoid making mistakes. A growth mindset recognizes that mistakes are going to help you learn." - Katie Davis
"Failure was never okay from the clinical perspective. It is a big mindset shift to say I can fail, and I want to fail fast so I can learn fast." - Katie Davis
"Finding a way to be more on the yes train is key. Sounds good, let us find a way to make it work versus instantly being the devil's advocate." - Helen Tanner
"Most clinicians struggle with entrepreneurial roles because we are so built to be risk averse. Changing that language is key." - Helen Tanner
"Coming from clinical medicine you have so many colleagues to fall back on. But clinicians in startup space had very little community four or five years ago." - Helen Tanner
Mentioned in the episode:
About Katie
Katie Davis is a board-certified adult gerontology acute care nurse practitioner and advanced forensic nurse with over 20 years of experience across hospital systems, health tech, telemedicine, and post-acute care. She has served as a founding and early clinical leader in multiple healthcare startups, building and scaling clinical operations for high-risk populations.
Katie spent five years at her first telehealth startup serving skilled nursing facilities and four years at her second startup, where she was the first nurse practitioner hired and helped scale operations to 15,000 patients per month. She is the founder of HealthShift Leaders, a fractional leadership practice, and is building a new company focused on teaching clinicians the business of healthcare.
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Blog Transcript:
Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies
Helen Tanner: Okay. One of the things that I've learned while working in healthcare startups is how much the job changes once you move from being the clinical ex expert, as a practicing clinician to being responsible for how care actually operates. And Katie Davis has lived that transition more than once. Katie's board certified adult gerontology, acute care nurse practitioner.
And advanced forensic nurse, um, with over 20 years of experience across hospital systems, health, health tech, telemedicine, and post-acute care. She served as a founding and early clinical leader in multiple startups, helping build and operationalize care models for high risk populations and very fast moving environments.
And what I really appreciate about Katie's perspective, especially from the breadth of her path from np. From our end to np, the clinical executive is the way that she's evolved. We really connected over LinkedIn and I really have always, um, really felt that you're writing and what you speak about is so relatable as a clinical startup leader.
So I am very, very excited to talk to you today and I very much appreciate your time and so welcome.
Katie Davis: Thank you. I appreciate that very kind introduction.
Helen Tanner: Yes, of course. So, um, Katie, I just wanna ask, when did you first realize that your career might w well might extend, um, beyond a traditional clinical setting?
Katie Davis: That's a great question. Uh, I think, uh, in all honesty, I hadn't thought about it at all, uh, until I was approached with an opportunity. So one of the physicians that I was working with in, uh, the emergency department, just brick and mortar emergency department, um, I had taken on a leadership role, uh, in ED at that point and, um, was actually gonna be moving into my next job.
And he called me one day and said, uh, what are you doing? Uh, I could use some help. I, I need one of the best operators I know. Uh, and I said, well, ironically, uh, I just took my first summer off in a very long time. I was planning to take a little break, uh, between positions and I was two weeks in and I was already bored.
So. I decided, uh, I would go help him out. I very much assumed, in all honesty at that time, that I was going to start my other job that I was offered. Uh, but that turned into a couple of weeks. Uh, living in New York. I was actually in, uh, Boston at the time.
Helen Tanner: Oh.
Katie Davis: So I lived in New York, uh, with some of the founding team members.
Couple weeks turned into the month, uh, and then declining the position that I was actually gonna go start. Um, so took the classic, uh, I think it was probably at least a 50% pay cut at the time and, and some equity and, and took a leap. Uh, so I don't think I ever really realized I was gonna make that transition until it was the opportunity was right in front of me.
Helen Tanner: What made you decide that the 50% cut, um, you know, the potential guarantee, you know, potential quote, guarantee of equity at the end with the sell. Um, you know, I guess what made you decide to take that leap from a real, from a very like, protected, stable job in the hospital?
Katie Davis: Good question. Honestly, uh, I was at a point in my life where I could mm-hmm.
