How long have you been in the industry? Short background bio
Kim Crosby – 35 years
After I graduated college with an Engineering degree in 1989, I interviewed with a lot of companies and one of them stood out, Acuson. It was the only one in healthcare and the only one that didn’t have me in a lab every day. They also had an opening in Atlanta, which is where I wanted to be, so it worked out perfectly for me.
What milestones or contributing factors helped elevate you to where you are today?
I would say a key milestone would be when I stopped getting questioning looks from doctors when I went in to an account with my toolkit. In the early days of my career, women were not engineers, for the most part, and I turned a lot of heads because this was so out of the norm for them. After I left Acuson and branched out to start my own business, I got a tremendous amount of support from my friend Stuart Latimer, who was very successful (along with his 2 partners, Alan and Bryan) in their own business servicing and selling ultrasound systems. If it weren’t for him, I would have had a lot tougher road.
What roadblocks did you have to overcome?
One roadblock was when I decided to start having children. Since, in this field, almost all service engineers were male back then, it caused a little confusion as to how things were going to be handled -i.e. time off when kids were sick because the wife usually handled that. So, I decided to retire, after 10 years, and be a stay-at-home mom. For a few years I was able to do that 90% of the time. One day a week I went into a warehouse and refurbished ultrasound machines for a salesman so that he could resell them. Once my kids started school, I was able to acquire some new accounts and started my own Ultrasound Service/Sales business. It was scary at first but with good contacts (like Stuart), perseverance, support from my spouse and a lot of prayer….I became successful. And I still own my own company 25 years after I went out on my own!
What do you feel makes a great leader in this industry?
When I think of what makes a great leader in this, or any field, I think of those who communicate well and put their customers/employees’ needs first. I was trained (by my original company, Acuson) on the Gold Standard. These principals helped shape me into the businesswoman I am today. If only those principals were taught in school…..what a wonderful world this would be.
What advice do you have for the other women in HTM?
My advice to other women out there would be to take a good look at your dreams. Identify your roadblocks. Ask yourself what is stopping you from moving forward and then tackle your roadblocks one bite at a time instead of letting them halt your progress. You will be surprised at how many opportunities fall into your path just by moving forward.
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