Erin McNabb
Episode 85

Narrator: Welcome friends to another episode of The Story & Experience podcast. Join your host, Japhet De Oliveira with his guest today and discover the moments that shape us, our families and communities.

Japhet De Oliveira: Well, welcome friends to another episode of The Story & Experience podcast. I'm delighted with our guest. This is very exciting. I just explained to them that we're on a new platform, and so we're going to see how this actually all works out sound and quality wise, but I can see that they're smiling, which is a good sign so this is going to go well. The way it works, if you're brand new to this podcast, we have a hundred questions. They become more vulnerable towards number 100. They're about stories and experiences that shape your life of our guest into the leader that they are today. I'll begin with question number one. Could you share your name and does anybody ever mispronounce it or spell it incorrectly? That'd be the first.

Erin McNabb: Yeah. Hi, my name is Erin McNabb, and it's pretty point and shoot. Erin McNabb. I have never heard anyone mispronounce it. Misspell it. It's with two Bs.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Erin McNabb: They've never mispronounced it.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's fantastic. That's pretty good.

Erin McNabb: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Good. Erin, what do you do for work?

Erin McNabb: Well, by title I am, excuse me, the Administrative Director of Quality and Infection Prevention over at Adventist Health Clear Lake.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Erin McNabb: What that entails is a bucket of everything.

Japhet De Oliveira: A bucket of everything.

Erin McNabb: A bucket of everything, quality, obviously, our safety metrics and our mortality metrics, but also licensing and accreditation and all the good stuff. Yeah, it's a big bucket.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. This is not one of the questions. This would be question 2A I've got to ask straight away.

Erin McNabb: Okay.

Japhet De Oliveira: Anything you're working on right now that's interesting and challenging?

Erin McNabb: Yes. I mean, yes. Yes. I think every day there's some stuff that is interesting and challenging, but right now, I don't know, maybe not the people listening to the podcast, but Adventist Health Clear Lake has five stars from CMS, which is huge, right?

Japhet De Oliveira: Uh-huh (affirmative). It is.

Erin McNabb: We're one of the very few critical access hospitals that have the five stars. We're still working on how we keep the five stars, and that's with safety and all that good stuff. That's what I love.

Japhet De Oliveira: It's fantastic. Five stars out of five.

Erin McNabb: Five stars out of five. Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Erin McNabb: I love it.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's really good. Oh, that's fantastic. Erin, how long have you worked with Adventist Health?

Erin McNabb: I have been here for eight years.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Erin McNabb: Yeah, I started eight years ago as infection preventionist, and then worked my way up.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. That's fantastic.

Erin McNabb: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Well, I'm glad you're doing that. I'm glad you're helping us out. I know that the entire hospital in Clear Lake does amazing work there, so it's great that you're part of the team there.

Erin McNabb: Yeah, thank you. We do do a lot of good work here.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good. Now, in the morning when you get up, first drink of the day, do you have coffee, liquid green smoothie? Coffee, tea? Water? What's the first thing?

Erin McNabb: A hundred percent coffee. Coffee with cream. Yep.

Japhet De Oliveira: Coffee with cream.

Erin McNabb: Not too much cream. Maybe a nice caramel color. Yeah, definitely coffee with cream. I have to, I don't know what I would do without it.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. I respect that. So, no worries. I understand that entirely. All right, location. Tell us about where were you born?

Erin McNabb: I was born in Ukiah, California.

Japhet De Oliveira: Really? Okay.

Erin McNabb: Before it was Adventist Health Clear Lake, or Adventist Health Ukiah. It was, yeah, just the community hospital there in Ukiah. So I was actually born in Ukiah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, that's fantastic. I take it you go back off them because you're so close.

Erin McNabb: Yes, I go back a lot, but I actually grew up here too.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Erin McNabb: Yeah, that's what, yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. That's fantastic. Now, when you were a child, I presume in Ukiah, what did you imagine you would grown up to be?

