SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to Flight Path, the podcast where we explore the journeys behind bold leadership, innovation, and lasting impact. Each episode we sit down with leaders, innovators, and rolebreakers who build their success by doing the work, learning the lessons, and sometimes ignoring the map altogether. Whether you're navigating leadership, healthcare, technology, entrepreneurship, or simply trying to figure out what's left without losing your mind, you're in the right place. Before we take flight, we'd like to thank our sponsor, e-fax. Helping businesses and professionals take out your documentary. Facts online with e-box. Adjust your altitude. Get ready for storms. Welcome aboard.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Hi everyone and welcome to another episode of Flight Path. This is the summer podcast train where we are handing off the podcast to the interviewee to then go interview another bluebird. So today I am interviewing the famous Maureen Nylin, who works for ExtraCo. And then she will hand off the podcast and interview someone else. So welcome, Maureen. Welcome to the summer podcast train. So great to have you.

SPEAKER_02 1:21

I'm so happy to be here, Rebecca. So when you asked me to do this, well, first of all, you said, I have this idea. And I said, okay, I'm in. And you didn't even tell me what the idea was. I love that so many people trust me. Well, yes, I do. I implicitly trust you. But I was thinking this morning, I was like, you know, you probably are too young to remember this. But growing up, we had what was called chain mail. Did you ever do chain mail? Yes. Okay. So I feel like the podcast chain is a really fun take on chain mail.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

The new version of the yeah. But we're also remember like back in the day, it would get like you'd get uh like a mail, and then it'd be like mail stickers to like five of your friends, and it like keeps going right throughout. Um, yes, okay. We are the new version of chain mail and stickers, like I love it. All right. We're starting off, we're warming up. So okay, your what is your favorite summer personality? Is it beach, mountain, lake, or city?

SPEAKER_02 2:21

Oh, I think I'm gonna go beach. I would be a year-round beach girl if I had the opportunity. But for those that don't know, I am landlocked in Iowa. And so I know, I know. Well, we do have on the Mississippi, there's there's some beachy type of spots, but when you see them, I feel like I'm overselling it because it really does not have that same type of beach feel like when you go to someplace tropical. Ocean, ocean, yeah, yeah. But I also love the mountains, as you can see in the background, and that is definitely more of like my fall experience because then you get to see all the pretty colors.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

I love it, I love it. All right, what is one thing people would be surprised to learn about you?

SPEAKER_02 3:11

Oh wow, that was a good question. Surprised to learn about me. Well, I will say that I think most people know that I love plants, but yes, okay, then what's your favorite one?

SPEAKER_01 3:26

You have so many, and you have a whole like greenhouse out back.

SPEAKER_02 3:30

I do because I convinced my husband that if he built me a greenhouse, that that would save us money on plants because we wouldn't have to buy them every year. And that is not a true statement. No, that's you will that's a trick. That's a trick. It's so much more money, but you know what? It's fine. Um, my favorite, I think, is probably my banana palms. I love those, and they get so big and they're just that again, it's that tropical.

SPEAKER_01 3:56

Um dumb question do they actually grow bananas or is that just the name of them?

SPEAKER_02 4:02

Some grow bananas, not all versions of banana plants will actually grow bananas, and mine have not yet produced, but like my birds of paradise, I've never gotten a bird off of my birds of paradise.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

They're so pretty too. And is that a snake plant in your background in the white vase? It is. Yes. Have you ever got it to flower? No, I got mine to flower and it smells so it smells so good. Put it in the sun. And he it likes to be. I'll send you, I'll text you a picture later. But mine's like right in the window in our dining room. And my aunt, who went to school for horticulture, was like, when it flowered, I was like, look, my snake plant flower. She's like, that is so rare. And I'm like, I don't water it. It like pretty much as a cactus to me.

