Women’s History Month – The Outstanding Women of Myers and Stauffer

March is Women’s History Month, and we have created an Outstanding Women of Myers and Stauffer feature. We recognize four women who were nominated by their peers and managers for their talents and missions in those same categories:

Get to Know Joanna Garnett 

“Nominating Jo for her amazing Bread Art! The KC office knows Jo is a talented baker, but she’s really kicked it up in recent years…. Who knew Sourdough could yield such beautiful works of art?! With her assortment of “bread lames”(aka a razor blades), Jo transforms your average boule into something almost too pretty to eat.”

How did you get interested in bread art, and how long have you been doing it?
I follow some sourdough accounts on Instagram and was fascinated by the beautiful bread others were making. I wanted to see if I could do it, too. I have been making sourdough for about a year-and-a-half now.  

What do you love most about it?
Making bread is relaxing and rewarding. Stretching, folding, and shaping the dough gives me a Zen-like feeling – I am not sure why, though I know many other bread makers who say the same thing. I also love that I can feed my family delicious bread without all the preservatives in it.

What do you most want others to know about it?
Prior to my baking journey, which actually started with cookies, baking was intimidating because it’s so easy to screw it up. But if you practice, you start to learn how the dough should look and feel, and it’s really a simple process once you learn it.

What life and/or career advice would you give to young women especially who are trying to find their path?
Take the opportunities that are presented to you, even if they are scary. I am where I am in my career and life because I did not let the opportunities I was given pass me by, even when those opportunities took me way outside my comfort zone, which was often the case.

How do you help empower the women you work with here at the firm and at your organization?
I help empower all the team members I work with, women included, through constructive feedback and coaching, and by giving them opportunities like the ones I was given to try hard things and learn something new.

Get to Know Paige Ferise

“Paige works with women in need in the Indianapolis community. I believe she sits on a board of directors for the organization where she volunteers. She recently got married and instead of gifts she asked for donations for new mothers that she could pass on. She is a very interesting woman, and I would love to see her story highlighted!”

Tell us about the organization where you volunteer. Who does it help? What do you do for them and what drew you to this work?
I sit on the board of directors for The Little Timmy Project (TLTP). TLTP is a local nonprofit organization that provides support, collaborative efforts, and advocacy for birthing persons in our community. Our goal is to promote positive pregnancy outcomes while addressing the maternal and infant health crisis in Indiana. We run the Little Mom Shop, which is similar to a food pantry, but is stocked with all essential infant care items from diapers to clothes to bottles and formula. Moms are able to come and shop with us once a month and take whatever they need free of charge. We are always looking for supply donations! The other primary project of the organization is the Black, Indian, People of Color (BIPOC) doula scholarship fund. Through donations, we fund doula trainings for birth workers of color and birth workers who focus on supporting minority mothers.

While in law school and public health school, I took a particular interest in the maternal health crisis in this country. This area became the focus of my research throughout grad school, and I learned that in the United States, Indiana is ranked among the worst states for maternal health outcomes. When I learned about TLTP, I knew immediately that their work is vital in this state, and I wanted to be involved. 

I understand you are expecting a child. Talk about how this connects to the work you do for new moms. What gave you the idea about donations instead of wedding gifts?
I am! My husband and I found out shortly before our wedding that we are expecting. I was extremely passionate about maternal health care and birth advocacy before becoming pregnant, but this has of course made it all the more personal. I knew that when James and I were planning for our wedding, we wanted a very small ceremony and did not want gifts. Instead, we decided to allow our friends and family to direct their awesome generosity to folks in need. TLTP was one of several organizations we requested donations for instead of gifts.

What do you want expecting moms to know, especially if they have quiet (but important) needs that might not be obvious to others?
The most important thing for moms to know is that they are not alone. Pregnancy and parenthood are hard, but there are resources available. Similarly, I want all birthing persons to know they have rights. So often women, especially women of color, are dismissed and minimized in health-care spaces. As a birthing person, you have the right to ask questions, you have the right to ask for support, and you have the right to find a provider with whom you feel comfortable. Never forget…you can request a new provider – I did! As a mother, you deserve to have your voice heard and to feel safe.

What do you most want others to know about your work in the community? How can others get involved or help in their local communities?

For me, it was most important to find something I am extremely passionate about and put my time and resources towards that cause. That is what I would recommend for anyone looking to get more involved in their communities. The opportunities are out there!

What life and/or career advice would you give to young women especially who are trying to find their path?
Oh gosh, I am just getting started out myself, so I’m not sure how much advice I have to give! For me, networking and creating relationships with people whom I respect and admire has been extremely helpful in my career development. I would recommend that to all young professionals.

Did you have a mentor? If so, tell us about that person and how they helped you?
I did in law school, and that relationship was invaluable to my career development. My mentor was a professor whom I worked with all four years of school on research and career development. It is actually part of how I ended up at Myers and Stauffer!

Is there a particular person who inspires you?
I come from a long line of incredible women. Both my mother and my grandmother are huge inspirations. They are both brilliant and compassionate community advocates and have made me the woman I am today.

