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Plenty of kids will tell you they want to grow up to work in healthcare — but as ������ý alumni Jodi Waller and Kevin Wyne demonstrate, it takes real dedication to turn that childhood dream into a lifelong passion.

Jodi Waller is one of those nurses who always knew she wanted to work in healthcare. She dreamed of becoming a doctor and enrolled in pre-med her freshman year of college at a state university. But Waller pivoted when her mother — herself a nurse — pointed out the greater degree of flexibility in nursing.

It was flexibility Waller was quick to capitalize on, graduating with her bachelor’s degree at 22 and beginning a meaningful career as an emergency department nurse, as well as starting a family with her husband, Curtis.

After 19 years in the field, Waller acknowledged that nursing was calling her back into the classroom. She attended conferences, pursued certifications and tried to “cultivate that endless knowledge” available in the nursing field, but all of that could only take her so far. Once her kids were in school full time, she felt like she was “out of excuses” not to take the next step — especially since her employer, HonorHealth, provided tuition assistance that kept her out-of-pocket expenses to a minimum.

Waller considered multiple paths, including becoming a nurse practitioner or a physician assistant, but her years of experience pulled her toward nurse education. “I’ve always been really interested in … being able to take your experience [and] create good working environments [and] positive work cultures,” she says.

Moreover, nursing education built on the flexibility that Waller already valued in her career. Pursuing her master’s degree in that area, she says, prepared her for additional professional development, a role someday in academia, or the path that Waller finds herself in — working as a bedside nurse while providing training to other nurses.

“I can still be in the trenches,” says Waller, “while helping my peers and community.”

One such community member is Kevin Wyne, a fellow Phoenix whose career took him in a very different direction: marketing strategy.

Wyne has always been interested in healthcare, going so far as to work as a technician and scribe in an emergency room, but he found his skill set pulling him elsewhere. After starting a family and building a decade-long career in marketing and finance, Wyne found himself working as a sales representative for a service that helps patients find and book doctor appointments — a different perspective on the healthcare industry that reopened Wyne’s dormant passion.

“Looking at healthcare operationally, I saw how I could help alleviate staff’s responsibilities and make patients’ lives easier,” says Wyne, “and I couldn’t help but think if I could have more of an impact on the industry by working on the provider side.”

The experience moved Wyne to cold call a hiring manager at the HonorHealth hospital where Wyne’s children were born. “I showed both my experience in marketing content development and collaborating with physicians, emphasizing multiple perspectives,” says Wyne. The bold move paid off. Wyne was hired in the marketing department, turning his dream of working in healthcare into a reality.

He wasn’t done. While another degree wasn’t necessary, Wyne found that after two years in his role, he wanted to take his knowledge to the next level. “Cross-functional collaboration works a lot better when the person in marketing can really communicate with supply chain team or the operations team or the onboarding team, medical staff services, physicians — all these folks who make healthcare possible,” says Wyne. “Pursuing another degree not only gave me more credibility but also allowed me to more effectively do my job by having that broader point of view.”

Like Waller, Wyne took advantage of his employer’s tuition assistance to enroll at ������ý, where he completed his Master of Health Administration in 2025. A career enhancement followed, elevating Wyne to the role of marketing strategy manager. Now, says Wyne, he’s proud of how he contributes to the healthcare industry, driving growth and ensuring more of his neighbors and community members are able to find and get the care they need. “I still run into physicians I saw years ago when I was a tech,” says Wyne, “and I’m proud to be serving alongside them in my own way.”

Both Waller and Wyne express surprise at just how relevant their coursework was to their day-to-day responsibilities. “The first class I took was about systems thinking in a healthcare environment,” says Wyne, “and I thought, ‘This is what I want to do.’ So, from day one, I was able to shift my way of thinking as a healthcare marketer to a well-rounded healthcare executive, even though I wasn’t at the executive level. I was able to start thinking and leading in that way for the role I’m aspiring to.”

Now, says Wyne, he’s able to push forward new initiatives and projects that he couldn’t have done before he developed his experience into knowledge and practice.

Waller, meanwhile, accepted the role of trauma outreach and injury prevention coordinator when it became available, which allowed her to continue practicing as a nurse while also educating community members on emergency aid and prevention.

“It was a total surprise,” says Waller, who was glad for the opportunity to start putting her skills to use. “I develop evidence-based programs where I’m going out and teaching people. It incorporates health literacy, social determinants of health — everything that I did in my classes with ������ý just [prepared] me [for] this role.”

Wyne also remarks on the way his education has influenced his personal life, in particular coaching his children in youth sports: “It’s a slightly different approach from when I’m trying to get a business case approved,” he says, “but the same foundations apply, like being clear and empathetic to different perspectives.”

Moreover, says Wyne, earning his master’s degree instilled in him a sense of accomplishment. “Maybe my first career course didn’t go according to plan, but I was able to reroute and find a place in an industry that I was passionate about,” he says.

It’s pride that Waller can relate to, and one she’s nudged others to develop. She’s shared her experience at ������ý with three of her colleagues, she says. And more education might be in her own future.

“There are so many possibilities in this industry,” she adds.