In this episode, Amy Madden, Chief People and Culture Officer, and Suzanne Norman, Vice President of Patient Services at PRO-spectus, share how the company is evolving from a patient first culture to a people first growth strategy. They reflect on PRO’s rapid expansion, founder led roots, and the importance of staying scrappy while scaling. Amy and Suzanne discuss how investing in leadership development, performance management, and shared ownership is helping PRO grow by growing its people, and how an intentional, values driven culture remains the foundation of everything they do.

Key Takeaways:

• Culture becomes a catalyst for growth when a patient first mission expands into a people first mindset that empowers performance and purpose
• Intentional connection sustains culture in a remote world, where engagement, transparency, and care keep teams aligned through rapid growth
• Leadership development drives scale when managers grow with intention, build consistency, and create environments where others can succeed
• Shared ownership turns accountability into motivation, aligning personal success with the company’s mission and collective results

Chapters:

1. 00:00 - Introduction
2. 06:22 - Culture as a Catalyst for Growth
3. 11:46 - Intentional Connection in a Remote World
4. 14:02 - Leadership Development That Drives Scale
5. 22:54 - Shared Ownership and Accountability
6. 30:09 - Preserving Culture Through Growth

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https://www.shorecp.university/podcasts

You'll also find other Microcap Moments episodes, alongside our series Everyday Heroes and Bigger. Stronger. Faster., highlighting the people and stories that make the microcap space unique.

Other ways to connect:

Blog: https://www.shorecp.university/blog

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Shore Capital Partners: https://www.shorecp.com/

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This podcast is the property of Shore Capital Partners LLC. None of the content herein is investment advice, an offer of investment advisory services, or a recommendation or offer relating to any security. See the “Terms of Use” page on the Shore Capital website for other important information.

Michael Burcham: 00:00:18

Welcome to Microcap Moments, a podcast from Shore Capital Partners that highlights the stories of founders, investors, and leaders who have taken on the challenge of transforming ideas and small companies into high growth organizations.

Michael Burcham: 00:00:33

The journey of building and scaling a business takes one down many unexpected paths.

Michael Burcham: 00:00:38

It's a journey where we learn from our mistakes fall down often, but have the entrepreneurial grid to pick ourselves up and persevere.

Michael Burcham: 00:00:45

Within this series, we will share these stories of success and failure of the challenges and the rewards.

Michael Burcham: 00:00:52

Faced by those who dare to dream big, and through their lessons learned, we hope to inspire others who are on a similar journey of becoming, growing and leading.

Anderson Williams: 00:01:02

In this episode, I talk with Amy Madden, the Chief People and Culture Officer, and Suzanne Norman, the Vice President of Patient Services at PRO-spectus.

Anderson Williams: 00:01:11

Our conversation starts with why both Amy and Suzanne left multi-decade careers with very large companies to join PRO-spectus and help grow a company that's still led by its founder.

Anderson Williams: 00:01:21

We talk about the importance and power of team culture in building and scaling a patient-first always mission, particularly the importance of staying scrappy.

Anderson Williams: 00:01:32

I ask about how PRO-spectus has managed both being in the Inc 5,000 fastest growing companies and has achieved a great places to work designation.

Anderson Williams: 00:01:40

Amy and Suzanne share how they're investing in the development of their leaders and managers with the clarity that PRO can't grow if their people don't grow.

Anderson Williams: 00:01:48

With that in mind, we talk about how PRO-spectus implemented performance management and how they balance the implementation of performance and values-based goals.

Anderson Williams: 00:01:57

Perhaps most importantly, Amy shares that all PRO team members are owners in the business and discusses how this creates unique transparency around business performance, unique accountability for individuals and teams, and unique motivation to grow and help the company grow.

Anderson Williams: 00:02:14

Well, welcome Amy and Suzanne.

Anderson Williams: 00:02:15

Thank you for joining me today.

Anderson Williams: 00:02:17

Will you start just by introducing yourself?

Anderson Williams: 00:02:19

Maybe Amy, you go first and say your name, what you do, and where you do it.

Amy Madden: 00:02:22

Good morning.

Amy Madden: 00:02:23

I'm Amy Madden.

Amy Madden: 00:02:24

I'm the Chief People and Culture Officer for PRO-spectus.

Suzanne Norman: 00:02:27

And hi, I am Suzanne Norman.

Suzanne Norman: 00:02:29

I'm Vice President of Patient Services for PRO-spectus.

Anderson Williams: 00:02:32

So will you start just by Amy explaining what PRO-spectus does?

Amy Madden: 00:02:36

Sure.

Amy Madden: 00:02:37

So we are a patient access solutions company.

Amy Madden: 00:02:40

We partner with pharmaceutical companies, biotech, med device specialty pharmacies, where we help them to navigate the different barriers to get the patient's access to the care and therapies that they need.

Anderson Williams: 00:02:52

And what does that look like in practice, Suzanne?

Anderson Williams: 00:02:55

If you haven't lived that challenge, it may seem a bit abstract.