Right. Like I, um, I didn't have kids, family, right? Like other responsibilities. Uh, and I was pretty financially stable luckily at the time. So I was able, and I realized how lucky I was to be kind of afforded that opportunity to take the leap. Uh, what made me. Take that leap though with all the uncertainty.
It just, I had so much fun when I originally joined as like the volunteer to help them. Um, and I knew I was kind of hooked after that point. I just absolutely fell in love with building, uh, clinical organizations.
Helen Tanner: Yeah, I, there is something, it's crazy overwhelming to be there really early, but then at some point it does kind of get contagious and you, and it becomes, um, so exciting and energizing to be in that and build and be so strategic.
Um, so I can relate to that. That's, that's really neat. So what, that was your first exposure to working in startup in the Yeah. Um. I guess what surprised you most about that environment?
Katie Davis: Uh, well that was many years, so that was five years in my first startup. Okay. Which is honestly pretty unheard of for most startups and, and organizations.
Helen Tanner: Yes.
Katie Davis: Um, so a lot changed over five years, uh, both personally and professionally. Uh, so. I think what surprised me the most, uh, throughout the entire kind of endeavor or, or something I, I kinda had to get used to was being, uh, a clinician in kind of the startup world. Uh, I was lucky in that. One of the founding team members was the physician, like I mentioned.
Okay. Right. Um, so there was always this sense of do what's best for the patient. Everything else will fall into place and, um. The organization was also part of yc. So we were steeped in build something people want or need. Right. Um, and, and they will come. And honestly, we did well over those five years.
But it was so early, uh, that company was a telehealth company. Mm-hmm. That, uh, skilled nursing facilities to avoid unnecessary hospitalizations. And that sounds common today because it is, but we were so early, there was no code set to reimburse us for what we were doing.
Helen Tanner: Yeah.
Katie Davis: So we were just building.
Assuming it would all kind of fall into place. And by year five, unfortunately it didn't. Uh, that said we had created a new market. There were competitors in the space that weren't there when we started. Uh, and just a year later, COVID hits and all the code sets came into play.
Helen Tanner: Oh my gosh. So after that experience.
Where did you land next?
Katie Davis: So I ended up doing, uh, some call it kind of consulting. Mm-hmm.
Helen Tanner: Leadership.
Katie Davis: Mm-hmm. Work, uh, in the post-acute space still. Uh, so I was a kinda executive advisor to CEO. Uh, I did that for a year and, uh, that was actually. At a brick and mortar location, uh, in New York. And, um, we decided to move, uh, out of New York.
So after that, ironically, similar timing, I had an outreach from a board member from the original startup that said, Hey, I am on the board of another entity. They're looking for a COO. Would you be interested? And I ended up meeting with, uh, the CEO of that, uh, organization. They were going through a significant pivot.
They, uh, were. Just starting to provide more skilled based clinical services. And then we're gonna be moving into provider-based services, uh, and billing. And ultimately I identified that. I wasn't interested in the COO position at the time. Uh, but shortly thereafter I took their, uh, head of clinical operations position.
Uh, 'cause I really liked blending the clinical and the operations. Mm-hmm. Uh, not necessarily just straight focused on operations at the beginning of that organization.
Mission Without Margin - When Great Clinical Work Is Not Enough
Helen Tanner: So you mentioned. You know, a board member reached out to you. Um, what was your interaction at that first company with the board? Was it quite frequent?
You know, what was, what were what? Help us understand kind of what can be expected with, I guess, board interaction a little bit.
Katie Davis: Yeah, so at the first startup, uh, because I was on the executive leadership team, I was interacting with the board a fair amount and also because I was really in that core founding team.
So, uh, I was at the board meetings, board dinners, uh, and had interactions that way. I wasn't ultimately though, interacting with these board members. Frequently elsewhere. Um, so I think it was, it was honestly a little surprising for me when I got that outreach from the board member. Um, 'cause I, I hadn't, during that time, I didn't assume I made any significant impact, right.
