Episode 109: Kyra Valdez-Shipp

Kyra Valdez - Shipp

Intro: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Pretty Powerful Podcast, where powerful women are interviewed every week to share real inspiring stories and incredible insight to help women or anyone break the barriers, be a part of innovation, shatter the glass ceiling, and dominate to the top of their sport, industry, or life's mission.

Join us as we celebrate exceptional women and step into our power. And now here's your host, Angela Gennari.

Angela Gennari: Hello, and welcome to another episode of the pretty powerful podcast. My name is Angela Gennari. And today I'm here with Kyra Valdez-Shipp. Hi, Kira. Hi, how are you? I am so good. Thank you so much for joining me today.

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: Yeah.

Angela Gennari: Thank you for having me. I'm excited

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: to be

Angela Gennari: here. So Kira is joining us and she is the founder and CEO of Peak Performance Consulting. So what made you want to get into consulting?

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: Oh, gosh. Well, it's not new to [00:01:00] me. I feel like I've been informally consulting for a long time, but, um, I actually got into consulting just purely from the need.

I was constantly being outreached to by people within my industry at the time and giving away advice. And I kind of had some barriers because I was employed and couldn't give away all the secret sauces and all of my tell. And, um, so I decided to make a big leap of faith and go into consulting and really be able to break away from the box and help businesses in a way that I was just really unable to do before.

Angela Gennari: I love it. That's such a great reason to get into consulting to help people and to just make sure that you can share the information knowledge you've gained. That's awesome. And your previous role was in healthcare. Is that right?

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: Yes. Yes. So, um, I'm actually a nurse by trade. I started my career as an ICU nurse.

I'm a little bit of a adrenaline addict, [00:02:00] if you will. Okay. And you have to

Angela Gennari: be

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: an

Angela Gennari: ICU. I

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: would imagine. So I, um, kind of made my way over into what a lot of people consider the dark side of Health insurance. And I spent almost two decades working on the health insurance side for two fortune 25 companies and learned a lot along the way about business, about healthcare, um, about leadership, all of the above.

And then, um, over time kind of made my way into where I am now.

Angela Gennari: Very nice. So what specifically do you consult on? Do you, is it mostly health insurance?

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: Um, I have two different sides of my business, if you will. So we do business consulting still in the healthcare space. Um, so in our healthcare unit, we work with, um, the health insurance companies.

We work with provider systems, as well as we work with vendors that support providers and health [00:03:00] insurance companies, really with the goal of streamlining and making the healthcare system work better. Um, As anybody would probably agree, the U. S. has a fragmented system. It's not a bad system. I can tell you I have been in the depths of it for two decades, but there's still a lot of opportunities.

So what my firm does is work with those partners to try to strengthen collaboration, communication, and at the end of the day, really take care of the patient. Um, and then we have our Other if you will side of the company where we do business consulting and my firm what we have learned is some of the best Secret sauces if you will of the top fortune companies and what we believe in is that every business Has the same need and the same issues of a fortune 500 company.

The difference is just simply scale. And we work with businesses from, um, you know, younger [00:04:00] folks just starting out and getting an LLC and going for their dream, um, to, you know, midsize businesses who have been in business for 25 plus years and all the way up to still some of those fortune 500 companies.

So, um, really our foundation is business consulting. And then of course we have that specialized niche in healthcare.

Angela Gennari: Very cool. I love that. So yeah, I think there's a lot of room for people to just get general business knowledge, but I think healthcare is one of those realms where it just feels so complicated.

It is very tough to navigate. I mean, even, and I can tell you, even as a small business owner, um, one of the most challenging tasks that I've had over the past year was trying to find great health insurance for my team. And, you know, it is trying to figure out the, you know, ACA reporting rules, trying to make sure I've got a good policy in place, trying to make sure the deductible isn't too high, but yet the premium [00:05:00] isn't too high.

And so you're, it's a, it's a balancing act and it's a very tough space to navigate.

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: It is a balancing act. And I will tell you, you know, you just mentioned something like a policy in place. Yes. You know, I, I index heavily on like following a system and a routine, but especially with healthcare, uh, you know, what I, what I, I think that I would like to say that I love about our health care system and where it's come from, even, you know, 15, 20 years ago, is that there's an opportunity for everybody to have coverage now.

