She missed the scholarship deadline for her MBA. She asked anyway. She got it. She was the only woman in her group project cohort, a single mom with a one-year-old, living paycheck to paycheck. She told her group on day one exactly what she could do and when she was leaving. They respected it. On a business trip with a relatively new manager, she admitted mid-conversation that she wanted to move into a strategy role that didn't even exist yet. That manager became her greatest champion. That pivot launched the career that led her to become Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at Lee Health.

Lisa Martinez has spent her career figuring out what fearless authenticity actually looks like in practice: not as a concept, but as a set of specific choices made in specific moments of risk. In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, she walks through the mindset shifts and early career moves that built her foundation.

You'll learn:

The exact moment Lisa realized intimidation was her own internal problem, not something others were doing to her and how that realization changed every difficult room she walked into after
Why the post-it on her monitor reads "no one wants to feel insignificant, incompetent, or unlikable", and how she uses it to decode defensiveness in herself and others
The MBA-as-single-mom stories: how she advocated for a scholarship she'd missed the deadline for, set hard boundaries with her group project team from day one, and created an independent study that wasn't in the curriculum
How a candid conversation on a business trip, admitting she wanted a completely different role, launched her entire strategy career, and what she learned about speaking up to managers about your real aspirations
Why her first attempt at people management felt completely wrong, and the leadership philosophy she arrived at: "developing leaders, not amassing followers"
How conflict made two of her most important professional relationships stronger, not weaker

About Lisa Martinez: Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at Lee Health, Lisa leads strategic planning, innovation, and organizational transformation across one of Florida's largest health systems. She is a passionate advocate for women in leadership and women of color in senior roles.

Connect with Lisa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-martinez-csio