Mayo Clinic Employee Experiences: On going from butcher and ballet dancer to health care

By In the Loop • January 16, 2020

Mayo Clinic is a unique place: the culture, the values, the people. "Mayo Clinic Employee Experiences" explores the experiences of Mayo Clinic staff as they navigate life personally and professionally. Sharing these experiences increases understanding of others and ultimately contributes to finding connections, belonging and inclusion at work.

In this episode of "Mayo Clinic Employee Experiences," you'll hear from Bob, a nurse in Pediatrics, and Rusty, a specialist in Patient Appointment Services, as they discuss the changes they've made to lead them to their careers in health care. Bob grew up in the family business as a sausage maker, while Rusty previously was a professional ballet dancer and horse farrier.

Listen as they share their journey to working at Mayo Clinic and how their previous careers help them in their current roles:

Read the transcript, edited for length and clarity:

BOB: I spent half my life making people fat and happy. I'm going to spend the rest of life making them healthy.

NARRATOR: In this episode, you'll hear Bob, a nurse in pediatrics, and Rusty, a patient appointment specialist, discuss their unique career changes and the paths that led them to working at Mayo Clinic.

BOB: My dad was a retail grocery man. In high school, I was a meatcutter and sausage maker till age 35, so 17 to 18 years. I ran grocery stores and meat markets. The last of that was running a federal meat plant in Rochester, producing sausage for the community and local restaurants. That's where my previous career took me.

RUSTY: So the grocery business was a family business?

BOB: I'd help dad in the stores during sales, so pretty much family tradition. They unfortunately had to close the store in 2005. I learned my work ethic and all my skills as far as how to talk to customers — now customers are patients — from my dad, and watching and learning from him.

One of my customers is actually the person who got me in to Mayo Clinic. She said, "Phlebotomy is a good way to start. Put your name in — I'll let them know — for an interview." So I did, and I'm glad I did it. I'm very happy where I'm at. I began in 2005 at Mayo. I started out as a phlebotomist with a goal of progressing to be a nurse, with schooling along the way. I then went to be a patient care assistant on the pediatric floor, and now that's where I've been as a nurse since 2012. It's home. I hope I can do it for another 15 more years until retirement.

RUSTY: That's great. So my previous careers — I've actually had two of them that were pretty big. First, as a professional ballet dancer for 20 years, and at age 13, I went away to boarding school for that. That was my entire life up until my mid 30s, which was pretty interesting. I got to travel the world and do a lot of different things. Then I transitioned over into horses, and ran my own business as a farrier and trainer. A lot of people don't know what a farrier is. We put shoes on their feet and take care of their overall health that way. Then I got too old to work outside in 115 degrees.

I had a passion for working with people and helping people due to some other life experiences. It just seemed like a good opportunity. I took a leap of faith and got the job. There's no turning back. I love it.

BOB: The professional ballet, your body was worn out from that?

RUSTY: I had a very successful career. I got to perform as a prince and wear the white tights, and be in "Swan Lake" and the "Romeos," but I didn't want to stick around until I didn't enjoy it anymore. I wanted to go out at the top when I felt strong and able. I kind of bowed out early for what I could have — what my body would have let me do — but I felt like I had achieved all my goals. I felt it was time for something new in my life — another chapter of the book, so to speak.

BOB: I've spent time underneath a horse, and that's brutal on a body. And like you said, 115 degrees, I can only imagine.

Was your transition due to where you were, just at the point in age where you wanted to look for something a little different?

RUSTY: I wanted to look for something more stable. Being a private business owner is stressful. It's a lot of responsibility. Not that this is less responsibility, but it is nice to have PTO and benefits. My body was kind of saying it was time to do something different. I had some tragedies in my life. I lost some close people, and I started volunteering with a suicide foundation. I realized with my farrier work that what I loved about it was actually educating people and helping people. The job looks like it's all about horses, but it's really only about 10% of horses and 90% about people. I wanted to take that forward with me into the next, third chapter of my book.

BOB: Like you said, your skills are what you've gotten from running your business. It's interesting how they transition. I can see where I was raised by my dad. His quote was always, "The customer is always No. 1." Well the patient is always No. 1 because in theory, they're our customer.

I really feel strongly on that, and that's been brought through the years of taking care of customers. I've learned how to do that in this new role. I can see how that would relate to taking care of your customers in a farrier business and making sure everybody's happy.

RUSTY: It was surprising to me how much I could bring forward from even the ballet career to Mayo and in honoring the shields, especially with putting the patient first. How to achieve that goal was interesting. From the ballet world, it was all about being able to work as a team, but also being able to critically think as an individual to make it all meld together to create a great environment for everyone.

What inspired you to go to Mayo?