And we have a long ways to go on, you know, pricing and options and we have a shortage of nurses and physicians and things. people are no longer in a position where they can't have coverage. And that's super important. Um, so yeah, I think that I'm really inspired by what the healthcare system is doing, including the insurance companies and what they're doing behind the scenes to try to make it better for all and to try to [00:06:00] expand.

Angela Gennari: So I'm just curious to know your thoughts on our health care system as compared to somebody like the UK or Canada or someone with with kind of that nationwide coverage of, you know, the government controls the health care because I've heard horror stories that I've heard good and so it just, I'm curious to know your thoughts being from that industry.

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: Yeah, I mean, I think that there's pros and cons to everything, right? Um, I, you know, I don't specialize in understanding their systems and how they function, but I think there's pros and cons. And I think that a good way to kind of look at it too, is even if you think of in the U S if you look at a state, you have rural and you have Metro and, um, you have to solution at the local level.

And, you know, um, I, I shared with you that I'm actually in Nevada right now in Vegas at a conference to present and here you have your extremely Metro and you're [00:07:00] extremely rural areas. And those two populations, even in the same state have different needs and different requirements so I can't say that I think that, you know, Canada or the UK or anybody who has that type of a structure is better or worse I think that there's pros and cons to everything.

Um, I think that where we're at, at least in the U. S., is really just trying to be able to make sure that people have access, um, which is a similar issue that other countries have. You hear, to your point, horror stories about, you know, waiting six months for a surgery. Well, that's an access issue. Access issues don't don't care where you live or what kind of system you're in.

It's about how do we get, you know, nurses and physicians education and inspire them to go into the field and inspire them to be in places like a rural setting where there's care needed. So Yeah, I can answer your question. I mean, I think that there's pros and cons about everything, the way that I [00:08:00] approach, um, business healthcare specifically, but any business is really just looking at like, what is the problem and how do you solution for that?

How do you set up systems and processes and strategic goals to try to make that. at one point issue, no longer a problem.

Angela Gennari: And where do you see healthcare being more streamlined? Like, how do you see that being effective for the average user? You have somebody like me who I rarely ever go to the doctor. I am in my mid forties.

Healthy workout. You know, I'm generally pretty healthy. I rarely ever go to the doctor. But when I do, one of my frustrations is I don't want to wait. And I don't want it to be a day trip. Like, I want it to just be in and out and gone. And, um, but yeah, so, so how do you see streamlining happening in the healthcare world?

So well,

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: first of all, don't tell me that because I'm going to tell you, okay, for your age, even though you're healthy, you need to go get this screening and this. [00:09:00] Oh, I

Angela Gennari: have all the screenings. I do all the screenings. I'm just not somebody who, uh, I I'm pretty healthy. I don't, thankfully, you know, thank God I don't have to go to the doctor a whole lot, but yes.

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: Yeah. No. So for streamlining, I think, um, at a very high level, We're seeing more of like local and federal, um, regulators coming together on, you know, how they coordinate and how they're building out, um, policies and guidelines for practice at all the different levels with all the different payers. Um, but you know one thing that.

COVID has really changed is how we look at care. And so telehealth, telehealth is huge and it's getting bigger and we're starting to, you know, think more strategically about how can we deliver care where the member is meeting the member where they are. So for example, you, right, if you do wake up and you're not feeling great, like telehealth is a great option.

And the insurance [00:10:00] companies are providing that as a benefit. Um, So, yeah, I think that just trying to lean into that and then really trying to, um, what we've seen over the last several years is having more partnerships, you know, where the insurance companies and the providers are working together more collaboratively and, um, you know, they're rated and they're judged off of member feedback and wait times and things like that.

So just having more focus on those types of things, I think is a path in the

Angela Gennari: right direction. And I agree telehealth. I'm a huge fan of telehealth. I think that it is the equalizer. I think it has, it has opened up good health care for people all around the country, no matter what your demographic or where you live.

And I think that that's been a huge. Blessing for everybody, because honestly, like if you live in a rural area, an hour away from a hospital, you know, for you to just go get, you know, basic care, you know, on things that, you know, you may [00:11:00] just need a prescription renewal, you, you, you need something simple, but you've got to drive all the way into the doctor, which could mean you have to take off of work or find a, you know, childcare.

Find, you know, find gas money, find transportation. Like there are so many obstacles in just meeting a basic need. And I think telehealth has really solved a lot of that. And I think that that has been one of the best things to come out of healthcare in decades.

