Kathryn Stella, MBA, Vice President of Ambulatory Operations, Mount Sinai West
Discover who you are. Be authentic. Plan your work, and work your plan. Dare to dream big.
These were some of the takeaway messages from Kathryn Stella, MBA, Vice President of Ambulatory Operations at Mount Sinai West, who recently was featured in a “Conversations With Leaders” event at the Corporate Services Center. The talk, held in honor of Women’s History Month, was organized by the Heritage of Latino Alliance (HOLA) Employee Resource Group and sponsored by Mount Sinai’s Office for Diversity and Inclusion.
Ms. Stella said her journey began when she was a high school student in the Bronx with good grades but few role models for professional success. She graduated from high school and spent years as an administrative worker in medical practices. Finally, when Ms. Stella was working in the Department of Dermatology at New York University, a supportive boss steered her toward an employees’ tuition remission program and challenged her to earn a bachelor’s degree.
She felt some self-doubt at the prospect of starting college at age 29. But she was inspired by accomplished women of the past, including Eleanor Roosevelt, who said, “You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” She earned a bachelor’s degree in Health Care Administration quickly— in just two years—by attending classes all year, even during summer and winter breaks. In 2001, she earned an MBA in Accounting from Seton Hall University, and in 2012 she joined the Mount Sinai Health System.
Ms. Stella encouraged the attendees to reach out to her for any needed information or career advice. And she recommended a helpful exercise: “Make a list of what you hate to do, and what you love to do,” she said. Personally, she loves accounting, confronting challenging situations, helping people, and working in the health care industry. “If you look at my list of things that I love, my job encompasses so much of that list.”
Ms. Stella with attendees of the “Conversations With Leaders” event at Mount Sinai’s Corporate Services Center.