Myrtle Potter

Myrtle Potter is a best-selling author and one of Americas foremost and accomplished healthcare leaders and experts. Potter has dedicated three decades to serving the healthcare needs of millions of consumers through her leadership of some of Americas most successful global healthcare companies. She was a vice president, at Merck, president at Bristol-Myers Squibb and later was named president and chief operating officer of Genentech, the worlds biotechnology powerhouse, committed to developing powerful therapies for cancer, autoimmune diseases most successful biotechnology company.

In 2005 all of that came to an abrupt, shocking halt. Potter suffered a tragic, near-death experience in the healthcare system. After recovering and reflecting, Potter was inspired to completely change the course of her professional work. She decided to leave her corporate role and embark on a journey to combine her vast experience as healthcare expert, patient and caregiver to champion the needs of individuals struggling to navigate the U.S. healthcare system. Through her broad media presence Potter provides guidance, tools and resources that help millions of Americans navigate the U.S. healthcare system.

Potter champions the right for people to have control over their unique, personal journey through the healthcare system.

With her deep understanding of the healthcare industrys inner workings, personal experience of the challenges that confront individuals trying to secure the right resources and make the right healthcare decisions, and a compassionate, compelling personality, Potter is uniquely positioned to serve as Americas preeminent consumer healthcare guide. As a result she has earned her reputation as the Trusted Voice in Healthcare .

Potters voice is heard by millions of Americans as a featured healthcare commentator and guest host on a number of CNBC television programs including Squawk Box, The Call, Power Lunch and Closing Bell. Potter can also be seen on Accent Health Television, the nations largest health education TV network delivering CNN-produced programming to doctor waiting rooms since 1995.

Whether on television or on a stage in front of thousands, Potters girlfriend-next-door style makes big, serious topics approachable and easy to understand.

Potter is a woman of humble beginnings. She grew up in the dusty, desert town of Las Cruces, New Mexicoone of six children born to a social worker mother and military veteran turned entrepreneur father.

Armed with a strong family foundation and a solid education, from her first healthcare industry job as a selling adult disposable diapers as a sales rep for Procter and Gamble, to her role as a board director for billion dollar multinational corporations, Potters thirty-year career has been marked by success. Potters business leadership has been hailed by Americas most influential business publications, including BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, FORTUNE, TIME, Forbes, Black Enterprise Magazine and The Harvard Business Review. Potter is also referenced in more than twenty business and leadership books.

Potters accomplishments have also been recognized by being named to a number of the top recognition lists including three appearances on FORTUNE magazines Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Business, Black Health magazines 25 Most Influential African Americans in Healthcare, Glamour magazines Everyday Icon and The Wall Street Journals 50 Women to Watch.

Potter is the proud mother of two young adults, a graduate of the University of Chicago and a co-author of the Amazon.com #1 best seller, Living Proof: Celebrating the Gifts that Came Wrapped in Sandpaper (2011). She lives in Northern California.