SPEAKER_02 4:49

Yeah. Well, that's the beauty of it, is that it requires very little TLC. And what I have learned over the years is that I tend to love things a little too much. And so I've killed plants through too much water or too much sunlight. And so unfortunately, you know, I didn't do that with my children. At least it's just, you know, with plants, because everything's a little bit of an experiment when it comes to your first plant. Right.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

Right. Yeah. I didn't really start to like plants until during COVID. And then it was like, why, like, you know, I ended up gaining plants that way. Um, so all right. I want to know your first job, and then briefly how you got to your current job and what you do at ExtraCo. So, what was your very first job you ever had?

SPEAKER_02 5:39

The very first job I ever had was I worked at a fitness center doing babysitting for those that went and attended the classes. And then from there, I graduated into fast food, which was an experience. And I it was like kind of a one and done. And then I think I I joined the the mall crowd and were went and worked at retail so I could trade my paycheck for more clothes that you know I didn't need, but that's okay. It was all part of the experience. But yeah, I actually didn't have health care in my background. That was none of my my family members were in healthcare. And it wasn't until I had a personal experience that really inspired me to want to go into healthcare. I had a fantastic nurse that took care of my my youngest child, and that just it changed the trajectory of what it is that I wanted to do. And I will say very little of my career path has been planned. I think I have had some idea of what it is that I wanted to do, but I never forecasted I would move from being a nurse and going into IT, which now I lead client success at extra co health, which I absolutely love because I am a people pleaser. And you know that, Rebecca, because you would say, Stop being a people pleaser. And then I was like, But if I stop being a people pleaser, doesn't that in fact just make me a people pleaser? Because I'm trying to please you by not pleasing people. So um that's just kind of the crazy thing of how it works. And so client success is really where it's at for me because then I make sure that people are getting the value that they thought that they were going to get when they became a part of our company. And I love the fact that we are bringing missed revenue back into health systems because at the end of the day, these health systems are so totally challenged. And you feel for these mid-sized and rural hospitals because we need them to stay in that community, otherwise, they're not gonna have the access to the care. And we're yeah, I could go on and on and on about that for hours. That's kind of my soapbox, but yeah, you're I'm happy with where I'm at. I'm happy with where I'm at. I'm very pleased that I have had the opportunity to get introduced. You were the catalyst for that of me finding XRCO. So happy.

SPEAKER_01 8:07

Okay, you've gone from retail and babysitting all the way through to the executive you are today. What shaped you or shaped and maybe gave, you know, gave you some challenging uh challenges along the way? Hmm.

SPEAKER_02 8:24

I will say that, and this is not to plug bluebird community, but let's let's plug it. Like, why shouldn't we plug it? I would say that Bluebird truly was the catalyst of change for me. I was already feeling that internal I wouldn't say it's a midlife crisis. I think it's almost like a midlife awakening where you really start to come into your own. And I was feeling that sense of restlessness and finding you in that moment, in that hallway, in that 10-second introduction. I don't know that I saw at that moment that that was going to be that pivot. But that's exactly what it became. And I had the opportunity to meet so many women in which I saw myself, but then realized when I looked in the mirror, I really didn't see or know who I was. And so it was like this weird dichotomy of seeing what you could be, but also seeing what you still needed to accomplish in order to get there. And so the women of Bluebird really allow you to see not only where you can go, but how you can get to that point. And that has made such a difference in my career path.

SPEAKER_01 9:46

And it's like I've seen so many people push and guide um in the community. What I love is you were pushed and guided before finding extra co. You actually took some a gap. Um, and you were waiting for your perfect job, which you know came. And so, and you're waiting, you were all about the job and the culture, and you know, you waited and took care of your plants and and had all these side house projects in the meantime. But um, I mean, I think you know, that is part of um what comes like with a leader and having tenure, but then also having the community and um helping and working, you know, working around you.