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: Yeah. And you know, you mentioned something that's really exciting to that.

A lot of the general public don't realize, but behind the scenes, um, they are really focusing on exactly what you said is like outside of just a disease and I need medication. What are people challenged with every day? insurance companies are coming up with new and creative ways to support members who lack transportation or can't afford food.

Um, and they're offering benefits and support, like, like something that we've never [00:12:00] even thought of or seen before to help people to have their basic needs taken care of. Because if somebody doesn't have basic needs taken care of, they're not thinking about their health. That's right. So

Angela Gennari: what do you think are the, cause one, um, So as, as a small business, you know, we're trying to find ways that we can support our employees and we have a lot of part time employees.

And so we have found ways that we can support them by offering, because like, in my opinion, it's not just your physical health that matters. It's your mental health, it's your financial health, it's, you know, nutrition. So these are things that I think move the needle and making you a good whole, whole healthy person.

And so, but you don't see insurance companies get onto the, You know, idea of mental health as being something that is as critical as physical health. And same thing with nutrition, you know, they're not pushing nutrition as they much as they are prescriptions, you know, like I would much rather have good nutrition versus [00:13:00] Lots of prescriptions in my diet, right?

So how do we, how do we get insurance companies to understand the value of mental health and nutrition as it per, as it relates to physical health?

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: Yeah. So the good news, I can tell you having had insight to a lot of the big payers that you think of and even local ones is that they are thinking about that.

And, um, there's even kind of a phrase that we talk about in the industry as food is medicine.

Angela Gennari: Yes.

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: And they are thinking about behavioral health more and understanding that holistic care. It is happening. It is being looked at. There is investment occurring. Um, it takes a long time to shift that. And some of these problems are very difficult to solve.

Um, behavioral health, concerns in the population. That's a tough thing to figure out. So, um, they're getting creative. There is investment. There is focus. There is, um, measurement [00:14:00] of success that even the federal government looks at for the health insurance companies to say, how are you managing these populations?

I think we just have a long way to go, but it is there and all of them are definitely focused on it. And that is definitely a huge shift from the old health insurance. Companies that I think a lot of us still kind of have that thought in our head.

Angela Gennari: Absolutely. Well, and that's one thing that I feel like has is going to be the game changer in the industry, because, you know, there there's phrases and books and, you know, the body keeps the score and, and I can tell you during the most stressful times of my life has all have also been where even once I come through the stress of it.

I become really sick and I think that just becomes it, you know, it's like your body just says enough and I can't take this anymore. And then all of a sudden you're in bed for three days, you know, and, and so like that, it really does impact it. So that stress and that mental health does [00:15:00] have a role to play in your physical body.

And as does mental, you know, like if you are depressed, you know, you're not eating well, you're not sleeping well. Sleeping while you're, you know, there's so much that just correlates. And I feel like in order to really make a person healthy, you have to take care of all of that. It has to be nutrition. It has to be mental health.

It has to be, you know, all of that together. Yes.

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: Yeah. Yeah. No. And I, I like what you said, even to, you know, as a business owner, you think about that for your people and for you, right? Self preservation. And I think that that's something really important that people don't index heavily enough on is how do you take care of yourself?

Yes. How do you take care of your people? How do you still hold people to a high standard while having that balancing act of leadership and, you know, being a servant leader and being, you know, somebody that's approachable. And, you know, when you are a business owner and you are the CEO. You [00:16:00] have all of that to think about.

Um, but I think that, you know, the success as a leader and as a business owner is that when you are rooted in, you know, the health of yourself and prioritizing yourself first, even above everything else. And when you show up, um, that, that is key for your team and you know, who's following you and just being that leader for success.

Um,

Angela Gennari: Absolutely. So where do you see the healthcare industry going? That's broad. It's a very broad, it's very broad, but do you see it still maintaining that same, you know, the, the kind of like the big three, big four insurance companies kind of running everything. And I see a lot of hospitals, like hospitals are merging layers.

There's a lot of hospitals. Yeah. the larger community hospitals are like the smaller community hospitals are being bought by systems and other are part of the system. And that system has mandates, you know, on, on certain things. So, so, and I [00:17:00] guess where I was going with this is the more we, institutionalize things, you know, like we, we take all of our community hospitals that, you know, they, they, CEO who is in touch with their community, and now they're part of a, Broad program.