Uh, on, on, uh, the board. But obviously I. I wasn't Right. Which was great.
Helen Tanner: Yes. Compliment to your, to your success, your work. Well done. Um, so when you were going from a clinical space, you know, you were, you were in the hospital setting, then you joined the startup and now you're in front of, you know, board investors.
Tell, tell me about how you learned it, that speak, you know, if you will. How did you learn the business speak? You know, did you have any moments where you really struggled with how to translate your clinical expertise and then wear a different hat and be able, and then have to speak and the business language and share with us about that?
Katie Davis: Great question. I, um, it honestly just took a lot of time. Yeah. So I watched, I listened, uh, I, there were certain individuals that we ended up bringing in at various times that had, uh, different expertise on the business side. So I always made sure to learn everything I could, uh, and in startups.
Everything's a crash course. You're doing so much so quickly that you do actually gain a, a significant amount of knowledge in a short period of time. I would say I. Maybe the like pinnacle business learning, though, at that first startup was when we were shutting down. Mm-hmm. Uh, it was five years. We had done great work.
We were serving patients, showing great outcomes. Really almost everything you could ask for from a clinical perspective. Right. Uh, but we just, we weren't profitable.
Helen Tanner: Mm-hmm.
Katie Davis: Still, and yes. There are macroeconomics, right? And there are a lot of things that were going on at the time. That, uh, were causing maybe a little bit more friction with fundraising, but that happens on a regular basis, right?
It's a constant kind of rollercoaster whether or not folks are investing in startups, not investing in startups, and what they're looking for in a startup. Uh, so because we didn't have a clean reimbursement structure for what we were doing, it just ultimately. Didn't last. Uh, and I think that that, like, that moment was, uh, kind of unfortunate.
It was obviously sad that we had to shut the organization down. Uh, hugely eyeopening though, to recognize that just because you're doing everything right clinically. Doesn't mean the organization is going to work or survive, and that really you need to blend the clinical experience and expertise with the operations and financial lens.
Ultimately, making sure that not only are you going after the mission, but also the margin.
Helen Tanner: Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's so important. 'cause as we know, that is such a huge tension and why so many clinicians are leaving medicine because that margin push can be really significant enough to drive clinicians away.
But then on the other hand. The clinician push can be so hard that then you don't have enough margin to stay. So it really is about that balance. And um, obviously we're in the thick of that con, you know, continue to be, um, about, um. You know, you mentioned you learned the most or, or, or a notable part of your crash course in, in, in business speak, or the business world came towards the end, especially when you were closing.
Now did you have, was there a runway there? Was it kind of becoming very evident and so in six months this is we'll close, or Oh, is it like, no, we're gonna go ahead and close, you know, tomorrow.
Katie Davis: Um, those decisions are always somewhat quick. It's not tomorrow usually. Right. But it's within months.
Helen Tanner: Mm-hmm.
Katie Davis: Uh, where you're still debating are you gonna take additional funds?
Mm-hmm. Are you like, how are you gonna structure it? And, uh, that first organization was offered additional funds. Uh, the CEO decided to decline them actually, uh, because he just didn't feel with his clinician hat on, uh, that. Uh, limping along with a kind of a smaller amount of money and maybe having to do layoffs would serve the patients and the organization well.
Um, so it, it wasn't necessarily fast, but I guess it, it wasn't, it wasn't out of the blue. Mm-hmm. Um, but it's, it's always, uh, something that you never quite know what's gonna happen until it actually happens.
Helen Tanner: So you mentioned your next step eventually landed a leadership oppor clinical operational role in another startup.
Explain. This startup landscape, if you will. Were you on that founding team? Were they, you know, series A series? Tell us about kind of what that looked like when you entered.
Katie Davis: Yeah, good question. Uh, so the second startup was actually interesting in that, uh, they had been a home health. A tech enabled home health agency, uh, for, for non-skilled, uh, care, and, uh, realized that they needed to make a really significant pivot and wanted to move into the provider space.
