by Eva Glassman | Apr 23, 2026 | Blog, Featured
Beth Ratliff is the Chief Operating Officer at Premise Health, the largest direct healthcare provider for large, self-insured employers in the country. Beth began her career as a physical therapist and grew passionate about delivering quality care to patients after navigating insurance reimbursement difficulties for her services. Beth made unconventional lateral career moves to expand her skillset and develop the tools to become the healthcare leader she is today. Beth resides in Nashville and enjoys the live music scene outside of work. Beth has been a C200 Member since 2026.
Eva Glassman: What is your day-to-day like as COO of Premise Health? What do you love about your role, and what are some challenging aspects?
Beth Ratliff: I am the Chief Operating Officer at Premise Health. We are the largest direct healthcare provider in the country. We partner with large, self-insured employers to deliver advanced primary care to their people. We operate about 850 wellness centers, primary care centers, pharmacies, and fitness centers across the country. We also deliver virtual health coast to coast.
What’s different about our model of healthcare is that we’re not fee-for-service. We’re actually paid directly by our clients, who are really looking to solve problems with access, healthcare equity, or cost for their organization and their people. We’re not paid by insurance, which frees us up to take great care of patients—that means things like same and next-day appointments, quick wait times in the waiting room, more time in the exam room with your provider. On average, we’re spending about thirty minutes with the patient when they come in and we’re focusing on their whole health: physical, mental, and social. We work in a team with a behavioral health provider, a pharmacist, a care manager, and a primary care provider for the patient.
Years ago, I first went into healthcare as a physical therapist because I wanted to take great care of patients. As I was practicing, I encountered a lot of limitations caused by insurance reimbursement. In contrast, the model of care we deliver at Premise Health allows us to deliver amazing outcomes and experiences for the patients we serve. That’s what I love most: making things happen and serving the teams that provide the care.
On the flipside, it’s challenging to ensure we have the right balance of quality and access. We can’t ever lose sight of doing what’s right for the patient, and that becomes more complex as healthcare continues to grow and evolve in this country. You’re always having to balance risk, access, and quality of care. Ultimately, we know that if you do what’s right for the patient, everything else follows.
EG: You mentioned you started your career in healthcare as a physical therapist. Was being a healthcare leader always your goal? How did your idea of what you wanted to do evolve as you went through your career?
BR: I went to school to be a physical therapist, and I started my career treating patients. I had a passion for patient care, but I eventually burnt out because of the insurance reimbursement system that I was working in; I felt like I couldn’t take great care of patients because of that system.
I eventually took a new job working at Toyota, caring for their injured workers. When I got there, they told me right away, “Don’t worry about the insurance reimbursement; just worry about getting the patient better.” That was music to my ears!
I was super intrigued by that model of care and grew interested in Toyota’s manufacturing process—the model of continuous improvement and lean quality. It inspired me to evaluate how we operated in the physical therapy department and apply that on a broader scale.
Eventually, an opportunity emerged for me to take a leadership position. On paper, I was not qualified for this position; I didn’t check every box, but I raised my hand anyway. From my experience up to that point, I knew that you could take great care of the patient and optimize the outcomes when the entire system is cared for. I also had the confidence to know I could figure the rest out.
I think that’s something women don’t do often enough. We wait until we’re absolutely qualified for everything in the job requirements before we raise our hand, rather than apply even if we don’t meet some of the requirements. I give lots of credit to some of my early mentors for encouraging me to bet on myself and apply for the role.
EG: Tell me more about those mentors. Did you have any women mentors at any point in your career? What was your experience like trying to find and connect with other professional women?
BR: I was lucky enough to have some strong mentors along the way, both men and women. I had some professional and personal connections outside of the work environment with other women professionals, not always in the healthcare space. Early on, I took an approach that I would now call a “personal board of advisors,” where I worked with a variety of different mentors and regularly consulted them about what was going on in my career and really took their input.
My board of advisors has changed over the years, but it’s always a cross-functional team, comprised of men and women. It’s not unusual for me to pick up the phone and call someone with experience in banking or another professional service consulting healthcare professionals and ask them for advice, recommendations, or an introduction to a new connection. It has been a rewarding way to look for mentorship. It doesn’t have to be in your own organization; it doesn’t even have to be in your own field.
EG: Speaking of building your network across organizations and industries, how did you discover C200? What drew you to join, and what are you most excited about as a new Member?
