LARA Living Room
Inside stories and real conversations from the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. LARA Living Room explores how regulation works, why it matters, and the people making it happen.
LARA Living Room
Voices from Across Team LARA
Hear from employees nominated by their peers in the 2024 LARA Recognition Awards as they share stories about their work and experiences.
Thank you.
Anastasha Osborn:Welcome to the LARA Living Room. I'm Anastasha Osborne, Assistant Deputy Director here at LARA, and today's episode is going to be all about celebration. Each year, we host the LARA Employee Recognition Awards, or as we like to call them, the ERAs. And yes, that is a little nod to Taylor Swift's ERAs tour. But in our case specifically, it's all about recognizing the standout moments and accomplishments of our incredible team here at LARA. Now, this last year, we received more than 120 nominations across five award categories that showcase the amazing work happening throughout every corner of our department. So in this episode, you are going to meet three of our 520 2024 era winners, you're going to be able to hear their reactions, reflections, and the stories behind the work that really earned them these recognitions. From creative problem solvers to educators and barrier breakers, these employees represent the very best of who we are. So before we jump into the conversations, here's a quick introduction to last year's winners and the awards that they received. So you already know the drill, grab a coffee, settle in, and get comfortable because you are now in the LARA Living Room. I want to start by kind of going over the five different categories. And as I mentioned before, reading who the winners are, their names, which bureau or agency they are a part of within LARA. So the first category, award category, that I would like to talk about is the Creative Problem Solver Award. And this one recognizes employees who take a unique and innovative approach to solving workplace challenges. And the 2024 winner was Craig Lalonde from the Bureau of Construction Codes, also known as BCC. Our second award category is the Distinguished Inspector Award, and this is given to an employee whose role includes inspections, surveys, or audits, and who consistently goes above and beyond in their performance. And the 2024 winner was Brooke DeShaw from the Bureau of Survey and Certifications, also known as BSC. The third category is the Outstanding Customer Service Award, and this one honors those who deliver consistently exceptional service and those who also rise to the occasion in challenging situations. The 2024 winner was Brittany Yingling from the Bureau of Professional Licensing, also known as BPL. The next category is the Reducing Barriers Award, and this is presented to an employee who helped eliminate unnecessary burdens or processes that were preventing customers from accessing services. And the 2024 winner was Brenda Davis, and at the time when she was nominated, she was actually within our Finance and Administrative Services Bureau, but now she currently serves under the Bureau of Fire Services, also known as BFS. And finally, the World Class Educator Award that celebrates an employee who lives out the principle of educate before we regulate going the extra mile to help others understand policies and procedures and the 2024 winner was Carol Shepard from the Michigan Liquor Control Commission also known as MLCC. Now that you've met our 2024 era winners, it's time to hear from them directly. I had the chance to sit down with a few of them to talk about their roles, what drives their work, and what it means to be recognized. So let's kick things off with a quick introduction from each of our winners. We're going to first start with Brooke. And Brooke, can you introduce yourself and kind of what a day in the life looks like for you?
Brooke Dishaw:I'm Brooke. I'm the Senior Laboratory Evaluation Specialist for the Laboratory Improvement Section in the Bureau of Survey and Certification. My job is to ensure laboratories are providing quality diagnostic laboratory testing to patients throughout Michigan by identifying noncompliance and give providers the tools they need to understand the regulations. I do both routine compliance inspections, proficiency testing surveys, and compliance... Excuse me. complaint investigations of clinical laboratories. The diagnostic laboratory tests that I review can range from a simple urine pregnancy test to whole genome sequencing from your annual cholesterol tests to cytogenetic karyotyping and everything in between. I work closely with laboratories to ensure compliance with the clinical laboratory improvement amendments. and guide them through any findings of noncompliance and seek corrective actions as a result. I'm also currently working out of class as the acting manager over the specialized healthcare services section while the search for a new manager is underway.
Brenda Davis:Hi, I'm Brenda. At the time of the nomination, I worked in finance administrative services. as a specialist in procurement section. My main responsibilities included handling of contracts, commodities, and services. I assisted bureaus with anything that needed to be purchased. I also assisted a little with grants. But the primary responsibility that led to nomination was my role as the procurement card admin. At the time of the awards, I was just transitioning to the Bureau of Fire Services, and that's my current role now as the operations chief. I'm responsible for managing, directing, and my prevention in furs, storage tanks, and fireworks. I help to direct and set priorities, and within our means, I work to ensure everyone has the resources they need to continue to promote and protect the most vulnerable populations in Michigan.