There's benefits to having that. But then there's also negatives where they're they're losing that community feel they're losing that ability to make decisions on their own because now there's policies in place that are company wide that you know, this is the way it's going to be because this is the policy of this particular Hospital group, right?

And so no longer is it XYZ community hospital, but you're part of this broader program and we have to follow all their rules. We can't make decisions on site anymore. So do you see that becoming more or less? Do you, do you see, do you think that that's getting traction and that there's benefit to it or do you think it's going the wrong way?

Yeah.

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: So, um, more or less, I think [00:18:00] the answer is it depends, but what I, what I will tell you is this. So if you take a step back. Yeah. Those, those health systems, the providers, the community health networks, all of them have the same regulatory body, all of them have to follow the same rules where I see, and I have seen this and I've been hand in hand with a physician groups and systems for, you know, 15 years now is that the benefit to it is systems, right?

So they all have the same guiding principles. They all have the same rules. But what you will find is that the reason that these buyouts are occurring and why they are successful is that the systems, they have everything in place. They have the policies, the people, the programs, the quality improvement, the data, the partnerships with vendors, they have it all in place for good, positive patient outcomes.

Now, am I saying that that's always [00:19:00] going to be every single person walks out of the hospital healthy and has a great outcome? No, that's, that's called life. But what I can tell you in looking at the data, and again, they're all, they all are measured the same way is that those big health systems, they show positive patient improvement in chronic conditions and hospital readmissions in, in every aspect of care.

They've set up structures that work. And so I think that the reason why, um, a lot of some of what you would call like the smaller providers or the mom and doc shops are going to this is because they don't have the infrastructure to support the patients the way that they need to, or maybe the funds to, to put that together.

And again, when, when they're all in the same playing field of having the same rules and regulations, which are good rules and regulations, um, they need to have that infrastructure. So I think that that is why you're [00:20:00] seeing a lot of that. And to answer your question of, does it work? It absolutely does. Is there always work to be done a hundred percent?

Um, and my, my area of focus in, in healthcare specifically with the payers was always, quality improvement. And I think that all of them have that continuous improvement mindset on. And so with that, I mean, it's only going to continue to get better. But does it work? Yeah. And is the data and the outcome showing it?

Yes. Awesome.

Angela Gennari: So healthcare seems to be one of the most stable growth oriented industries. You know, um, if you are a nurse, you have a very, very good career ahead of you. Why is it so difficult lately? And why are we seeing such an exodus? And I know that a lot of the exodus came after COVID because people were just tired.

They were just exhausted and they had, they had been overworked so much that they just couldn't take it anymore. And I've seen so many [00:21:00] people who are in healthcare, leave the industry altogether. But how do we, how do we get people back into healthcare? How do we start recruiting and making that, that, You know, the, the attractive position used to be, because now so much of it has now become traveling doctors and traveling nurses, because they're so short staff, they just kind of bounce from place to place.

How do we make it, how do we make it a, a career that people want to go into?

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: Yeah, well, goodness, you start at the root of it, which is all of these people have to be highly educated individuals,

Angela Gennari: right?

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: And, you know, if you look at just focusing on the education piece, you have, it costs a lot of money to go to nursing school, to med school.

Um, they're constantly requiring higher levels of education of nurses. You know, um, uh, associate's degree used to be good for any type of nursing. They're like, no, you need a master's, a PhD, this or that. So education is expensive. It takes a long time. It's very competitive to get into. Now, I will say, I [00:22:00] don't know if this fact is accurate, but I have a friend who her daughter just got accepted into med school.

She's a proud mama, but she was saying, um, it's so hard because the acceptance rate, she, again, not my quote, but she said is like anywhere from 5 to 10%. And I'm like, really? I don't study this, but Maybe that's a contributing factor. And I actually go look that up now, but, um, it's hard to get in. It's expensive.

And then the other thing is they hold you to a really high standard. So I can tell you many a moons ago when I was in nursing school, we always had this joke that C equal degree, you know, the standard scale system. Uh, you could not get below a 76%. Uh, and, and in most, you know, educational systems, A 76 is still a C.

Mm-hmm . Well, uh, 76 was actually bad. In a 75 you failed. And then in nursing school you could only fail two classes and you were [00:23:00] out. You were done. Wow. So it's difficult and I like the fact that they have that because you, you have, I don't want people. I don't know what they're doing exactly on me. Yeah, exactly.

