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[00:00:00] Today on Town Hall

(INTRO) But don't get discouraged when you don't get enough of the budget, some of the best tool there is. Use what you have. You can still with the right mindset, right spirit, right attitude, right commitment and writing. You can still do amazing things.

My name is Bill Russell. I'm a former CIO for a 16 hospital system and creator of This Week Health.

Where we are dedicated to transforming healthcare, one connection at a time. Our town hall show is designed to bring insights from practitioners and leaders. on the front lines of healthcare. .

Alright, let's jump right into today's episode.

My name is Carla Arzola and I am a healthcare executive and welcome with one more episode to this week's health.

Julia, right now, why don't you do a little [00:01:00] introduction?

Okay, so in a nutshell, healthcare technologist. I have been doing technology in the healthcare space for 28 years, probably even more.

So during this time, I feel it's extremely important to understand the whole landscape of technology changed significantly in the recent years, and I'm extremely excited of What technology can bring what difference we can make in the future of health care business. So I have been served in numerous organizations to do a transformation being CIO.

Now the CTO. I feel extremely fortunate and grateful to have the opportunity have the time. And effort and to build a difference and, to make some impact in the future with technology in healthcare space.

Thank you for the introduction. And but this time we're not here to talk about the wonderful things that you've done on the technology side.

You and I actually met during a conference a couple months [00:02:00] ago, and you just come out of nowhere told me. A super exciting and amazing accomplishment , that happened a couple of years ago. And I was just extremely impressed. And I was like, and you told me why.

And so those are the things that we're going to talk about. So you went to an expedition to Mount Everest. And not only did you go to the expedition, but you summit. Mont Everest two years ago, and just for all of the, everybody knows Mont Everest, but I was just doing some research, Julia, only about 7, 100 people have summited Everest in the last 75 years, only 800 women have done it and you're one of them, and that is just, Thank you.

Unbelievable. is one of the biggest accomplishment and enhance the background by the way. Is that you in the background?

Yes, that is me in the background on the way to camp for.

Okay, let's talk about let's get started. So what inspire you or prompted you to say I'm going to do [00:03:00] this.

Obviously, this is not something that you just one day and you wake up like I'm going to go into Mount Everest like it's Tell us about it. Is that something that you've been thinking about? How did that happen?

Yes, I think the journey to Everest, almost same as a lot of things that in your life even.

In our technology space is a set of goal and then have a strategy mapped out with milestones to really focus on the preparation. So I feel, I was an athelete before I grew up in I would say East part of China and, by the ocean. So when I grew up. Connect with nature is my thing. So really like to be outdoors, activities and everything.

And, that's my happy place. So I'll carry out through my young adults years. I try a lot of activities running anything can get me outside and make me happy. So I feel this is just follow your passion. And I truly really just like to, connect with people and go out to have fun.

And I become [00:04:00] an engineering student in one of the best university in China. And we have very few women in that. engineering school. So I've been recruited basically in every team. So baseball, soccer, track and field, you name them. So I was, part of it. So basically create a foundation of being an athlete from young age.

So I always trying to find challenges coming to us, I think start climbing is by accident. So it's little life event changes in my life. So I feel maybe I should pick up some new hobby. And people suggest me to try. There's quite a few local mountain at a time in California, go try one of the mountain.

I at that time I'm in pretty good shape. 10, 000 feet of local mountain. I really kick my butt and I feel wow, this altitude thing is actually a big challenge without even noticing it. So I get to the mountaintop and [00:05:00] it was when the sun comes out and the view, those perspectives and everything else, and plus some of the adrenaline coming from the struggling.

And I just feel like this is my thing. I really have the connection off. Not just the nature, but also feeling the, mental reset, the cleansing of the soul and also the spiritual level. And I feel this is something that I truly needed in my life at that moment. So I feel, later on, just get higher, more technical, for anything, everything, once you set up.