SPEAKER_02 10:24

So yeah, yeah. Well, at the end of the day, if you surround yourself with people that inspire you or that you aspire to be, things will naturally happen because that that's the joy of life. And so me taking this free fall into the universe, it really I never had the fear, and I it was such a weird thing because you called me like an hour after I made that decision, psychic Rebecca, who knew? And and I was like, you know what? I don't know how it's going to be okay, but I know it it's not only going to be okay, it's going to be better than it ever was. And it has been. And now it it gives you the confidence to say, if this isn't my forever, if something happens where things change, circumstances change, life is gonna be okay because you didn't want.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Yeah, I like to help people off the ledge and and fly on the way down. Like it will, it worked. Like the if you trust the universe, it does it. It ends up working out and it throws you signs on which direction you're supposed to go. So um, yeah. So okay, what's one career risk you're glad that you took? Okay. Well, is that what we just talked about? Or is you have another one? I mean, that was a pretty big career risk to jump and not have a job.

SPEAKER_02 11:49

I would say I have taken a lot of micro career risks, and I point those out because I think it's important to realize that the big ones you tend to remember, but sometimes it's the small ones that make the big difference. It's the speaking up in a meeting where you would have gravitated to being silent or giving yourself permission to do something where it where you maybe haven't been asked, but you've shown initiative. And all of those small things, as well as some of the failures that I had along the way, Rebecca. Oh my gosh, I can't tell you the number of times that I was in an executive meeting and did exactly the wrong thing and thought, oh my gosh, I've just blown my career up. And guess what? I didn't. I learned from it. And so I think that those moments all get you to something greater. So it's not necessarily the one big, it's a lot of the small ones.

SPEAKER_01 12:49

So for your failures, do you feel that you had good mentors or leaders above you along the way that sort of allowed you to fail? Or um how did how did that work? Good, bad leaders. I'm leading into my next question, which is like, who is your who has been your biggest mentor?

SPEAKER_02 13:06

So uh oh, oh well, I will tell you that I had a lot of mentors in the wrong way. Yeah, same. Like they weren't necessarily in the nursing world, it's really odd because we tend to eat our young and we don't always and I and I will be honest and transparent that early in my career that that's also how I would mentor the new nurses that were coming in of well, hey, I was given a hard time, I had to get through it, so therefore you have to get through it. And I'm I'm not proud of that. I'm so ashamed to think that that was how I was a leader. That is also a lot of what I felt my leaders were, and so I don't know that I had the mint, I had the mentor of what I didn't want to become. And I also had great mentors of what I did aspire to. And I think it it wasn't a single mentor. I think I've got easily five or six mentors that I I have, and maybe they don't even know that they are a mentor. Some are the ones on the side, like those that I love to listen to podcasts and get aspired through yes, through different aspects like Brene Brown, or I love listening to Mel Robbins. And yeah, that being said, I have you are one of my mentors, Dawn's one of my mentors, Sarah's one of my mentors. All three of you blend a very different experience. And I tell Scott Collins all the time, we have so such great conversations. I'll say, Scott, you're such a good mentor. And he's like, Well, you're my mentor, and I'm like, No, no, no, that's not how it works. So I think that it's you find again the people that inspire you or that you aspire to be, and yeah, choose those people carefully because that's naturally how you are going to grow.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

I just talked to Scott Collins this week, and they're one of the uh color color and coffee sponsors for Bluebird, which is amazing. But talked to him this week because we were talking Bluebird, but then it quickly turned to his real estate um endeavors on the side and mine, and he was like coaching me, oh no, you need to do this and that, and like, oh, so this, yeah. So I yeah, credit, Scott, out to you.

SPEAKER_02 15:36

Um I know, yeah. Well, okay, and I get one more credit too, Michelle Flemings. Oh back in the day when I was still at Oracle. I and this was really kind of how I found Bluebird. I had said that I wanted to be a part of a women's organization. And I had seen her through the Oracle Women's Leaders. It was was a one-way conversation. You know, you'd watch the webinar, there wasn't really any interaction, but she was so impressive to me that the first time I met her, I really felt like I was a fangirl. Yeah, I can't believe I'm getting Michelle by the way she gives off that like presence. Yeah, for sure. She does, she does. And so being able to meet her in person and then have great conversations with her as well, and then have her being a part of this bluebird community. It's it's very special. So I don't know how many I've just named Rebecca, but there's so many. There's so many.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

Oh my goodness, I love it. Okay, let's see. How do you recharge outside of work besides the plants? Because we know we know that. So maybe you have something else that you also do.

