Stacey Eggleston is the Senior Vice President of Client Excellence at AccessHope, a company that provides cancer expertise to employers, health plans and their health care affiliates. In this role, she is focused on delivering revolutionary cancer benefits and the latest cancer knowledge from National Cancer Institute-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers to employees and plan members. With more than 20 years of experience in healthcare strategy, consulting and operations, Eggleston has successfully helped multiple organizations, such as Express Scripts, Korn Ferry, Tivity, and HealthNet leverage their business strategy, goals and teams.

How did you become an executive in the healthcare industry? Did you always have an interest in healthcare?

My career was founded on and continues to be built by nurturing relationships. After managing client relationships for more than 10 years in other industries, I secured my first job in healthcare at Express Scripts, a pharmacy benefit management organization, where I learned more about account relationships and how to be an advocate for both my clients and my colleagues.

During this time, I met a woman business leader who became one of my most valued mentors and invited me to join her at Tivity Health, where I became Vice President of Client Relations. Through her guidance, I developed into an executive leader and learned how to lead a team. Healthcare has certainly always been an interest, and I’ve found the greatest fulfillment working with a mission-driven organization and feeling the impact of what I’m doing in the healthcare space. This has created a monumental level of excitement in my work. Healthcare will forever be ingrained in my career.  

You’ve been with AccessHope for almost a year as SVP of Client Excellence. What tips do you have for fellow WBL members when moving to a new executive role to ensure a smooth transition?

Culture and communication are incredibly important to me in starting a new role and leading a new team. During the transition period, get to know your team, your coworkers and the company culture. Work to understand your role, identify what you’re trying to accomplish and determine how your leadership style fits in with the company. Last but not least, I always add a little fun into everything I do to ensure a healthy and collaborative space to work.

With over 25 years of experience leading successful client partnerships, what is the most important lesson you’ve learned when it comes to building lasting relationships?

In my experience, shared values—both personal and professional—are key to fostering connection and building lasting relationships. It’s also important to listen and understand the needs of your clients, which can help to promote meaningful understanding and provide greater value while building trust and confidence. And of course, you have to incorporate some fun into your work—whether that’s a social outing or just taking a few minutes at the beginning of a meeting to connect with your clients on a personal level.

​​​​​AccessHope recently announced a collaboration with Emory Healthcare – congratulations! What characteristics do you look for in a company when embarking on a new partnership?

We are very excited about all of our foundational collaborations with National Cancer Institute (NCI)-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Cancers, including with Emory Healthcare and the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University in the Southeastern U.S. These foundational collaborations are critical to our clients because of the services we provide—and particularly for their employees because our goal is to ensure they have access to leading-edge cancer expertise regardless of their geography.

When it comes to entering new strategic collaborations, you must be clear on expectations and what is feasible for both parties so that it’s a mutually beneficial relationship. Successful collaborations have honesty, authenticity and transparency, so it’s important to focus on those principles. But every partner has unique characteristics, so it’s crucial to identify those, make sure they align with your own, and optimize them to provide the most value.

Personally or professionally, what might the WBL network be surprised to know about you?

Professionally, I have a true passion to mentor, and my goal once I’m fully engrained in my role at AccessHope is to establish a more formalized mentoring program within our organization.

Personally, my husband and I have a grand retirement plan. Our future dream is to sell everything, buy a 40-foot catamaran, and live in the Caribbean and Cortez Seas. Having recently lost my father, I’m all too aware that life is short. While neither of us actually knows how to sail today, it’s fun to dream about tomorrow, and I look forward to hearing any expert sailing tips when WBL gathers in Dallas next month!