A passion. You find your passion. You want to be better. You want to do bigger. And that's how I really ends up being a rock climber, ice climber, and then start tackle Himalayas. I'll try basically climb everywhere in the Andes. So in the Himalaya, this is Everest. It's not my first 8, 000 meter. I climbed Monastiru first to see how my body is going to react in 8, 000 meter, which is called the death zone because a [00:06:00] lot of your body parts if you stay a long time in the death zone.

It cannot be recovered ever again. So I need to calculate the risk whether my body can adapt to that height and as well as not to mention too much of a life threatening occasions or situations. I'm going to deal with it after successful summit in Monastro. I feel I'm ready for next challenge.

I was born in China and I feel I should really climb Everest from the Chinese side, which is from north. We call Everest Jumu Lama means the mother of highest peak, the mother of the earth. So the Doolama is my dream. When I was a little girl, always really get inspired by the team who summited first American Jim Whittaker summit at 1963, not to mention Tenzing and at the time, this whole legacy around Doolama, which is Mount Everest, [00:07:00] really inspired me.

So I feel this is the time. And COVID hit. The mountain closed Nepal closed, China the side is closed as well. But I don't want to stop training. So I, train myself a little over a year in my garage every single day. I build my own workout, got all the things from Home Depot and also build a pull up board in my garage.

So I try upper body lower body carry about 50 backpack on my self build stepper. So inside my garage, I pull a pretty rigorous training plan to be ready for Everest. And finally time comes and I was actually very fortunate to get. elected as leader of the expedition. International team formed, and there goes my start of the journey.

That's super amazing. And then, so that was the beginning of the journey, because when we talk about , climbing Everest, we know that I don't know if [00:08:00] people know that it's like a long journey. It's not like you get there and you climb, you spend over 30 days in the mountain.

Correct.

And some of the process is Is climbing up to camp, going back up.

And so it's not a straight path. You have to spend time in camp. So want to learn about that, but I also want to learn what happens when you get to base camp and you see this majestic mountain that you're about to conquer because it's, I'm assuming it is very intimidating. I'm here in Colorado.

We talk about this. do 14, 000 feet and it's a lot. tried and I went to Peru once and I did a 16, 600 feet mountain and it was extremely challenging and base camp. It's 17, 000 feet. The summit is like almost 30,000 feet. So I cannot even imagine the amount of strength and it's very mental number one.

Correct.

The, but the body [00:09:00] also, it is not human to be at that altitude. So what happens when you get there and then what happened? And then tell us about that 30 day journey.

Okay. Yes. It's a long period of time. So the whole expedition normally is six weeks or four weeks is already a little stretch.

Six weeks trying to accommodate. So I think basically man versus altitude is. Ultimately, it's a game for big mountaineering, big mountain mountaineering. It's extremely important to let your body adjust to the height. At the same time, understand that, your body changes at higher attitude, everything changes at higher attitude.

One interesting fact is, my, Finger swollen, face swollen, and my iPhone doesn't recognize me anymore. So the finger we use, biometrics to open iPhone, it does not open anymore. It doesn't show my id, my face [00:10:00] recognition. My iPhone doesn't recognize me anymore, so I cannot use my facial recognition to, to open the iPhone.

So a lot of things are changing, parts that you don't know. It's going to hurt and start hurting. So these are the things that you need to take it easy, take it slow. So that comes with a lot of things that we set big goals, even in organization, in enterprise and technology give us time, give some time to yourself be patient.

So a lot of things happen along the way too, for a lot of people, track to everest base camp is there. Check a box in their bucket list for us. It just started off the game. So along the way to everest base camp, we also climb, one peak to just acclimatise

every step away is not easy, but I feel it's extremely important to keep high spirit and a good attitude because that. I was saying at least 90 percent of the game that you need high spirit. [00:11:00] You need to pay attention to nutrition. You need to pay attention to the team around you.

You need to keep a high spirit alongside with a team and cheer everybody up and just really celebrate each every day you pull this off. And I think that attitude and that yeah. Enjoy the process. Enjoy the journey type of spirit is extremely important. Yeah, it is not easy. A lot of times people get sick left and right.

I almost doesn't know anybody who did not get sick in base camp. Everybody get this cold blue cough. The reason we have cold blue cough is because the area is so dry, every moist, it will turn, ice. So basically those things come into your lung, make it so dry and so itchy.