Erin McNabb: Oh gosh. Back when I was little, I first thought I was either going to be the police officer or a firefighter. I used to love those action-packed gigs.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Erin McNabb: I thought that was all me. That's what I was going to do. I think as I got older I wanted to be a veterinarian, and that's probably a lot of child from the country, child dreams or whatever. I did a stint after I graduated high school. I did this internship at a veterinary clinic and, boy howdy, veterinary was not for me. I went into nursing, so that's why I'm a nurse. The animals couldn't tell me what was wrong, you had to figure that out. It was just so sad oftentimes, and I couldn't handle it. My ticker couldn't take it.

Japhet De Oliveira: Well, I'm glad that you chose nursing and ended up with this particular career in caring, so it's fantastic. Well done for that.

Erin McNabb: I am too. Yes. Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right, personality. Now, if people were to describe you, would they describe you as an introvert or an extrovert, and would you agree?

Erin McNabb: Yes, they would describe me as an extrovert, and I would have to agree. I have those moments where I feel like I could be the introvert. I have the introvert within. I like my solo trips places, but really, I'm an extrovert. I need that social interaction. I need the eye contact. I need that. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. All right. Hey, that's fantastic. Good. Now, habits, are you an early riser or late-night owl?

Erin McNabb: Early riser, for sure. A hundred percent.

Japhet De Oliveira: When you say early, what does that mean?

Erin McNabb: Well, I mean, on workdays, my alarm goes off at 4:03 AM.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay, okay.

Erin McNabb: That's really. For the last year, we've been in survey window, so joint commission was coming, all the things. I would get up early anyway and just be to work early. Now we just got a new puppy, so my alarm goes off at 4:03, so I at least have a couple hours with her in the morning before I come to work, because otherwise stuff will break loose at home if not.

Japhet De Oliveira: Good for you. Good for you. I'm very proud of you. Keep everything safe at home as well.

Erin McNabb: Right. Exactly.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. First thing, this morning when you woke up, what was the first thing that went through your mind?

Erin McNabb: This morning my alarm went off and I was so bummed that I hadn't woken up the two hours prior to the alarm going off to know that I still had two hours to sleep in. Normally I'll wake up and I'll look and I'm like, "Oh, I've got two more hours left." Last night I didn't wake up and I slept right to the alarm and I was a little bummed. That was my thought.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. It's always nice to beat the alarm, isn't it?

Erin McNabb: Oh, I do. Today I did not this morning.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, no, I'm with you on that. That's fantastic. All right, so now here, leadership question and then I'm going to hand the floor to you to pick numbers between 11 and 100.

Erin McNabb: Okay.

Japhet De Oliveira: Are you a backseat driver?

Erin McNabb: Well, if we're talking leadership, I would say no. If we're talking actually in the car with my husband, 100% I will tell him how to drive, when to drive, where to drive.

Japhet De Oliveira: Good.

Erin McNabb: He loves me for it, I'm sure.

Japhet De Oliveira: I'm sure he loves that.

Erin McNabb: Yes. No, in leadership world I think I've had to work hard to get over being that backseat driver. I love the collaboration with the people that work I work with. I would hope that they would agree with me and they'd say no.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. All right. All right. That's great. All right. The floor's open. Where would you like to go first?

Erin McNabb: One through 100, right?

Japhet De Oliveira: 11. We start at 11 because I've done the first 10.

Erin McNabb: 11. Okay.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, you're welcome.

Erin McNabb: Okay, so we'll go to 12.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. 12. All right. What's your favorite movie or book of all time and why?

Erin McNabb: Oh, gosh. I feel like everyone would say Star Wars or the Lord of the Rings or all of those, but I'm not going to say those.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Erin McNabb: I feel like those are great movies and great series.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes, they are.

Erin McNabb: I think one that I always go back to is "Goodwill Hunting".

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, yes.

Erin McNabb: I don't know if you... That's with Matt Damon, Robin Williams, all the things.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Erin McNabb: It's one of those movies that teaches you a lot about life lessons.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Erin McNabb: Don't judge a book by its cover. You're responsible for your own life, all of those things. Yeah, I love that movie.

Japhet De Oliveira: Those two actors wrote that story.

Erin McNabb: Yes, and Ben Affleck, yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. That's fantastic. All right. That's good. Yes, and I love the lessons inside it. Good. That was number 12. Where would you like to go, up or down?