BR: I’m connected professionally with Mary Tinebra, a C200 Member, who reached out to me about learning more and joining. She called me at the exact right time. Every year in the fourth quarter, I jot down some professional and personal goals to start building my plan for the following year. One of those goals in 2026 was to do some networking outside of healthcare. I have quite a large network in the healthcare field—I’m very active in Nashville Healthcare Council and sit on other healthcare associations—but I was interested in meeting women leaders outside of healthcare. When Mary called, I told her, “It’s almost like you were reading my notes!” It was just perfect timing.
As a new Member, I’m looking forward to learning from women leaders in other industries than mine, those who are creatively solving problems and willing to share those experiences. I would also love to mentor other women facing challenges like ones I’ve faced. That exchange of knowledge is so valuable.
EG: What does being a “woman in business” mean to you? How does that impact your work and leadership?
BR: I don’t lead with being a woman in business. I lead with being a trusted leader and professional who shows up to contribute value in whatever room I’m in. I focus on earning trust, communicating with clarity, and providing perspective based on my knowledge, skills, and experience.
The fact that I’m a woman certainly does not go unnoticed, but it is not what I choose to lead with. I have had experiences where I’ve been the only woman in the room, certainly early on in my career, and had to learn to navigate those rooms and spaces. I had to make sure I was showing up, providing value, and giving a competent opinion or service.
I would also say that I’m a very transparent leader and person in general. I am not afraid to talk about the tough things that I have faced as a woman, as a mother, as someone who’s been in recovery for over thirty years, as someone who has battled cancer. I bring those experiences to the table and use them to not only make me stronger as a leader, but to make our organization stronger as well.
I have a responsibility as a leader and as a woman leader to bring others along with me. I spend quite a bit of time mentoring women, both in and out of my organization, in my particular field. I also do a lot of work with women outside of the traditional mentoring structure, like in the recovery space with women who have struggled with issues like homelessness or substance abuse. I’m always looking for ways to be of service to someone else. When I am focused on doing that, it makes me stronger as a leader and gives back to others.
EG: Outside of work, how do you spend your free time? What do you like to do for fun?
BR: I love live music. I live in Nashville—who doesn’t love a good live music venue? I love the energy at any sort of live event; if they made watching paint dry a sporting event, I’d probably go watch that.
I love to hike. I love to read. I am an amateur special effects makeup artist, so Halloween is my favorite time of year.
Currently, my husband and I are on the hunt for the world’s best street tacos. When we have nothing else to do, we spend a lot of time going to one taco truck to another, buying one taco, and doing a taste test.
Lastly, I love spending time with my two daughters and two grandkids.
EG: Earlier, you mentioned that you spend a lot of time mentoring women both in and out of your organization. What are the types of conversations you’re having with these rising women leaders? What sort of guidance are they seeking, and what advice are you sharing with them?
BR: The women I talk with are rising leaders and trying to understand how they can advance their career path. We spend a lot of time evaluating what motivates them. Often, I notice they want a promotion, but they don’t understand why they want it. Is it about the title? Money? Particular interest or span of control? I try to help them refine what they want, not only for their next step, but ultimately their entire career. From there, we put together a plan, which includes discussing and viewing other opportunities within their organization through different lenses.
It’s easy to see things as very black and white and think, “Well, I haven’t done X, so I’m not qualified for Y.” I like to push back on that and talk through the ways in which what you have done might apply to this opportunity and why. Maybe you haven’t done X, but you’ve done something else that makes you a stronger candidate if you position your experiences properly.
I have taken some lateral moves in my career that might have looked very questionable from the outside looking in. For example, I’ve stepped out of a senior role to run a project with no guarantee of a role for me at the end; I’ve moved from clinical to operations to an IT enterprise project; I’ve done post-acquisition work. However, I always had a purpose. It wasn’t necessarily to get a promotion, but to learn more about the organization and develop stronger networks within it. That would either help me advance my career within the organization or build necessary skills and knowledge to take me somewhere else if I chose to do that.
I never said yes to an opportunity that didn’t intrigue me in some way; the ones I took I often wasn’t fully qualified for. For example, I’m not a technology person, but I once took on a massive technology project. I’d never done merger and acquisition work before, but I once stepped into that role. I knew it was something that would stretch me in a way that I hadn’t been stretched before. If you want to grow your career, you have to be willing to take a risk and be intentional with it.
Watching someone succeed is one of the most satisfying things I get to experience in my career.
C200 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire, educate, support, and advance current and future women entrepreneurs and corporate profit-center leaders. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the individuals quoted or featured and do not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or positions of C200.
by Eva Glassman | Apr 21, 2026 | Blog, Featured
By Farrah Lakhani | Uber | Member since 2024
Many AI initiatives report strong productivity gains: hours saved, tasks automated, faster cycle times. But those metrics don’t always translate into business performance.
