Randi White
Episode 137

Narrator: Welcome friends to another episode of The Story and 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: Hey, welcome friends to another episode of the Story and Experience podcast. I'm here at Adventist Health Portland in Oregon and sitting across me is the next guest that you're going to hear amazing experiences and stories from, and if you are brand new to the podcast, they effectively choose questions between one and a hundred of things that shaped their life and these are phenomenal. So I'm excited about this person. I'm going to begin straight away. I'm going to ask the first 10 and then they're going to pick numbers beyond that. So let me begin with number one, could you tell us your name and does anybody ever mispronounce it or is it pretty straightforward?

Randi White: My name is Randi White and no, people don't usually mispronounce it, but they do misspell it.

Japhet De Oliveira: Do they really?

Randi White: They love to put a Y at the end.

Japhet De Oliveira: Why?

Randi White: Yes, I know.

Japhet De Oliveira: I know. That's good. No worries. Randi, what do you do for work?

Randi White: I am the administrator for our medical group in Portland. We have about 170 employed providers, and I, along with my dyad partner, Dennis Lippert have responsibility for supporting that group and the associated clinics and service lines.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, that's an interesting area of work.

Randi White: Yes, I love it.

Japhet De Oliveira: Have you done this kind of work a long time?

Randi White: Well, I've been at Adventist Health in Portland for 17 years, and the last eight and a half, almost nine has been with the medical group. I started on the hospital ancillary services side with outpatient lab and imaging, and then came over as a director for the medical group in 2015 and have been here ever since.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic. Well congratulations on this new role.

Randi White: Thank you.

Japhet De Oliveira: Well, accelerated more responsibility. It's great for you, good for us as well. Where were you born?

Randi White: I was born in Roseburg, Oregon.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, okay. So from Oregon and still here in Oregon.

Randi White: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Did you grow up there?

Randi White: I grew up, my first six years of life were in Yoncalla, Oregon. Very small town, farming and timber, and then we moved to Bandon when I was six and spent the rest of my time growing up there.

Japhet De Oliveira: Brilliant, and when you were a young kid, what did you imagine you were going to grow up to be?

Randi White: I think every little girl, I thought I was going to be a veterinarian at one point. At one point I said heart surgeon, but I don't think I even really knew what that was, but for whatever reason, that seemed very appealing and then through most of my teenage years, no clue, didn't know.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh really? Kind of like everyone else.

Randi White: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Well, veterinarian, heart surgeon, pretty much the same.

Randi White: Right, and so I went administration.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good. Hey, that's fantastic. In the morning when you wake up, drink of the day, do you start off with water, coffee, tea, liquid green smoothie?

Randi White: Water is the first thing, yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. All right, and tap water?

Randi White: Yes, we live on a couple acres out in the middle of cow pastures actually and we are on a well and it is the best water that you can find.

Japhet De Oliveira: Did you say cow pastures?

Randi White: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: So like cows.

Randi White: I have cows 20 feet from my bedroom window.

Japhet De Oliveira: No, really?

Randi White: Yes. Oh, they're wonderful. I love it. They're so peaceful and just serene, and then every winter we have babies that are born and you get to see little calves frolicking around, and they're not ours. We just get to watch and enjoy them without any of the work.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh really, so you don't have to stay up the night and help them?

Randi White: No, that's our neighbor.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic. Somebody could say cow pastures and you're not quite sure whether it's real.

Randi White: No.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, back in the 1700s. Okay, hey, that's fantastic, that's good. Personality, would people describe you as an introvert or an extrovert and would you agree with them?

Randi White: I think people would describe me as an extrovert, and I think that's probably accurate as I have I guess as I've gotten older or maybe as I became a mom and just have children making noise. I enjoy my quiet time more than I used to, but I do really enjoy being with people, and particularly the people who fill my cup and make my life more enriched.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's good. All right, habits, are you an early riser or late night owl?

Randi White: I am so naturally a late night owl.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Randi White: I am, and it just doesn't feel like I'm a very grownup professional when I am just really like to be up later, I get a lot more done. Last night it was my taxes, but I have grown a little bit more fond of the mornings, and maybe it's because of that quiet time because my children are not up that early, but yeah, I tend to get a lot more done in the evenings.

Japhet De Oliveira: So what's late night for you?

Randi White: Well, I mean 12:30.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, okay. All right, it's late. That's good, great. Here's a question for you, it's a leadership question, are you a backseat driver?

