Mimi Roberson: hospital CEO began as medical-malpractice attorney.

• Author: Speier, Susanna
• Position: ATHENA AWARD WINNER

As president and CEO of Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center and Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children, Mimi Roberson oversees 1,800 employees, including 80 managers and directors.

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"There are thousands of people whose dream it is to be CEO of a hospital, and they'll spend 15 or 20 years working toward being given that chance," Roberson says.

Yet Roberson didn't start her career as one of those hopeful thousands. A practicing attorney for 11 years, she specialized in medical malpractice arbitration in Louisiana. Her involvement with the local chamber of commerce and pursuit of volunteer opportunities started her on the path to becoming a hospital CEO.

Initially a volunteer board member at Women's & Children's Hospital and Medical Center of Southwest in Lafayette, La., Roberson later was tabbed as volunteer chairwoman. And when the president and CEO position was offered to her, she accepted.

Thus Roberson says, "I entered the industry without the intent of entering it." While the opportunity may have come as a surprise, the career achievement was hardly due to chance.

"I'm a very goal-oriented person," she says, looking back on her early law career in Louisiana. As a solo practitioner and mother - she and husband Ed have four children--volunteer projects had to matter "personally and professionally," she says.

"That's a rule for any woman wishing to be involved in any industry," she says. "Everything you choose to do should matter."

Roberson, who assumed her role at Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center and Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children in 2000, attributes her career success to the trust bestowed upon her by colleagues.

"Don't undermine yourself if others recognize a skill set you yourself didn't recognize," she advises. "Accept that...