SPEAKER_02 16:48

Well, I love a glass of wine. I'm not gonna lie about that. You do, you do. I do, I do. I love to sit down and have that. I I think for me it's the quiet and the intentionality of being quiet and just being outside and listening to the birds or listening to the wind or whatever it is, and just really sitting in silence and not setting up my mind for an expectation of what has to happen next or what I have to get done. And that allows me to feel so much more peace.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

I love it. Because your house is not always quiet, it is full of little ones that run around as well. So yeah, yeah, my grandbabies. I know. Oh my god, they're so cute. Oh, they are you have two or three now, remind me. Three, three, yeah, yeah, yeah. So you've done amazing things, um, and you'll continue to do amazing things, but what's the legacy that you want to leave behind uh our community?

SPEAKER_02 17:53

I love this question, and it's something I think about a lot. Oh gosh, I don't want to get choked up because I think there's my twenties and my thirties were filled with a lot of movement and a lot of proving. And then my 40s really started to change into it, wasn't so much about like what was in it for me, but what was I trying to leave behind. Yeah. And I have settled on kindness. I really want my legacy to be that she was a kind person and that she gave people time and attention. And sometimes I do a good job at that, Rebecca, and other times I don't. But at the end of the day, that's what I want to leave behind.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

You're so kind. You just light up a room and everyone wants to talk to because you're just so easy to talk to. Oh, I don't know about that. You're gonna be when the grandbabies are older, you're gonna be the the like uh grandma that they're calling and like I got in trouble, I need help. Like you're like, because they know you're gonna be kind and not like you know, rip them up. You're gonna help them. You'll be that kind, grandma. I know it. Yeah, they're too little to get in trouble now, but you know, eventually.

SPEAKER_02 19:18

Oh yeah. And right now they're they could do literally no wrong, even unless it's a safety issue. I'm just like, let her be bossy. I love her being bossy, let her have her personality. I love it, I love it. I'm all about it. So, no, there's there's nothing wrong with that. Now, if you really want though the full story, you'll have to ask my children about what I'm like because they'll be like, Oh, there's there's the mom version, like of what we get, and then there's the Maureen, and that's different because everybody everybody thinks that she's nice, she's not nice, she's not nice at all.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

So stop it. I get yin and yang right now with my 10 and 13 year olds. So sometimes it's like, you're the worst mom, you know, they're having their moment, whatever. Uh, you're so mean. And then other times I picked up my little one early from a half day so we could go do something fun. And she's like, What mom picks up a kid early from a half day of school? You're so cool. And I'm like, okay, it's like it's like goes back and forth right now. So oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Try to be cool. Uh so um, all right, we have some summer rapid fire questions. So coffee or tea? Coffee, sunrise or sunset. Both. Both. You're gonna choose one. I'm gonna make you choose one. Okay, sunset. Okay. Um, what is your favorite summer snack? Popcorn. Oh, with butter or no butter? Or do you put something else on it? What do you put on it?

SPEAKER_02 20:48

Really about the salt. Like, the yeah, any of the flavorings, like it's the sour cream and onion or cheddar or yeah, or kettle corn.

unknown 21:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:00

Oh, you like in the summer. Woohoo. Yes. Okay. Um, what's the last show that you binge watched? Or one you're binge watching right now.

SPEAKER_02 21:12

Hmm, we just finished Survivor. I have not watched Survivor since like season two. So apparently it just was season 50. Oh my god, is it still going on? I didn't even know. I barely watched TV. Yes, and and well, here's my guilty pleasure, something I'm not like proud of. But one of my favorite shows in the world is Real Housewives of Orange King.