Carol Shepard:My name is Carol Shepard and I have worked for LARA since it was the Department of Commerce. I've spent the last 24 years with the Liquor Control Commission where I'm currently a specialist with the Enforcement Division and I act as a liaison between the divisions within Liquor Control. I provide technical expertise on the inquiries regarding licensure and enforcement for both in-house and outside of the state and I assist in the development of training programs, policies and procedures and guidelines for statewide regulation programs.
Anastasha Osborn:Now, we've already heard from several of our winners, but two of our ERA recipients were unable to join us for the conversation, but they graciously did provide their own introductions, which I will share with you now. First up is Craig LaLonde, who was our Creative Problem Solver Award winner, and Craig is the Chief Elevator Inspector for BCC. He oversees the program responsible for inspections of various elevating devices, including permitted installations in both commercial and residential settings, as well as permitted alterations in annual inspections for all commercial elevating devices. Craig also plays a vital role supporting inspectors and serves as a liaison between them, elevator contractors, building owners, and the code. And all this is focused on ensuring the safety of the riding public. Next, I want to share Brittany Yingling's, who received the Outstanding Customer Service Award. Now, Brittany has been with BPL since 2016. She started as a student employee, and then she's also worked within the Enforcement Division until just recently when she transitioned to the Data Services Division. Now, in her previous role, Brittany was part of the Continuing Education Audit Section, where she audited licensees with professional licenses that require continuing education for their renewal. Now for our listeners, I want to paint a picture. Envision this. We go all out for our eras with a full-on ceremony. I'm talking the finalists are invited along with the colleagues who nominated them. And then the finalists also get to bring a plus one that could be a friend or family member. We've got a host. We have a stage. We do the whole thing. And it truly does feel like an awards ceremony. And we want it to feel that way because we really want to recognize our finalists. So... I want to ask all of you when your name was announced, what was your reaction? What did that moment feel like for you? Brooke, do you want to go ahead and start us off?
Brooke Dishaw:I was surprised. I come from a very small section. We try to stay under the radar. So I was surprised anyone had noticed or understood the work I do, but I knew I had earned it. I worked really hard and spent countless hours doing extra work.
Anastasha Osborn:Brenda, what about you?
Brenda Davis:At the time, I truly felt like we did it. Although I was the winner, you know, my name was getting called, go up there. I just felt like it was like the whole accounts payable team, as well as everyone involved also won at that time and not to mention That was fast beating BCHS, the little rivalry they have going on. That also felt as if BFS also won since I was at the time with BFS. I also just at the time just wanted to think that Jordan Campbell also as the supervisor of accounts payable as well as the individual that nominated me, I just felt like he truly won at that moment once my name was called. I just was excited that he would win. I just hope that everyone felt the recognition by me winning that it was really the team that really wanted that time.
Carol Shepard:Carol? I was in shock. I had listened to the accomplishments of all the other finalists, and I thought to myself, man, these guys are amazing. And then I, you know, when they announced my name, it took a minute to sink in because I think I downplay the things that I do because I've been doing that for so long that it's second nature. And so it did. It shocked me. I couldn't believe it.
Anastasha Osborn:Brooke, your work is all about balancing detail with human connection. What was it like carrying the survey load solo for several months? And then how did you develop your approach to training new staff while still doing so many of those inspections yourself?
