Welcome to Inspiring Women. And I'm so glad that you are joining us today. I have a really special guest. You know, sometimes I guess it's. I'm meeting from them for the first time when I'm interviewing them and we find people to interview and. But this is someone who I really know. And we, we have had a great journey together the last three to four years, and we've been doing about women who scale up, women who go from, you know, the very bottom to the top and how did they do it and how. What were the drivers and all the things of how do you in today's world as a woman? And this is a person who has scaled, navigated, gone up the hill, slid back down the hill, stayed on top of the hill, fought for the table that she sits at.

And so I think you're really, really going to enjoy her. She's a very passionate person with what she does. We take. She, her agency takes care of people with disabilities. These are people who need care 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the rest of their lives, every. And they count on providers like hers that get out there and take care of people. It's all about the human contact and quality of life. And she's very passionate about it, and you'll hear that in her today.

So I have with me today Michelle Madden. She is the CEO of Epic. Thank you. Epic. She does epic things and she's going to talk about that today. And that agency takes care of a lot of people and they do it so well. They make it look so easy. And she's surrounded through a pandemic and all the things that go on and everything that you're constantly in a fight for.

So not. It's not only just I'm at the table and I'm eating, I am fighting every day for people with disabilities. And these are people. And so she just has all of that mix I think you're going to really enjoy here today. So welcome, Michelle. So glad that you are giving us your time today to talk about your story, your journey, your scaling. So first, what I would like to do is just, you know, kind of talk about. I'm Michelle.

You know, I always go around going, I'm Betty Collins, the Betty Collins. And just tell us a little bit about you, your kids. You have, you have a great family and all that. So give us a little insight on you.

So, Betty, thank you for having me today. I'm extremely humble and grateful for this opportunity. I really am. You know, I'm a little shy at times. So no, she's not shy ever.

Okay.

You know, as we've discussed before, I'll give you a little backstory about where I came from and how, where I am now. I am, you know, very blessed and grateful to be the CEO of Epic. But prior to that, you know, I come from very humble beginnings. I am a product of welfare, survived abuse and neglect as well as homeless at 17, sleeping on a park bench, you know, and then being taken in and couch hopping for a couple year, about a year and a half, you know, so. And then becoming a young mother and wife, blessed with two amazing children. I have a 32 year old daughter who's an attorney and a 27 year old son and daughter in law who are both teachers. My son is a special ed teacher and also, you know me for a year and so I have two grandpops, no grandchildren yet. So, you know, I, I have just always wanted better and I, starting from those, you know, beginnings to now, it really, I didn't realize it until you reflect back on your life where, where.

Right.

So yeah, I'm happy to tell the story.

Well, I'm always inspired to hear everybody has a story. Okay. It may not be as dramatic as somebody else's, but it's their life and it's their journey and you never underestimate that because what you're, what you've gone through and how you've done things. We'll talk to somebody like people can make it. People can do this. You know, women can do this. So we're going to get into some things with Michelle. At Epic.

You've built a reputation for champion innovation and empowering teams. For sure. I see it when we work together. You often talk about creating a seat at the conference room table and ultimately becoming the CEO. Can you give us back to that moment when you realized how important that message was both for your own career and for inspiring other women?