The purpose that drives me forward

Coming out of college, I knew I wanted to get into the business of influence. I was also a student of leadership.

Playing college football and participating in organized athletics my whole life taught me the value of teamwork, accountability and working toward a common goal. I wanted a profession that combined three things: the business of influence, leadership and being part of a team.

That led me into sales and then pharmaceutical sales. The icing on the cake was finding a purpose behind the work. I could combine influence, leadership and teamwork while making a difference in the lives of the patients we serve.

That purpose has stayed with me for more than 25 years in the industry. My roles have changed, but I continue to use my ability to influence, my ability to lead and my ability to be a team player to coach and develop people so we can accomplish our mission.

Today, I lead a team across the Southeast. It is a blend of people with more than 20 years in this business and people who are newer to the industry. That combination of experience and perspective is one of our strengths.

The newer team members have re-energized me because working with them brings me back to my roots and my first leadership role. At the same time, I get to work with experienced people who remain passionate, skillful and committed to learning. Some members of my team have worked with me at previous companies. There are people I have known professionally for more than 15 years. Those relationships mean a great deal to me.

Being a highly effective leader means creating an environment where great people can do great work. It also means focusing on the right support and development for each person because support looks different in every situation. You have to see people’s strengths and their unique contributions. You have to recognize those qualities if you want to help people maximize their abilities.

I’m competitive. I love to see the team win, but I also love to see individuals win. Success isn’t about my own recognition. It’s about helping people build confidence, develop new skills and discover what they’re capable of accomplishing. When you create the right environment with the right people, great things can happen. What energizes me professionally is watching really good people do great things and seeing them recognized and rewarded for it.

There are experiences in life that change your perspective permanently. For me, it came through loss.

I have lost both of my children to sudden cardiac arrest. One was 23 years old. The other was 30. Both were athletes.

My oldest son played football at the University of Georgia and spent time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers organization. My youngest played a tennis match the night before he passed. If you looked at either of them, you would have seen athletes who appeared to be in great shape. Both were born with genetic heart conditions that were never diagnosed.

My late mother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at age 60. I watched how the disease affected her quality of life, especially in its later stages. It reached a point where she could no longer work and had to retire.

As her disease progressed, she experienced Parkinson’s disease psychosis. I remember flying up to visit her one weekend. My only objective was to spend quality time with her. We were sitting on the couch when she began seeing people and animals from different points in her life, including my childhood dog, my sisters’ friends from high school and a relative who had died many years earlier.

These chapters, stories and moments in my life have changed who I am and my perspective on everything.

They gave me a very clear sense of purpose. Today, my mission is centered on improving quality of life for patients who suffer from debilitating diseases. Under that umbrella are two pillars that are deeply personal to me: sudden cardiac arrest awareness and improving the lives of people living with Parkinson’s disease and Parkinson’s disease psychosis.

Those pillars come directly from my family’s experiences, and they continue to shape how I lead, the work I do and the impact I hope to make.

I am the warrior. I am the advocate.

That mindset influences how I approach my work every day. Professionally, it means helping improve the lives of patients and families. Personally, it means being an advocate.

Outside of work, I have used my voice and my family’s experience to raise awareness of sudden cardiac arrest. I was fortunate to take part in a campaign that was powerful and difficult for me to do. When it was shared, I read every comment. People reached out with support, and some connected my family’s story to experiences in their own lives.

That is part of my “why.” My mission is to help so no one else has to go through this.

On World Heart Day, I am sharing this part of my story because awareness remains personally important to me.

You learn a lot about a company and its culture during the most difficult moments of your life.
When my son died, our CEO reached out to me personally. At my son’s funeral, I looked up and saw people from Acadia. My team was there. That tells you a lot. We work for companies, but at the end of the day, it comes down to people.

At one of our meetings, a leader came to see me. The first thing he asked was, “How are you doing?” It was a check-in. It was support.

Those moments showed me what our culture is really about. I am at a point in my life where I must surround myself with genuine and authentic people who are aligned around doing something purposeful.

The support I received also influenced the environment I want to create for my own team. People need to know that you see their strengths, value their contributions and care about them as human beings.

That is what people-first leadership means to me.

If you called my team and asked what Jay preaches as step one in the business of influence, they would probably give you the same answer: You have to show up, and you have to be genuine and authentic.

That is step one.

Without that, nothing is going to happen. Trust begins with how you show up and how you connect with others. You also have to ask good questions and listen.

Connectivity is another big word I like. My team brings together people with different abilities and experiences. One person may be highly analytical and understand the data. Someone else may bring a different skill or perspective. When they support each other and share best practices, the entire team becomes stronger.

That is what makes this work purposeful. When people show up as themselves, listen to one another and share what they know, they build the trust that allows the entire team to succeed.