How do you help empower the women you work with here at the firm and at your organization?
I hope that I am always a resource for the women I surround myself with. I believe that the best way for a woman to succeed is to lift up other women.

Get to Know Lisa Larson

Your life sounds busy, demanding, amazing, stressful, and rewarding…all at once. Talk about what that’s like and how you balance everything.
I am a sister, wife, mother of 2 adult children and proud grandma of three young and lively grandchildren. Additionally, I manage a challenging Program Integrity project for the firm, enjoy multiple church activities, and up until recently assisted with the care of my mom. Like for everyone, these things bring both positive and negative stressors – from fun lake vacations with family, to Building Bears with my grandchildren, to accompanying Mom to Sunday church at her care facility, to managing loved ones health issues and death, to anxiously awaiting the outcome of a project RFP. Providing good self-care and occasional “me time” succumbing to my “secret indulgences” – chocolate, wine, knitting, a long walk or a good book – allows me to bring my best self to all aspects of my life.

You’re a cancer survivor…talk about that journey. What inspired you and gave you strength? What was difficult?
I was diagnosed with breast cancer in June, 2003 at the age of 42. I had a bilateral mastectomy with immediate reconstruction in July followed by reconstruction tissue expansion, and chemo therapy every three weeks through New Year’s Eve 2003. I developed pneumonia in January due to a compromised immune system but was quickly and successfully treated with antibiotics. The final phase of reconstruction was completed in April 2004. All follow up and doctor visits were completed August, 2010. Both my surgeon and oncologist indicated there was no sign the cancer has or will return. I thankfully have been cancer free since!

During my cancer journey, I found strength in my faith, family and in maintaining my schedule as close to “normal” as possible. I worked as much as I could throughout the process and consider myself very fortunate that my employer allowed me this flexibility.

I also attended as many of my daughter’s travel soccer league games, and her cross country meets along with my son’s marching band contests and performances. Both were in high school at the time and, along with my husband, provided tremendous support.

We also hosted Julien fall of 2003. He was a wonderful French student visiting as part of my son’s French class student exchange program. We still communicate regularly, and he has since become a nurse “like Lisa!” I hope to visit him and his family in Saint-Etienne France one day. Some of the most challenging things during my cancer journey were losing my hair (though it did make getting ready for the days much quicker), nausea, fatigue, and the ever present chemo “metallic” taste in my mouth.

In addition to caring for your own family, you’re also caring for a parent. What has that been like? What are some things that stand out?
My mom was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2016, a year after my dad passed. She didn’t start having major symptoms until about four years later. Unfortunately, progression of her disease included severe dementia as well as physical issues.

My two sisters and I had to move her to a care facility in the midst of COVID because she/we were no longer able to meet her needs at home. Moving her at that time was extremely difficult for us and especially so for her. In addition to the changes she was facing with Parkinson’s, she now also had to deal with a new environment and the isolation COVID precipitated.

My sisters and I visited as frequently as possible, but Mom was very sad and depressed, making for a very tough time. She did interact a little more with facility residents as COVID restrictions loosened but remained extremely dependent on us as primary sources for her social interaction, reassurance and frustration outlet. She was initially very aware of the changes in her mind and body and was concerned about the impact her Parkinson’s symptoms had on others, and so opted more toward social isolation.

My sisters and I shared responsibility for visits, getting mom to all her appointments, attending facility team care conferences, and attending facility activities/celebrations with Mom until she was admitted to hospice in November. Prior to Mom’s passing last year, a few days before Christmas, Parkinson’s left her mentally and physically unrecognizable. Though I am happy she is finally at peace, it was heartbreaking to watch the mental and physical despondency that Mom endured over the course of disease progression.

What projects do you lead here at Myers and Stauffer and what do you enjoy about those?
I started with MSLC in 2011 as coding Policy SME and Business Lead on the Iowa Medicaid ICD-10 Implementation Team. In this role, I coordinated collection and development of business requirements with other Iowa Medicaid units; I monitored ICD-10 implementation risks and provided input to mitigation strategies; and I conducted ICD-10 testing efforts and financial neutrality exercises.

Additionally, I provided oversight of the ICD-10 Policy Work Group, the Strategic Opportunities Work Group and the ICD-10 Neutrality Work Group. Following successful ICD-10 implementation, from 2016 to present, I lead the medical review team for the Iowa Medicaid Program Integrity Unit. We provide services as a subcontractor to IBM.

My team provides professional clinical expertise and support related to post-payment reviews in suspected fraud, waste, and abuse cases; policy recommendations; and cost avoidance proposals. We collaborate with IBM to identify and evaluate program risk, state priorities, and audit opportunities. The things I enjoy most and that provide greatest value for our Iowa client are my cohesive, knowledgeable team of certified coders, certified professional medical auditor and registered nurses. I also enjoy the strong relationships developed with the client, providing numerous recommendations for high-dollar savings opportunities and applying clinical and coding expertise in our case reviews, thus ensuring Iowa Medicaid dollars are spent properly.