SPEAKER_01 21:35

Oh my that I get excited when I travel because I have the TV to myself. I don't have to fight anyone. And literally, if a hotel does not have Bravo where I can watch that crap on TV, it just stays on. Or the below deck, like, I'm so excited to like sit there and work and like watch this garbage.

SPEAKER_02 21:55

Yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 21:56

I I'm not proud of it, but it is it is part of who.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

I am. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 22:01

Me too. All right. We both travel a lot. So window C or I'll see.

SPEAKER_02 22:06

Oh, okay. If I'm traveling by myself, I'll. Okay. If I'm traveling with my husband, I like the window.

SPEAKER_01 22:15

Okay. Okay. Uh, one verb that describes your leadership style.

SPEAKER_02 22:23

One word. Oh, I don't know, Rebecca.

SPEAKER_01 22:33

I like the kindness. I like the kindness team you were going with. That was my first thing. That's what popped in my head.

SPEAKER_02 22:39

Yeah. Yeah, that's what popped in my head too. But that was like, I just said that. I need to come up with something different.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

No, that's your that's like your mantra. Okay. I love it. All right. Favorite vacation you've ever taken?

SPEAKER_02 22:54

Probably Costa Rica. We went to Costa Rica last year. Two years ago, three years ago. I don't know. Time flies. But the best part, we were out on the beach one morning and they've got these beautiful black sand beaches. And we had seen these little trails. And the trails I thought looked like snakes because there's a lot of snakes in Costa Rica. And my husband's deathly afraid of snakes. Like screams like a small child. And it's so cute. I love it. I love it. He's not going to watch this. So it's okay.

SPEAKER_01 23:26

Yeah, we'll edit that out.

SPEAKER_02 23:27

Yeah. And then he's like, oh gosh, I thought you would tell me something nice, like they're turtles or something. I'm like, yeah, that's not realistic. And we're running along. And he's like reaches out and grabs my arm and yanks me back. He's like, look. And there were hundreds of baby sea turtles making their way out to the ocean. And in fact, those trails were the babies leaving the nest, and that's what they had left behind. And I'm telling you, like that was a bucket list item. I don't know how I got so lucky, but I stood there and just like watched all of the potential life go out to sea and wished like all of them the very best. And yeah, it was the most amazing feeling in the world.

SPEAKER_01 24:12

That's that is really cool. Um, I have not been to Costa Rica, but yeah, it's on my list. It's on my list. I recommend. Um, all right. Last question. What is the one thing uh for SOAR 2026, which is in Austin, Texas, September 23 to 25 this year? It's our fifth. Uh, what's the one thing you're most excited about? And you have insight to more of the agenda than others. So what are you excited about?

SPEAKER_02 24:38

Okay, well, I'm gonna do a little plug on a few different things. One, we've got some fabulous keynote speakers. And let me tell you, I am so excited about each and every speaker that gets up there. And what is so remarkably different when it comes to SOAR versus every other conference that you will attend is that you will you will be changed as a person and as a leader because it's more than just talking about the pieces of education that you need to know in order to be successful. This is real, vulnerable conversations that people are having in which you are starting to dive deep down into who you are as a person. So you'll walk away and go, wow, I'm so excited. The second part, of course, is going to be the black and gold gala. I am not gonna lie, I love to get dressed up and I was so sad, like you know, you get older and you don't have prom or anything like that. Now I'm like, oh, I get to put on a gown and I get to get I've already seen some mixtures. I know that I'm disappointed because like the dress, they're like, Oh, we don't have that size. And I'm like, I'll order a different size and see if I can like have it all started. Yeah, yeah. I'm not gonna I love it, I love it all.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

And I'm not a big dresser-upper, but I I'm excited for the gala because yes, we don't like get a chance to ever like get fancy, right? Like, especially with all of us working from home. I live in my yoga pants, so um, yeah, yeah. I um well, thank you. Thank you for coming. I hope that you pick somebody amazing to hand the train off to. Look forward to seeing how that goes, and we'll talk to you soon. Sounds good.