So I was the first nurse practitioner and head of clinical operations that was hired for that organization. Setting up everything from the professional corporations, right, with the, the legal team and all of those nuances all the way through. I was the one seeing our first patients and then building and scaling until we were seeing.
Upwards of 15,000 patients a month, and, uh, wearing probably every single hat along the way, uh, as as we built.
Helen Tanner: Wow. Well done. And how now did that company, how long did you stay with that company?
Katie Davis: I stayed with that company for four years. Uh, so again, another,
Helen Tanner: yeah,
Katie Davis: long stint for, uh, a, a healthcare startup.
And, um, I decided to leave that organization. Uh, I thought it was time after almost 10 years to step off of the startup rollercoaster, uh, and. Really wanted to, to build my own thing.
Helen Tanner: Mm-hmm.
Katie Davis: Uh, so that is when I started my fractional leadership practice as well. Uh, and I actually ended up taking a, another full-time role, uh, but ultimately a year after launched my, uh, like launched into full-time doing fractional leadership and consulting work.
From Devil's Advocate to Yes And - Changing the Language
Helen Tanner: So. What operational skills did you, you know, learn from the first startup that you brought into the second startup? Is there anything that you did differently or that you really learned the first time around and thought, okay, this time I'm gonna do it this way?
Katie Davis: Oh, absolutely. Uh, you learn so much and honestly you learn the most by the things you wish you had done differently.
Uh, so there were a lot of yeses in the second startup, right? So as clinicians were change, were really trained in quality compliance, right? Um. Operations and startups operate off of vision and future and moving quickly, which doesn't always, it's not always synonymous with the highest quality care, the most compliance there can be.
Right? Uh, so instead of where in the first startup I was often looking for. Ways in which the thing I was being presented wouldn't work, right. I was trying to, what I thought I was doing was trying to help people by poking holes and saying like, oh, like that's not gonna happen because of this. But in reality, I think it.
Folks felt like maybe I was, um, blocking or, or not open to kind of the growth that was needed for the organization. Uh, and so for the second organization, I, uh, had another visionary, CEO that I was working for. And really just learn to say more along the lines of, sounds good, like great idea, and this is what we'll need to do to make it happen.
Uh, rather than articulating maybe why it would be difficult or the obstacles along the way.
Helen Tanner: I think this is so key. I, I, I think this is one of the biggest takeaways for clinician clinicians, clinician leaders entering startups. You know, taking out that patient safety, number one, we know that okay, but outside of that, this is so key and I think being, finding a way to be more on the yes train.
Obviously take that lightly. You know, obviously we don't wanna be the yes person always, um, but to your point, sounds good. Let's find a way to make it work. Versus instantly being that kind of devil's advocate, let's look at all the risks right up front, um, because you do accidentally fall into that space of being the barrier to the movement forward, even if that is not the intent.
And I recently heard a podcast. I can't remember if I shared this with you earlier, but I recently heard a podcast, um, it's a great podcast called The Heart of Healthcare With, and they had the, uh, CEO, the founder of, um, I think he, he was the founder of Epocrates. And then, uh. He started another company which sold to one Medical, um, through Amazon.
And so anyway, he is a physician, but entrepreneur. Do you know what I'm talking about? I'm not sure.
Katie Davis: Dr. Yeah, Dr. Dr. Tom Lee. Yeah.
Helen Tanner: Tom Lee. And he talked significantly about how most clinicians really struggle with going into any kind of entrepreneurial or startup role because of this exact thing, we're so built to be risk averse.
Uh, I mean, we even have, you know, we have, um, um, you know, risk versus benefit, um, that we need to go over with our patients over almost anything we talk about, you know, so I, that is such a challenge, but it really is key. If you can move past that and change your language, maybe you need to approach it in a different manner.
Yeah. You still need to be risk averse. We still need to come up with the things we need to work around, but that language at the first is more like yes, and versus. But
Katie Davis: yeah,
Helen Tanner: I, I resonate with that so much and I definitely have been in that space and um, that is a huge lesson to learn.
