April 21, 2026: What happens when a young mother with no plan, no car, and no housing decides she's done surviving and ready to lead? Lead Consultant and Author of “Extraordinary Ordinary Women,” Mandy Crosby joins host Sarah Richardson to share the unfiltered story behind her journey from medical assistant to healthcare IT executive advisor. From the leader who refused to put her on a do-not-hire list to the moment she raised her hand for Epic training and changed her career forever, Mandy's story explores potential, grace, and legacy.

Key Points:

• 05:27 Second Chances at Work
• 09:41 Seeds and Self-Worth
• 15:19 Give Flowers and Intuition
• 20:49 Mentorship Skills Inventory
• 26:15 Speed Round

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Flourish: Extraordinary Ordinary Women and Finding Your Worth with Mandy Crosby

GMT20250714-172930_Recording: I'm Sarah Richardson, a principal here at this week Health where our mission is healthcare transformation powered by community. Welcome to Flourish, where we share the human stories behind healthcare leadership because thriving people build thriving systems.

Let's begin

Mandy Crosby: Thank you so much, Sarah, for having me. I am truly honored to be here today.

Sarah Richardson: Oh, I'm so glad that you're here, and I love that the book is now out and available because your career did not begin in a boardroom or a consulting firm. shared with me that you started as a medical assistant at 18 while also becoming a young mother. If you can take us back to that chapter of your life. What did responsibility look like for you at that age, and how did those early years shape the leader you have become today?

So at, at 18, I had graduated high school with exactly to the t enough credits to walk across that stage. And I did a short stint at junior college and realized it wasn't for me. So. Went to medical assisting school, wanted to get in the workforce, and really success to me looked at that time of just survival, right?

I wanted to work, do something meaningful and get out on my own and, and flex my independence. So 18 to 21, that's really what it looked like. I worked at several different clinics. I was living a young person's life too at the time, you know, often going out till be hours in the morning and still showing up to work, taking naps in the restroom when I could.

We ended up in Ohio for a short stint, and at the age of 21 I found out I was pregnant. Uh, we were living with his family and, and almost unlivable housing conditions, and I just needed to go home. I knew that at the time, I didn't necessarily have a sense of worth. Sarah, I was really just, you know, again, kind of getting, my feet underneath me as a young adult.

I didn't have a one three, you know, five day plan at the time, but I knew that my child was worthy. I couldn't articulate that at the time, but I knew that I needed to, to kind of make a pivot and a change. And so when we came back home. We're starting over, you know, from scratch. I essentially had, we had no jobs, no car unhoused.

Sarah Richardson: And then becoming a mother at that age, how did it influence your work ethic and some of those choices you made early on to go back into something that you had originally left behind?

Mandy Crosby: Yeah, exactly. So when I, um, left to New York, I was actually working at a office where I said I was gonna take a week off, and then I never called and never went back to the office. So I essentially ghosted them, um, no call and never returned. So when I came back. I actually got a job at a, a competing or adjacent health system as a medical assistant and really a different person, the women at that, um, it was a family med residency office.

I wanted to have more purpose in my work, right? It wasn't about partying and going to work and trying to just maintain it was about how I could be an example for her. So I was actually offered a position back at the health system that I originally left. High and dry. And I would find out later the reason why they welcomed me back with open arms.

Sarah Richardson: One of the stories you shared with me was that a leader who could have put you on the do not hire list. Chose not to do that. I mean, you were young, you made mistakes, and yet that leader saw something in you. Tell us about that moment, what it taught you about potential, both receiving it and also how you've been able to expand it to others.

There were no smartphones in social media. When you left, you really laughed. Nobody know where you went, what happened to you, right? And so she was offered or put on the table for her at that time to, to put me on a list that could never come back to that health system. It was egregious, right? A no call, no show, never return, um, was, you know, had the, had the opportunity for her to do that.

And, and she chose not to. Um, I would later have an opportunity to have a conversation with her, which we'll talk about probably in a little bit. But I, um, I asked her, you know, why she did that and she said, because although she saw a young immature me, she did have a daughter my age, but she also saw the love that I brought to work when I was interacting with patients.

And that chance would happen to change literally the trajectory of my life and my career.

