Rozalynn B. Goodwin

Her job: Director of policy research, lobbyist, S.C. Hospital Association; founder The Motherhood Priority, which works to strengthen mother-friendly policies in the workplace.

Age: 31

Family: Husband, Michael; child, Gabrielle, 2

Education: Bachelor’s degree. health care management, Lander University; Master’s degree, Health Administration, USC

Community involvement: board treasurer, S.C. Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy; elder, Right Direction Christian Center

From her nomination: “Rozalynn is regarded by her peers as a leader in the state’s health-care profession, and she earns that distinction anew every day. … Roz is changing the Midlands for the better.” — Thornton Kirby, president and CEO, S.C. Hospital Association

What makes you successful? “I have a determination — there’s a drive there to make sure that I can help others. … Everything I do goes back to people. … Leadership is about people. They call me the conscience of the SCHA” because she remembers that “behind the numbers are people, are faces of people who may not have access to health care.” … I’ve been blessed and fortunate to be able to work on two of my passions at the same time (health care and mothering).”

How does it feel to have other people define you as a leader? “It’s humbling because there’s nothing extraordinary about me. I come from a small town. It’s called Mount Carmel. It’s 231 people and everybody’s kin. It has a single-wide trailer as a post office (and) one traffic light. A lot of great values came from there. To be considered a leader or successful in the Midlands — it’s huge. … It doesn’t make me all ‘Yeah, I did that.’ I know how my parents had to push me in school. I was very marginal (as a student). The leadership I have had (from parents, pastors and her husband) really makes me believe I could do anything. That’s priceless.”

How do you balance everything? “When I had (my daughter), it was, ‘Oh my God, … I can’t go back to work five days a week. I just can’t do it,” Goodwin says, adding that other mothers feel the same way and deserve the same flexibility she has found. “Ultimate success is to be able to follow a passion like The Motherhood Priority” and to see health care become “more mother friendly.”

What’s ahead for you? “I’m really looking forward to revolutionizing not just South Carolina but our nation” in how it treats mothers in the workplace. Eighty percent of hospital workers are women, Goodwin says. Those women need more flexible schedules that will accommodate their maternal needs as well as their need to work.