And I would say Very uncomfortable. Everybody had this cool blue cough. And at the end of the journey, a lot of people lost their voice because they cough too much. When there's altitude, you lost your appetite, the higher you go, you cannot sleep.

You have a huge [00:12:00] headache. And sometimes, of course, not mentioned that the lack of oxygen, make you feel like really winded at all time. I even put on a shoe. It takes a long time. At camp four, sometimes the time of doing things put on a shoe, maybe sometime take about 10 minutes, , five minutes.

So it takes a long time to do everything. because your mind also becomes slower. All these changes. I think the attitude of embracing this process, embracing this changes, deal with the uncertainty, all these positive energy can make a tremendous difference.

So

you are out there going through all these challenges, mental, physical. Is there a point in time that you were like, I don't know if I can do this.

Yes. This is very interesting perspective. So I encounter a few things. First thing is I got really sick and airlifted to [00:13:00] Kathmandu.

So I got an infection. Respiratory infection and it's pretty severe. I cannot breathe. Went to the base camp doctor and they suggest, we have to put some antibiotics hopefully with I. V. So I airlifted to Camden do few days in the hospital, basically, but hospital get this treatment.

And I was told I probably 60 to 70%. Recover, and I was told Dr Sam, maybe it's better just to go home. And I feel like I think I still can do it. Back off my mind. I said let's give it a try. Still give it a try. So I airlifted back just one day. late for the new really good weather window.

So in Everest, the whole summit there is just a couple of days for good weather. So I saw everybody's summit photos and everything. So I was, very frustrated, and I said, I should have done this not being sick, but this is not the time to beat myself up.

I am going to do it and I will do it. And the attitude of [00:14:00] positive and, really matters at this time. So I need to focus on the positivity and focus on the positive outcome. And I still believe in myself and I can do this. Getting sick and then still carry this journey. And all the way along the way,

I did a lot of self talk whenever there is a self doubt surface. I will do a little self talk. got this. I think everything looks just fine. I know things are not perfect, but things will get better. And tomorrow is another new day. I will deal the difficulty when it comes.

I did a lot of these self talks along the way. There's another big setback in camp four a while. I was, still not 100 percent recover. Our tank got and our oxygen got missing. I don't want to use the word stolen but missing. At that time, I feel, really frustrated and also feel a little bit of I would say, can I really [00:15:00] do this, the doubt, not just my physical condition, but also the natural condition and everything, anything that we do that rely on this oxygen.

And now it's all gone. At that time, my Sherpa told me this is mountains. I remember exactly what he said. He said, Julia, ma'am, this is mountain and we will make it work. And I cannot believe this young Sherpa has this spirit of resiliency and pulling things off. And this is the attitude all these Sherpas on the mountain have in general.

And they are just very not just spiritual, but also very calm. Facing these tremendous challenges, sometimes it's life and death challenges, and their calmness and their spirit is very Transformational now think about it is actually in some ways change my life of doing things afterwards.

And we asked the base camp and we basically find a support team and support [00:16:00] network and we find here and there put a couple of oxygen cans come together and that's how people deal with uncertainties and especially at a time when everything seems impossible. You're still trying to figure out a way to be creative, to never give up.

So these are the spirit. That I learned from camp four and leads to a success summit and coming back and I feel like this story people need to hear how to be resilient, even at extreme conditions is extremely important for us for technologist to put some impossible mission. And to make it possible.

It's about believing, right? You do really believe in yourself. I really believe that you could make it. All the preparation that you went through all the not just physical, but mental all the time that you put into this.

You're like, I really have to do this. But then you have you really have some major setbacks talking about being in the hospital for a few days and then. The oxygen tank was there a point in [00:17:00] time when you were climbing to the top? Because you said, by the way, it's all very climb dependent.

And it could be that , you're on your way back. And you're like, you know what, we have to come back because, there's a storm coming and but he didn't, right? It did. And you guys were able to find the perfect day. There's Probably not a perfect day, but was there a point in time when you were going to the top in which you felt your life was in danger.