In our latest Forbes article, C200 member Farrah Lakhani challenges a common assumption: that time saved is a reliable measure of AI success.
As Farrah explains, efficiency is easy to track and easy to report, but it often says very little about whether value is actually being created. Without clear links to outcomes, ownership and follow-through, those gains rarely show up on the P&L.
Her article is a useful reminder that evaluation matters as much as implementation, especially for leaders looking to connect AI efforts to real business impact.
Read the full article here.
C200 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire, educate, support, and advance current and future women entrepreneurs and corporate profit-center leaders. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the individuals quoted or featured and do not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or positions of C200.
by Eva Glassman | Mar 31, 2026 | Blog, Featured
C200 Member Jennifer Quigley-Jones examines a core challenge in influencer marketing: how to evaluate impact in a way that reflects how customers actually make decisions.
In our latest Forbes article, she explores the limits of traditional attribution models, which often capture only the final interaction and overlook the broader role creator content plays in shaping demand. As influencer marketing scales, this gap makes it harder for leadership teams to compare performance across channels and understand where value is being created.
Her perspective highlights a broader issue for organizations: without a more complete view of cross-channel influence, marketing investment decisions risk favoring what is easiest to measure rather than what drives meaningful growth.
C200 is proud to showcase our Members’ insight and the leadership they bring to business.
Read the full article here.
C200 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire, educate, support, and advance current and future women entrepreneurs and corporate profit-center leaders. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the individuals quoted or featured and do not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or positions of C200.
by Eva Glassman | Mar 23, 2026 | Blog, Featured
By Farrah Lakhani | Uber | Member since 2024
As AI moves from experimentation into core operations, many organizations are discovering that technology is not the hardest part. Workforce transformation is.
In this piece, C200 member Farrah Lakhani discusses why scaling AI depends on how organizations rethink work, not just how they deploy tools. From redefining roles to building a culture where employees can work effectively alongside AI systems, the article highlights a shift many leadership teams are just beginning to confront.
One theme stands out. Workforce re-education and learning culture are becoming central to how companies generate real value from AI.
For leaders who are thinking about how these changes will affect their teams and long-term strategy, this perspective is worth a read.
Read the full article here.
C200 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire, educate, support, and advance current and future women entrepreneurs and corporate profit-center leaders. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the individuals quoted or featured and do not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or positions of C200.
by Eva Glassman | Mar 19, 2026 | Blog, Featured
Nicole Barnett is President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Northern California, providing comprehensive sexual reproductive healthcare services at 17 centers across 20 counties. With an extensive background in corporate healthcare, including 28 years at Kaiser Permanente, Nicole describes her current role in nonprofit leadership as her most challenging one yet. Even still, her drive to deliver health equity to Northern California stems from her passion for serving others and supporting people in optimizing their health. Outside of work, Nicole enjoys spending time with her husband and two children and recently celebrated the birth of her grandson. Nicole has been a Member of C200 since 2026.
Eva Glassman: Tell me about your role as President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Northern California. What do you love about your job, and what are the more challenging aspects?
Nicole Barnett: I was named the President and CEO for Planned Parenthood Northern California on July 1st of 2025. Before that, I was the Chief Operating Officer for about a year and a half. I got to know the organization well from a boots-on-the-ground perspective, understanding the care that we deliver at all 17 health centers across 20 counties in Northern California. We also have a robust telehealth service, which is important for individuals who can’t travel or have other barriers to receiving care in person.
At this job, I’m most proud and excited that I get to stand at the intersection of health equity, social justice, and reproductive justice. This is an exciting time to be involved in those areas because of all the social shifts and polarization that we are seeing around different belief systems and ideologies. The question of what it means to be free and exercise your own bodily autonomy is at the center of this moment.
After spending almost 30 years in healthcare before coming to this role, this is the culmination of what I’ve always believed in, what my sense of purpose is, and the way I want to serve in healthcare and life.
After 28 years at Kaiser Permanente, from bedside nurse all the way up to the C-Suite, this role is a perfect fit for me, although it’s also the hardest job I’ve ever had. While all my jobs had their challenges along the way, this one is so difficult because of the resistance to what we’re trying to preserve, protect, and achieve. Our executive offices are in the same building as one of our larger health centers; every day, just like our patients, I also have to walk through the gauntlet of protesters who are screaming, yelling, displaying placards with hateful and shaming language—all kinds of things to intimidate individuals coming in and out of the building. People even yell at me to get a job somewhere else. I’m so appreciative of my 400+-person staff, all of whom wake up every day knowing what they have to face and still stand in the gap for others to protect their access to care.
