Shannon Stephenson
CEO at Cempa Community Care
"As far as fear is concerned, I don’t love the word. I don’t think we should use fear since it engages a different part of your brain. I prefer to see things as opportunities for improvement, which I’ve definitely seen my share of."
Watch the video below to learn what inspires Shannon
Read Shannon’s full profile below
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Chattanooga, TN. I was born in Cleveland, which is just north of Chattanooga by about thirty minutes, but at the age of two I moved down to Chattanooga.
Who was your favorite teacher?
I think my favorite teacher would be my high school AP social studies teacher. He challenged us to think out of the box, and while I’ve been an out of the box thinker, this is one of the first times I’d been challenged with this before. We were able to bring our ideas to class and challenged ourselves to solve historical problems which I really enjoyed.
What inspired you to pursue a career in STEM/healthcare?
I actually was running my family’s business and decided I wanted to do more. My background is in accounting and business administration, and I decided that the business I was running had grown to its capacity and was running on its own - so I wanted to do some consulting work. A colleague of mine had an opportunity at a local health center where turnover was high and I was brought in to basically get the finances back on track. I immediately fell in love with the work that they were doing and the vision to change health equity in the community and bridge gaps in services for a lot of communities of need. One thing led to another, and I became interim director and eventually CEO.
What are moments of fear or challenge in your career?
Most recently, obviously when COVID-19 hit, we had to completely change how we were providing services. Another added barrier was that COVID-19 was increasing in communities of color that didn’t have access to testing. We had to pivot and change our mobile clinic into an incident command bus per se and started taking COVID-19 testing to communities in need. This was important since the communities of color had higher incidence rates of COVID-19 and access to testing is vital to reducing those numbers. This was also all going on while maintaining current services and making sure that current clients were taken care of. It was definitely a challenge, but not something we couldn’t overcome. As far as fear is concerned, I don’t love the word. I don’t think we should use fear since it engages a different part of your brain. I prefer to see things as opportunities for improvement, which I’ve definitely seen my share of. With the amount of trauma that our clients have experienced adding onto the stress of the past year and the not being to interact in person, I’m predicting a challenge in the behavioral health needs in the future.
What are some innovations in science that you’re most excited about?
Definitely the ability to use technology in how we interact with patients and leveraging how we can connect healthcare services through that technology. I think that as a whole, people tend to be a little resistant to change, but looking at the past year, we’ve been forced to change. The telehealth opportunities, the ability to directly engage with your healthcare provider and with the services that your provider brings are huge to the patients. I don’t think telehealth has been fully taken advantage of so that’s also exciting to me. I also love the idea of doing more preventative measures to prevent long-term consequences, such as cancer screenings and colonoscopies. Expanding services that make more sense to do from home is something I’m looking forward to.
What is next for you? What would you like to do when you “grow up”?
My main background is in accounting, but I’ve actually also been a certified firefighter in two states, a canine handler for disaster work, and worked with public safety. Now that I’ve found what I love in healthcare, I’ve enrolled in a healthcare doctoral program and am in my first year at UAB for a doctor of science in healthcare leadership. I’ll be working on a dissertation in something that will hopefully be useful and can be used in journals or publications, but that is definitely my next step. I want to learn as much as I can about the larger healthcare world, and to really take our health center to the next level. From when I’ve come in, we’ve increased our revenue tenfold and have expanded services, but I want to make sure that I can bring the expertise that I gain from my program to the center.
Current book/show/podcast you love?
I love any podcasts that have to do with court or crime, I think everybody likes Law & Order, but I’m addicted to true crime. In my free time, you’d find me with my headphones in because I’m listening to a court case or a crime that hasn’t been solved - it’s definitely my guilty pleasure.
Personal style/fashion tip?
As far as personal style goes, I’m all about shoes. I love having a pair for every occasion or outfit, and probably have too many. As a woman in leadership, I’ve found my shoes to be empowering. Wearing a pair of heels have always made me feel empowered and confident.
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