Premise Health COO Beth Ratliff Reflects on Career, Lived Healthcare Experience, and Leadership Style on Inspiring Women Podcast

On the latest episode of Inspiring Women, podcast host and Transcarent Chief Commercial Officer Laurie McGraw interviewed Premise Health’s Chief Operating Officer Beth Ratliff, diving into Beth’s career and life experiences that helped shape her journey from physical therapist to c-suite executive.  

Starting out, Beth felt that the biggest keys to her success were confidence, preparation, and communication:  

“I think even early in my career, long before I moved to Nashville, I was often the youngest and the only woman in the room,” Beth said. “And so I’d be sitting with executives at large manufacturing sites or Fortune 500 companies and I had to learn fast. Just like you build trust with a patient, you have to build trust in that leadership role.” 

For aspiring leaders, but especially women, Beth advised that they learn how to read the room and earn their seat. Despite feeling underestimated, Beth saw that it was essential for her to offer a strong point of view, or an opinion that was valuable in each conversation: 

“When it comes down to it, I have to offer value. And when they see me as adding that, as being competent, really, it doesn’t matter whether I’m a woman or not. It matters whether I’m contributing to what they are trying to achieve and that’s when you start making a career.” 

When asked about her pivot toward leadership roles, Beth recounted an early realization that while she wasn’t the most gifted clinician in the room admittedly, she did have a knack for figuring out how things tick. She had a curious mind and decided that her focus would be better utilized by fixing the systems that enabled those “gifted therapists” to provide better patient care. 

Laurie and Beth then delved further into her career and life lessons learned along the way, including teachings on process and workflow after working with Fortune 500 companies, her personal journey in surviving colon cancer and living in recovery for 30 years, and how she uses AI to grow personally and professionally.    

Find the full conversation on the Inspiring Women website, YouTube, or your preferred podcast platform.