Randi White: I hope not. I would like to think that I'm not. Actually, sometimes I worry that I'm a little too hands off that I really want to allow support, not even allow, but support the people that I work with in being their best version of themselves and I'm going to get in the way of that if I'm too heavily involved. They need to know that I'm here and supporting that they can come to me with anything, but if I am interfering in them being the kind of leader that God made them to be, then I think that the team suffers. So I hope I'm not a backseat driver. I don't think that the folks that have worked closely with me would say that I am.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right, I've got to ask you a secret question now. All right, is there a secret that you have for helping us to retain great physicians?

Randi White: I don't know that I have a secret. My theory is that treating them with deep respect and understanding who they are as people before physicians that I think helps people want to stick around because they feel valued and something more valuable than just the job that they do.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's fantastic. Great, good. Floor is open, where would you like to go next? So now you get to choose between 11 and 100.

Randi White: Let's go 20.

Japhet De Oliveira: 20, all right. Oh, tell us something that you would rate 10 out of 10?

Randi White: Something I would rate 10 out of 10.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Randi White: I mean my kids I guess. That's the first thing that comes to mind.

Japhet De Oliveira: I'm glad you said I guess. Yeah, I guess, I think. Yeah, probably them.

Randi White: No child is perfect, but mine are pretty incredible and I feel hugely blessed to get to be their mom.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, no, I'm teasing you. I know. I guess was not about the kids. All right. Hey, that's great. All right, that was 20, so where next?

Randi White: Okay, 27.

Japhet De Oliveira: 27. Oh, bring us into your kitchen, you're cooking a special meal, what would that meal be?

Randi White: It depends on the day. Usually my husband is cooking, that's the 10 out of 10. My husband, that's where I should have gone first because he does all the cooking and he's wonderful.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, I'm glad he was second thought.

Randi White: I know. If I am cooking it is probably something that I grew up eating and so this weekend, I made pistachio cream pie. My grandmother passed away four years ago tomorrow and she knew that I loved this pistachio cream pie and she would make it for me. I went away to boarding school and when she'd come to visit or if I came home, she knew that was the thing I would love and I hadn't had it in years and got frozen yogurt with my kids Friday afternoon and there was pistachio flavored frozen yogurt, and I'm like, "Oh my gosh, I need some pistachio cream pie." And so that was the special thing and it turned out really good.

Japhet De Oliveira: I was going to ask you.

Randi White: Yeah, I didn't have her recipe to go off of. None of my family had it at their fingertips and so I went with one online and then kind of tweaked some things a little bit. I didn't get it quite right. My mom sent me the recipe later and I should have added coconut to the crust.

Japhet De Oliveira: See, I was going to suggest that, but that's great. Hey, that's good. All right, where next.

Randi White: 35.

Japhet De Oliveira: 35. Oh, share a specific interest or talent that you have.

Randi White: I mean interest, I have quite a few. I've become more and more interested in flowers, in growing flowers.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, growing flowers.

Randi White: Yes, I've also become very interested in birds.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, yeah?

Randi White: I think that happens when you hit 40. Just the random people begin to really have a thing for birds and so I have several bird feeders outside my window and I love to watch them and just be really enamored by their beauty and their quickness and smallness and their noises and whatnot. Talent, I sing and I don't do it a ton, I do.

Japhet De Oliveira: Like karaoke style?

Randi White: No, like praise and worship or I mean to my kids every night, but yeah, I grew up singing in church and whatnot.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's really good.

Randi White: I just love it.

Japhet De Oliveira: Do your kids sing back?

Randi White: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, that's great. That's really fantastic. Well, that's a unique gift and talent and yeah, cultivated in church.

Randi White: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good. All right, where next?

Randi White: 41.

Japhet De Oliveira: 41. What are you excited about in life right now?

Randi White: Right now, I'd say two things. My oldest is about to turn 10 and seeing the person that he is becoming is incredible and I'm loving it. That has been just really fun. I think the other thing is my job. I really enjoy what I do. I work with some incredible people. I get to support some incredible people and the joy of getting to use what I think are talents that God has given me to try to make other people's lives better, whether it's our teams, our providers, and our community, that is incredibly rewarding to me and even when there's really stressful things, they're like the things that I don't like as much, there's a bigger purpose for it, and so I can look past the muck and there's something much brighter ahead that we're working towards.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right, so if someone started out, they're working, they've got a job. It's not exactly their dream job, it's close to their dream job and they're just like, "Oh, some things I just don't like doing in my job." What advice would you give them?