Erin McNabb: Definitely up.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Erin McNabb: Let's do 31.

Japhet De Oliveira: 31. All right. 31 it is. Tell us about someone you'd love to eat dinner with, and the sky's the limit.

Erin McNabb: Dinner with, gosh, I've been asked like, "Who would you want to meet if you could meet anyone?" I feel like I'd want to say the late Queen of England or Elon Musk even for today.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Erin McNabb: I think if I were to go have a dinner with someone, it would maybe be my younger self. I have a uncle. My dad's brother passed away when he was young in a rafting accident. My grandfather, so my dad's, my fraternal grandfather never really recovered from that. I mean, he got through life. He lived until a very long life, but there was just always that missing piece. For me, I've thought about what I would do, and I feel like if I could go back and have, with your question, dinner with someone would be with my uncle who passed away with my father and my grandfather together, and just see that dynamic. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: That would be beautiful. That's lovely. I love that idea. Good. All right. That was 31. Where next, up or down?

Erin McNabb: Okay, let's go up just a little bit to 32.

Japhet De Oliveira: 32. All right. If you were featured on the local news right there in Clear Lake, what would the news story likely be?

Erin McNabb: Oh gosh. That I got the first buck of the season, there it is.

Japhet De Oliveira: The first buck. Okay. All right.

Erin McNabb: I told you that I was a country girl.

Japhet De Oliveira: For the people who are listening to this around the world, could you just explain what that means?

Erin McNabb: Okay. I told you I'm a country girl, grew up in Kelseyville technically, and hunting with my dad my entire life. Yeah, the first buck of the season's a pretty big deal around here.

Japhet De Oliveira: Not Bambi like in Disney. I'm with you.

Erin McNabb: Right. Yeah. That's kind of what it is. No, I think that that would be a fun op-ed in the local Clear Lake newspaper.

Japhet De Oliveira: That would be.

Erin McNabb: No, otherwise I would hope that would be my community service work or something we did here at the hospital that was super exciting. Yeah, I always thought it would be fun to be the person that was the first buck of the season.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's great. I love that. All right. All right. That was 32. Where next?

Erin McNabb: Oh gosh, this is like pressure.

Japhet De Oliveira: No, no, it's good.

Erin McNabb: 48.

Japhet De Oliveira: 48. All right, brilliant. Let's go there. Tell us about your best personality trait.

Erin McNabb: Best personality trait.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Erin McNabb: For me, I think that's something that's important is my resiliency. I feel like I'm resilient, and there's a lot of discussion, especially within the nursing world and pre-COVID, post-COVID about resiliency. I feel like that's just an innate piece of my personality. I feel like I've always recovered quickly. There's a difference between recovering or getting over or getting through. I think recovery is part of that. Recovering just from those setbacks that happen, or the changes in life that aren't exactly opportune or anything like that. If I had to choose one piece of my personality that I give to my kids, it would be my resiliency for sure.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic. This is question 48A.

Erin McNabb: Okay.

Japhet De Oliveira: How many kids do you have?

Erin McNabb: I have a six-year-old son, and then I have an almost two-year-old daughter. Two.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, bless.

Erin McNabb: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic. You're right about resiliency. 48B, just unpack this a little bit more, but I have heard that there has been pushback amongst the nursing community to say that they didn't want resiliency attached to them because it had some other connotations. Do you want to unpack that a little bit and how you've heard about that as well and see that? Yet, I agree with you, it's a great trait to have.

Erin McNabb: I've heard bits and pieces about the "pushback" or from the nursing world, but to me, I feel like maybe they just don't, I don't want to say they, maybe we don't necessarily want to own up to that, because that's just something nurses do, right?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Erin McNabb: They don't have to announce it or describe it as their trait. Maybe that's just it, maybe we haven't described it enough for the nurses throughout the years.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Erin McNabb: Yeah, I feel like it's not something to push away from. I feel like resiliency is a pretty good trait. Mental health, spiritual health, all the things, right?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Erin McNabb: It all goes back to your resiliency to get over things or get through things and to move on with change and all of that.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good. All right, brilliant. That was 48A and B. Where next?

