The Chairman’s Award 2024: Rilee Humphries
The Chairman’s Award is Tanner’s highest accolade. It is awarded to the associate who goes above and beyond to meet the needs of our team and our partners, and exemplifies our Tanner values of determined and tenacious, resourceful and creative, and responsive and caring to further enable us to pursue our mission to improve patient lives through access to medicine.
This year’s Chairman’s Award goes to Senior Business Partner, Rilee Humphries! Learn more about Rilee below.
How have you built confidence and/or resiliency over the course of your career?
Confidence is one thing, a choice to accept who I am and what I know now but strive to improve myself and learn continuously. When I choose to accept that, confidence follows. Maryori Alvarenga, Vanessa Zaconet, and Steve Scalia also largely contributed to my confidence through consistent encouragement, constructive feedback, and always having an open door.
Resiliency on the other hand, I started to build in my childhood through sports and as a young adult in college, but it was solidified here at Tanner. We are a service provider, our existence is based on there being some sort of difficulty, challenge or hurdle that we persevere through to ensure patients in need gain access to medication. It took some adjusting when I first started at Tanner, but now I would say the more complex the problem, the more excited I am to aid in finding the solution as I’m certain I’ll learn from it.
Tell us about a mentor who made an impact on you or set you on your present path.
I have been blessed with several incredible mentors who made a huge impact on me, I would be remised to only name one in that regard. However, there is one particular mentor who set me on my present path. Christy Shaffer not only helped me find two internships in college, but when it was time for me to start contemplating the first step in my career path, she opened my closed mind at the time. I was set on finding myself a sales role at a pharmaceutical manufacturing company, and if it were not for her advice and aid in exposing me to different industries and roles, I’m not certain I would have ended up here.
You were just promoted to Senior Business Partner! What do you do in your new role?
As Senior Business Partner, I support Tanner with business development efforts to create relationships with pharmaceutical manufacturers. Business management is another part of my role; developing best practices and standards, analyzing and delivering on requirements of the global access business, monitoring process and business metrics to measure our customer and team member experience. Financial analysis and long-term financial planning will also fall under my umbrella.
What does winning The Chairman’s Award mean to you?
The Chairman’s Award is a massive honor and one I am incredibly thankful to have received. When I start my days, I’m not worried about being recognized for the work I do, I worry about how I can make my teammates lives easier so they can focus on getting medicines to patients in need. I am very fortunate to work for a company like Tanner where core values are not just words on a wall, but true characteristics of our team that we celebrate every time we get the opportunity.
Reflecting on your experiences, what advice would you give to others who are looking to contribute positively to their team?
Whatever you have, bring it to the table. Whatever you don’t have, collaborate to gain knowledge from your peers and build relationships. Many of us lack the courage to speak up when we have ideas or questions out of fear. Sometimes it’s the fear we don’t know enough or that our idea might get shot down, but don’t worry about that. Train yourself to be more afraid of not using your voice when you have the opportunity to, as you never know where it might lead you.