Katie Davis: Yeah, and it's so true.
As clinicians, we're taught to assess everything upfront, right? Then from the assessment, we make a plan. That same training is not what is going to get us where we need to go on the business side. Um, although. Being able to balance that and use all of that expertise and combine it with trying to move faster, more efficiently is where I think the magic happens.
Yes. Having that clinical expertise, doing that assessment, understanding the risks and the benefits, and then pushing forward through all of them is where you can, I think just make such a tremendous impact.
Fixed Mindset to Growth Mindset
Helen Tanner: Yes. Agreed. Um, so you've been through a number of startups, now you're doing your own thing. Um, tell, tell me about, I guess, where, what mindset did you develop over time, you know, throughout startups and how you, uh.
Navigated through that, and then now having your own company, what have you learned about, about just the correct, even like a mindset focus or mindset shift about becoming successful in those different spaces?
Katie Davis: Yeah. Uh, honestly, a lot of it had to do with adopting a growth mindset.
Helen Tanner: Mm-hmm.
Katie Davis: Uh, so I think a lot of this could be personality, but I also think clinicians can often have a fixed mindset.
They wanna avoid making mistakes. Right. Um, and whereas a, a growth mindset. Willing to try. You recognize that you can learn new things. You recognize that mistakes are gonna help you learn, right? Um, and, and just having that growth mindset and, and subsequent, uh, grit as well, I think is what really helped support my growth.
I was constantly trying to learn more. I was open to feedback and, uh, recognized that I could. Learn the business of healthcare. Um, and honestly, luckily I have, and now it's incredible strategic assets to have clinical expertise, understand the business of healthcare, the finance, operations, compliance, uh, and be able to leverage that for, uh, all of my clients.
Helen Tanner: When you, the growth mindset, when you were in. The first year or two of your first startup, did you have that mindset then too? Or was it more fixed at that moment?
Katie Davis: I think it honestly evolved over time. Mm-hmm. Um, one of, uh, actually the founder of that first startup, his sister was a teacher and she taught extensively about growth mindset.
Helen Tanner: Mm-hmm.
Katie Davis: So he was really able, uh, the founder was really able to fold in a lot of, uh, that kind of teaching and, and information from what his sister had always been doing, and, uh, make it valuable for the entire team so that we had a little bit more of a, a shared language and mindset in terms of our approach.
Helen Tanner: I love that, that what a great. Person to have involved and that, and that he was, um, I guess open and, and leading in that way. I know for me, my first year, I, I look back and I was very uptight. I mean, I'm a type A person. I wanted to be perfect, you know, don't wanna make mistakes. Um, certainly, you know. Big ones, if you will.
And so I felt, I look back and I think that year I was a micromanager. I was really, and that's really hard to be when you're building, while you're the first clinician seeing the pa, you know, it's just hard to really, um, be able to manage everything that you're doing. But then on the other hand. You are building from scratch, so you really don't have it all figured out.
So you kind of get in this micromanagement mode. And I just remember the stress I felt, and it was truly, I think at the year mark, I just had this aha moment. Like, oh, nobody knows what they're doing. I mean, certainly we all have expertise that we're bringing to the table. We all have strengths. We know what we're doing in those veins, but we are building something new.
Nobody's done this before the way we're doing it, so nobody really knows exactly what they're doing, and we're going to make a million mistakes. Show the heck out. You know, it was just a huge relief. I don't know, I don't know what was impetus behind that, but all I know very clearly, and I have it written in my journal is it was a year mark and I remember like the Tai Bay has to calm down.
Everyone's making mistakes every day. Um, and we're still here and we're still doing well and we're still growing. And I think that's a really important piece. And so I think my growth mindset really started. Heavily there.
Katie Davis: Yeah, absolutely. Um, failure as a word comes to mind, right? Yeah. Uh, so in the first startup we had plastered everywhere, like failure's.
