I still vividly remember when my wife and I were about to become first-time parents, of twins no less. Excited, counting down the days right from the start. However, things don't always happen as planned. After visiting our doctor for what should have been a "regular" 21-week ultrasound scan, our lives changed in an instant. The ultrasound technician looked at the screen, and with a tone, indeed not the voice of reassurance, mentioned, "I need to go grab the doctor right away." At that moment, we knew something wasn’t quite right.
We drove straight to the hospital, not even stopping at home for clothes. The doctors told us that my wife was already dilated and would likely go into labor very soon. They explained that at only 21 weeks and two days, our babies were not yet developed enough to survive birth. The only hope we had was for them to try and delay labor and get the twins to at least 24 weeks. Doctors were able to temporarily stop the labor and ordered mandatory bed rest for my wife. Even after rigorous care and hourly monitoring, my wife ultimately went into labor 4 1/2 weeks later and had an emergency c-section. The twins were tiny, only 1lb 12oz each, and were immediately rushed to the level 1 NICU where they would stay for the next 3.5 months.
The care that they received over those next 14 weeks from doctors, nurses, med students, and specialists absolutely blew me away. These tiny human beings were connected to more monitors and wires than I had ever seen before, with providers rounding on them hourly. During that time, I don't remember a single moment when I didn't think how important it was to have dedicated doctors and nurses caring for my little angels. From the original early diagnosis to providing the most incredible care and attention, everything they did was instrumental in saving the lives of our twins.
We soon got busy enjoying parenthood and leading our lives. But, the challenges we faced as a family while at the hospital inspired me to build my own company, a health-based social platform aimed at helping families undergoing a critical illness or a life-changing event communicate freely with their friends and family. Unfortunately, after a couple of years and with some bittersweet realizations, I had to move on to take a "real" job as my wife was now pregnant with our 3rd child and I needed to make sure the family was well taken care of. I took roles in technology and even pro sports, a fun and exciting industry to be a part of, but after a few years, the wins and losses stopped mattering to me as I felt like I wasn’t making a real difference in the world. I wanted to do something more meaningful and constantly felt as if something was missing in my professional life.
I often thought about how grateful I was that the twins were healthy and happy and realized that there is nothing more impactful than improving the quality of life for doctors. I started searching for a company with a mission I truly believed in — I'm so glad I found Suki. My work at Suki is to help empower physicians to make informed technology decisions for their practice. I see how much time they spend on administrative work and there is no greater sense of accomplishment than bringing them technology that’s easy to use and saves them time - so they can focus on what they love most, taking care of patients. It's amazing to see how much Suki's AI-powered, voice enabled digital assistant has matured and is helping physicians complete their notes more than 70% faster.
Behind great products are great teams, and I couldn't be more proud of the culture at Suki. It is not easy to find a team led by progressive leaders who welcome, appreciate, and respect an employee's viewpoint as much as they value their customers. Building a path-breaking product and having fun while doing it with people you enjoy working with — what more can you ask for. Though I started my career at Suki overseeing field and channel marketing, the team and I soon realized that my biggest strength was working closely with doctors. Interacting with them frequently, understanding their pain points, and bringing their perspective back to internal teams to help improve our product is what I enjoyed the most. In my new role as a Head of Customer Relations at Suki, I'm getting to do what I love the most — building strong relationships with our valued physicians.
With my work at Suki, I feel that in some small way, I'm helping improve the lives of physicians both professionally and personally — without whose care and help I wouldn’t be blessed with the beautiful family that I have today.
