’ve only known this incredible woman for a few months but I feel like she’s my soul sister! I’m honored to share her hilarious and resilient personality on Livlyhood today.
Tell us a little about yourself and your career
My name is Camille Moffat. I’m from the east coast, but since saying that never satisfies people, I am specifically from Boston, Jersey, Philly, and DC- who knew that having an accountant for a father would mean living so many cool places? I have worked a variety of jobs- with a few dentists, for several attorneys, in the non-profit industry, and in cosmetics.
How does your community of women you surround yourself with support you?
There are so many strong women around me everywhere. On December 17, 2016, I was hit head-on by a wrong-way drunk driver at 100mph. I spent several months in the hospital and even longer as an outpatient recovering. Since I didn’t grow up in Utah, I didn’t know very many of the women in the neighborhood. The women in the neighborhood were a true example of support and came to my house and delivered dinners, helped clean, and visited with me for months. My girlfriends in the area brought me smoothies every day- I had lost my 4 front teeth, and smoothies were easy to eat.
My female cohort members are always pushing me to grow and be a better person. One time, I was so overwhelmed and started crying at the end of accounting (I can’t be the only person who that’s happened to!), and a female classmate provided me some much needed academic and personal support. My mom is currently going back to school to finish her undergrad and is completely crushing it. I feel so much support knowing that she took at 30+ year break from school and is still succeeding. My female friends from church and undergrad are always there to cheer me on when I do well and lift me up during hard times both personally and academically.
How did you decide to go back to school?
I went to BYU for my undergrad, where I got a degree in the very lucrative field of art history and curatorial studies. Immediately upon graduation, I did some post-bacc studies at the University of Cambridge where I mainly focused on museum management, as well as philosophy and English. After returning to the States and a couple of years of jobs that weren’t in my field and weren’t terribly personally enriching, I knew that it was time to look into grad school. I had always wanted to go to grad school, but as much as I adore art history and resolutely believe in its ability to heal humanity, I absolutely hate writing about art history, so that was out as a possible grad school path for me. I moved to Utah to study for the GMAT. I had decided to apply for business school because everyone told me that an MBA would lead to good jobs.
I wasn’t accepted to grad school for an MBA, and honestly, I’m so glad because just writing my application essays was miserable and I knew I wasn’t passionate about it. I put grad school on the back burner and worked for a few years at a dental office. I was surprisingly content working there- I loved the work, the patients, and the doctors. After I was hit by the drunk driver, I received amazing care as a long-term inpatient and outpatient. I wanted to find a way to give back and contribute to the healthcare system.
Since I still had grad school goals, I decided to pursue a Master’s in Healthcare Administration (MHA). Eight years after completing my undergrad, I applied to and was accepted by the University of Utah. I’m now in my second semester, will be doing an internship this summer, and graduate next year.
What do you wish you could go back and tell your younger self re: your career aspirations?
Growing up, I was always taught that I was smart and capable and can do anything by the men and women around me. However, some of my support system (teachers and other adults) taught that women only needed to worry about career aspirations as a backup plan in case their husband became ill or died. I understood then and now that their intentions were not malicious, but I definitely did not focus too closely on my career aspirations for a long time as a result.
Seeing as how I’m 30 and single, I need to be able to provide for myself without relying on a dead husband’s health insurance policy (is the joke coming through clearly on that last part?). Something that I would tell my younger self is to prepare for a career, and if marriage and a family happen later, then great! When that happens, then you can worry about how you want to address career and motherhood.
What is your career-related mantra?
“I can do hard things, but that doesn’t mean I can do everything.” I survived a harrowing automobile accident AND middle school, so I can obviously do hard things. However, I still need to be humble enough to ask for help when I don’t know something.
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