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As a new Mayo Clinic employee, I had a particular notion of what it meant to become a part of the clinic even before I started. During the orientation process, various people shared anecdotes relating the strong heritage and culture of Mayo Clinic. Each story spoke to why Mayo Clinic is one of the most well-known brands in the world. But I never truly understood the dedication and pride of working at Mayo Clinic until I participated in an event.
I hadn’t even been on the job a week when Jim Frye, a member of Mayo Clinic’s Systems and Procedures team in Florida decided he was going to walk 17 miles to work to promote heart health. Specifically, he wanted to bring awareness to Mayo Clinic’s sponsorship of the American Heart Association’s 2010 Start! Heart Walk, a 5K walk planned for Sept. 25.
Frye, a tri-athlete, decided he would challenge not only his fellow Mayo employees to get involved, but the City of Jacksonville as well. Who couldn’t walk three miles if he could do this?
His upcoming trek sent the hallways into a firestorm during the days leading up to the event. Employees would whisper to their peers and mention it in passing between meetings. They were anxiously awaiting his journey similar to the way a NFL team anticipates the Super Bowl.
I had the pleasure of meeting Frye on several occasions during my first week. From our first introduction to subsequent conversations, he made me feel welcome and an integral part of the Mayo family. Whenever someone asked about his planned journey, he would exude genuine warmth and beam with pride. It was obvious through each conversation that this walk symbolized Frye’s dedication to the purpose of the American Heart Association and pride in representing Mayo Clinic.
But I was still surprised by what I felt when I watched Frye make his way down San Pablo Road – the four-lane boulevard leading to the Florida campus. As he rounded the last curve toward the clinic entrance, wearing a bright-red Team Mayo Clinic T-shirt, I felt a sense of pride I have never experienced. I realized for the first time that not only was I a part of an organization but a brand where employees truly put the mission and core principles into practice.
I signed up to participate in the American Heart Association’s Start! Heart Walk the same afternoon and am looking forward to participating as an employee of Mayo Clinic, a purveyor of pride, in an organization that lives its mission as a great institution in everything it does.
This story was submitted by new Public Affairs communications consultant, Lauren Venoy, at Mayo Clinic in Florida.
