Owl Have You Know

Understanding Healthcare Through a Different Lens feat. Keri Sprung ’22

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Episode notes

Keri Sprung ’22 is the vice president for education and director of the Women’s Center at the Texas Heart Institute. She provides strategic direction to the physicians and scientists leading innovative research, education, and clinical programs at the Institute in partnership with regional, national, and international collaborators.


During her studies at Rice, she served as the class representative, co-chair of the Rice Business Association for Executives, and a Rice Business Board Fellow for Children At Risk, a non-profit that serves as a catalyst for change to improve the quality of life for children through strategic research, and advocacy. Upon graduating from Rice Business, she was honored with the M.A. “Mike” Wright Award, the top leadership award. 


Host Maya Pomroy catches up with her friend and fellow ’22 alum in this episode. Listen as they chat about their unforgettable Executive MBA cohort days, Keri’s passion for healthcare and innovation, and the importance of finding good mentors. 


Owl Have You Know is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM.



Episode Quotes:


Cultivating growth with the Rice executive program

19:25 - One of the shining parts of the Rice Program executive program is the leadership component, the leadership track. And I didn't even realize how committed Rice was to making sure this leadership and personal growth component was interlaced into really the entire journey of the 22 months. And so I grew as a leader. Not just from the material we were learning, but I think the interactions with our cohort and with our deans and professors. For me, I work in a medical community, and most of the leaders I'm around are doctors and scientists. So, it was really helpful for me to step out of the healthcare setting and to be around everybody who was a leader going into this program already but working on the different areas of their leadership. And it was really nice to learn from one another.

What’s next for Keri?

29:38 - I wanted to make sure that I didn't just graduate and go back to my old ways. And so I've been mindful that I didn't expect to do this, but I started to engage with a startup nonprofit. One of the things I wanted to do was work with startups because I have a 360-degree view of innovation in medicine.


The need for trust in Cohorts

24:11 - The reality of business is that you're not doing this alone. Once you get to this level, you're not going to be a good leader if you can't motivate and work with different teams and disciplines.

Embracing pivoting 

5:28 - I realized that I embraced pivoting before pivoting was a trend post-COVID. So I decided to pivot, take my one exit from medicine, and go try to do some work in the real estate industry.




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