You're like, I may not come back.

Yes. So when we describe a perfect day, Carla, that day is supposedly a good weather window. But still not quite good. So I still have 40 mile per hour wind. It's a white out situation. And people turn around, so we see the picture of the long line to the summit doesn't exist on my summit day.

I probably less than a dozen people summited that time alongside with us. My Sherpa plays the 1st again on the top. I'm the 2nd. During the whole [00:18:00] time, we are just feel extremely cold. I feel extremely cold. My Sherpa just went to K2, summit K2 a couple times. So I feel, he's tolerant of risk.

It's much higher. So I still feel, along the way, I feel, can I really do it? Is it really risky? I always have that in mind. I have to make back alive because, families, loved ones, and not to mention, I can do so many more things, if I coming back and I have to come back.

It's mandatory. Go to top is option. So with that mindset, I prepare to turn around any point if I feel there is my calculator risk is really above my risk tolerance. So I did not however, I get really close and the wind is just so fierce that it blows through all my layers and I actually can feel the chill in my bone.

I don't know if anybody can describe that It's really hard to use the words, [00:19:00] but my bones feel the chill and we keep pushing, the terrain is pretty demanding as well very steep. Although we have rope, the gear that you wear pretty clumsy and not to mention your summit mitten is very.

And you have to be really maneuver with very flexibility and the rope is very thin to you know how you're going to grab them not to slim not to make mistakes at a time your mindset is not quite there because of altitude. So those are all the combination of the, potential risk as well so that's why a lot of accidents happen.

feeling of my life in danger. really not knock me until we are almost close to the top. It's extremely cold too. I pass a few dead bodies and those times really remind me that this is real. The life and the death, the situation of any mistake that you made. You feel tired. You sit down, just want to take a break.

Maybe you fall in [00:20:00] sleep, but you never wake up. So these are really, happening. And I was told over 300 bodies still on Everest. So these are the things are exist and they're real. But. Just at that time, I was really, self contemplating and see how I can pull this off. And I go over this Hillary step while there's a rock.

Hillary step used to be ice and snow, but recently they have rockfall. So it's pure rock, slippery and very steep. So at that time I have to, go over another body. The sun comes out. And I can see this person very clearly sitting down there, motionless. I have all the gear on him seemingly fell in sleep and never wake up.

I have to tell myself passing him, and I can do this. I don't need to think anything else. All the things I need to think is I can do this and I will survive and I will be home alive. A lot of [00:21:00] my is going through. That is about. Three to 500 meter below summit and the summit. It's just still, you turn it along, take forever to get there.

Even you can see it but ultimately we get on there, it's a blue sky. People said, Wow, what a nice weather. The reason it's nice weather is all the cloud is below. And the wind cannot be pictured. The jet stream is blowing us, and it's loud and it's intense. But I I'm very glad I made it.

What was going through your head when you were up there? What were your emotions? You're just telling me, I'm just feeling so, it gives me anxiety, gives me all this emotion, just thinking of the things that you went through. So you're up there, you get to someone and what is going through your head?

First of all, I feel emotionally overwhelmed because I look over the north side the Tibetan plateau, although I cannot see much of anything, but I understand it's [00:22:00] over there where I come from where I really want to go through north side. And those are the area that, have hidden so many potentials and also so many legends has been going through that journey and trying to make it.

And also on top of the errors, much of. Anything else? I think a lot of things happen. A lot of thought process happened after I come back because, first of all, the jet stream is overwhelming. Second of all, I was extremely cold. And third of all, I feel it's extremely important to understand 90 percent of the fatality happens going down.

So I know that although this summit is, really nice to view the good. Spectrum that reviewed the good spirit and my emotion is overwhelmed because I made it. And, here is too bad. I'm so close, but ultimately, I think this overwhelming sense of responsibility of making [00:23:00] down alive

really take over. And I think I stayed on top for about less than 15 minutes. Take a couple pictures. A good thing is there's not big line, that day. It helps we make a couple of videos. And that's about it. And I told Sherpa, let's get out here. As soon as we can, because remember, we only have very limited oxygen as well.