Erin McNabb: Let's do 57.

Japhet De Oliveira: 57. All right. If you had to endorse a brand, what would it be and why? Oh, you're rubbing your hands together.

Erin McNabb: I've already said Elon Musk, Tesla. No. For the life of me, I'll think of it. Dolly Parton, she has this book program, and I want to say it's like imagination something, but this brand, what she does is to the underserved communities in America, you can sign up, any laboring mom, I've done it, can sign up and your child is sent a book a month until aged three years of life.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow, that's great.

Erin McNabb: Yes, it's incredible. If I could... Reading, obviously we all know that it's huge for the minds, it's huge for the children's development, all the things.

Japhet De Oliveira: Important, yeah.

Erin McNabb: I feel like that'd be a pretty big brand. I don't know if it's a brand, but I guess it's more of a fund or something.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, it's a product, it's a brand, I like it. Hey, that's great.

Erin McNabb: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: I agree with you reading to kids reading as well yourself. It's phenomenal.

Erin McNabb: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: It's great. All right. That was 57, so where next?

Erin McNabb: 57. We'll go all the way up to 62.

Japhet De Oliveira: 62. Right. This is great for you, Erin. What does a sense of community mean to you?

Erin McNabb: Oh, wow. They do get more in depth.

Japhet De Oliveira: A little bit.

Erin McNabb: Sense of community. Gosh.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Erin McNabb: I guess it's a feeling of belonging. It's that sense of security. It's that, I guess the neighborly friendliness that we were all used to probably growing up and maybe not so much anymore. I guess also we work in the hospital, this healthcare setting, I guess we'd have to say a sense of optimal health and mental health and spiritual health. I guess maybe a sense of opportunities. I think for me, community I guess it's just really central to the human experience.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Erin McNabb: If you don't have that sense of belonging, then yeah, that's hard stuff.

Japhet De Oliveira: It is. Building community is hard as well, right?

Erin McNabb: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Erin McNabb: Yes. Compassion, health. Yeah. All of it. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: I take it you belong to several good communities, right?

Erin McNabb: I do. I love my communities that I'm in as far as my actual pack, family pack, my neighbor pack, my friendship packs, yeah, my work pack. Yeah, all of them. they give me.

Japhet De Oliveira: Do you find that it's easy to intertwine your different communities that you connect with?

Erin McNabb: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Erin McNabb: Yes, it is.

Japhet De Oliveira: Is that driven by you?

Erin McNabb: Maybe a little, but I just think the people that surround me, I have my immediate family, and then I have my big group of friends, and then my neighbors, and then the people I grew up with that are a little bit acquaintances now. I feel like it's always been something that I've held close. My sisters are friends with my best friends, and my mom is invited to their birthday parties or their birthday dinners or stuff like that. Yeah, I feel like they're definitely intertwined. Same thing with work. Yeah. I feel like I have a lot of friends outside of work here, or BFAWs, so to speak.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's great. All right. Hey, that was 62, so where next?

Erin McNabb: 78.

Japhet De Oliveira: 78. All right. Tell us about what gives you childlike joy.

Erin McNabb: Oh gosh. I feel like it's so many things for me.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Erin McNabb: I mean, as of lately, my son's six and he is getting into the sports. The soccer, the baseball, the basketball.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Erin McNabb: That was something I dearly loved as a child. That gives me such joy seeing him love it. Also, I think something else that gives me childlike joy is, and I don't know what our population is or what our age group of listening to the podcast, ears on children, but it's being Santa Claus and getting to be Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, that is just the best. 

Japhet De Oliveira: Isn't it?

Erin McNabb: Yes, it's the best.

Japhet De Oliveira: It really is.

Erin McNabb: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: It really is. For their eyes, to see their eyes light up to see the... Yeah.

Erin McNabb: Yeah. It brings it all back too, right?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Erin McNabb: Gosh, this is great.

Japhet De Oliveira: Pretty good. Imagination is good, isn't it?

Erin McNabb: Yes it is.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Erin McNabb: I love it.

Japhet De Oliveira: I like that. It's good. Good. All right, that was 78. Where next, up or down?