Yeah. But you have people's lives in your hand, but it's so hard and it's expensive. So, you know, there's that, but then, um, When you look at what the healthcare system is, the, the people working in it are challenged with, I mean, like I said, it's been many moons ago since I was in the ICU, but, um, you know, between family, between environment, between short staffing, high ratios, um, you know, multiple shifts, odd hours, it's a lot of toll on the body and it is mentally.

A draining. Yeah, it really is. So it's, um, that's a tough one to solve, but I think that, you know, from, from an education standpoint, if we can have more money funded to support these people who are brilliant, that want to do it and maybe [00:24:00] can't afford. Number one and number two, really looking at how do we balance those people that are bedside so that they don't have the burnout and how are they properly compensated?

Because many of them still are not. Yeah, that makes

Angela Gennari: sense. Very cool. So, um, what obstacles, so kind of pivoting out of healthcare and going into opening your own business, what obstacles did you have to overcome in starting your own company?

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: Well, like everybody, you have the basics. How do you actually form a company?

Yeah. Yeah. But, um, no, I've, I've actually been, um, in entrepreneurship or in the entrepreneurial world for. Several years. Um, we had lots of real estate bought and sold millions. Um, I actually have multiple e commerce platforms. Um, I have a small med spa. I love my med spa. So I've been doing that for several years, [00:25:00] but going into this huge transition, um, I think the biggest leap that I had to figure out is, you know, how do you leave the corporate world?

That I was well compensated and now make that up and grow my own business. And, um, that's been the biggest challenge, but I will say the key to overcoming that has just been the fact that I've always invested in relationships.

Angela Gennari: Yeah.

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: And making that transition and you know, calling upon people and saying, Hey, I'm out here and I'm doing this new thing.

It has just the network has started blossoming. Um, but there's always the little details, um, you know, taxes, things like that. So you learn along the way, but I think the biggest thing I've had to overcome was simply fear. Yeah.

Angela Gennari: You know,

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: it takes a lot to, to make drastic changes in life.

Angela Gennari: So, well, and belief in yourself, that's one of the hardest things too, is when you start saying I got the ability to do this.

I can do this. I [00:26:00] believe in myself. That's one of the hardest, scariest things because it's, especially if you've collected a paycheck for a long time, that That leaving that comfort zone, leaving that safe space to go in and just have only you to depend on can be very daunting. It can be daunting and also

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: empowering because you are the one who makes you succeed or makes you

Angela Gennari: fail.

You know, you

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: can look in the mirror at night and decide, am I failing or am I successful? And if you're not successful, well, you better get it in

Angela Gennari: gear. That's right. There's no one to blame, but, you know, people. fingers to point at. Yep. So yeah, I agree. So, um, so kind of going a little bit back into healthcare, um, as a nurse, uh, what, what was, I guess, what was the part of it that you loved the most?

And then what part of it made you say, I think I'm ready for a new challenge as

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: a bedside nurse? Yes. [00:27:00] Well, I loved the most. So, uh, growing up, I had some health issues and I actually had some really terrible experiences. And that's what actually drove me to say, you know what, I think I want to get into the medical field because I said, nobody should ever have to feel this way or have the experience that I had.

And I want to go in and be a game changer with. people that, you know, are in the hospital or having something going on with them. So that's what drove me. And I think what I loved about it is, um, interestingly enough in the ICU, The patients don't really know you're there because you know, they're in the ICU and yeah, that's true, but their families are, and what I discovered in bedside nursing and the ICU is that I got to help those families in times of extreme need in times that nobody wants to be in.

And just being that support that can give them the [00:28:00] bits of knowledge that they need. And just be there with them and keep that space was really, really fulfilling. Um, I think what made me want to transition to essentially the health insurance company was, um, I actually worked at a hospital that was just low income, um, demographic, really struggled similar to our conversation earlier, like they had other needs that were not being met.

And they came in no pun intended on their deathbed. And at that point, there wasn't a lot that we could do. And I had, there was a lot of, um, mortality. And I just said, you know, there's gotta be a way that I can take this passion and help people. people before they make it to the ICU bed. And so when I originally transitioned over, I was a nurse on the phone calling people and talking to them and, you know, coaching them and working them through whatever was going [00:29:00] on with their health.

