#41- Sylvia Owens: Basketball & Boardrooms

Join host Cynthia Kirkpatrick in a deeply inspiring conversation with Sylvia Owens, the Director IT Revenue Cycle Systems at BJC Healthcare. With over 27 years of experience in healthcare, 18 of them in IT, Sylvia shares her incredible journey from growing up in East St. Louis to playing professional basketball in Europe and eventually transitioning into a leadership role in healthcare technology. Sylvia's story is one of resilience, reinvention, and the power of hard work.

In this episode, we dive into:

• Sylvia's Early Life: Growing up in East St. Louis with limited resources, Sylvia learned the value of perseverance and grit from a young age.
• The Role of Sports in Shaping Leadership: Sylvia reflects on how basketball saved her life and taught her the importance of teamwork, discipline, and resilience, qualities she later applied in her career.
• Navigating Career Pivots: Sylvia opens up about the tough decisions she made throughout her life, including leaving her basketball career after a knee injury and finding new purpose in the field of healthcare IT.
• Leadership in Healthcare IT: With 18 years of experience in implementing Epic electronic health records, Sylvia discusses her approach to leadership, including how she builds trust, motivates teams, and creates a culture of inclusion.
• The Importance of Mentorship: Sylvia shares how her network of mentors, or “angels,” helped guide her through difficult times and how she now mentors others, especially women in tech.
• Resilience and Reinvention: Sylvia’s story is a testament to the power of starting over, as she reflects on her personal and professional challenges, including a 20-year marriage, a life-changing divorce, and the courage to start fresh multiple times.

Key Takeaways:

• The importance of building resilience in the face of obstacles.
• How to embrace career pivots and turn setbacks into opportunities.
• The value of mentorship and surrounding yourself with a network of support.
• Sylvia’s strategies for leading successful teams by understanding and motivating individuals.
• Lessons from sports that apply to leadership and life.

Memorable Quotes:

• “Basketball saved my life.” – Sylvia Owens
• “Leadership is not about the leader; it’s about getting work done through others.” – Sylvia Owens
• “You can always start over—don’t stay down.” – Sylvia Owens

About Our Guest: Sylvia Owens is the Director of IT at BJC Healthcare, where she focuses on software change management and business process design. She has an 18-year background in healthcare IT, implementing Epic electronic health records across large healthcare systems. Before transitioning into healthcare, Sylvia played professional basketball in Europe and has continuously demonstrated courage and resilience throughout her life.