Erin McNabb: I'm going to keep going up until I get a really tough one, then I'm going back down.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Erin McNabb: We'll do 82.

Japhet De Oliveira: 82. All right. If you could only keep three things, three possessions, what would they be and why?

Erin McNabb: Oh man. This is going to be an interesting one.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. All right.

Erin McNabb: Yeah. We've had fires here recently in our community, or a lot of them, and we haven't yet had anything traumatic happen for our household. In January of 2020 just before COVID, I had a miscarriage at 19 weeks. A little late term of a miscarriage. I've since said that if we ever had to evacuate again or anything like that, that I would take her urn. It wouldn't be a matter of three possessions, it would be her urn. That would be the only thing, well, aside from my children and stuff like that.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Erin McNabb: Yeah. I guess I could go to the point, if I had to think about anyone else in the world like my husband, I would think of his 1970 Cougar Eliminator that I would have to get out just for his sake.

Japhet De Oliveira: For his sake.

Erin McNabb: Yeah. You want to talk about childlike joy? That's his joy and it's very childlike. I would have to say that too. For me personally, it would be, yeah, Rylynn's urn. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: What was the name?

Erin McNabb: Her name was Rylynn.

Japhet De Oliveira: Rylynn, that's beautiful.

Erin McNabb: Yeah. My husband's name is Ryan.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. My middle name is Lynn. We named her Rylynn.

That is beautiful. That's wonderful. Thank you for sharing that as well. That's really good. All right. That was 82. Where we would like to go next?

Erin McNabb: Oh gosh. We'll say 92.

Japhet De Oliveira: 92. All right. How would you like to be remembered?

Erin McNabb: Oh, wow. They do get tough. I think I'd want to be remembered. I'm going to go back to it, my resiliency.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Erin McNabb: I got through some things in life. I'd want to be remembered as a good mom, an involved mom, and a good wife and daughter. Yeah. It sounds so cliche, so superficial, but at the grand scheme of things, the grand scheme of life, it's about just those relationships that we have closest to us. I feel like that that's what I'd want to be remembered for. Maybe if we had to get down to unsuperficial stuff or whatever, maybe my wit or my quick, steady... Yeah, I think I'd want to be remembered as me, as who really I am. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Do you have a lot of relatives that you feel would be remembered in exactly the same way you would like to be remembered?

Erin McNabb: Oh, yeah. I think that that's what it is, right?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Erin McNabb: I think family has always been so important to everyone surrounding me. I feel like, yes, just, yeah, I feel like-

Japhet De Oliveira: You come rom a strong family, right?

Erin McNabb: Yeah. I feel like I do.

Japhet De Oliveira: I can tell.

Erin McNabb: They may not agree, but I know that we are strong. Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Do you think that that's something that just happens to people? Do you think that it's just the luck of it? Do you think it's things that people have to develop?

Erin McNabb: It's work, right?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Erin McNabb: There's always the family turmoil, all of the changes or the trauma that people go through. I think that all of that combined with just because you're not forced, you're given a sister but you're not forced to like her. Maybe when you're little and you're still a child, but as you get older, you still have to learn who each other is as an adult and as a human being. I feel like if I didn't like who my sisters were, sorry, Marcie and Mary, that I wouldn't still be as close to them as I am. We talk every day. We talk every night, probably. I talk to their children every day of their lives. They talk to my children every day.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's beautiful.

Erin McNabb: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's really good.

Erin McNabb: It takes work. It takes that time.

Japhet De Oliveira: It does, it takes time. Yeah. It takes time to give the time. Yeah. That's fantastic. Good encouraging word for everybody else. All right. That was 92. Where would you like to go next?

Erin McNabb: Let's go up a couple, just two. Let's go up to 94.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. All right, here you go. If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?

Erin McNabb: Oh gosh. Is this the beauty queen world peace?

Japhet De Oliveira: World peace.

Erin McNabb: Right. No, if I could change anything, it would be, there's a couple things.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Erin McNabb: It'd be the fact that we still don't have a cure for cancer. It would stop homelessness, those things, because those are just so you know. Really, for me right now, what's really scaring me and something that I may want to stop from happening is AI, the artificial intelligence stuff going on. While it seems so awesome to me it's scary. I would probably slow it down a little bit if I could change something.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. That's interest. That is interesting. It is coming along rather rapidly.