Sarah Richardson: Why do you think so many organizations discount? Out potential too early.

Mandy Crosby: I think that it is very easy to do. Sometimes we don't take a minute to a beat. We are full of ourselves, a little bit, some ego there, right? And um, and it's frustrating if somebody, you know, acts. In that way where they're not calling or not coming in, um, again, and you feel angry in that moment and you're just like, dismissive of that, you know, never again, let's move forward.

And sometimes it is just easy to do. It truly is, versus taking a minute. And I talk about this a lot and how we witness other people and really see somebody right where they are, not for their mistakes, not for how they're showing up in the moment. There's often many reasons that they're presenting that way, and so I know sometimes cutting ties is necessary.

Sarah Richardson: Well, that's changed the way you lead today. That experience informed you as a space to realize that someone who's in their twenties is, I mean, my goodness, let's just be honest. I feel like our twenties are just communities. Erase them or use them as a proving ground because all the quote unquote mistakes we make, but when you have a leader who sees the art of the possible in you. You then reflect upon that differently. How has it allowed you to be a better leader today from someone believing in you at that point in your life?

Mandy Crosby: Yes, exactly. Actually, when I did have the opportunity to become an analyst and a lead analyst at that health system, that the door was left open for me. So I walked through that door. I was able to grow at that time in my career in it. And then I actually became responsible for onboarding a lot of young twenties coming right?

How do they see things different than us? That's actually a tool. They wanna work smarter and faster and efficient. They don't put all of their eggs in the work best. They value balance. And so it was just a beautiful perspective for me to bring into that trajectory. The next phase that I had up to be a mentor for others, especially young women.

Mandy Crosby: Yeah, my daughter now at the age of 22, she has been off on her own for a little while, and when she left, it really was reflection. I, I love that perspective. For so long as I stated when I was pregnant with her and when I had her. Everything was about her, right? My, at the time, again, I knew she was worthy of having a mom with ambition and drive and momentum.

And when I went back to school and I walked across those stages, and I wanted to be that example for her, that was pouring into her, right, giving her the best chances. And when she left and they go to explore their own life, you're left reflecting on. What do I do now? What does my life look like? Where, how did I get here?

And there were so many women in my life that dropped a seed in soil that was not ready to grow, by the way. I, some of them had to till that soil to drop that seed in there. Right. I had coaches and teachers and um, a lot of folks along the way that were encouraging me, you know, go back to school, don't drop out, do this.

And I would say Thank you. Sounds good. You know, and move on for a while. But it did resonate. So all of those seeds, sometimes they planted seeds, sometimes they were in the watering phase for me. Um, really gave me the opportunity and I wanted to share that. I wanted to just uplift all of these women along the way.

Mandy Crosby: Yeah, definitely. Uh, definitely because I would still say when I look back, I wasn't yet ready, right. At 18, and we think about a quote unquote traditional path. It seems that you could be reflective and regret, like you said, instead of just being reflective. And so it is also about embracing that Sarah, where you're not necessarily going back through that exercise of going, oh my gosh, like I didn't take a traditional path.

It could have been easier, you know, we all, we all can do that, right? And so really it's just about acknowledging where you are right in this moment. And I love what you just said of it's never too late because everyone path. Looks different. And the leader that I am today, how I show up in boardrooms sometimes when I'm looking around at a table with all these executives and I reflect almost in that moment of like, wow.

And so I think we all should have that perspective. You know, not looking back, like you said, in a regretful gonna regretful way, but essentially just being grateful for that and just making a different decision. You can always, you know, any day, any time, um, we can, we can change that perspective.

Sarah Richardson: Yeah. Which is what's so good about your book is it's, it's about like honoring others. It's Not just your memoir, it's how you're going back and sharing how other people's stories have really helped you on your journey. And so why was it important for you to tell their version versus just your version of it?

The coach that took time to encourage me, or a teacher that had words for me, she also walked that journey too. Our lived experiences as women in particular, are challenging. We are told, you know, cue the America Ferrera Barbie speech. Right. You know. We're supposed to be beautiful but not intimidating and a leader, but you know, not bossy and you know, all of those things.

And so we all have that baggage we show up with. And so as women, we show up and still to pour into another woman. I wanted that to be highlighted so we all can be reflective of that and think about that in that moment. It might have. Seemed like in passing or, well, she was a good leader and very encouraging.