What are some lessons learned you can share?
Early on I learned the world doesn’t revolve around me, but it is important to look outward and be part of something big in order to accomplish something big. I also found that silence and disregard are not helpful and often result in misunderstandings – it is important to work together to establish a similar point of reference and desired result in order for a team to work together effectively and move a project forward in a collaborative way.

I learned how important trust and accepting support from others is – there are many paths to reach a common goal none necessarily better than another so be open to taking a different path sometimes. I have found that approaching a difficult task and even a “difficult-to-love” person with optimism rather than skepticism more often results in a successful outcome.

Additionally, failure is an important step to success – rarely is success always achieved on the first try, but is a learning process with the most important component being willingness to try and learn from our failures.

Finally, humor is required – I try not to take myself too seriously. Smiles and laughter are not only the best medicine, but they also boost our brain power.

Get to Know Sally Zhai

“Sally competes in ballroom dancing with her fiancé throughout the country and travels to various different events. It is something that is fairly new in their life, and they have recently been promoted to the Adult league due to their continued improvement!”

Talk about ballroom dancing…what it’s like and what drew you to it.
I started learning Latin (one of the four styles of ballroom dance) at four years old when I lived in China, and I had to stop dancing as I was studying for exams to get into a good middle school. I didn’t really get any chance to get back to it until freshman year of college, and Ballroom Dance Club was the first club I joint at Indiana University. Ballroom dance allows me to push myself out of my comfort zone.  Whenever I dance, I am pushing myself to achieve new physical abilities exploring my artistic capabilities. 

What are the hardest and most fun parts about it?
Competitive ballroom dancing is also referred as dancesport. It is an art, and it is a sport. Dancing at higher levels requires paying more attention to details in our own bodies, listening more intently to how our partners respond to our own movement, and expressing our movements musically, not just mechanically. It is hard to not get frustrated when something doesn’t work, even when we have practiced it a lot and taken lessons on it. However, we always find a way to work through whatever it is that we got stuck on, and in the end, it is always worth it to be able to ‘unlock’ that new ability.

Moreover, I am more of a left-brain person. I tend to be more focused on the technical side: which step is on which count, which path my arm should go, what my ribcage is doing here. Meanwhile, my fiancé is a professional musician, right-brain dominant. He focuses more on the artistic side: What are the stories we want to be telling through our dancing? How does the character of the movement match the character of the music? Because we approach things differently, we need to be patient with each other and make sure we are listening intently (this is especially important when we get tired and patience is naturally in short supply…). At the same time, our different approaches are a strength for our partnership as a whole, because they help us to overcome certain obstacles that would be too difficult for either one of us to face on our own.

Both I and my fiancé jokingly agree that it’s harder for us to be dance partners than life partners. If we are able to clearly communicate really minute details about super complex figures on the dance floor, then suddenly it’s not too hard to figure out who is doing laundry versus dishes that night.

I enjoy dancing on the competition floor and telling our stories to the audience. I feel like a pretty princess with a gorgeous sparkly dress and professionally done hair and makeup. Although I might be quiet a lot of the time, I turn into a social butterfly at competitions because I feel comfortable in an environment where I can express myself artistically. I love making friends in the ballroom and keeping up with them on social media between times that we see each other at competitions.

How much do you practice? What are practice sessions like?
When both of us are busy, we make sure to practice as least twice a week. When it’s competition season, we practice at most five or six time a week. If we have more time on a given day, we will go deep into detail about our routines, but if we have less time, sometimes it’s enough to just run through the routine and not spend so much time analyzing. Either way, we always make sure to set a goal for which dances we want to cover and what we want to work on.

What do you most want others to know about it?

Ballroom dance is very inclusive, and everyone is welcomed to it. You don’t need to be competitive at all, there are plenty of showcase opportunities and social dancing events as well. It’s a great way to get your mind off from work, focus on your body, exercise, socialize, and have fun.

What life and/or career advice would you give to young women especially who are trying to find their path?
Make sure to explore your passions and interests outside of what you do at work. You never know when something you learn while pursuing a hobby or interest will be helpful for furthering your career.

Did you have a mentor? If so, tell us about that person and how they helped you?
Kelly Bartlett-Spalding, and her husband, Christopher Spalding, are the first ballroom dance coaches I had when I was at Indiana University. Kelly companies me on my ballroom journey and watches me growing from a newcomer level dancer to a championship level dancer. She helped my fiancé and I recognize that we are different individuals, we have different ways of learning things and getting ready for competitions, and we need to respect each other and find a compromised way that works for both of us.

I am very critical about myself and things I do. It is good for having high quality outcome, but not always helpful for me to be confident. Kelly can always see my potential and remind me all the good things I do, not only in ballroom, but also in school and life. I know I can always trust her and reach out for help, and I know she is always there whenever I need her. I call her my ballroom mom, and I feel so honored that she will be our wedding officiant.

Because of Kelly, I became good at seeing potential and good qualities in other people. I am looking forward to use this skill to contribute to Myers and Stauffer’s company culture, and help the women in our company.