My guest today is someone very special, she came from a single parent household and is one of 14 children. She is a member of the Choctaw Nation. In her life so far she has done some pretty incredible things. At 18 she enlisted in the Navy and served a term of service as an electrician being stationed in SIMA, Pearl Harbor. Years later as a single mother of two kids she started her healthcare career at the age of 28 becoming a Certified Nurse Assistant in a nursing home. From there she went on to graduate with her nursing degree in 2001. After which she got her BSN in 2003. She took it a step further and progressed to an even smaller group of people becoming a (CRNA) Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist in 2008 (Today it's Certified Registered Nurse Anesthesiologist). These advanced practice registered nurses specialize in the administration of anesthesia. The percentage of Native Americans in that group is less than 1%, and as a female it's even smaller. Though she didn't stop there and in 2017-2019 she became a CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Fort Belknap Service Unit, Indian Health Service (IHS) in Harlem, Montana. Also in 2018 she got her MBA. She has been in healthcare for 22 years, and is a retired Commander of the United States Public Health Service. This woman has inspired me and I've known her my whole life. She is my mother and she is my first interview. I hope y'all enjoy this interview with my mother Jacquelyn James.