And I loved it because I was like, I went from having one patient who was really struggling, you know, maybe not going to make it. To having 50 that I talked to and I could see their progress and they were improving and getting healthier. And what I loved about the industry that I was in and, you know, my career in health insurance is that I went from having, you know, that 50 patients as a nurse to working for a company that we had.

You know, 20 million patients and I was head over quality for the entire company. And I always said these people will never know me, but I have 20 million patients that I'm helping them and putting things in place that can help help them improve. So, um, that was kind of, you know, what got me into healthcare, my own experiences.

And then what ultimately pivoted me to say, you know, I need to go a different route and help more people.

Angela Gennari: Wow. I love it. Yeah. And that [00:30:00] similar way of wanting to help people and make a difference in their lives is probably what brought you into the consulting world. Yes. Yes, absolutely. Very cool. So what advice would you give to your 18 year old self?

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: Oh, that's a good one because I was a very motivated 18 year old. Yeah. Yeah. I imagine. Um, I would probably have told my 18 year old self you're dreaming too small. Oh, really? Interesting. That's great. Yeah. I, I actually struggled, um, There was a point in my career where my 18 year old self had set all these goals for me.

And I met those goals and there was about a six month to 12 month period of time where I looked in the mirror and I was like, What next? This was supposed to be your end game. This was supposed to be where you retired. This was your goal and you already met it. Like what is the rest of your career? What does your life look like?

What are we going to do next? Are we going to sit here? Are [00:31:00] we going to move? And um, that was, that was a moment in my life and my career that I really struggled with because I didn't think that big. So I think, you know, understanding that and now as you know, many years past 18, I continue to tell myself.

Don't put limits think bigger than what you're currently thinking, whatever it is, multiply by 10 because that's the possibility.

Angela Gennari: That's great. I love it. So, um, I'm going to kind of circle back into the healthcare space just for just a moment. Where do you, so one of the. Things that I think happens in the healthcare space, especially in the insurance is the abuse of healthcare.

And what I mean by that is people going into the ICU who aren't on their deathbed, you know, who aren't in a severe condition who are in there because they have a common cold, but. They don't have the insurance to go to [00:32:00] a doctor. So they're going to go to ICU where they have to have care, right? So you have situations like that, or you have situations where, um, painkillers and opioids and things like that, you know, are being given to people who, you know, they, they say, It's really tough for somebody to prove back pain to prove that they're in pain and so doctors will fill these prescriptions.

And so, um, how do we, how do we stop the abuse of health care so that it is a little bit more reason. And it doesn't stop there. It's also the, the, um, The astronomically high lawsuits, right? I'm going to sue somebody for 10 million because I stubbed my toe, you know, when I was doing like it's crazy. Um, yeah.

So how do we, how do we get this under control? Do you have any, any idea on how we can possibly just kind of reign in the craziness? [00:33:00]

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: Yeah. So, I mean, I think that there's a lot of scenarios that you can look at. No, those two scenarios are the same, right? Right. But I would say, you know, the first one that you talked about with like going to the ICU, all the hospitals and the system, they have protocols.

And if somebody is in the ICU or if somebody gets admitted to the hospital, there's a reason. There's a reason. And

Angela Gennari: then I don't mean ICU. I mean, emergency room. Yeah.

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: Yeah. Um, I think that, you know, there's Again, there's access issues. So if somebody doesn't know about telehealth and it's a weekend and their PCP doesn't have a primary care physician doesn't have an on call number and they just don't know where to go and they don't know if They're, they have COVID or pneumonia or what have your situation, you know, they're probably going to look up and say, is there an ER to go to now?

We know that ER probably wasn't best, but you know, people may not [00:34:00] have access to other options or may not know about them. So I think that. The key is to continue to look at solving the problems and then educating the population. As far as the other things, like with prescriptions and, you know, drug abuse, it's a problem.

It's an epidemic, you know, and there's Do you think

Angela Gennari: that's increased with telehealth when they don't have to go in and see a doctor and they can get a prescription renewed? Or do you think it's, it's the same?

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: No, telehealth is very different. And there's a lot of rules around telehealth and what you can prescribe and things like that.

Um, there's a lot of stop gaps that are being put in place. And I will say that, um, pharmaceutical companies are supporting this. Um, you know, health insurance companies, providers themselves, um, the states, the state agencies, the federal government. It is a huge orchestration of effort to say, how do we communicate better together?

