FLIGHT PATH
Welcome to Flight Path — where career paths aren’t linear, leadership isn’t boring, and pivots are basically a superpower. I’m Rebecca Woods. Let’s take off.
FLIGHT PATH
Chief Mom Officer Sylvia
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Rebecca has a chat with Sheree McFarland and her mother Sylvia visiting from Ireland
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 rule breakers who built 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 next without losing your mind, you're in the right place. Before we take flight, we'd like to thank our sponsor, EFAX. Helping businesses and professionals stay connected with secure, convenient document sharing. Facts online with EFAX. Now fasten your seatbelts, adjust your altitude, and get ready for stories, insights, and conversations that just might change your course. Welcome aboard. This is Flight Path.
SPEAKER_03Hey everyone, and welcome to another episode of Flight Path. We are here at the Sales Forum, closing it out, brought to you by EFAX and the Buzz. We are here today with Miss Cherie McFarland, CIO, divisional CIO of HCA in Florida. And we're here from Mama Cherie. Mama Cherie, as in Sylvia. Miss Sylvia, the chief mom officer this week, uh, comes straight from Ireland. Straight from Belfast. Yes. I love it. I love it. Sorry. We're um putting you in our hot seat. We're gonna ask you some questions, aren't you? Sure. Okay, so this is our summer podcast. So supposed to be fun, summer questions. Love it. So coffee or tea?
SPEAKER_01Tea in Ireland always, but the tea I get in Florida quite isn't what I have at home. Never quite strong enough, never quite it. So coffee when I'm here. When you're in the US.
SPEAKER_02Yes, okay. Yes. You um always tea. I'll have maybe one cappuccino, but I'm a tea girl. And my grandfather was a master tea blender, so I have to keep it in the family. Are you putting stuff in your tea or is it just black? Milk. No, just milk. Yep, milk. Milk first, then tea. And I'm actually having a tea party in a couple of weeks for my friends and neighbors. Oh, we're doing afternoon tea.
SPEAKER_03I love it. Sunrise or sunset?
SPEAKER_01Not so much now, sunrise. I'm of an age that I'd rather be seeing sunset than getting up to see the sun dawn, you know, and the the bright daybreak, you know. So sun, wake up, wake up, sunset.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely sunset.
SPEAKER_03Sunset.
SPEAKER_02Clearwater beach, sunset. Don't look for me for sunrise.
SPEAKER_03Okay. All right. What's your favorite favorite summer snack?
SPEAKER_01Oh dear. Now I'm not really an ice cream person or ice. So I I still do like a little cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit. And a chocolate biscuit. Okay.
SPEAKER_02Which is my favorite summer snack. Um for the summer, I love I love um cantaloupe um or kiwi.
SPEAKER_03Something really refreshing. Yeah, okay. Love it. All right. What have you been watching recently on TV? Any any uh good shows?
SPEAKER_01Well, I do like crime series. So and I do like the forensic end of it all. So I do watch forensic files and different things like that. Okay. I don't often follow complete series because quite often I'm going on a trip over here or going somewhere and I'm going to miss certain weeks and I don't want to catch up when I get back. Okay. And everybody tells me the end of the friends are scruining it.
SPEAKER_02Yes, absolutely. Spoiler alert. Yes. All right. For me, I just finished Outlander, uh, followed it from the first series, just absolutely love it. And then I went on to watch Blood of My Blood. So I'm waiting for the second series to come out. I love the filming in Scotland and the story, and I've actually been to many of the locations. So I loved seeing the end of Outlander. So now I'm looking for another show. So if anyone has any recommendations, reach out. Reach out. Let me know.
SPEAKER_03You travel for work. Yes. Uh window seat or aisle. Always a window.
SPEAKER_02Oh, you're the always a window. I'm claustrophobic. I love, love being by the window. Not that I can fly the plane, but I feel like I have more control if I can see out the window. See out the window. And when people close the shade, I go crazy.
SPEAKER_03Oh, really? Like, please open it. So you're the one with the shade open while I'm trying to sleep. Yeah, that would be me. You probably need to sit in a different row.
SPEAKER_02Opposite.
SPEAKER_01Window seat or aisle? Aisle seat. Aisle. For east of getting out to get to the little restroom. The Lou? Is that the last one? Yes. The Lou. Yes. I was trying to make it nice.