Anderson Williams: 00:02:58

Is there an example of what that workflow looks like, what that looks like for a patient or one of your partners?

Suzanne Norman: 00:03:04

Yeah, absolutely.

Suzanne Norman: 00:03:05

So if you think about, if you go to your doctor and you've recently been diagnosed with a chronic or an acute condition, that's gonna require some type of product or maybe a surgical intervention.

Suzanne Norman: 00:03:18

Our company and our teams are really there to help that provider and the patient understand what the care journey's gonna look like.

Suzanne Norman: 00:03:26

That includes enrolling into a patient support program, helping identify what the patient's insurance coverage might look like.

Suzanne Norman: 00:03:34

Whether they have out-of-pocket costs that they need financial assistance with.

Suzanne Norman: 00:03:38

If so, we can refer them to programs or organizations that can help provide that type of support.

Suzanne Norman: 00:03:45

For some of our patients, they also may need clinical guidance or clinical support.

Suzanne Norman: 00:03:49

So we have clinicians and nurses that can provide, ultimately, it's kind of like a wraparound service.

Suzanne Norman: 00:03:55

So if you think about your provider office, they're busy, you know, they don't have necessarily time in their day to take out and spend with the patients.

Suzanne Norman: 00:04:02

We can provide that kind of supplemental support to them and really align to a specific product or a specific device that they may be needing to get access to.

Anderson Williams: 00:04:12

So who reaches out to you?

Anderson Williams: 00:04:14

Who initiates the conversation with PRO-spectus to help me as a patient along that journey?

Anderson Williams: 00:04:18

How does that work?

Suzanne Norman: 00:04:19

So generally we, like on the very front end, we would be partnering with the manufacturer, so the pharma company or the medical device company to establish the program.

Suzanne Norman: 00:04:30

And then we do have really programs that offer both either patient facing enrollment, so the patient or the caregiver can contact us directly, or it may be provider initiated.

Anderson Williams: 00:04:40

So both of you have had long careers prior to joining PRO-spectus.

Anderson Williams: 00:04:43

And Amy, I'd love to just hear a little bit about your background and why joining PRO-spectus was the right move for you two plus years ago.

Amy Madden: 00:04:52

Well, I spent, um, the majority of my career growing up in global Fortune 500 companies in both human resources and transformation, and really had some great experiences to learn how to create change on a very large scale through a variety of different enablers.

Amy Madden: 00:05:09

And then I had this opportunity to kind of tiptoe into this private equity space several years ago, and it really brought together my passion for building and creating all kinds of solutions to really drive an amazing patient experience and so really was able to kind of blend both of those areas.

Anderson Williams: 00:05:28

Yeah.

Anderson Williams: 00:05:29

And what about you, Suzanne?

Anderson Williams: 00:05:30

What brought you to PRO-spectus?

Suzanne Norman: 00:05:31

So prior to joining PRO I uh, worked for almost 20 years for a Fortune 10 company.

Suzanne Norman: 00:05:37

It was another patient services organization.

Suzanne Norman: 00:05:40

So my background really is patient services.

Suzanne Norman: 00:05:43

I grew up there, I started in operations, uh, continued that journey.

Suzanne Norman: 00:05:47

Had a chance to lead large teams.

Suzanne Norman: 00:05:50

And ultimately the size of the organization just became a little bit bigger than what I was looking for.

Suzanne Norman: 00:05:56

And when I decided to explore other opportunities, I had a chance to start talking with the leadership team at PRO.

Suzanne Norman: 00:06:03

And it really felt like just the right place for me.

Suzanne Norman: 00:06:06

It was still doing the work that I love doing, which is helping patients get access to therapy.

Suzanne Norman: 00:06:10

But I felt like in a smaller company, I was gonna be able to really make an impact with the work that I was doing and also just have the opportunity to really grow and build a team, which is something I've always enjoyed doing as well.

Anderson Williams: 00:06:22

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Anderson Williams: 00:06:24

I mean, you guys joined, granted PRO-spectus had partnered with Shore, but the company was founded and still led by Charmie Chirgwin, who's still leading the company, building the team, the driving force behind it.

Anderson Williams: 00:06:34

What has been your experience coming from really a large company background for both of you into a company that's gonna be large, but is in those early stages and still founder led?

Anderson Williams: 00:06:44

Just any thoughts for you, maybe Suzanne first.

Suzanne Norman: 00:06:47

I mean, I think Charmie is very dynamic.

Suzanne Norman: 00:06:50

She is a great leader and she really sets forward the mission of patients first, always.

Suzanne Norman: 00:06:56

And you see that in every interaction with her.

Suzanne Norman: 00:06:59

Whether she's talking with a prospective client, whether she's meeting with a team member, she really embodies that kind of mission and vision that she has for the organization.

Suzanne Norman: 00:07:08

And I think to me, that was one of the things that really attracted me to PRO is I felt like from the top down, that message just really resonated.