How do we put things in place to prevent it? Um, you know, for [00:35:00] example, years ago, you, uh, used to be able to go and get an opioid filled, for example, at Walgreens and then CVS, and then here and there, and people figured that out and were able to go collect. medication, unfortunately. And now there's a lot of different processes and, um, technology in place to prevent those types of things.

So it's, it's a hard problem to solve. But again, what I think a lot of people don't realize is that behind the scenes, All of these companies are actually working together to say, how do we fix this? How do we use technology? How do we use AI? How do we use all these different tools in our tool belt to try to make this problem better?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Very good.

Angela Gennari: So, um, this has been an enjoyable conversation. One of the things that I always ask my podcast is, can you tell me about a time that you gave your power away? And then another time that maybe you've stepped into your power. And, you know, one of the reasons is because [00:36:00] as women, we often give our power away, whether it's somebody else gets credit, somebody is able to shut us down or, you know, criticize us or, or do something to prevent us from standing in our power, and then is there another time that you've, you've stood in your power?

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: Yeah, so, um, I think I've given my power away a lot. Um, and I think that comes from how I grew up and being a young woman and trying to, you know, navigate the world and figure it out on your own. Um, it really showed up at least early in my career when I wouldn't speak up after having a annual review where I had amazing results, the highest you possibly could, and then told, well, you're not getting a raise because.

You've only been in the position for, you know, nine months. Yeah. Things like that, which now I understand that that doesn't work. And that's, that's probably not what you should do for people, but, you know, just accepting those things [00:37:00] or accepting, um, other people you've mentioned, you know, taking a credibility for your work, so on and so forth.

And I think that as I've grown as a person, um, In my career, I now know my value, whether it's financial or whether it's, you know, this is what I offer to the table. So much so that I've had, um, very bold situations where I've told people that, you know, Hey, I'm nobody's second choice. And you know, this is what I bring to the table, either love it or hate it, take it or leave it.

Um, sometimes, sometimes that doesn't work with people, but I know my value and I know what I bring to the table. And so when I, uh, go out into the world personally or professionally, that's what it is.

Angela Gennari: That's amazing. Uh, keep doing that. Keep doing that. [00:38:00] I tell people all the time, like, you know, you have to understand your worth and your value and, you know, come in with a mindset of they need me just as much as I need them.

So yeah, for sure. Well, this has been really, really enjoyable. I have so enjoyed this. Um, and I just have one more question for you. What do you wish more people knew?

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: New or realized I'm going to take that how I want to take it. Yeah. So I am actually a cancer survivor. Oh, wow. One thing about cancer that I heard it my whole life, but I never truly realized is that tomorrow's not promised.

Angela Gennari: So

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: I think people say it a lot, but I don't think everybody lives it. And I think that if you can, in an optimistic way, truly realize that we only have this moment guaranteed.

And if you can [00:39:00] make the best of that moment. Then you're living your life to its fullest. And if tomorrow ends up being your last day, at least, you know, you went out with a bang.

Angela Gennari: Yes. Yes. Amen to that. Yeah. Well, thank you so much. So how can people find you and peak performance?

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: Yeah, absolutely. Well, I do have a website for the consulting firm, and that is peak psg.

com. I think we'll link it for everybody to go to. And then you can also follow me on social, which is Kira Schipp, official, K Y R A S H I P P, official. Um, and definitely feel free to outreach to me if you have questions or follow along. Um, would love to engage with the community and it's been so great to talk with you today, Angela.

Angela Gennari: Yeah, it's been a pleasure. I've enjoyed it. So, and we will make sure that Kira's information is also on prettypowerfulpodcast. com. So, um, you can look her up there as well. So thank you so much, Kira. This has been a really enjoyable conversation.

Kyra Valdez-Shipp: Yes. Likewise.

Angela Gennari: Take care. Have a [00:40:00] great day. Thanks. You too. And we'll see you guys on another episode of the pretty powerful podcast.

Have a great day, everybody. Bye bye.

Intro: Thank you for joining our guests on the pretty powerful podcast. And we hope you've gained new insight and learned from exceptional women. Remember to subscribe or check out this and all episodes on prettypowerfulpodcast. com. Visit us next time, and until then, step into your own power.