Okay. Failure's learning. Uh, whereas from the clinical perspective, failure was never okay. Right. Like we had patients' lives in our hands. Yes. Especially emergency medicine and, um, critical care in areas that. I practiced. Uh, so is is a big mindset shift to, to say like, okay, I can fail, uh, and actually I wanna fail fast so that I can learn fast Yes.
And adjust appropriately.
Helen Tanner: Yeah. And you know, the other thing, and one of the big reasons that I was so happy to meet you is I really struggled with finding a community that of similar like-minded. Uh, people like, not even like-minded, but doing similar, the similar path, you know, who had gone from being a, a clinician to clinician leader, to now being a startup leader and a founding team, building alongside a founder.
Um, and then there's certainly so many dynamics in that Is your, is your founder. Uh, clinician, are they not, you know, who are the investors? Are they, you know, so there's so many aspects to that, but really to have a community. 'cause coming from clinical medicine where you're in a hospital system or clinic, you have so many colleagues and you have huge associations to fall back on.
But clinicians in startup space. Very little. And I think there's, there's more now, thankfully, and that's one of the big reasons I wanted to start this, but there is more now. But at that time, four or five years ago, I really struggled finding. And I'm curious, did you feel the same way? I mean, you were even joining this space much, much earlier than that.
How did you find a community? Or did you, and how did you navigate through that?
Katie Davis: Yeah, honestly, there wasn't much a community beyond that startup, right? I mean, that was a lot of the community for five years. Uh, I remember going to conferences. We would go to ASAP and um, I would tell people what I was doing and start, they're like.
Wow. Like that is different. Everyone else was working brick and mortar. Uh, there was almost no telehealth at the time. Uh, so we really were kinda blazing a new trail, which was what was so fun about everything we were doing.
Building Your Own Thing - From Clinician to Founder
Helen Tanner: Absolutely. Well, so. Tell, so tell me what, you mentioned you're doing fractional leadership.
Mm-hmm. Um, and you have your own company. Um, so tell me about that and, and where you are in that now.
Katie Davis: Yeah, absolutely. Uh, so I started, uh, like I said, my fractional leadership business decided to take the leap full time. Uh, and I had really struggled with whether or not. Can I make consulting work? Can I not?
Right? Is there gonna be a pipeline? And, uh, thus far, I mean, knock on wood here, uh, I'm lucky enough, I am, I have several clients, uh, and I've actually even been able to leverage some additional team members. To join me for, uh, certain projects where I can leverage, uh, and my client can leverage their particular expertise.
So it's been a lot of fun, uh, tons of hard work as every, uh, new venture is, but I love being able. To do what I love every day, helping other organizations build, uh, scale and improve, uh, everything they're doing and, and kind of do it on my terms. Um, so it's, it's been fantastic. Um, along the same lines, not only have I been doing the fractional work.
But I also have another company that, uh, is, is brewing and it has to do with very much this topic and everything. We're talking about helping clinicians learn the business of healthcare. Uh, so hopefully looking to launch that in the near future, which will be exciting because to your point, there's not a lot of clinicians that, um, there's no tools.
You're not taught this, uh, in school. So. Having more tools, I think will be highly valuable. Uh, and being able to share some of that experience and expertise so others can learn it as well, and hopefully learn it a little faster than we we did, right? Mm-hmm. We had to experience it all. Yes. Um, but if there is actually some training out there, hopefully that could help, uh, folks accelerate their knowledge.
Helen Tanner: I love that. That is so important. I actually wrote about that recently and I, I, there was a comment. Um, that was provided, and I'm not sure if you've looked into this or not, but apparently in dental school training there, there perhaps is some kind of business. Training or operational training that's a part of their curriculum.
I haven't dug into that yet because I, I just saw that response on there. I'll have to reach out to my dental friends. But it is interesting for how many types of jobs now are recruiting clinicians, you know, MDs apps out of the clinical space or in an expanded clinical space of, you know, operational leadership and there's really not a lot of guidance or mentorship.