Brooke Dishaw:Yeah, so prior to my coworker retiring, there were periods of time when they were on extended leave. So working solo wasn't something new for me. I'd been essentially working solo on and off for almost two years. My My section is unique in that there's little turnover and it's very specialized. While we have a training section within our division, they provide some trainings that are specific to our team, like principles of documentation and investigative skills, but they're not equipped with the laboratory expertise or knowledge of the CLIA regulations. Because there's so little turnover, the training materials we had were outdated or non-existent. I was the last person to be trained over six years ago. So there's a lot of work to do. Well, I have notepads full of notes. From my training period, I know I would have benefited from a more formal training program with more real-life scenarios to boost confidence. Because this is highly specialized, the only person who could really do that kind of work was me. So what I did was I made exercises that could be assigned to be performed while I was working on other paperwork to balance my workload. If I had a spare 15 minutes here or there, I would create something quickly and It didn't look very pretty, but I could make it pretty later on when I had time. So I worked on situations like citation writing exercises, survey scenarios, staff qualification exercises, and compile real survey documentation to simulate a survey. Each day of the work week during that training period, I would also make a graphic to be shared in our team's chat, highlighting one regulation to give a quick scenario of an instance when I'd used it. So to further add to that bank of knowledge and piece it into little bite-sized pieces. How did I balance training with my regular work? I was fortunate to have the support of my manager, Jessica Harback. We were able to prioritize certain duties and I was able to offload some of the report running to her and I made some efficiencies here and there.
Anastasha Osborn:Brenda, your work helped simplify internal systems and made things easier for both LARA staff and then our external customers. What challenges did you face while creating the travel card program? And can you give a little excerpt about what the travel card program is for those who might not know? And then also, what impact do you think that that change had on LARA employees, specifically those in the community and field?
Brenda Davis:The LARA Travel Card program is where we started off with the high-usage individuals. to help relieve a lot of the burden of the cost that's required while you travel. So the LARA Travel Card program is where we have high-usage individuals. That's the first core that we use to test the program with is to give them the card so when they travel, you can relieve the burden on a lot of the cost that's associated with lodging specifically. A lot of the challenges that we faced when we was first initiating the program was a lot of the reviews that we had to go through. Whether it was policies, procedures, it was a lot of reviews, very thorough reviews and Everything was great reviews because it just helped us to better fine-tune the processes. And from there, each time there was a change that needed to occur on one of the documentations, then the complementary documentations also had to have updates, whether that's our internal process or that was our procedure map that needs to be tweaked or our SIPOC, which is a supplier's input procedures and outputs for customers. And another... bigger issue I would consider would be finding the balance of who to start the program with. Just having enough individuals that can, that will be a part of the process, but at the same time not overwhelm the staff that has to now implement this new change. So we wanted to expanded wide enough so not only did we use the highest usage overall for travelers we also included some of the seasonal high usage individuals just to expand our first output from there it made it still manageable for our accounts payable group who hasn't really had to do this type of project so it's a sorry process so it was a challenging process because it's more complex than what they had previously been doing but we was able to just find that good balance to be able to help implement it. Overall, the impacts have been great. I've received a lot of thank yous for implementing this just because it's a large burden off of individuals. So, sorry if I didn't previously explain. So normally for lower employees, we have to pay upfront our costs for travel. So if we have to travel somewhere such as out of state, we need lodging, we need to stay at a hotel, we have to pay for that for the hotel. So now instead we're able to put it into a travel card so that way it doesn't have to come individually out of the employee's pocket to where they have to seek reimbursement. Now they can just put it on a travel card and they no longer have to pay for it and then be reimbursed on the back end.
Anastasha Osborn:Yeah, absolutely. And I appreciate you explaining that a little bit more because I think some of our listeners, especially those who maybe don't travel or don't go to different seminars or conferences or if they are traveling across the state for work even as well. So I appreciate you giving that context because I think they're... was concerns, I think, about going to conferences or going to these events where there was additional trainings because they would have to pay up front for the cost and then be reimbursed. And in your experience, how long is that reimbursement process?
Brenda Davis:A month or so until you get access, just because you have to input it and you still have to wait another pay period. So it's depending on how quickly you're able to put into the system and go through the approvals and then essentially wait another pay period following that.
Anastasha Osborn:So hopefully that alleviated a lot of that pressure for a lot of individuals to be able to go out and travel. And then when we're talking about a travel card, it is actually a physical card itself, correct? Like it is a card that's assigned to them to use?
Brenda Davis:Correct. It's assigned to each individual. So it's not like BFS. So Bureau of Fire Services don't just have one card. Each individual have their own card that's assigned to them. And anytime that you no longer, you want to use a card, if you're going to have a period, you can contact the LRP card admin and they can disable it for a moment's time just to prevent any fraud or anything from occurring.