BOB: I went through a divorce in '98. The medical field was always in the back of my head because I have friends who are firefighters, medics, nurses and physical therapists. I was always intrigued by their stories. I got married again in 2002, and it was a real smart move on my behalf because my daughter was born in February 2005. And in June, I switched to Mayo. My wife wasn't too happy at the moment, thinking: "What are you doing? We have this infant at home and you're changing careers." But now she's happy. I live near Rochester, and you hear about Mayo and everything, but you take it for granted because it's in your backyard. Once I saw how they treat their employees and patients, and the shields — it really is what I believe in.

RUSTY: I'd never had a corporate job. I went from being an artist, and working in a studio and sweating all day, to running my own business with horses and working outside. Suddenly, I was taking on a position that would require a lot of computer work, a tie and adhering to corporate policies. I didn't know how all that would fit. At times, it kind of felt overwhelming. The people were so giving. I was very fortunate to be hired under some amazing supervisors who gave me opportunities quickly.I think my passion for helping people allowed me to excel. I've already transitioned from my first job as a front-facing scheduler into helping with the construction of Arizona's first Neurology-specific appointment office.

BOB: I use a lot of critical thinking many times in a shift. I got that from my previous career because you are dealing with shipments, price changes, happy customers and bad customers. Dealing with stuff like that has taught me how to critically think or multitask. That work ethic that I was raised in has been very beneficial to me over the years, but the No. 1 thing is the patient is No. 1 in my book. I will carry that all the way as my highest skill.

RUSTY: The skills I bring forward from being a ballet dancer was the work ethic. To get to fine-tune your body to be an athlete, as well as an artist at the same time, takes an incredible amount of dedication. Then there's the ability to make yourself vulnerable, to share your emotions — your heart — with your audience and to expose yourself like that. I took forward with me all of that into my next chapter with horses. But it became much more analytical: setting appointments, managing my time properly, educating clients on how best to serve their animals. Being able to bring all those skills forward into health care, and showing empathy and compassion for difficult situations, and being able to educate and be strong for them is, I think, one of my biggest assets.

BOB: I think back to 2005 when I started. I can remember walking into this room filled with, I don't know how many hundred people for new employee orientation, going, "What did I get myself into?" By the end of day one, I felt much better and was like, "OK, this is going to go good."

When you talk with some of your co-workers, what's their reaction when they hear that you were a ballet dancer or farrier?

RUSTY: I usually get the look of surprise for sure, especially when I say ballet. They're like, "What?" That's not something you hear every day — somebody that was a professional ballet dancer. I get a lot of shocked faces.

BOB: I get that when I'm in a patient's room, and talking with the patient and the family when they find out I was a meat-cutter and sausage maker.

RUSTY: I think it's an advantage in working with our patients because having such a diverse background, it's an icebreaker and makes people relaxed that they have something to discuss other than their worries and concerns, and fears that they're going through. It kind of takes their mind off it for a few minutes.

BOB: I completely agree. It makes them feel at home, like they're talking to somebody normal.

RUSTY: I feel incredibly lucky. I've always done something that I really loved, that I felt really passionate about. I never did anything to be rich and famous, or to have a big bank account. It was always about following my great passions that were inspiring me at that time in my life. Any kind of advice I could give anybody for any kind of career shift is to find some aspect of a career that brings you joy, and you will succeed. Even with taking this office job here, I brought all that passion with me. I feel like that about this position at Mayo. If somebody were to ask me for advice, it would be to follow your passion and see where it leads you. Take that road.

BOB: I'm kind of the same way. I did not dislike my previous career. I'm kind of still passionate about it, but I don't do it as a breadwinner any more. When people ask me, "What about the change, were you nervous?" Yes, I was nervous, and I wasn't unhappy where I was. I was looking for something to better my life and my family. My biggest recommendation is like you said, if they enjoy it, it's not going to be work.

RUSTY: I was diagnosed with a pretty severe illness and came here as a patient. I just remember walking in the door. From the people who check you in to the people who scheduled all the appointments and lab tests and other tests that were ordered by the physician, it was the whole puzzle. And I was like: "I want to be a part of that magic. I want to be a part of this group of people who go above and beyond the call of duty."

BOB: I feel fortunate to work for an employer like Mayo.

RUSTY: What was the hardest part for you through your journey?

BOB: The education part. I have a tough time with education. I never had test anxiety until I went to nursing school. I left the nursing licensure test and I thought I failed. I'm like: "I'm done. I'm not taking that again. I'm going back to cutting meat." Thank God, I passed it.

RUSTY: Obviously, it was meant to be.

BOB: It's been a great journey. I'm glad to hear that you like it and feel as welcome as I did back when I started.

NARRATOR: Did you have a unique career change or considering one now? Share with your friends and colleagues.

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