Randi White: I think you first have to evaluate how much of what I'm doing is what I do love versus what I'm not, because if it's out of balance to a great degree, then you probably need to make a change of some kind, but every single job has things that you're not going to, I can't imagine a job where you absolutely love every single aspect of it and so then I think it's about both finding a team that compliments you and your skillset, because I've got people on my team and that I've worked with over the years that have a very different skillset than me, and they're really good at the stuff that I hate, and I can be pretty good at the stuff that they don't really like, and so then we kind of split the workup in a way that everybody's happier.

So I think finding the right team, finding the right boss that will help to bring out your strengths and allow you to really focus your time and your effort and your energy on things that bring you joy, and usually when it brings us joy, we do better at whatever the work is. I think those are two big pieces, and then it's really about doing as much as you can with those and doing the stuff you don't like and being okay doing that. You can't just avoid it all the time for sure, but I think for me, I think it's okay to capitalize on the things that you really do like and appreciate and typically are better at.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's good. Great, thank you very much for that bonus question. All right, where next?

Randi White: 50.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. Oh, share about who's influenced you professionally.

Randi White: Oh.

Japhet De Oliveira: Fake cough.

Randi White: Yeah, sorry.

Japhet De Oliveira: It was so faint, it was like, "Was that really a cough?" It was another room.

Randi White: I don't want to choke into the mic.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's another person. All right.

Randi White: Somebody who has influenced me professionally. There are a few, I've had had two bosses that I think had a really profound impact on me becoming the kind of leader that I am, and both in helping me to do more of the things that I love, but also helping kind of refine the things that I didn't love or maybe wasn't as good at and being willing to have those harder conversations to say like, "Hey, I think we need to work on this thing." And then lovingly supporting me through that. So Carol Kate was our rehab director here for many years and I worked for her for several years and learned a ton. Derain Brower was my boss on the clinic side and I think the thing that those two individuals have in common is that they not only took an interest in me professionally, but I could tell that as a person, they valued and cared for me.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's great.

Randi White: And that really allows a person to flourish I think, and like I say, they didn't shy away from the hard things either and that I think demonstrates a certain amount of value as well that somebody cares enough about me to have a tough conversation with me and then work through with me those things that I need to get better at and not just avoid it because it's uncomfortable or awkward.

Japhet De Oliveira: Do they both know that?

Randi White: I think so. So I've said it many times, yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: You've said it? Oh, first of all, that's great.

Randi White: But people can say things, right?

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, they can. Sometimes you just have to spell it out exactly and say thank you.

Randi White: Yeah, it's probably time to reach out again.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's good.

Randi White: Get some coffee.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, yeah.

Randi White: They both retired and gone to the wonderful place of retirement.

Japhet De Oliveira: See, now it would be lovely time for them to hear.

Randi White: That's true.

Japhet De Oliveira: What legacies they've left behind in your life.

Randi White: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right, so that was 50. Where next?

Randi White: Okay, 63.

Japhet De Oliveira: 63. All right. Oh, tell us if you wouldn't mind about a time when you felt lost.

Randi White: There've been a couple. I'll go way back.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Randi White: I graduated from Walla Walla and spent the next three months as an intern at Walla Walla General Hospital. That's the place where I actually figured out that healthcare was what I was going to do the rest of my life and then I moved to Southern California where my boyfriend at the time, the man who now does the cooking in my house and is the father of my children, and a 10 out of 10.

Japhet De Oliveira: Thank you for reaffirming that, he's got a lot of his podcast now.

Randi White: Yes, exactly. He was down at Loma Linda going to school and so we kind of decided if this relationship has any chance of a future, we're going to have to be in the same state and so I went down there and had a job that I think tested me in a lot of ways, kind of stretched me. I was in over my head and didn't quite know it, because I was pretty young and naive and confident.

Japhet De Oliveira: As we all are, yep.

Randi White: Yes, and so then after being down there for a little while, we were ready to move back up here and I started applying for jobs and kind of had this notion that I did great in school, I was well-liked by the people that I had worked for so far. I thought it wouldn't be that hard to get a job, and I was jobless for three months after we got here and actually, it would've been two months because it was a month that we were still down in California that I was looking.

So three months of looking for a job before I actually got one and I felt very lost at that point. I'd all the right things, gotten my college degree, had worked hard and to struggle to find something was discouraging, disheartening, caused me to do some soul-searching.

Japhet De Oliveira: Of course it was, yeah.