Suzanne Norman: 00:07:16

And I could see that the team and the people that she has surrounded herself and her organization with carry that forward in the work that they're doing.

Amy Madden: 00:07:25

You know, there's some really interesting things around PRO-spectus and it's hard to, at times really verbalize what those are.

Amy Madden: 00:07:33

We talk about our secret sauce.

Amy Madden: 00:07:35

We talk about kind of the feeling, which is all rooted in the culture that Charmie has built.

Amy Madden: 00:07:40

So she really built a culture that was grounded in care and empathy patients first always, and really being able to kind of connect that to the performance.

Amy Madden: 00:07:52

We are very scrappy.

Amy Madden: 00:07:54

We are a very scrappy team.

Amy Madden: 00:07:56

We're gonna come out and be underestimated at all times, and even in a functional type of position that supports the business, you still have that opportunity to kind of be that scrappy enabler that really creates the opportunities for our team members.

Amy Madden: 00:08:11

To drive those patient experiences through their own personalities and their own service levels that they do when they interact with the patients.

Anderson Williams: 00:08:19

Is it fair to say that you're maintaining a bit of a chip on your shoulder, a little bit of a startup hustle?

Amy Madden: 00:08:24

Yeah.

Anderson Williams: 00:08:25

That despite the success, it feels like there's still that drive behind what you do.

Amy Madden: 00:08:29

In order to work for PRO-spectus, you have to be so passionate about helping patients, but you also have to be extremely nimble and quick and agile in any position that you're in.

Amy Madden: 00:08:40

And it really, number one, is very fun, but it is also very rewarding.

Amy Madden: 00:08:45

It's very hard work, and our team members are interacting with patients that have very serious rare diseases that are very unique and what we can get them changes the day they're having.

Amy Madden: 00:09:00

So we, and their ability to engage in everyday life activities that you and I may be able to do without those medications and therapies.

Amy Madden: 00:09:08

And so it really kind of brings that all together.

Amy Madden: 00:09:11

But we are certainly scrappy.

Anderson Williams: 00:09:13

And say a little bit more just for anybody listening.

Anderson Williams: 00:09:15

Suzanne, can you give us just a bit of context about the size and stage of the company?

Anderson Williams: 00:09:21

Obviously still founder led, partnered with private equity.

Anderson Williams: 00:09:24

Y'all have been in big companies.

Anderson Williams: 00:09:26

This is a smaller company, still has some of that startup hustle.

Anderson Williams: 00:09:29

How big is the company?

Anderson Williams: 00:09:30

What's kind of the stage from your perspective of the company?

Suzanne Norman: 00:09:33

I think that we're really right now in kind of rapid growth mode.

Suzanne Norman: 00:09:37

When I joined the organization, we were around 150.

Suzanne Norman: 00:09:40

I think we've grown since then, which hasn't even been 12 months yet and we're continually hiring.

Suzanne Norman: 00:09:46

So we are definitely in growth mode.

Suzanne Norman: 00:09:48

We're, you know, looking for individuals who can bring in, like Amy mentioned, that passion, that care, and really, I try to identify people who like, it's not their first job, they have already demonstrated the ability to do this.

Suzanne Norman: 00:10:02

A lot of them have really depth of experience and clinical backgrounds that align very well with our patient populations so that they have a true, deep understanding of what that patient's going through and can engage with them in a really meaningful way.

Amy Madden: 00:10:17

You know, that's a really good point we have, you know, quite a depth of clinical credentials in our positions that are facing the patients, working with the patients, working with the clients.

Amy Madden: 00:10:27

So it does bring a different element.

Amy Madden: 00:10:29

It's not your first job, and it really is going to be professionalized around your clinical offerings.

Anderson Williams: 00:10:35

And I think one of the fascinating things and really compelling things about PRO-spectus and where you are today is you've been recognized both in the Inc 5,000 as one of the fastest growing companies, and you've also been certified a great place to work.

Anderson Williams: 00:10:48

Amy, can you just talk from your position, from the people and culture position, how do you do that?

Anderson Williams: 00:10:53

How do you think about scaling that really compelling culture and that spirit that Charmie has built the company around while growing the way you're growing?

Amy Madden: 00:11:01

I would look at that a couple different ways, Anderson.

Amy Madden: 00:11:03

Our culture is about our behaviors.

Amy Madden: 00:11:06

It's how we behave with each other.

Amy Madden: 00:11:08

It's how we behave in our jobs.

Amy Madden: 00:11:09

It's the words that we use, it's the feelings that we create, the service experiences that we provide, and we thread all of that through the entire employee life cycle.

Amy Madden: 00:11:18

So your journey starts with us from an onboarding standpoint and how we thread through all those different elements to the development journey to, you know, the reward and recognition phase.

Amy Madden: 00:11:28

Really all the way through.

Amy Madden: 00:11:30

And how we scale that is through the design of solutions that help us really capitalize the ability to make things reliable and repeatable and predictable.

Amy Madden: 00:11:41

So if we can do that on the backend and then it really allows the service experience to shine.

