You Have to Fail to Succeed (ft. Jennifer Miles-Thomas)

**Jennifer Miles-Thomas** (0:00)
If this is real and you are giving me protective time to actually look into how we can change health care, we will make mistakes. Everyone's building it as the bus is moving.

**Ed Marx** (0:09)
And what about that decision point for health care? Was there another catalyst that sort of led you to that path?

**Jennifer Miles-Thomas** (0:15)
As a black female urologist, I have certain patients who aren't black females that reach out to see me, because they say, I think you probably went through and had to study harder than others. When you see opportunities to allow those who don't look like you to also experience and promote them, I've found in business the best oar room is the most diverse.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:40)
Welcome to DGTL Voices, where health care and life science leaders explore the real work behind transformation. This podcast is about people, leadership, and the conversations that move health care forward. Now your host, Ed Marx.

**Ed Marx** (0:56)
Welcome to another edition of DGTL Voices. So glad that you're here with us. I know you have a lot of different choices, but you're here and we're going to make it worth your while because I have the amazing Dr. Jennifer Miles-Thomas. Jennifer, welcome to DGTL Voices.

**Jennifer Miles-Thomas** (1:08)
Thank you for having me.

**Ed Marx** (1:10)
I'm so excited to have you because you're a great leader, you're a great person, you have so much insight and I know everyone is going to love hearing what you have to say.
We first met maybe a year ago or so and we were at the Innovation Center at Northwestern, and it was just an amazing experience and we got to meet you. That was maybe the best part of the whole thing. So I was like, man, I just loved everything that I was hearing from you and learning from you. I was like, I have to have you at some day, at some point on the podcast. But Jennifer, the most important question we ask is the very first one, and that is, what songs are on your playlist?

**Jennifer Miles-Thomas** (1:48)
I'm a bit of a diverse listener. I'm really into Teddy Swims right now, so lose control. There's something about just the tone of his voice, the beat. It's almost like country touring R&B put together.
One of my favorite songs is the best part from her and Daniel Caesar. There's something just about the love and the connection in that song.
When I'm commuting, I love to hear John Vatisse and Fur Elise, and it's just more like a jazzier version of it. The one song that I do historically just love, Wonderful World. It's a Wonderful World. So Louis Armstrong and just like that raspy kind of, yeah. Then the surprising one is, I love Cardi B, so Bodak Yellow.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:43)
It's like anthem, but that's not very professional, but that's the real deal.

**Ed Marx** (2:49)
Yeah, I love it all. We do have a Spotify playlist called DGTL Voices, and so we will add some of the new ones there, including the great Satchmo.
We'll add him to there as well. That's cool. What about life messages or mantras or quotes? Are there words that guide how you live and operate?

**Jennifer Miles-Thomas** (3:08)
Over the years, and especially in leadership, I tried to look back at myself a little bit more objectively and where I've failed or not done as good of a job, and I think it was Maya Angelou actually said it, but Oprah repeated it later and said, when people tell you who they are, believe them.
I have that underlying desire to make people who I would like them to be, i.e., I don't know, ethical, on time, all those positive attributes that we want to put on those people. I mean, sometimes I was burned and I was realizing it's not a them problem, it was a my problem where I assumed they were someone that they weren't. So that's my mantra now is when people tell you who they are, believe them.

**Ed Marx** (3:55)
Yeah, that's Sage. I like that a lot. We're also trying to put together a playlist of everyone's mantras or quotes.
So it's something we need to work on, but I think it would be a fabulous collection, just how to live life. So tell us more about you. We really didn't go into it in the beginning. I just said, hey, we met each other and you're amazing. Tell us who you are. Like even like where were you born?

**Jennifer Miles-Thomas** (4:16)
Yeah, so I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. So I was born and raised until about eighth grade as a midwesterner. My mother was a PhD psychologist, and my dad is an engineer with an MBA who worked in nuclear power plants and quality assurance. So I was raised in that balance of science, technology, safety, but understanding who people are and figuring out how to communicate.