So I wanted to make sure that it was the ordinary women, it was the folks we're passing in the story. It's the ones who encouraged fed us, uplifted us, um, that get recognition in this moment.

Sarah Richardson: Yeah. And for listeners who haven't read the book yet, extraordinary Ordinary Women is a tribute. It's to mothers, grandmothers, friends, colleagues Women who shape lives not through recognition, but through their presence. What do you hope readers feel when they turn that last page?

I feel recognized in somebody's story in somebody's chapter in one of these notes in here. I feel like I can resonate with that. And so by doing that and encouraging that collection, I'm hoping that we all understand and we see something through an empathetic lens. lens When we're talking to each other, when we're working together, when we're in relationship, because we're just really not all that different, right?

We are more alike, my friend than we are unalike And that couldn't be more true for us women. And so that is really what I hope people take away. And also. To give some, um, credit where credit is due, right? I'm very much about giving flowers. I love to say give somebody their flowers while they're still here.

And so that is something I would love all women to do and metaphorically and physically, you know, whether that causes you to reflect and send somebody a thank you. And they go, so many of these women, Sarah had no idea what they meant to me as I wrote this book and shared with them. They were like, really?

Sarah Richardson: Were there some of the stories that were harder than you thought would be to tell?

Mandy Crosby: So my daughter's chapter was the absolute hardest to write because I thought, how am I going to capture this? Um, you know, when I wrote my mom and my grandmother, those were also very emotional for me. Just giving credit to their, you know, turbulent. Before I, I arrived here on this earth and when I got to Mariana, it was difficult to capture a couple different dynamics.

One is what I thought when I was a young mother, right? And how, how I, um. Really was basing my perspective on her being worthy. But more than that, to really capture how I now can see her as an individual, right? Trying to fix my childhood or what I went through through her was a lesson that I learned as a mother and wanting to share that with other mothers.

Sarah Richardson: because you write about resilience, loss, laughter, renewal, and the thing that I found especially powerful was intuition. Why do you believe that trusting your intuition is so essential, especially for women navigating careers, maybe in caregiving or raising a family simultaneously?

Mandy Crosby: Yes. So I call that my knower. Um, a good friend of mine, we always say, you're knower. You said that before. You're nowhere new and you should have, you know, listened to that. And so when we reflect back, a lot of times it is just, you know, um, maybe social pressures and ego. Fear, anxiety, that we'll talk ourselves right out of what our knower is telling us to do because sometimes it's a big thing, right?

She knew, she trusted her gut instinct there. And as women, that is an innate ability that we have. And if we could just quiet that noise, lean into that a little bit more, it would be a clearer path and we can all reflect back, Sarah and think of moments we think. I know. I knew that. I knew it and I kept talking myself out of it and out of it and out of it.

Or when we really see another woman, let's trust that judgment. Trust your gut. Trust what you know to move forward, and that's okay. It doesn't have to be methodical. Check boxes, bullet points. I mean, I'm here today because leaders saw unique talent in unexpected places.

Mandy Crosby: That's correct.

Sarah Richardson: how long it takes us to give ourselves permission to trust our intuition.

Mandy Crosby: Yeah, it is. It's middle age everyone. So listen, if you're decades younger than Sarah and I, please tune in right now. Adjust the dials to your knower, to your spidey senses, and lean all the way in.

Sarah Richardson: Yeah, and keep creating that network that allows you to check in. I mean, that's why you have people like us in your life, in your twenties and thirties because you can call us and say. This is what I'm believing is true. Any insight you would give, we'd be like, oh yeah, it's probably this, uh, without hesitation because of all the things that we have experienced and you live by an ethos of lifting each other up as we climb, and you're super focused also on saying that, give credit where it's due. do you actively practice that as a consultant, as a mentor, as a leader, as a friend?

And that core value, women witnessing women is so important to me. So I wanna see people where they are. I recently talked to a mentee and asked like, what was different about your conversations with me? Was there something that stood out that wasn't as like formal or methodical? And they said yes.

