This Women’s History Month, we’re taking a moment to highlight women leaders who demonstrate excellence in direct care as well as share some insight into the experiences of a couple women leaders at Hint. Women are integral to healthcare delivery and are leading examples of how direct care can transform families and communities for the better. There are numerous women doctors in the Hint community and many who have opened their own direct primary care practices such as Dr. Danielle Miller of Luz Medicine and Dr. Kristen Dall-Winther of Birchwood Family Medicine.

Dr. Danielle Miller was intentional about the name of her practice, calling it “Luz” which means light in Spanish and Portuguese. Dr. Miller acknowledges that she has learned from every one of her patients and she wanted to create a space where patients are empowered and have the guidance to understand their health. Luz Medicine has a mantra of being students and teachers of and for their patients.

“We recognize the inherent strength of each person - empowering individuals to understand their health, listening to them as experts on their own bodies, and equipping them to make informed, wise decisions. Life and growth spur from our approach; and we nurture one another and our community in so doing.” - Dr. Danielle Miller, Luz Medicine

Dr. Miller takes health and wellbeing beyond the walls of her practice and collaborates with other health practitioners in her area of Lancaster, PA hosting events on wellness that are open to the public.

Dr. Kristen Dall-Winther found her passion for family medicine and helping patients by building open, trusting relationships with them in medical school at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. It was her residency in the small rural town of Belleville, Wisconsin where “she fell in love with small-town medicine.” This opportunity led her to have a more holistic training since advanced diagnostics and consultants were not readily available. After residency, Dr. Dall-Winther began practicing medicine at the Mayo Clinic where she had a rich experience for 10 years. 

Dr. Dall-Winther got a wakeup call when she was diagnosed with advanced sarcoidosis and suddenly lost her father three months later to lung cancer. She discovered that she was not living up to the balance of wellness that she was advising her patients of. She also learned that she was only spending about a third of her time with patients so she decided to return to small town medicine, opening Birchwood Family Medicine utilizing the direct care model in Northwest Wisconsin. Birchwood Family Medicine’s mission is “to make careful, kind, evidence-based, affordable, whole-person medical care accessible to everyone in Northwest Wisconsin.”

Women Leading at Hint

Hint is committed to transforming healthcare by bringing back the doctor and patient relationship, empowering providers and patients to achieve optimal outcomes in health, wellness and prosperity and this cannot be done without championing women who usually make the healthcare decisions in the family. Aimee Leidich, Director of Business Operations and Alexa Schulte, Head of Product here at Hint are some of the many women leaders at Hint and they’ve shared their experiences of working at Hint to help make direct care the norm. 

Aimee Leidich:

I have never worked in an environment with so many curious and motivated people as there are at Hint. This brilliance all in one place makes for positive, forward momentum professionally but I’ve come to see how it also makes space for a more fulfilling and expansive personal life. 

My work here has been a stable, guiding light through a global pandemic and the birth of my daughter in July 2020, making me feel productive and valued when everything else felt very uncertain. I feel very grateful to be able to go to work everyday and support an industry of heroes who are still, years later, battling COVID-19 to keep the rest of us healthy and safe. 

Alexa Schulte:

I feel privileged to work at a technology company that is over 50% women, including over 50% of our leadership team. Inclusivity and equity are at the core of the culture Hint has built and continues to foster. The last two years of varying lockdowns and restrictions would have been an easy time for the company culture to fracture. At Hint, the leadership team has continued to make space for the reality that each and every employee is now living at work. Whether this means you need to step away unexpectedly because a caregiver fell through, or it means your dog is howling on the couch for half of a meeting - we all stay focused on moving the ball forward for direct care.