From Small-Town Dreams to Healthcare Leadership
For Laurel, the journey into healthcare began in childhood with a special gift. “When I was three years old, I grew up in rural Indiana, a very, very small town, and my grandmother bought me a nurse doll that was my height,” she recalls. This early inspiration stayed with her, despite growing up in an era when women were often told college wasn’t for them—or if they did attend, their choices were limited to nursing or teaching.
Despite these societal limitations, Laurel pursued her passion for healthcare. What makes her story particularly compelling is how she leveraged her nursing background to explore diverse career paths within the healthcare industry. As she explains, “Healthcare, if women take advantage of all of it, has so many venues that you can move in and so many directions… If you like to write, you can write in your career in healthcare. If you like business, you can become a businesswoman in healthcare.”
Learning Through Experience
When asked whether her formal education prepared her for career challenges, Laurel offered an insightful perspective: “My education didn’t prepare me so much for the challenges that you face as a woman in managing a career. My education in the workplace prepared me for the next challenges.”
Her approach to continuous learning reveals a pattern of perseverance. Rather than relying solely on her initial education, Laurel consistently sought opportunities to expand her expertise, often through certificate programs and specialized training. “I think that becoming an expert in anything that you can… it gives you that little bit of edge and it sets you up as an expert even if you hadn’t worked in that area for a long, long time.”
Mentorship and Finding Your Voice
A pivotal element in Laurel’s career was finding a mentor who championed her growth. She spoke emotionally about an executive who recruited her early in her career and remained a guiding influence for years. “He was way ahead of his time in terms of the kinds of cultures that you really need to build to have an organization thrive. He really taught me so much about leadership and kind leadership.”
This mentorship was particularly valuable as Laurel often found herself the only woman in executive meetings. “When I sat at a table that he was CEO of, I was the only woman in the whole room for many years. I had to learn how to navigate that and how to make my voice heard, and he helped with that.”
Using Humor to Navigate Challenges
One of Laurel’s most memorable strategies for addressing gender disparities involved using humor. She shared a story about attending a Christmas meeting where the chairman distributed musical ties to all the male executives but gave her nothing. Rather than confronting the situation directly, she purchased musical socks and revealed them at the next meeting.
“I got up to get a glass of water and I tapped my socks when I got up to do so. My socks were playing music and the room got really quiet and then they started laughing,” she recalls. “Later he came to my office and he apologized and said, ‘Your message is very well taken. Thank you.'”
This approach exemplifies her belief that “sometimes you have to find humorous ways to make your message. Once you can do it humorously, they get it and then they change.”
Standing Up for Yourself
Not all challenges could be resolved with humor. Laurel shared a difficult period when she worked under a leader she described as narcissistic and mean. Despite her initial determination to endure the situation for two years, she ultimately recognized the negative impact on her mental health.
“I resigned not knowing what I was going to do next,” she explains. “What I learned from that is no one should take abuse in the workplace, any kind of abuse. It’s not good for your mental health. It’s certainly not going to be good for your career.”
This decision reflects one of Laurel’s core beliefs about perseverance: sometimes protecting yourself is the most important step you can take. “I think the best thing about overcoming those obstacles is sometimes you have to put yourself first regardless of what the outcome’s going to be because you’ll be okay if you put yourself first.”
Sharing Knowledge Through Writing
Today, Laurel channels her experiences into writing books designed to help others navigate their own challenges. Her three books cover diverse topics: remote nursing careers, navigating political grief, and embracing failure as a learning tool.
Her most recent work, “The Art of Failing Spectacularly,” reflects her philosophy that setbacks are valuable growth opportunities. “One of the things that I’ve learned in my career, sometimes the hard way, it’s okay to fail and sometimes it’s good to fail because you learn a lot from those failures. As long as you learn, failing is fine.”
Message to Her Younger Self
When asked what message she would send to her younger self, Laurel emphasized the importance of rejecting limitations imposed by others: “Don’t believe things that people tell you like women shouldn’t go to college, or all you can do is nurse. Don’t limit yourself in terms of what others’ beliefs are and what other people say.”
She reflects that following her passion for writing earlier might have led to a different but equally fulfilling career path. “I think you do limit yourself, particularly women, by the things that other people say or by things even your parents might say inadvertently.”
Inspiring the Next Generation
Through her books, mentorship, and example, Laurel hopes to inspire future generations of women in healthcare. Her approach emphasizes the power of individual connections: “If you inspire one person who inspires another person who inspires another person, that’s the way to go. You can inspire in a big way, but you can also inspire in a small way that becomes a big way.”
As part of our Women Who Lead Healthcare 2024 campaign, Laurel Fuqua’s story exemplifies how perseverance, adaptability, and self-advocacy can lead to a meaningful and multifaceted career in healthcare. Her journey from a small-town girl with a nurse doll to a healthcare executive, author, and mentor demonstrates that by challenging limitations and remaining open to continuous learning, women can forge their own paths to success and fulfillment.