Another challenging aspect of the job is navigating and clarifying the misunderstandings and misrepresentations about Planned Parenthood in general. Abortion is one of the many healthcare services that we provide, and is actually not the largest of our services lines. We provide cancer screening and follow up care, perimenopause and menopause consultation and care, behavioral health visits, connections to other community care providers, and we are proud to be a trusted provider of LGBTQ+ care as well. We even do vasectomies, a fact that always surprises people when I share it!
Despite all the challenges, I couldn’t be prouder to be here. We know that we have to stay engaged because if we don’t do this work, who will? We have allies across the healthcare industry, in our communities amongst our local, state and federal representatives. So we continue to fight and advance health equity because that’s what our patients deserve.
EG: With your extensive background in healthcare, how has your career journey prepared you for your current role? What takeaways from your earlier experience have helped you navigate the challenges of this role?
NB: At the end of the day, I remind myself that this is healthcare. This is about the relationship between the patient, the provider, and the surrounding team, who also give support. I started my career at the bedside as a registered nurse, so I understand that relationship well. I went into nursing because I wanted to be close to patient care and to support people in optimizing their health.
When I started my healthcare journey, I worked in inpatient nursing in hospital settings, which prepared me well when I moved to outpatient settings and clinics, as well as call centers as an advice nurse. I also worked in research and HIV testing and counseling, and served for many years as a Sexual Assault Response Nurse (thanks to training I received at Planned Parenthood Fairfield, CA). I had so many patient-facing experiences that fueled my empathy and commitment to a strong, culturally relevant, respectful, and trusting relationship between the patient and clinician.
Health is impacted by social determinants—not just the relationship with your doctor, but also whether you have safe housing, literacy, education, and transportation access. When I moved into leadership roles, this understanding helped me evaluate how to recognize and remove systemic barriers to optimize the experience from a patient perspective.
In my leadership roles, I did a lot of work in community outreach, healthcare disparities and reduction; health equity work; and strengthening partnerships with community groups that built and strengthened the safety net folks need to get the healthcare they require.
During the pandemic, I did a lot of teaching through local nursing programs. During that time, a lot of students couldn’t access traditional training settings in the hospitals; there was a huge need for instructors to help students graduate on time, so they could safely move into the system and become part of the workforce that was fighting the pandemic. I spent a lot of nights and weekends during the pandemic teaching because that was important to me and gave me a tangible way to contribute during the deadliest global health crisis of our lifetime.
All those experiences have helped to contribute to who I am today and how I serve in my role at Planned Parenthood.
EG: In terms of your own career advancement, what were some of the biggest factors that led to your success and ability to advance into leadership roles?
NB: I’ve always had a curiosity and openness to learning. At some points in my career, I could have been satisfied with where I was because it was safe, familiar, and paid the bills. But when you have that sense of curiosity, and you’re open to learning, you get beyond the fear of the unknown, and all kinds of possibilities open up. It led me to accept roles, experiences, and even interim opportunities that helped me build a stronger career foundation.
This mentality also introduced me to potential mentors, whether they were in a peer or formal capacity. When I took their advice, I began to grow into different roles and meet potential sponsors. Over time, my mentors and sponsors pulled me into opportunities I had never considered—until I was there and could see what was possible. The people around you often will see more in you than you see for yourself.
I’m not the kind of person who knew 20 years ago that I would be a CEO; that was probably the farthest thing from my mind! All I knew was that I enjoyed learning, growing, and doing meaningful work.
EG: Tell me more about your journey to C200. How did you discover the organization? What made you join? What are you most looking forward to as a new Member?
NB: Sometimes the best connections come through trusted friends and advisors and that is how I learned about C200. When I was preparing for my transition to the COO role at Planned Parenthood, I reached out to a colleague that had made a similar transition from a large healthcare organization to a non-profit. She is also a registered nurse, so I thought she was the perfect person to talk to. I reached out to her on LinkedIn, and she wrote right back to me. Just like that, we got on the phone and reconnected.
Over the course of several phone calls, I learned so much about her career experience, and she eventually said, “Oh, I want you to think about joining this organization—it’s called C200.” I looked at the website and heard her excitement and thought, “Wow, this would be a wonderful group for me to be a part of.”