Actually, when I got done talking to you, I was inspired to do things that I was driven to do. I didn't look at you and think I wanna be like her or do all the things she did. I wanted to be more like me. And that means a lot to me and my perspective, Sarah, of how I show up for others, because I just wanna see you where you are and encourage your personal growth.

Sarah Richardson: Well, the mentoring is so important because women will underestimate their own impact, and one of the things that you have shared with me is that you encourage women to inventory. Their skills. How does that exercise allow them to begin to appreciate what they're really good at?

Mandy Crosby: Yes, time, after time, after time, when I talk to various women, I would say, well, tell me about, you know what? Where are you at? Very underplayed. Every single time. And leaders across the board, you know, from a beginning, analyst all the way up into executives, quite frankly, we don't take inventory. That's part of the problem.

Every single thing that you do, what are you performing? The task that you do, what are you responsible for? How do you show up? Document that, let's, let's go. Oh my goodness. The list that come out from these women when we have that follow up conversation is unbelievable. I mean, every time I'm literally blown away and during the conversation we end up adding more.

Oh, that's right. And I do this too. Right? And so by just seeing that in front of you, really taking a minute to slow down and actually. Physically look at what you're doing. It can be an overwhelming experience. It feels very empowering because you really are able to see yourself right where you are and know that you're worthy to show up at the table that you do.

Sarah Richardson: It gives you permission back to this whole space of giving yourself permission

Mandy Crosby: Yeah.

Mandy Crosby: Yeah.

Sarah Richardson: or being stuck in some cases that sometimes they just need a little bit of help getting unstuck because that inventory is. Deceptively simple and super powerful. So when you work with someone who has done their skills inventory and they've come to this realization when they don't know what call the work they have done, how do you help them understand their impact?

Mandy Crosby: So we break those down actually into categories because what is very interesting about that exercise is that it, because all often US women too will say, oh, we need to accomplish X, Y, and Z. Before I put that on a resume. No, you're already doing it, my dear. You're already a leader, and why are you a leader?

Right. Um, from a job or positioning it, it really highlights what you're doing in those categories. And then it's like, oh, I guess ready for growth. I guess I can apply for that job. Oh, those skills are transferable. Absolutely. Every single one of them. Yes.

Sarah Richardson: And when you have the air cover from someone like us, I remember I had a physician assistant, like in our group, and um, she ran the PTA. of the most, I swear, the most difficult school districts that I had ever come across. And I'm like, you are in the PTA successfully. I'm pretty sure you can handle these doctors at a more administrative and governance level 'cause it was gonna be a promotion for her to move into this other role.

I love that you were doing that for people, regardless of where they are in their life and in their careers. Are you ready for speed round?

Mandy Crosby: I'm ready as I'm ever gonna be a sister. Let's do it.

Sarah Richardson: Remember, instinctive answers only,

Mandy Crosby: Okay.

Sarah Richardson: go. Okay. It was a woman who shaped your definition of strength.

Mandy Crosby: My mother.

Sarah Richardson: I love that. And a moment when you didn't realize that was pivotal in the moment until much later.

Mandy Crosby: When I raised my hand, when I was a medical assistant and I said, I wanna be a super user. Teach me this weird thing called epic 'cause we're on paper. I wanna learn that electronic health system. I had no idea. By raising my hand and saying yes, it would completely change the trajectory of my career and then ultimately my life.

Mandy Crosby: Yes. I actually talk about this very specifically, um, when I'm speaking to like business school students at colleges because it's very general, right? People often go like, it's just, I'm just getting a business degree. Well, that can open many doors, let me tell you. Because as a medical assistant, when I raised my hand and I was interested, and it was the first site that went live, so the analysts were new and it was, you know, very interesting.

And they're like, Hey, you, you're good at this. You're already an analyst. You, you wanna come, you know, be an analyst. And I was like. What really, you know, and then that door opened all of those other possibilities where I decided then to go back to school and on all of those things. So for me, it is letting folks know that it can, you can be in a creative space.

Right? You can be creative in that space. Project management is always something too that I think is super flexible for folks. They don't understand the kind of skills, again, that are transferable that you can shape in that often people don't even realize what a powerful career that can even be. Right?

Um, because my IT career led to my leadership career, led to my project management, led to executive strategy. And so I, I like to just share that with everybody who they feel nervous or they're just starting out. And I was like, I was a medical assistant. I started building software, right? Like this is, there is no wrong path there.