Randi White: And then I think when I did land here, actually it was here at Adventist Health that I landed finally. I think I was more willing to take it down a few notches and recognize that I had a foundation to build before I could be in some great fantastic job, and I think most people in their early 20s have to learn that at some point.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes, they do.

Randi White: I'm going to hope that I wasn't just totally unique in that.

Japhet De Oliveira: Some of them still need to learn that, but yeah, you're right.

Randi White: But yeah, totally felt lost. I had to borrow some money from my grandparents to make my car payment and rent, and then you look back on those times later and you think oh, what shaped me differently than it would have if I had applied for a job and had it when I got up here and good to go?

Japhet De Oliveira: The humility is good.

Randi White: It is really good.

Japhet De Oliveira: Isn't it interesting? Not what we ever dream of, not what we encourage people to go through university to come up. You're going to be humble, but it does shape you.

Randi White: Yeah, for sure.

Japhet De Oliveira: So if somebody is just experiencing that kind of hardship for the very first time, word of wisdom?

Randi White: Hang in there, that'd be the first thing. Something, the right thing eventually will come. You may have to do some of the not the right thing first to get there.

Japhet De Oliveira: And by that, she's not suggesting something illegal. Just for the record. No, I'm kidding.

Randi White: Yes, good clarification.

Japhet De Oliveira: Just want to clarify that.

Randi White: Yeah, that's true. I think also be willing to say yes when you may not really want to. You might have to take a job that you aren't thrilled about. You might have to kind of put yourself out there to ask for an informational interview. That's how I ended up here. The person that I had interned with at Walla Walla called one of the leaders here and said, "Hey, I've got this person. I think you just need to talk with them." And a few weeks later, something opened up and they called the leader of that position, "Hey, you need to talk with this person." But it was very kind of nerve wracking for me to call them up and say, "Hey, Morgan told me about you. Could we just meet? Could I have a little bit of your time?"

I think that if you're expecting it to fall into your lap, most of the time it won't, that's just not typically the reality, but being able to work hard to do the things that are less comfortable and just out of your comfort zone, that's where that growing and shaping frequently comes, and then I think we have more empathy for others as a result as well.

Japhet De Oliveira: Nobody really makes it by themself, right?

Randi White: No.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, so you get to help people all the time and they help you as well.

Randi White: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: So tell me a story about somebody that you helped recently. Oh, it's hard, I know. You're like, "I'll tell you a story about how they helped me." Yeah, that's a bonus question by the way.

Randi White: Oh, man. I've got a couple people on my team right now that are somewhat early in their career. One earlier than the other, and anxious for the next thing, anxious for the growth and okay, I'm supposed to be telling a story, not hypothetical here. When I'm looking at these people, I frequently see the potential and the things that they still have to develop to get to that next point that they're anxious to be at, and so in both of their cases and it's different for both of them, and I am not going to get really specific, but in both cases, it's getting to know them as individuals and identifying what fills their cup, what brings them joy and then also like my prior leaders did with me, have those kind of harder, more awkward conversations to say, "You've got all this potential in front of you and here's an area I think that we could work on and I'd like to come alongside you and do that together, whether it's speaking up more in meetings or demonstrating greater humility in situations where maybe they're feeling like they need to really assert themselves.

Japhet De Oliveira: Assert themselves.

Randi White: And asserting yourself is not the wrong thing, but I think it's how you do it, how you demonstrate who you are to those around you and I think that the people that know us and love us are the best at helping us refine that within ourselves, and so for both of these individuals, I've been trying to do that gently and lovingly and then every once in a while, something comes along where I'm like, "Hey, I've got a project for you." And they're excited and thrilled to do it because they know that I'm not giving them something just to get it off of my plate. I'm giving them something because I know that they have the potential to really grow through that. So one of them, when I say, "Hey, I've got a project." Their answer is, "I'll do anything for you." And I'm just like, "Well, let's be careful now."

But what they're saying is I know you've got my back, and if you're saying that there's something I need to do, then I'm absolutely going to do that and that is super rewarding to see, because I love seeing that I'm trustworthy enough that they can do that, but also that they are taking that initiative, being brave, stepping outside of their comfort zone and really growing in ways that will help them to be the kinds of leaders that they want to be and maybe that they don't even know yet that they can be.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, absolutely.

Randi White: That's super rewarding and I'm enjoying it a ton.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's beautiful, thank you. All right, where next?

Randi White: Let's see, 75.

Japhet De Oliveira: 75. All right, do you remember the very first thing that you purchased with your own money? And if so, what was it and why?