Erin McNabb: Very rapidly. To me it gives me that angst of what's going to happen with this? Where's this going? Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: I just wonder whether it's always already been there, but it's just being promoted right now.

Erin McNabb: Right?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting. All right. Hey, that was 94. Where next, up or down?

Erin McNabb: Let's go to 99.

Japhet De Oliveira: 99. All right. Erin, what is the most difficult truth you've ever told?

Erin McNabb: Oh gosh. This is going to hit a feeler too. For me I have to say truths all the time. There's those internal truths you have to tell yourself. For me, I had two, and I don't know if it's a privilege or a curse, but being in the medical field, I went to a doctor's office appointment for my father-in-law who had chest pain; was there with him, and then they did an ultrasound. They found out he had a tumor on his pancreas. The truth I had to tell him was that he had a tumor on his pancreas and it did turn out to be pancreatic cancer. We all know that pancreatic is nearly unbeatable and he didn't beat it. That was a very difficult moment and difficult truth. I think about it all the time too. Yeah, it was a hard day.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, it doesn't go away easily, does it?

Erin McNabb: No. Not at all.

Japhet De Oliveira: I understand that as well because my mother actually has pancreatic cancer Stage 4 right now. I'm with you, Erin, I understand that's a very difficult thing to handle and to have to articulate as well.

Erin McNabb: Yes, it was. Yeah. I'm sorry to hear that about your mom.

Japhet De Oliveira: No, these are difficult things to have to share.

Erin McNabb: Right.

Japhet De Oliveira: That was question number 99 Erin.

Erin McNabb: There's only one more higher and then we got to go back down.

Japhet De Oliveira: There's only one more above or you got to go back down or you got to go back down on some numbers. Where would you like to go next?

Erin McNabb: We got to go to hundred. I got to see what it is or hear what it is.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. Well look, this is question 100.

Erin McNabb: Okay.

Japhet De Oliveira: Here it is. Tell us about one question that you just don't want to answer.

Erin McNabb: One question I don't want to answer.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. You don't have to answer it.

Erin McNabb: Right.

Japhet De Oliveira: What is the one-

Erin McNabb: It's going to be a 100 and a 100A.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. Okay.

Erin McNabb: It would be, am I doing enough and is it all worth it? Yeah. For me, I'm going to answer it for you though. For me, I'm a nurse and so I left the bedside. I'm no longer at the bedside doing the one-on-one nursing. There's not those patients, the four or five patients that I could affect their health and their family's health, and I'm at a bigger role now where I have the opportunity to potentially affect or cast a wider net on whose health I could potentially affect and help. It's a lot of pressure, but I think about that often like am what I'm doing enough, helping enough people? Then there's the age-old work-life balance.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Sure.

Erin McNabb: Is it worth it? I've already said I have two children, small six and almost two.

Japhet De Oliveira: And a little dog.

Erin McNabb: Yes and now a puppy. Yeah, it's that work-life balance. I am lucky enough to say though, that I have worked for her name is Colleen Assavapisitkul, she is now our President here at Adventist Health Clear Lake.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, she's amazing.

Erin McNabb: Prior to her role in President, she was my PCE. She was my Patient Care Executive who I had the privilege to report to directly. She was always the first proponent of, "You're a mom first and foremost, Erin, you got to go be with those babes." She was with me during both pregnancies. I worked for her. It's never been a question in her mind, which helps minimize the mom guilt, so to speak.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Erin McNabb: Yeah. It's that work-life balance and is it all worth it? In the end will it all be worth it? I hope it is. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. It is a great question. I think it's a question everybody should ask themselves about everything that they do because ultimately you don't want to feel like life's just taking you and you've just gone somewhere, but you've actually done something of value.

Erin McNabb: Yes. I agree.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, no, I'm with you on that. That's fantastic. Thank you for sharing that and thank you for unpacking it as well. That's great. All right, so look, we have time for two more.

