As the vice president of strategic partnerships and global markets for ATI Nursing Education, Jaime Fiorucci says she spends her time at work doing, “whatever needs to be done each day to serve our clients and meet our business objectives.” She says she enjoys that Ascend allows her and her team to get away from job descriptions and hierarchy and focus on outcomes in a collaborative way. “I focus on leading a lean, mean, results-oriented team that embraces smart risks with our clients and carefully considers each decision,” says Jaime. “Our work with complex accounts and global markets allows me to guide strategy and execution in a way that challenges each of us to innovate and see change and the opportunities to grow together as a virtue.” When she’s not at work, you can find Jaime spending time with her family or traveling.

Q. What does an average day look like for you and your job?

A. Every day is different! Three mornings a week I start very early to support sales and service support for our clients in the Philippines and India and prospects in the United Arab Emirates. Our largest national accounts warrant daily engagement. Being close to our clients is how we solve problems and because of this I spend about 65% of my time client facing for service and sales. The remainder is spent in the Leawood, Kansas office.

Q. What’s the greatest piece of advice a mentor has given you?

A. “It doesn’t matter if you talk at dinner.” This may seem strange, but early in my career I was very shy. I focused on what I had to do like it was a project plan – introduce yourself a certain way, engage in conversation in a scripted way, drink espresso if they do even though you know you’ll be up all night. It was not authentic and did not serve who I am. The approval to choose when and how I engage with the professional environment around me allowed me to be more thoughtful, more intentional, and bring greater value to the engagements where I choose to speak at dinner.

Q. If you could live anywhere on this planet, and take everything that you love with you, where would you choose to live and why?

A. Africa – My family has been traveling to different countries in Africa for years. The resolve and power of the human spirit in remote areas is inspiring, and we have found that they are just as curious about our way of life as we are about theirs. We have had the most amazing people-to-people experiences in our time there and can imagine a simple life of learning and meaning on this amazing continent. I don’t even need my stuff, we’d be happy with just our interactions in this amazing place.