Son’s diagnosis shapes grad student’s career path

August 26, 2025 – DENTON – When Jessica Brown started her career in healthcare operations, she was very process driven. Focused and ambitious, she guided outcomes, optimized procedures and exceeded metrics. 

That all changed when her 15-year-old son was diagnosed with a life-threatening form of epilepsy.

The Texas Woman’s alumna and current dual  Master of Healthcare Administration and Master of Business Administration (MHA/MBA) student reshaped her leadership style, opting for purpose over process. 

“He fuels my purpose,” Brown said about her son. “I’ve been in healthcare leadership for 14 years and he is my why. He’s disabled, he lives with me, I care for him. I’m a full-time mom, full-time student, full-time job. Yet, he’s my No. 1.”

When her son, Austin, was first diagnosed eight years ago, Brown had to navigate a complex healthcare system that she thought she knew. Yet, she was one of the families that fell through the cracks; experiencing miscommunication between providers and the lack of patient access. 

“So, I’ve kinda been on a mission to save my son’s life the last several years and knock on wood, but he has been seizure free the last two years now,” Brown said. “He has gone through a couple brain surgeries. The gaps we experienced actually led us to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and that was me doing my own research and homework and trying to find the best of the best for him.” 

Now, she wants to create change that makes a better system for everyone, especially for those that don’t know how to advocate for others. Not only is she sharing her story with her colleagues to empower them to drive change, but she is also speaking out on a global level.

Brown was one of 10 speakers selected out of hundreds of submissions to present at the 2025 Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) European Leadership Summit in Dublin, Ireland last June. HBA’s members and corporate partners represent a global workforce of more than 6 million professionals across the healthcare ecosystem.

“It was an amazing, amazing experience,” Brown said. “In all my years of healthcare and going to conferences and seminars and all the teambuilding things, I would have to say the HBA European Leadership Summit was hands down the most empowering experience I think I have ever done in my life.” 

Brown learned about HBA from a TWU class assignment. She started to receive the obligatory organization emails from them and one about HBA Talks caught her attention. HBA Talks is a fast-paced, 3- to 5-minute presentation on the main stage at the annual European Leadership Summit about a defining leadership story. Brown’s spouse encouraged her to apply.

Surprised and excited to get selected, Brown had to step outside her comfort zone to overcome her anxiety over public speaking. 

“Being a leader at work, that’s just different than getting up in front of hundreds of people and sharing a powerpoint slide on something personal,” Brown said.  

Brown calmed her nerves and shared her story in front of 500 healthcare professionals about how her son’s medical condition led to her reshaping her leadership philosophy. She talked about how he went from being a healthy teenager to being at great risk for Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy, or SUDEP.

“This defining moment taught me that strong leadership doesn’t mean separating the personal from the professional—it means using your story to lead with intention and heart,” Brown said.

Brown currently works in supply chain management at OU Health after starting her healthcare career by managing startup clinics. She decided to move to the back end of operations and return to Texas Woman’s for her graduate degree to become more well rounded. 

 “I really want to drive change on a bigger level,” Brown said.

To do that, she is hoping to advance into executive leadership after she graduates in December 2025. 

Another way Brown is hoping to make an impact is through product development. In a health information management class, Brown came up with an invention for SUDEP. Her and her spouse are in the process of getting a patent for a device that could save lives. At the HBA European Summit, she networked with a few people that were interested in it. 

“TWU has definitely pushed me and really made me grow in a lot of ways,” Brown said.