Anastasha Osborn:Carol, your passion for helping others understand complex policies is so clear, especially through your nomination. So explain to me what does Educate Before We Regulate look like in your daily work specifically?
Carol Shepard:Ensuring consistency and professionalism from our enforcement staff, I think, is first and foremost. Wanting people who call in to the Liquor Control Commission to receive the same response from whatever division that they are calling into. Implementing process changes when we see something is failing, coming up with a solution for that to get it working properly. Overhauling our outdated manuals. I think our code, I mean, our investigator manual was last updated in... 1933 when prohibition ended no I'm just kidding it was it had been quite a while since it had been updated so we have been working diligently to get that updated and it's amazing I love it the way it is developing we develop education programs for the staff so if there's a law change that affects a big portion of the liquor control code we develop educational programs so that we can let them know what changes were made and here's how we're going to enforce those changes. I also love to do trainings for law enforcement agencies, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations to let them know for law enforcement this is what we do And we are also available to assist you if you need our assistance in introducing them to the investigator within their jurisdiction so that if they do have a question about whether something's right or not, they have someone that they can actually call and ask, which goes back to the consistency and professionalism. And the nonprofit organizations, they are one of the only licenses that can get what we call a 24-hour license because they're a nonprofit organization and those licenses are for fundraising activities. And so, They need to know what is legal and what is not legal and what licenses they will need if they want to do certain activities. So I love when I get opportunities to go out to those organizations and give them a training and teach them what they need to know about having an effective and a successful event. I keep abreast of all the law changes to make sure the staff is up to date. Sometimes it requires an educational program. Sometimes it just requires an email saying, hey, This used to be illegal, and the law is now allowing it to happen. So I sometimes can just send an email and let them know of a law change, and it does change the way that we operate. I also assist the public in understanding the liquor laws. I think I received over 500 emails last year because I'm the contact for enforcement on our website. And that's just the emails. I'm constantly getting phone calls. And even LARA, they'll get questions about liquor here, and they'll email me those questions over to enforcement. So I'm answering questions all day long, and I get to explain to the public why they can't do something. Sometimes they're not happy. Sometimes they're like, okay, now I understand. And knowing the reasoning behind some of our laws helps people understand understand and come into compliance a lot easier. And it keeps us from half, you know, needing to write a violation on them.
Anastasha Osborn:To wrap things up, what's the thing that really keeps you all motivated here at LARA? I'm curious to hear from all of you. Brooke, why don't you start us off?
Brooke Dishaw:I'm proud to say that the great majority of facilities I enter to serve a provide great laboratory services far and above the minimum CLIA requirements. What keeps me motivated are those very few instances where I do find patients are harmed or likely to be harmed and I seek out that corrective action. I also am motivated by those facilities that provide great care and seek out information on how they can be more compliant. And I'm always happy to answer any of those questions. Brenda, what about you?
Brenda Davis:For me, it's just knowing the impacts we have on Michigan, their residents, especially being via fire services. We have a lot of prevention or just trying to protect others from making sure they don't harm themselves inadvertently, as well as their environment with storage tanks. That's just really what motivates me, just knowing that we have direct impact with our residents of Michigan. And then I'm also just motivated by just learning, learning something new. There's a lot of different sections and Carol, what keeps you motivated?
Carol Shepard:Knowing what I do has an impact on all those around me and hearing the appreciation in their voice because, you know, someone took time to listen and to have a conversation with them.
Anastasha Osborn:That is all we have today. I want to give a huge thank you to our 2024 winners, Craig, Brooke, Brittany, Brenda, and Carol, for everything that you do to make LARA better every single day. Now, if you are part of Team LARA and someone came to mind during this episode, maybe it's a colleague who's gone above and beyond, maybe they've tackled a tough challenge or honestly just simply makes your workday brighter, now is the perfect time to recognize them. Now you know the nomination window for the 2025 LARA Employee Recognition Awards are officially open. And then if you are a stakeholder, a licensee, a partner who had a great experience with someone here at LARA, we would also love to hear from you. Every nomination and every voice, every compliment helps us to celebrate the incredible people who keep LARA moving forward and thus also make Michigan continue to move forward. So thank you so much for joining me here in the LARA Living Room. As always, from our living room to yours, we'll see you next time.