Anderson Williams: 00:11:46

I know one of the things that you've put an emphasis on and sort of where our conversation started is in making sure that you're developing the people within PRO to grow.

Amy Madden: 00:11:56

Mm-hmm.

Anderson Williams: 00:11:56

Uh, recognizing that PRO can't grow if they don't, and the opportunity to be with a company that's growing like PRO-spectus is a massive career opportunity in and of itself.

Anderson Williams: 00:12:05

Can you talk a little bit about how you're approaching your investments in people and maybe a little bit about the LEAD like a program and other things that you've got going on.

Amy Madden: 00:12:13

Sure.

Amy Madden: 00:12:14

We are really intentionally creating a development culture here at PRO-spectus, LEAD like a PRO is a cornerstone of that culture and of our overall development solutioning here.

Amy Madden: 00:12:24

I will say our journey started with you and Shore University with a brainstorming conversation of how could we collaborate and take advantage of the amazing resources that we have here at Shore and all of your expertise, and you joined us at our first kind of all company, in person meeting and created some amazing curated content that was super interactive and allowed all of us to really dive further into value creation and service excellence.

Amy Madden: 00:12:53

We then took that through some other virtual learnings that you created for us throughout the rest of that year in that same vein.

Amy Madden: 00:12:59

And then really kind of put our heads together to figure out how do we take that to the next level and really build our leaders for tomorrow, which is what we can't scale if our leaders and people managers aren't ready to take on more.

Amy Madden: 00:13:12

So LEAD like a PRO is our leadership development program that is really focused on people, managers and emerging leaders.

Amy Madden: 00:13:20

To build out all of those leadership competencies that they need to put in the day-to-day work and develop stronger teams.

Amy Madden: 00:13:28

We have about an eight month program.

Amy Madden: 00:13:30

We've got 36, 37 participants in it.

Amy Madden: 00:13:34

We dedicate a lot of time, as you know, in the program that you developed every two to three weeks with a couple hour virtual session where we are really leaning into some really hard topics.

Amy Madden: 00:13:46

But what's been so special is that you guys have gotten to know us so well and know the day-to-day work we go through and what we experience and really what our strengths are and where we need to develop.

Amy Madden: 00:13:57

And so everything's been built around those needs and it feels very, very special.

Anderson Williams: 00:14:02

Well, and one of the things, and it's been a privilege for us to work so closely with you, is recognizing a couple of things that are really core to the best way we can partner with a company is one, understanding the difficult work that you do and the intensity, the emotional height, the healthcare environment, and recognizing those challenges.

Anderson Williams: 00:14:20

But the other part of your reality is that you're a fully remote team.

Anderson Williams: 00:14:23

And so Suzanne, I'd love to hear your thoughts, just maybe extending what Amy was describing or otherwise as you think about patient services, how do you manage a fully remote team and how does that work for you all?

Suzanne Norman: 00:14:35

So I think we manage the team being fully remote through a lot of engagement and connection.

Suzanne Norman: 00:14:41

We have a all company, all video policy, so anytime we're meeting with one another with our clients, we have cameras on.

Suzanne Norman: 00:14:51

And I think that allows us to directly engage with people.

Suzanne Norman: 00:14:54

That ability to see someone day to day helps build the relationship, helps to establish those connections, and just allows us to get to know one another on a different level than if we were just, you know, talking over the phone.

Suzanne Norman: 00:15:05

I think there's also a lot of benefits to being virtually remote.

Suzanne Norman: 00:15:08

For one, it allows us to seek out and attract top talent across the country.

Suzanne Norman: 00:15:15

We're not limited to a specific geographical area, which has really enabled us to go after some, you know, high performers in different areas that maybe we wouldn't have access to if we were limited to a specific location.

Suzanne Norman: 00:15:28

I think it also gives our team the balance and the flexibility that they need to have an amazing career with PRO-spectus, but to also have a personal life, to have a family and to be able to take care of the things that they need to do day to day.

Suzanne Norman: 00:15:42

So we do appreciate that benefit of being virtual, just 'cause it creates.

Suzanne Norman: 00:15:47

That opportunity for balance.

Suzanne Norman: 00:15:49

As Amy mentioned, our jobs are intense.

Suzanne Norman: 00:15:51

They're not nine to five jobs and having people working from home, it allows that flexibility to be able, if you need to take a late shift to address patient calls or if we have something happening that we need everybody to attend, that's out of time zone.

Suzanne Norman: 00:16:05

It does create that ability for teams to be able to do that.

Anderson Williams: 00:16:08

And how do you think about, given the intensity of the work, and as we were describing before, the challenges in the real world of working with people who are really sick and have rare diseases and those kinds of things.

Anderson Williams: 00:16:18

How do you manage supporting and sustaining a team in a remote environment where you can't pop into somebody's office or in their cube necessarily and tell that they're having a tough day or they just got off a tough call?