So even with spend only, 10 to 15 minutes at the top, our oxygen completely off when we reach camp four. So that's Above 8000 m and we didn't even get to rest in camp four. So I think the whole summit day summit is although it's a highlight, but most important thing is you make down to camp two our lives and without oxygen last 10 hours, no oxygen, no food, no water.

I really put our dedication and commitment to test. And I basically fell asleep when I was walking to experience this ultimate exhaustion. [00:24:00] It's the important lesson learned, right? The perspective change the dedication, you have vision. For anything you do, we have a plan. You accomplish what you accomplish, but at the same time, use your support network and stay with what matters to you.

It's interesting that you said that even though when you get up there, you're not even to enjoy it because you're like, I have to go down and I have to go down and it's going to be a long way. And I would assume and knowing you that this just gave you mentioned this a completely different perspective in life, right?

That matter. There are things that are not important. You and I talked about most problems have a solution. And and not to minimize the problems that we have, but think about it differently. So did that change your eyes? Now, you being a technologist, I also know that you're super passionate about helping children.

Connect to nature in some of those potential mental health [00:25:00] issues that they may have, and then just present a different situation to them. So all this things happen as a result. And I also know that you're an avid, scuba diver and all this thing. So how did that change your perspective in life and things?

And how do you approach new challenges and the things that you want to do?

I feel reaching the top of the world. Really resonate with some of the things I do in life other than just expectations, for technologists. I feel it's extremely important to set a vision, set a goal whether the goal is sky high, be very daring to accomplish to basically committed to that goal and never question, never doubt your ability to accomplish that and have a plan to basically create milestones.

Each step of the way and have a detailed preparation of accomplish that I think it's extremely important to be visionary and strategic. Second, have a good team and a support network. I feel [00:26:00] the team is what you rely on, your life in this case, even and in technology, of course, support network, this week health is part of the good community.

think we might be. Bluebird leaders, this is a really good new community and these community raise you up when you have difficulties, when you lost oxygen, when you have problems, when you have severe altitude sickness, these support networks raise you up, lift your spirit extremely important to have that team and network in place to.

accomplish this goal. At the same time, in between here and there, enjoy the journey, celebrate wins, along the way is also extremely important than reaching the top. But however, the top is magnificent. The view is beautiful. The perspective change a lot on every single day. The daily hurdles, the problems that we have is so insignificant.

And that goal is well worth all [00:27:00] the struggle. And meanwhile, I feel another really interesting perspective. I feel Out of all these ordinary inspirations that I got is, I remember Tenzing Norgay guy on the top in the 1950s. Without all these modern gear. Even oxygen canister weighs a ton.

They are wearing a trench coat. And I saw some of the gear. I'm like, Oh, they can't even use that to reach to the top, even with, limited support. So I feel, our budget always come in as a problem. Our CIOs, technology executives, we are in this position to really struggle on how we're going to get some of the best solution, best tools in place to accomplish what we set to accomplish.

But don't get discouraged when you don't get enough of the budget, some of the best tool there is. Use what you have. You can still with the right mindset, right spirit, right [00:28:00] attitude, right commitment and writing. You can still do amazing things. So these are some of the perspectives that I get from this expedition.

And I truly appreciate the whole opportunity and have that mindset and perspective and also get on the top. The highest point off earth to see what is under me and what lives bring to us and what opportunity I have waiting for us and waiting for all of our technologies is a blast.

It's a blessing after all.

I just have to say that I am extremely grateful and blessed that we had an opportunity to meet. You have become one of my Very good friends. And you are such an inspiration. Julia, you are really thank you. You're amazing.

Everything that you've done. And then you're just the way that you approach life and your perspective. You're so positive and just talking to you. It just warms my heart. It really [00:29:00] does. And so thank you for all the work that you do as a person, as a professional, as a human being.

And thank you for being always there for your friends, your colleagues, for everyone. You are just amazing. Just know that, I love you from the bottom of my heart. I admire you. You're amazing. And thank you for sharing your story.

Thank you, and thank you for having me too.

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