Role Models Close to Home

Tell me a bit about yourself. I know that you were born and raised in Northern California. What was your upbringing like? And how did you get your first job at VSP?

Well, I was actually born while my parents were going to UC Davis. And I was born between their junior and senior year. So, I have to tell you that my first year, I spent going class to class in a backpack, right? My parents were both kind of in that hippie, as you know, age. And that probably instilled a great love for education, day one with me. And as my parents got out into the world, my dad actually ended up being in public health. And then he took a while to figure out what he wanted to be. And so he went to medical school when I was 10. And that made a really big impact on me to be at an age where I saw my dad engaged in learning about science and health, and he was very committed to community health, and still is today as a physician.
When my dad was in medical school, my mom was getting her MBA, and that kind of combination of healthcare and business stayed with me as I grew up. And after attending UC Davis myself, I started looking for opportunities. I did informational interviews with different companies in Sacramento, and I had the opportunity to speak with someone at VSP. And I actually didn’t know really what VSP did. But my mother ended up as a benefits director and HR personnel director And so she knew VSP through her role. And I mentioned, “Hey, I talked to this VSP company and it looks like I’m going to interview for a market analyst role.” And she was the one who really encouraged me saying, “That is a great company. Do really well on that interview so hopefully you get that job.” And that’s how it started.