Anderson Williams: 00:16:29

Just curious how you all think about it, because this dovetails with this idea of having a really strong and really caring and really supportive culture, which can kind of seem to run counter to being a fully remote team.

Suzanne Norman: 00:16:41

I think there's a couple of things that we do.

Suzanne Norman: 00:16:43

I mean, we definitely leverage tools and resources, so we have our Teams chats that all of our team can participate in.

Suzanne Norman: 00:16:50

There are regular check-ins scheduled with team members.

Suzanne Norman: 00:16:53

We hold weekly team meetings, so it's all about that connection and engagement.

Suzanne Norman: 00:16:57

Right.

Suzanne Norman: 00:16:57

So it's making sure that even if you can't walk down the hall to somebody's office, that they feel like they have the ability at any point to reach out to a leader, to Charmie, to others within the organization, just to share what they're going through, and to maybe ask for, you know, advice or feedback on how to manage something differently.

Amy Madden: 00:17:17

You know, I wanna just add something because one of the things that we do do is we do pop into people's offices.

Amy Madden: 00:17:23

So even at, you know, we'll say, Hey, can, can I swing by and have a cup of coffee with you at the end of the day?

Amy Madden: 00:17:28

Can we catch up on a few things?

Amy Madden: 00:17:29

And so it's an opportunity to just kind of be relaxed and catch up on maybe some different things that you're working on or following up on a conversation you had last week of whether it'd be something that, a solution you were trying to help someone through.

Amy Madden: 00:17:42

But it is in the way we do it and the way it shows up, that makes it unique and different and really brings together that virtual community.

Anderson Williams: 00:17:50

And you can do many of the same things.

Anderson Williams: 00:17:52

You just have to be more intentional and aware that, oh, I haven't talked to Amy today, or I haven't checked in with Suzanne in a day or two, or whatever.

Anderson Williams: 00:18:00

And having that awareness to the way I talk about it through the Leadership Academy and otherwise it's almost manufactured.

Amy Madden: 00:18:06

Yes.

Anderson Williams: 00:18:06

Differently than an organic interaction

Amy Madden: 00:18:08

and leveraging, you know, a ton of collaborative technology.

Amy Madden: 00:18:12

Yeah.

Amy Madden: 00:18:12

And really having the tools and resources to be able to foster that.

Anderson Williams: 00:18:16

I want to go back to the people development conversation as well, Amy.

Anderson Williams: 00:18:19

And when you, and then Suzanne, I'd love your thoughts too, 'cause y'all have both been from big companies, but when you look at the stage of PRO-spectus and you look at where the company is going, and you think about the team that you have and the team that you want in place, what are the areas.

Anderson Williams: 00:18:34

Of growth that are, are sort of your priorities that, you know, to get to that next level?

Anderson Williams: 00:18:39

Our team that's involved and LEAD like a PRO or the next group that we hire, we've gotta develop these skills that maybe aren't there in an early stage company.

Amy Madden: 00:18:47

That's a great question.

Amy Madden: 00:18:48

So we're constantly thinking, not just now, but you know what, how do we do what we need to do to scale us six months from now, a year from now, two years from now?

Amy Madden: 00:18:58

And whether that is creating career paths, learning development tracks, we're working on a lot of.

Amy Madden: 00:19:03

Projects right now that really are going to hit in 2026 to prepare us for that next step.

Amy Madden: 00:19:09

It again, is creating the solutions that are going to enable that consistency to where we can do the things that we do the same way, allowing us to really scale and we did a lot of things, a lot of different ways in the beginning.

Amy Madden: 00:19:24

And so it's really being able to figure out how do we drive process optimization, eliminating waste from processes to really condense the time that we're spending on really the steps that we're taking and in what we're doing on a day-to-day basis.

Amy Madden: 00:19:38

Bringing that all together to really expedite, you know, the service element.

Amy Madden: 00:19:42

So we do that from a people and culture standpoint, whether it's, you know, you're in finance or technology, whatever you're doing to support the business, we're constantly looking at that process optimization to really help move things forward in a very rapid way.

Amy Madden: 00:19:55

And that we can continue to scale upon.

Anderson Williams: 00:19:58

And what about you, Suzanne?

Anderson Williams: 00:19:59

Any thoughts from your angle of just some of the things that you see?

Anderson Williams: 00:20:02

If I were young and at PRO-spectus, not that you're not young, but if I were starting my career and at PRO-spectus, like these are the things that I would focus on developing to take advantage of the fact that this is a growing company because across Shore we have 53 growing companies right now.

Anderson Williams: 00:20:17

What's advice you would give to that young professional for where and how they might need to grow?

Suzanne Norman: 00:20:21

I mean, I think a lot of it is building out the leadership competencies and LEAD like a PRO is really helping to do that with our teams.

Suzanne Norman: 00:20:28

Mm-hmm.

Suzanne Norman: 00:20:28

I mean, that's something that just coming in the door, recognizing this is a team of leaders who, most of them have grown up within this organization and that's been really rapid growth.