I’m excited to be here because this is going to inform the next stage of my own growth and development. No matter how far you get, you’re never done learning and growing. There’s no top of the mountain, right? With the very hard role that I have as a CEO in reproductive justice, I’m hoping C200 will be a welcoming, safe space where I can find other women leaders whom I can open up to and receive encouragement and direction from as I continue to navigate the toughest job I’ve ever had.
EG: You’ve already spoken about how important your mentors and sponsors have been in your career journey. What has your experience been like, specifically finding other professional women throughout your career to connect with and aspire to?
NB: I worked for Kaiser for many years, which has a wealth of business resource groups for all kinds of demographics. I attended many summits for one of their resource groups, Women in Leadership, where I connected with so many people.
Fortunately for me, I had several women leaders who were in my circle of influence within my job who helped me advance within Kaiser. It was through them that I was invited to a group called Women Healthcare Executives of the San Francisco East Bay. I became incredibly active within that group, joining committees and the Board of Directors, which connected me with many more women who were in clinical and non-clinical roles such as doctors, nurses, and healthcare leaders. Last year, April 2025, I had the honor of being named their Woman of the Year, something I never would have thought I would earn.
EG: What does being a woman in leadership mean to you? How does it impact the way you work and lead?
NB: It is a powerful representation of what’s possible. When I was early in my career, people talked a lot about breaking the glass ceiling. For me, I’ve always worked as if there’s no glass ceiling. That’s what being a powerful woman in leadership is about. Don’t worry about the glass ceiling. Just continue. We find new ways to move forward each and every day. I found my way by looking for opportunities to serve, to learn, and to grow. Advancement comes organically when you focus on preparation.
I’ve been so thankful for the opportunities that have come my way, even when the road wasn’t as smooth as it appeared for other people. I didn’t accept that things are just the way they are, I found ways to stay encouraged through service. That’s what women bring to any situation. We find a way around it; it’s not going to stop us because we have our eyes on a larger goal. That’s the powerful thing about being a woman in leadership; no matter what the barrier is, we can imagine a way around it. We can imagine a world without barriers where everyone has an opportunity to shine.
Another thing that we do uniquely is that we lift as we climb. We’re the kind of leaders who don’t want to go alone. We might be the first ones somewhere, but we’re going to look around and figure out how to bring other people with us who don’t necessarily represent the traditional leadership or boardroom makeup. We’re going to bring those other voices with us.
EG: Outside of work, what do you like to do for fun? How do you like to spend your time?
NB: I love spending time with my family. My husband and I have been married for 37 years, and we have two children. Our son, Daniel, just got married last year, and I had the honor of marrying them at the San Francisco City Hall. It was so wonderful—they in the 5th grade and now they are married! And this past November, they had a baby, so I’m so excited to have a three-month-old grandson in the family.
Our daughter Victoria, who’s two years younger, never ceases to amaze us with her kindness, determination and brilliance. She has a degree in neuroscience, and this May, she will graduate from Johns Hopkins with a master’s degree in biotechnology and stem cell research. She also works as a clinical research associate with breast cancer patients. It is wonderful to see the satisfaction that she gets from her work as she helps patients navigate their clinical trial experience.
EG: You touched on being open and curious as important to your career progression. What other kind of advice would you give to aspiring women business leaders to advance their careers?
NB: Network, network, network. Sometimes people say they want to rise in their career, but when I ask about their career, they express dissatisfaction with their current path. When you network, you can learn and get clear on what you really want to do, because sometimes what you’re currently doing isn’t really what you want to do. Joining key professional associations with great local programming is a game-changer in terms of meeting and learning from others in your field.
For me, being of service in my job is more important than the job itself. That’s what fills my cup and makes me happy. For instance, at one point I had a great job as a middle manager in a clinic, but on the weekends, that job allowed me to go out and volunteer at health fairs in the park, where I could take blood pressures and provide health education. That filled my cup so I could go back to the day to day responsibility of managing.
The closer I got to jobs that put me in the line of serving others and creating structures that serve patients better, the more it aligned with my sense of purpose. Ultimately, I love to make things easier and better for people, and that has taken the form of helping people get to their optimal level of health. It wasn’t ever about the career or the job—it was about my purpose and the job as a vehicle to get me closer to that purpose. We all have to work at the end of the day, but does that work help you to get closer to your purpose? Asking yourself that question and working to answer it over time will help you find what you’re meant to do.
C200 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire, educate, support, and advance current and future women entrepreneurs and corporate profit-center leaders. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the individuals quoted or featured and do not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or positions of C200.