Erin McNabb: Okay.

Japhet De Oliveira: Two more numbers. You can tell me both of them or one of them at a time. It is up to you. Where would you like to go?

Erin McNabb: I'm going to give you one number and we're going to go all the way back down to 43.

Japhet De Oliveira: 43. All right, here we go. Tell us about the best gift that you've ever received.

Erin McNabb: It's right here.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, it's right there. Okay.

Erin McNabb: It's the ugliest rock you.

Japhet De Oliveira: She is showing me a rock. Okay. Now you're going to have to explain, well actually describe the rock first would you to people?

Erin McNabb: It's a broken in half, brown, layered rock with holes looked like maybe just wear and tear over the years.

Japhet De Oliveira: Porous. Okay, all right.

Erin McNabb: Yeah, yeah. Very porous. That's a good word for it.

Japhet De Oliveira: What's the story behind this rock that's there on your desk?

Erin McNabb: This was given to me by my, well he was then three and a half year old son Asher. He for some reason or another likes his dad a whole lot. If he had to choose between us every day of his life, he would choose dad. On this particular hike we were having, it was actually through the redwoods. We were in the redwoods and I can't think of the hike.

Japhet De Oliveira: Nice.

Erin McNabb: Anyways, he found this rock and he came over to me and he said that he knew he was going to give it to me the moment he picked it up. It was very special because he thought little animals were living in the little holes of the porous rock. Anyways, it was the first thing he has ever given to me where he said that he just knew it was for me right when he saw it. I have it on my desk at work and it's here. I get to see it and think of that moment every day. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: That is a precious gift. That is fantastic. Well done. That's beautiful. Good.

Erin McNabb: Right.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. That is the best gift to receive.

Erin McNabb: It is a very good gift.

Japhet De Oliveira: It's amazing what our kids do for us, right?

Erin McNabb: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. It's a real blessing and a privilege. All right, so last number, where would you like to go?

Erin McNabb: I'm going to go back down more.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Erin McNabb: To 11.

Japhet De Oliveira: 11. All right, here we go. Tell us about the most adventurous food or meal you've ever eaten in your life.

Erin McNabb: For this, I don't know. I was not being adventurous. I was in nursing school at the time.

Japhet De Oliveira: Right.

Erin McNabb: I was a little presumptuous in my thinking of what I would score on exam. Long story short, there was a friendly wager in my class with one of my classmates of who would score better on this next exam. If I did, I had to make her do something. If she did, she had to make me do something. Well, she scored better than me, which was crazy. I had to eat a balut, so I wasn't being interest. I was forced into this by my-

Japhet De Oliveira: I don't know what that is.

Erin McNabb: Balut is a duck egg with a fetus in it.

Japhet De Oliveira: No.

Erin McNabb: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Not everything on this podcast needs to be shared in the world, but I gotcha, that's interesting.

Erin McNabb: It is actually a staple food in the Philippines. They eat this. It was like a boiled egg with a crunchy duck fetus in it.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. All right.

Erin McNabb: See what I mean? It wasn't me being adventurous, it was me being cocky.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, but you did it.

Erin McNabb: I ate it. Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Well, thank you I think.

Erin McNabb: Right.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, Erin, it has been an absolute pleasure to be able to connect with you. Thank you for making the time. Thank you for sharing some of the experiences and stories that actually shaped you and your life. I think there are some really great reminders to us and some good questions for us to also ponder and think about in our own lives. I just want to encourage everybody who's listening to this podcast to do the same thing. Connect with a friend, get to know somebody, ask them some questions. Better yet, if you have a cup of tea or a cup of coffee, sit down and have that at the same time as well. I think asking good questions and listening and hearing good stories from each other, we get to learn so much about what shapes us and what shaped them as well. God bless everybody. Erin, blessings to you as well.

Erin McNabb:  You too. Thank you so much for this. It was fun.

Japhet De Oliveira: Thank you so much. You take care.

Narrator: Thank you for joining us for The Story & Experience podcast. We invite you to read, watch, and submit your Story & Experience at adventishealth.org/story. The Story & Experience podcast was brought to you by Adventist Health through the Office of Culture.