Suzanne Norman: 00:20:38

And sometimes when that happens, as Amy mentioned, you don't have the time to really develop those skills.

Suzanne Norman: 00:20:44

So you're kind of put in a position and testing out the waters without necessarily having all the tools in your toolbox that you need.

Suzanne Norman: 00:20:51

So I think that's what we're really focusing on, especially with our new leaders or those that have demonstrated the potential to become leaders, is enabling them to grow those leadership skills.

Suzanne Norman: 00:21:01

Thinking about how do you have crucial conversations?

Suzanne Norman: 00:21:03

How do you manage performance?

Suzanne Norman: 00:21:05

You know, how do you work in a virtual environment as a leader?

Suzanne Norman: 00:21:08

Mm-hmm.

Suzanne Norman: 00:21:08

What are the best practices?

Suzanne Norman: 00:21:09

So I think that's definitely part of it.

Suzanne Norman: 00:21:11

The structure and process is also important.

Suzanne Norman: 00:21:13

That's another area that we're really focusing on to ensure that we can provide that consistent experience.

Suzanne Norman: 00:21:19

You know, we want every provider, every patient, every caregiver that we interact with to have a consistent high quality experience with our company.

Suzanne Norman: 00:21:27

So ensuring that as we grow, we're bringing people on who again, are demonstrating that they already have those behaviors and they understand the impact that they can make.

Suzanne Norman: 00:21:37

But then also partnering with Shore and others to look at how do we continue to develop our leaders and how do we kind of plan for the next class of leaders that's gonna be coming behind.

Amy Madden: 00:21:47

You know, something else to add to that element is this has been a journey, right?

Amy Madden: 00:21:52

Since starting with building job descriptions and creating performance goals, and then actually having performance management.

Amy Madden: 00:21:58

So each step along the process has been to really connect what I'm doing and the impact I have and the accountability around that.

Amy Madden: 00:22:06

So to Suzanne's point, having crucial conversations, having difficult conversations that are really constructive and giving that feedback and what we call feed forward really helps us.

Amy Madden: 00:22:17

To bridge that gap and start practicing those skills, whereas then LEAD like a PRO helps us kind of wrap all of that curriculum together.

Amy Madden: 00:22:25

We couple that with learning and development.

Amy Madden: 00:22:27

We create individually here at the organization too, spend a lot of time practicing having those difficult conversations.

Amy Madden: 00:22:33

And we do a lot around feedback models and talk tracks on ways to deliver different kinds of messages.

Amy Madden: 00:22:39

So it's really connecting all those dots together and then putting the work into practice.

Anderson Williams: 00:22:43

Yeah, I mean, I think one of the really exciting things that I found when we first talked is you were at the time developing and planning your rollout of performance management.

Amy Madden: 00:22:54

Yeah.

Anderson Williams: 00:22:54

And again, across the Shore portfolio, we have a lot of companies with a lot of employees, a lot of team members.

Anderson Williams: 00:23:00

How did you approach performance management in a way that was both not an imposition or of new compliance or a sign of, oh, this is proof we're losing our old culture.

Amy Madden: 00:23:13

Yeah.

Anderson Williams: 00:23:14

That this is, now we're backed by private equity and we're doing performance management.

Anderson Williams: 00:23:18

I'd love to hear you just talk about your approach to performance management that kept the spirit and drive and hustle alive with what Charmie had already created.

Amy Madden: 00:23:28

Well, it's interesting because our team members wanted it.

Amy Madden: 00:23:31

They were asking for performance reviews, not knowing what they were asking for, right?

Amy Madden: 00:23:36

Like thinking, okay, well I'm gonna get a performance review.

Amy Madden: 00:23:37

I'm gonna get a, an increase.

Amy Madden: 00:23:39

So it was like a layered approach of first getting everybody kind of on board with what am I supposed to be doing and have I acknowledge that that's what I'm supposed to be doing to the contribution of the design of the performance goals.

Amy Madden: 00:23:51

So our performance management process.

Amy Madden: 00:23:53

Performance reviews are a combination of performance goals and value-based competencies, which really kind of link together the cultural aspects that we talked about and allow for.

Amy Madden: 00:24:04

Self assessments along with managerial assessments this year.

Amy Madden: 00:24:08

So we just rolled it out in 24, 2024.

Amy Madden: 00:24:11

In 2025, we instituted a mid-year review process, which we just had, and really created an opportunity to connect the financial reward from a bonus standpoint directly to my performance on my performance review.

Amy Madden: 00:24:24

So our team members are really getting.

Amy Madden: 00:24:26

All of those different elements together and the opportunity to have some very direct conversations around am I meeting the expectations and what does that mean?

Amy Madden: 00:24:35

Where do I have opportunity to develop and improve?

Amy Madden: 00:24:38

The other piece that this connects to is that, and I don't think we've talked much about this here yet.

Amy Madden: 00:24:43

All of our team members are owners in the organization, so we directly connect our individual and collective performance to how we are doing as a company that they own.