And so raising my hand and I tell them to say, yes, take a chance. If you're in the fields right now and you're, you know, you're working somewhere, just say, yeah, like, sign me up, do something extra. Those doors that open, you'll never know. You'll never know that path. And so I had no idea by saying yes to myself, betting on myself in that moment would be so pivotal to my career.

Sarah Richardson: I'd say yes to the or the experience that nobody else wants.

Mandy Crosby: Yes, yes.

Sarah Richardson: It can lead to such amazing opportunities because, hey, if nobody else wants it, you also get a little bit of a carte blanche to make it your own and do amazing things, because if it's out there, somebody in the organization needs it to be done, and

Mandy Crosby: Right.

Sarah Richardson: a lot more opportunities when you pick up the things that aren't quite as sought after.

Mandy Crosby: Exactly what that was too. Exactly.

Sarah Richardson: Yep. What is a skill that women consistently undervalue about themselves?

Mandy Crosby: Influence.

Sarah Richardson: Yeah.

Mandy Crosby: Influence the power of influence that we do have. Influence, even if it's informal leadership especially, that is, that is very, very powerful and we do not recognize that because we do think we have to check all the boxes, and in fact, we're already showing up with influence as soon as we walk in that door.

Sarah Richardson: How do

Mandy Crosby: Okay.

Mandy Crosby: I think for me it kind of goes back to witnessing other people, not just women, but when you're in a conversation. So, um, I, I. Know this woman, um, Sharon out of California, she's this powerful businesswoman, sold several companies and she talks about this, about authenticity in the boardroom when she's trying to sell an executive, right, of, you know, these multi-billion dollar companies.

It comes down to understanding where that person is coming from, what their angle is, what. Their perspective and then sharing yours respectfully. And that does change the outcome many times of whatever it is you're trying to influence. Is it a project timeline? It could be that simple, right? Versus, you know, a, a big multimillion dollar deal and anything in between.

But influence is so much greater than that. It is so much more powerful than that when you do show up in an authentic way. So don't, you know, not trying to shove it down like you said, or just kind of pitch it to somebody or not even hearing another outcome. A lot of times it really is showing up authentically, listening authentically, and having that conversation that can move your needle of influence far greater than any, you know, kind of objective push that you might feel like you need to do.

Sarah Richardson: Yeah, I always feel like I need to, you know, qualify. Like when I say influencer, it's not selling shampoo. It is literally like, how are you helping people make better, like life decisions, which I guess to a degree could be, you know, product based. But for me it's more about like career and, uh, life decision based, which I love that you lean into. All right. Final question for you. What is a word that defines legacy for you?

I learned a long time ago that not everybody operates in the sense that I do, right? They're not going to do the things that I do and guess. What that is. Okay. Because they're their own individual with their own aspirations and career paths. And just because you might see a bright future for them and you want them to tackle all these things, and they're like, you know what?

Actually what I wanna do is this. And so if you can see them empathetically, you can encourage 'em and influence them in a totally different way. And in a, you know, my rose colored Pollyanna glasses too. I really believe that's how we kind of come together as women, as when we see each other empathetically, when we come with no judgment, no ego, no stereotype.

Sarah Richardson: And there's a space too, that as we get older that that empathy for ourselves is a bit of grace to realize that. By the way, it takes this long to figure some of these things out and I'm only gonna be able to, to this say like influence you with things I've experienced because at 25, 35, even 45, I don't expect you to have processed something the way that I have.

And we can provide that empathetic lens into saying, here's how it happened to me. Now you have a data point that is. Empathetic in you trying to make certain decisions in your life today.

Mandy Crosby: Hundred percent.

Sarah Richardson: Yeah, this book is so good and I'm so glad you wrote it and thank you because whole conversation is a reminder that I guess being ordinary has never meant being invisible.

Mandy Crosby: Thank you so much for having me, Sarah, and thank you for being extraordinary, my friend.

Sarah Richardson: Oh, likewise. And to our listeners, if this episode resonated, pick up extraordinary ordinary women. Reflect on the women who shaped you, and take a moment to inventory your own impact. And as always, keep flourishing.

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