Randi White: I'm pretty sure that it was a tape from the music store, a cassette tape.

Japhet De Oliveira: I thought you was talking about measuring tape. I was like, "Wow, Home Depot. Go for it." Okay, so a cassette tape.

Randi White: Super handy. A cassette tape, I'm pretty sure that it was Steven Curtis Chapman, the Great Adventure.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, yeah. Okay, that's great. Do you still have a tape player?

Randi White: I think we have one vehicle that has a tape player in it.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow.

Randi White: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's impressive.

Randi White: Yeah, a 77 Chevy pickup. I'm pretty sure there's a tape player there. I don't think I have any tapes that still play.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, they still sell it, you'll find it. I'm not saying here's one, but you'll find them. All right, that's great. All right, where next?

Randi White: 80.

Japhet De Oliveira: 80. All right, how would you like to change in the future?

Randi White: How would I like to change? Oh, gosh, so many ways. I'm so critical of myself. Probably that's the first thing I should try to change, be less critical of myself.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes.

Randi White: I would love to be more intentional, more mindful, and it's an ever present goal of mine to be the kind of mom and leader and wife that my family can be really proud of, and that is using who I am. I don't want to just float through. It's hard to leave my kids every day and be here long days, and I'm a better mom because of it. I think the biggest way I'd like to change is to keep becoming an even better mom in spite of, or maybe because of the work that I do, the things that I learn here, but yeah, I'd say the top three would be less critical of myself, more intentional, more mindful.

Japhet De Oliveira: Brilliant. That's actually good for everybody.

Randi White: Probably.

Japhet De Oliveira: No, it really is. It's really good. All right, time for believe it or not, two more numbers. Isn't that crazy? All right?.

Randi White: Well, let's go 93.

Japhet De Oliveira: 93. All right, here we go. Oh, paint us a picture of success.

Randi White: Oh, boy, that's different for everyone.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, it is.

Randi White: To me, success is spending your time doing things that both makes the world around you, however you define that a better place and it brings you joy to the point that you can be the best version of yourself. I think that's how I define success and like I say, for different people, it's different and I don't think that my definition is the only one or the right one, the best one, but it's definitely what resonates with me the most, doing good in the world around me and being the best version of myself that I can be because of what I'm spending my time doing.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's a good combination.

Randi White: Thank you, I hope so.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, no, it's good. All right, we are down to the final number, which number would you like?

Randi White: Let's do 100.

Japhet De Oliveira: 100.

Randi White: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Randi White: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Tell us about the question that you don't want me to ask you.

Randi White: I'm a pretty open book. I was interested to see what the more complex, more vulnerable questions would be. I think probably where am I not being the person that I want to be and why am I not? That's probably the question that would give me pause.

Japhet De Oliveira: You mean not living into that?

Randi White: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: And do you know why?

Randi White: I think really it goes back to the intentional and mindful piece that sometimes I'm on autopilot. Sometimes I am just doing the things that have to get done today because there's so much in front of me and I'm not necessarily being just as thoughtful as I wish that I was in what needs to be done in the future or in preparation for the future, and so then I kind of end up winging it more than I wish that I did.

Japhet De Oliveira: There are some people that they look back on their life and they think they'd like to improve things all the time, and then there are some people that look back and they're like, "I can't change the past, I can change the present." Where are you?

Randi White: I do think about past failures and mistakes too much, but I think that acknowledging my own self-criticism has been a very good learning for me because then I can say okay, looking at the past is only helpful if I can apply it to now and the future and so where am I seeing that I wish that I would've done things differently? Okay, now what am I doing today to not do that as much?

Japhet De Oliveira: No, that's true.

Randi White: Or do it better. So I think for me it's a combination, but my tendency is to look at the past more than is really helpful.

Japhet De Oliveira: Your wisdom is also that you know it.

Randi White: Most of the time.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay, all right, that's good.

Randi White: I'm sure that I get it wrong.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's great and well, first of all, thank you so much for sharing, but I think that actually that speaks into many people's lives. There are many people that are just the same way because we by nature may be a little bit critical of ourselves in our own evaluation to be better, and sometimes you can get really critical, and so there's a lot of wisdom to know that. So thank you so much. Randi, it's been a pleasure. I want to encourage people to do the same thing. Sit down with a friend, ask them questions, learn about their life, discover what's new. We're all transformed by it. We're better for it and until we connect again, God bless everyone.

Randi White: Thank you so much.

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