Amy Madden: 00:24:54

So every time we're giving CEO updates or in person or virtual, there's really financial information and uh, company performance that is shared with the organization as owners.

Amy Madden: 00:25:07

So we really engage that buy-in through that process as well.

Anderson Williams: 00:25:12

And I love that.

Anderson Williams: 00:25:13

I'll say that my first visit to your full team meeting, you guys gave a full sort of financial rundown to the entire audience.

Anderson Williams: 00:25:20

And that was honestly the first time I had ever seen that.

Anderson Williams: 00:25:23

And obviously that's why, but it does create a totally different dynamic.

Anderson Williams: 00:25:26

I think one of the other things that I was excited to see how you all approached this is.

Anderson Williams: 00:25:31

It was also stepping back and making sure everybody understood not just what their role prescribed, but how their role contributed to the end success of the company, not just financial success, the end success for a patient.

Anderson Williams: 00:25:44

And the other part that Charmie did really profoundly from the stage, as I observed, was saying, Hey, this is where we've been and you've been part of.

Anderson Williams: 00:25:52

Building it.

Anderson Williams: 00:25:53

This is where we're going.

Amy Madden: 00:25:54

Mm-hmm.

Anderson Williams: 00:25:55

And really establishing the context to make sure everybody understood that you're contributing to the direction of this company.

Anderson Williams: 00:26:04

And that in many ways put the onus back on people to focus on growing themselves as well.

Amy Madden: 00:26:09

Yeah.

Amy Madden: 00:26:10

It

Anderson Williams: 00:26:10

wasn't just sit back and enjoy that we're a growing company, it was.

Anderson Williams: 00:26:13

A call to action really from the stage from Charmie to say, all right, everybody, it's time for all of us, including myself, to step up and seize this opportunity, which I just thought was profound.

Amy Madden: 00:26:23

She's been very clear that what has gotten us here is not going to get us where we're trying to go, and you can either get on the bus.

Amy Madden: 00:26:31

Or get off the bus.

Amy Madden: 00:26:32

Basically, our team members are so committed to the success that when somebody might not be performing, they're all over it.

Amy Madden: 00:26:41

So it is, you know, we're really pushing and seeing the conversations happening at a frontline level around accountability.

Amy Madden: 00:26:50

And, Hey, you're not doing what you need to do now I've gotta pick that up.

Amy Madden: 00:26:53

And so it's really these honest conversations.

Amy Madden: 00:26:55

To really get us to where we need to be at all levels.

Suzanne Norman: 00:26:58

Yeah, I think the transparency and the, like you said, that call to action of taking accountability has really helped the team understand, yes, we're growing, yes things are changing, but we want you to be a part of it, but we need something from you in order to do that.

Suzanne Norman: 00:27:14

And I think the performance management process and you know, rolling out merit increases in bonus, like providing that structure.

Suzanne Norman: 00:27:23

Mm-hmm.

Suzanne Norman: 00:27:23

For people to understand how their contributions will be rewarded has been really helpful for the team.

Suzanne Norman: 00:27:29

But I do think there's also been some learning opportunities for them in terms of like, what are our expectations and how do you continue to increase those over time and that that's not that great.

Suzanne Norman: 00:27:41

We've achieved a goal but that's step one, right?

Suzanne Norman: 00:27:43

Mm-hmm.

Suzanne Norman: 00:27:44

We have another goal right behind that.

Suzanne Norman: 00:27:46

And you know, I do think that there is a strong commitment from the team to really rise to the occasion to level up.

Suzanne Norman: 00:27:53

They want to be successful, they wanna be a part of what we're doing.

Suzanne Norman: 00:27:56

So that's been really exciting to see.

Anderson Williams: 00:27:58

So just to kind of wrap things up, I'd love to hear from each of you, maybe Suzanne, you go first.

Anderson Williams: 00:28:04

What's something you're working on right now that you're really excited about?

Suzanne Norman: 00:28:07

So we are partnering with a current client who we launched a program with about a year ago, and you know, the program, I will say initially, you know, successful but not as successful as we wanted it to be as they wanted it to be, just in terms of patient education and awareness of the services that were available to them.

Suzanne Norman: 00:28:26

So we have, um, recently kind of engaged in a relaunch of this program and they have some new leaders that have come in with different ideas and different experiences.

Suzanne Norman: 00:28:36

We've made some changes on our side to really align our leadership team to best support those changes.

Suzanne Norman: 00:28:42

And we are gonna be relaunching the program kind of with an expanded service model, new offerings for patients really to go out and just make sure that the community, and this is a COVID related product, so to make sure that the community knows about this service, knows about the solutions that we can provide, knows about the help that they can take advantage of.

Suzanne Norman: 00:29:01

So I'm really excited to relaunch that in September.

Anderson Williams: 00:29:04

Yeah.

Anderson Williams: 00:29:04

And I just love the reality of launch and learn and iterate and relaunch.

Anderson Williams: 00:29:09

I mean, this is the process of building a company, right?

