We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Leslie Mattson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Leslie , thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission the drives your brand?

I was a young mom who wanted to obtain a degree to be able to support my family. I didn’t plan on being a nurse initially but recognized that the career offered stability and a decent salary. When I graduated, I started my career in the Emergency Department. It was my first glimpse into the need for mentoring and support in nursing. I learned of Ambulatory Surgery through a colleague, and became interested initially due the more reasonable schedule, which was important as a single mom. I was hired to work PACU (the recovery room), due to my critical care training. I worked hard and learned everything I could about the business, including the Operating Room, the regulations, and the leadership opportunities that the space offered. I was able to advance into leadership roles for several ASCs in Florida and the Atlanta area. I knew that my goals to support and mentor those who lead these facilities would be a great business model and jumped out of my leadership role to begin my business.

Leslie , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My company supports Ambulatory Surgery Centers. We assist in the planning and development of new centers and provide support to ASCs throughout the country and the leadership teams who manage them.

When I first went from staff nursing to nursing leadership, I recognized that the one missing piece was the lack of support from peers due to the structure of the business. When you are in patient care, there is a camaraderie. You work as a team in caring for your patients. Once you are in a leadership role, you tend to be siloed. You are the boss to the team, and you typically only have your bosses for support at a time when you need support the most.

I began my company to help remedy that. I wanted to be the mentor that I never had to those who are in similar roles.

My company is now a team of leaders like me who have grown the business successfully by offering a mentoring approach to our support, along with simple solutions to make the job easier. We offer both personalized support as well as online solutions that provide tools to support regulatory compliance needs.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I was learning to be a leader, it took time, resilience, and hard work.

That same resilience was needed when I first started my business, I continued to work part time in a leadership role three days a week, leaving two days to build and support my plan. It was not an easy path, but after about a year and a half, I had enough stability to jump off the employee path and support myself. This was necessary step to be autonomous in business and the hard work paid off.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

The two key attributes, in my opinion, are transparency and responsiveness. We pride ourselves in building trust relationships with our clients to be the support they look for to be successful in their leadership roles.

Contact Info:

• Website: almss.com
• Other: academy.almss.com ascrubslife.com