Engage Her: Activating Women and MultiCultural Communities

Holly Potter: Kaiser Permanente’s Golden Asset

Posted in Leadership Column
on 03/16/2010 07:46 am
by Briana Turkel

As vice president of public relations at Kaiser Permanente, America’s largest integrated health provider, Holly Potter regularly leverages her ingenuity, intellect, and extensive experience with both public and private sectors to effectively communicate with and understand the public on a national level.

Born and raised in Alameda, California, Holly attended the University of California, Davis, where she majored in Women’s Studies with an emphasis on Public Policy. She decided to take a break from college to work on a local ballot initiative in Fresno. After the initiative, Holly got the opportunity to gain valuable work experience doing public affairs and media relations for Planned Parenthood.

Holly knew she had a deep passion for advocating around important social issues. After college, she became a project manager for a statewide violence prevention initiative, managing a public education campaign with community experts. She worked with policy experts that specialized in gun control, as well as inner city intervention organizations. Holly also worked to sell communications campaigns to highlight social issues and find solutions. In addition to doing media relations, she also helped increase funding for youth intervention programs. As years passed, Holly continued her dedication to violence prevention, and became involved in drug policy issues. She worked on ways to reduce risk for kids using drugs. Instead of an abstinence only approach, her organization educated parents on how to communicate about reducing risks. Holly took her expertise to Washington, D.C. where she worked on the national campaign against youth violence, which was initially launched by President Clinton.

Kaiser recruited Holly for vice president of public relations based not only on her experience but her attitude. Holly tries to always deliver her best — to push the envelope and think one step ahead of the game. Over the past few years, Holly has received recognition for pushing social media at Kaiser Permanente and developing new strategies that seemed impossible a few years ago. Her success is due, in part, to a willingness to take calculated risks. Holly advises to be aware of the choices you make and create the safeguards necessary to implement the plan of action successfully.

Holly has been very fortunate to have strong female mentors, both professionally and personally. She was strongly influenced by her mother, an ambitious businesswoman who proved that she could succeed in the traditionally male dominated field of pharmaceutical sales. Holly’s mother deeply instilled the value that you can do anything you set your mind to. She taught her daughter to walk into a situation looking for an opportunity and figuring out how to make the best of it. Holly recommends all women to seek out role models and mentors, people who can provide guidance, teach skills, and help you reach the next step.

As a communications specialist, Holly has had plenty of practice developing her speaking skills. Holly advises that practice is essential, and it is important to take and ask for advice from others. She recommends speaking up whenever possible, whether in a discussion or addressing an issue in a meeting. Holly believes that confidence is key — you have to learn how to trust yourself and your abilities. But, Holly counters that you need to measure your effect on people: it’s all about the balance between speaking too softly (not being heard) or being too aggressive. She urges everyone to reflect on the impact they have when speaking.

Holly emphasized that there is a shortage of women leaders. She refers to the pool of talented professional women as an “untapped expertise” that needs to be utilized. She encourages women to seek opportunities for the experience enabling them to rise to leadership positions. In college, Holly spent a summer in Washington, D.C. working on Capitol Hill for the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues. Instead of giving tours, Holly decided to roll up her sleeves and gain real world work experience. She encourages women to work hard and take opportunities to educate themselves and learn from knowledgeable professionals. When asked on her opinion of how to become a leader, she answered that leadership comes in all shapes and sizes. Some leadership results in formal education, some from real world work experience. A “leadership check-list” does not exist. Holly firmly believes that first and foremost, women need to believe in themselves.

Holly Potter knows that success doesn’t come easy. In order to be a successful leader, you have to constantly demonstrate that you go above and beyond the norm. Being a leader involves hard work, dedication, and ambition. As a mother of a young child, Holly struggles with the balance between work, family, and personal life. She honestly admits that she hasn’t figured out the secret, but that she is working on figuring out what is off balance and fixing it by taking small steps. After meeting with Holly, it is clear to see why she is a success. Holly exemplifies the values of hard work, determination, and ambition. She is confident, well spoken, and incredibly down to earth. It was a pleasure to meet with such a talented and influential leader.

Tags: communication, Health, Healthcare, Leadership, Lessons, Women

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Holly Potter: Kaiser Permanente’s Golden Asset

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