Suzanne Norman: 00:29:11

Absolutely.

Amy Madden: 00:29:11

Lots of iteration.

Anderson Williams: 00:29:12

Yeah.

Anderson Williams: 00:29:13

What about you, Amy?

Anderson Williams: 00:29:13

What are you working on right now that you're excited about?

Amy Madden: 00:29:16

One of my favorite projects we're working on right now is an onboarding experience, so a 30, 60, 90 day onboarding experience that, again, is very scalable and repeatable and will enable new hires really to have the same structured experience in their first 90 days.

Amy Madden: 00:29:30

With assessments we have built in and check-ins with both from a people and culture standpoint and the operation standpoint, but we're coupling that with training tracks by role.

Amy Madden: 00:29:40

So you really kind of go through each step of the trip, let's say, and get your kind of stamp as you're moving through on your passport through this entire destination.

Amy Madden: 00:29:51

So we're really excited about that and bringing all of those different elements together to really set people up for success and to be able to do it consistently and over and over and over again.

Amy Madden: 00:30:02

Whether you, again, are new to PRO-spectus or you are kind of taking on a new role with the organization.

Anderson Williams: 00:30:09

What haven't I asked that I should have asked about PRO-spectus, about your work, the growth of the company, culture, people, programming that you're doing?

Anderson Williams: 00:30:18

Anything else that I haven't asked you about that you wanna make sure we try to get on the record?

Suzanne Norman: 00:30:23

I mean, I think from a culture perspective, just as you think about trying to.

Suzanne Norman: 00:30:28

Scale and grow and preserve your culture, that's challenging, right?

Suzanne Norman: 00:30:32

I mean, that's honestly one of the reasons that I made the switch to PRO-spectus is that I felt like the organization that I had grown and been a part of over time had lost some of the culture and lost, you know, some of what originally attracted me to the organization.

Suzanne Norman: 00:30:46

And I see that here there is a just significant emphasis on preserving our culture, and I think we're doing that through a lot of the things that we've talked about today.

Suzanne Norman: 00:30:56

We're doing it through transparency with our associates, making them feel a part of the team, helping them understand the journey that we're on and how we're going to support them through that.

Suzanne Norman: 00:31:06

I think we're doing it through partnership with Shore, through building out programs like LEAD like a PRO, and I'm sure we'll be expanding on that as we go forward together.

Suzanne Norman: 00:31:16

So I think there is just a really strong commitment to making sure that as we grow and as we continue to bring on new team members or promote folks internally, there's that commitment to really ensuring that our culture doesn't change and that we're always tying it back to that patient experience and how our interactions impact their daily lives.

Anderson Williams: 00:31:39

And it goes back to something you were saying before, I think about intentionality, right?

Anderson Williams: 00:31:43

If you grow and expect the culture to stay as it was, it's not.

Anderson Williams: 00:31:48

If you grow and you want the culture to stay as it has been, then you invest in it.

Anderson Williams: 00:31:53

You're deliberate about it.

Anderson Williams: 00:31:54

You do the training and onboarding you're talking about, you're building systems that reinforce the historical stories.

Anderson Williams: 00:31:59

And the future stories and the current transparency and understanding value creation and performance and all of those kinds of things.

Anderson Williams: 00:32:06

By recognizing that is one of your strengths as a business, and I think you all have been really intentional and highly invested, knowing that that is not an accident of what you do.

Anderson Williams: 00:32:18

It is fundamental to what you do.

Amy Madden: 00:32:20

Yeah.

Amy Madden: 00:32:21

You just hit it, the nail on the head.

Amy Madden: 00:32:23

Nothing is by accident.

Amy Madden: 00:32:24

It is very, very purposeful.

Anderson Williams: 00:32:32

If you enjoyed this episode, check out our other Microcap Moments episodes at www.Shorecp.university/podcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts.

Anderson Williams: 00:32:42

Here you'll also find our Bigger.

Anderson Williams: 00:32:44

Stronger.

Anderson Williams: 00:32:44

Faster.

Anderson Williams: 00:32:45

and Everyday Heroes series, each highlighting the people and stories that make investing in

Anderson Williams: 00:32:49

the lower middle market unique.

Anderson Williams: 00:32:51

This podcast was produced by Shore Capital Partners with Story and Narration by Anderson Williams.

Anderson Williams: 00:32:56

Recording by Austin Johnson.

Anderson Williams: 00:32:58

Editing by Reel Audiobooks.

Anderson Williams: 00:33:00

Sound Design, mixing, and mastering by Mark Galup of Reel Audiobooks.

Anderson Williams: 00:33:04

Special thanks to Amy Madden and Suzanne Norman.

Anderson Williams: 00:33:07

This podcast is The Property of Shore Capital Partners, LLC.

Anderson Williams: 00:33:10

None of the content herein is investment advice, an offer of investment advisory services, nor a recommendation or offer relating to any security.

Anderson Williams: 00:33:19

See the Terms of Use page on the Shore Capital website for other important information.