Whatsoever, you know, during their training and I, that's not been our traditional focus and nor probably will it ever be that's, but to have that apart as part of the curriculum, or at least a very clear way and place to go, will be key as our healthcare system continues to evolve.
Katie Davis: Yeah. Soly, I mean, clinicians I think, uh, had been pushed out of the boardroom.
Mm-hmm. Right. In many cases, uh, you saw a lot of physician led practices before independent clinical practices, um, and for a number of reasons, a lot of those went away. Uh, and you had business folks. Leading healthcare organizations. And I think folks are really starting to see though that we need more clinicians in leadership roles, uh, in healthcare organizations and really fulfilling not only the clinical leadership, but the business leadership.
Um, and we're starting to see now more direct primary care pop up. Right. And, and clinicians really taking yes. Res and stepping outside of some of those systems and making it their own, uh, and, and creating their own businesses, which is very exciting.
Helen Tanner: Very exciting. And I mean, and for you, you an, you were rn, you are rn, np, you know, clinical.
Leader in a startup and now founder to your own. Congrats on that journey and that's super exciting for you and for us. It sounds like you have some great things brewing.
Katie Davis: Absolutely. It's, it's a lot of fun and I can't wait to keep building.
Helen Tanner: Well, good. Well, just to close out, um, I like to end with, with this question, what was the single most helpful resource for you?
A person tool, book, framework, you name it, that helped you as you were entering, uh, into the startup space or throughout and, and why?
Katie Davis: Yeah, I think, uh, the single most helpful resource was mindset. Uh, being able to adjust, uh, my mindset, adopt a growth mindset, be continuously open to learning new things, uh, was what allowed me to be so successful.
Being constantly curious Right? And figuring out. Why things are working the way they were and what I could do to improve them was, uh, incredibly valuable. Uh, the tools didn't exist
Helen Tanner: mm-hmm.
Katie Davis: To, to really help me. Right. Um, and it in a lot of ways, they still don't exist. So, uh, mindset was, was really everything.
Helen Tanner: That's a great, that's great. Very good. So, and, and, and last question. How do you feel like if at all startup work has shaped who you are as a clinician?
Katie Davis: Uh. Startup work. So I think you look at it both ways, right? So clinician uh, shaping the way I operate in startups has been highly valuable. I am always thinking about the patient and how it is going to impact them, uh, which is different from my nonclinical leadership.
They don't have the same education I do. Right? Um, and they, in many cases. Probably never will. Um, right. So I think having that clinical lens is, is always been able to set me apart in that sense. And then, uh, being in startups, shaping how I think as a clinician, uh, absolutely. I mean, very much more kind of open to gray areas.
Um, even now looking at medicine, I think, you know that medicine is an art and a science, right? Uh, when you're in emergency department though, uh, you're using hard skills, your. Intubating or you're not intubating, you're suturing or you're not suturing, right? Um, and you recognize stepping out of those arenas that there's a lot more gray and we are constantly evolving, uh, and need to continue to constantly evolve and continuously learn.
Just like, uh, we do in startups. And I think really trying to push ourselves to move faster, uh, has been something that startups has really helped me with. Uh, I think healthcare is moving a little too slow. Yeah. In terms of how, how we're, we're moving, uh, forward with change.
Helen Tanner: Yeah. Well, good. Well, thank you so much.
Uh, and I really just thank you for your time today, your insight and perspective. Um, and if people wanted to keep in touch with you or, or follow you, do you wanna share the name of your company or where in LinkedIn they can follow you or.
Katie Davis: Yeah, absolutely. Uh, definitely can follow me on LinkedIn. Uh, Katie Davis, my company is Health Shift Leaders.
Uh, so absolutely happy to, to have outreach, uh, uh, through either of those pathways.
Helen Tanner: Perfect. Well, thanks again, Katie. Uh, really appreciate it. I look forward to seeing your work and what you're building and um, I look forward to talking to you soon.
Katie Davis: Absolutely. Thank you. Really. You're
Helen Tanner: welcome.
Katie Davis: Conversation.