SPEAKER_03Go to the Lou. Okay. What is your most favourite vacation spot?
SPEAKER_01Oh Lord. Well, Cherie has dragged me every continent in the world. Including the Antarctic and the Arctic. And I've loved so many places in between the two. That I can honestly now say I cannot pick a favourite because every place I've gone has had something that, you know, inspired me, gave me a memory. And a lot of places I'd like to go back to, but I'm of an age now at 81. I want to see as much more as I can. Oh my god. As much more as I can. It is hard. I'm not able to travel. Yeah. So I'm keeping going to the next point, and if wherever Cherie decides, we should go. Yeah. Yes.
SPEAKER_02For me, that's it's super hard because I love Tahiti for exotic scenery. I mean, I love European capitals for history. Um, the scenery in in the Canadian Rockies is absolutely gorgeous. Um, Australia, New Zealand. I mean, it's we have penguins in the Antarctic and you know, up to the Arctic. I mean, just there's so many beautiful places on Earth, Galapagos Islands. One of the absolute favorites. That was amazing. So it's hard to pick.
SPEAKER_03So, okay, where's the next spot then? Now you've got to be. All right, next spot.
SPEAKER_02We are actually next month, we're going to Madeira off the Portuguese coast for five days. I'm gonna go explore the gorgeous island and eat some beautiful Portuguese food. All right, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03I love it, I love it. Okay. Uh I alright. Next question What is your summer personality? Are you a beach, mountain, or lake girl?
SPEAKER_01Uh well, considering I live in the city, I don't go to the beach very often now because I can't swim anymore. So that's a good enough reason not to, you know, really. But um, I like I like the lakes and mountains and trees. Yes, I do. But uh beach, usually I get burned with the sun on at the beach.
SPEAKER_02So late for the I'm definitely a beach girl, but I do love those. I'm in Florida, but I do love the the the scenery of the mountains as well. That's that's a fall escape, though.
SPEAKER_03The summer, it's a beach. All right, I'm gonna flip the question. So you have to tell me one thing that would surprise all the people about Cherie that we might not know.
SPEAKER_01Uh-oh. Well, I talk to her and tell her off at times, and she'll say to me, Mommy, I'm not four anymore. And I'll say, Cherie, you will always be four to me. So oh my gosh. And that is the truth. Yeah. So what do people not know about me? They don't know you're still four.
SPEAKER_03I walked into that one. I walked into that one. I keep it. Oh my gosh. But you raised a good human. You didn't have to tell me to put my clothes away. Exactly. Oh, that's so funny. Exactly. All right, let's look at what do we need to know about.
SPEAKER_02My mom. Yeah. She's a wicked businesswoman. She was the financial controller of the largest supermarket chain in Northern Ireland. And now you meet her and she's 81 and she's traveling around. You'd never believe how dynamic she was at work. She was just incredible and such an amazing role model for me growing up. Amazing.
SPEAKER_01So and I still have to balance her check.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, she does. Exactly. Just up and perfectly fine. It's fine. Are you deleting some for your pocket? No way. No, she does not find it. Yeah. Oh, sounds cute. I love it. That was great. Well, thank you so much for coming.
SPEAKER_01This has been a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_03Honored to have you.
SPEAKER_01Oh, we're honored to be here. Absolutely. So my me my mima, you're such a hot dog. Aww. And she's just love to meet her sometime. She'll be in 95 and something. Wonderful. Just fancy. Wonderful stuff. Well, I have a bit to go yet then. That's right. More places. More places to go and see.
SPEAKER_03You've got more trips than you. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. I think so. I'm going to try. This has been such a great time. We had a great time. Yes. I said it was so upbeat. Everybody was. It was wonderful. You know, um, I think everybody got the atmosphere. It was lovely. Coming over and talking to me, and you know, and everybody just was enjoying themselves, and that was the main thing about it all. Thank you for wondering. Wonderful few days. Yes. Well, it actually was. I felt like it'd been sent on a special holiday. Oh, there you go. Thank you. The Irish never shut up.
SPEAKER_03No, they do.
SPEAKER_01Go cut. Yeah. Oh, delete as much as you can out of all that. You know.
SPEAKER_03Oh my gosh.