OL Reign Legends: Sara Roth, Heidi Strub, Gina McCarthy, Trixy Dorn, and Hope Roberts
The Legends Campaign, a partnership between OL Reign and Starbucks, honors women for their extraordinary contributions to our community in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Prior to our May 30 match against the Washington Spirit, OL Reign recognized healthcare workers, represented by five MultiCare healthcare workers working in various branches of the healthcare field.
Sara Roth – Regional Manager with MultiCare Primary Care, Heidi Strub – Respiratory Therapist, Gina McCarthy – Respiratory Therapist, Trixy Dorn – Community Events Program Manager at the MultiCare Center for Health Equity and Wellness, and Hope Roberts – Grants & Contracts Manager at the MultiCare Center for Health Equity and Wellness, are a group of healthcare workers from MultiCare that inspire the community with their hard work and dedication. From the frontlines to behind the scenes, these women exemplify what it means to be heroes in the community and OL Reign Legends.
During what has been an incredibly challenging year for everyone, healthcare workers have been the backbone of our communities, working long hours and fully committing to putting the needs of the community as their top priority. Trixy Dorn, a Community Events and Program Manager at the MultiCare Center for Health and Equity (CHEW), was drawn to the healthcare field from a young age, as she was interested in working in a capacity that allowed her to make a positive impact in the lives of others. She has found motivation through these tough times from the community in the Tacoma area.
“I truly love Tacoma and the people here. I have been, and will always be, committed to serving our community and in particular our underserved communities,” Trixy shared. “As someone who’s family struggled to make ends meet, I understand all too well how important it is to bring programs directly to the communities we serve. It has been such an honor to be able to support and help manage the Mass Community COVID vaccination clinics in Pierce County with TPCHD since January. Since then, our CHEW team has branched off to provide smaller focused Community “Pop-Up” COVID vaccination clinics to our BIPOC communities through the end of the year.”
Trixy, an avid sports fan herself, said, “I think women play a critical role in sports, and we need to continue to encourage girls to participate in athletics. I love having the OL Reign team in Tacoma, to help shift attitudes and give girls role models to look up to. Girls and women who participate in sports have a better body image, more confidence, and suffer less from depression. So thank you to the OL Reign for being here and making a difference in a girl’s life!”
Hope Roberts, a Grants & Contracts Manager at the MultiCare Center for Health Equity and Wellness, who grew up watching the Tacoma Stars, agrees that sports are incredibly important to the Tacoma community. “To have sports, especially this OL Reign team, in the community is huge. The fact that we have players who have won things like the World Cup on the team and in community is incredible. I’m so proud of where we are now.”
Hope was at the first OL Reign game of the regular season, working the vaccine clinic. She and her coworkers were watching people walk by, reflecting on how great it was to see the community able to gather again. “It was so amazing to see so many people in the same space, not just waiting to get a vaccine. To watch people walk by looking so happy just getting their beer and hotdog.”
She continued, “It was so cool to see all of the young girls at the stadium, so happy to see the teams with their friends and teammates and eager to get vaccinated. It is huge for these girls to have people like the Reign to look up to in the community.”
Heidi Strub, a Respiratory Therapist of 12 years who has also been involved in sports her entire life, said that working in the healthcare field “is very challenging but rewarding at the same time.” She has spent the better part of a year working directly with critically ill COVID-19 patients. Heidi draws inspiration from the inspiring women in her own life, including her grandmother. “My grandmother has always been my beacon through hard times. Her faith and strength have inspired so many people over the years.”
Fellow Respiratory Therapist, Gina McCarthy, reflected on the past year. “We were all kind of scared initially but became more optimistic as we learned how to treat patients. As respiratory therapists, we were essentially living on the floor of the COVID unit.” Gina had an experience that few others had, as she worked to treat COVID-19 patients but also caught COVID-19 herself, after working for a year on the COVID floor. As she put it, she “got to see the pandemic from both sides.”
Gina looks up to many strong women in her life, including her former volleyball coach, who also went on to coach her daughter in club volleyball. “I look up to her, as a female who is controversial in a funny way. She says what she means. She challenged me to push myself and to have a voice when you believe in something. Dottie is one person in my life that has been consistently in my life as cheerleader, in sports and in my personal life.”
She also mentioned that she looks up to her “amazing management team. I’ve had the opportunity to see the medical field change over time from being completely male dominated to including a lot more women. This group is a young, energetic group of women who is truly amazing.”
Sara, who has been working with MultiCare for many years, starting out as a Health Unit Coordinator/Monitor Technician and is now a Regional Manager with MultiCare Primary Care, also thinks of the strong women in her life to stay inspired during these unprecedented times. Her grandmother, a Korean immigrant comes to mind. “Her journey has taught me resilience, independence, and strength. It’s the resilience she taught me that has really helped me cope with this pandemic. The story that always inspires me is when she had to flee from China and migrate to South Korea due to the war at 13 years, without her parents. I can only imagine the adversities she faced along that journey and how scary that must have been for her.”
She also is inspired every day by her fellow healthcare worker, as well as the patients they serve. “I was able to work with very talented people that I was inspired by every day. I have grown so much in my career by their inspiration.”
When asked about the advice she would give young girls pursuing a career in a field they are underrepresented in, Sara said, “I would tell them to keep fighting to pursue their dreams! Continue to put yourself out there and question what doesn’t feel right. Also, I would tell them to be proud of themselves for challenging the “norms.” I am inspired by women working in predominately male industries and I continue to see it more and more every day.”
Hope added, “For young women and girls that are passionate about something, whatever it is, your mentors are your lifeline. You never know who they might end up being. It’s not like you’re assigned a mentor at birth or attached to one. You can build your path and determine who your mentors are inspirations are. Find an unbiased person that will tell you the hard truth when you really, really need it. Ask questions and talk to as many people as you can. Get to know people. It really helps. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and just be you.”
Gina reiterated the importance of finding a mentor whenever possible. She encourages young women to reach out to someone in the field that they want to go into. “People love to talk. There is always someone that can be your mentor. It is so nice to know someone in the field that has a similar background as you and connect with them.”
She thinks it is important for people to keep encouraging young women to do what they want, regardless of who dominates that field. “Back when I was growing up, people put up ceilings for me. As women we need to just keep inspiring young women to feel like there are no boundaries.”
Hope pivoted to reflect being honored as an OL Reign Legend. “There are so many people behind the scenes doing such great work to support the nurses and doctors to do their jobs. There is a whole infrastructure behind the bedside care of a patient, so it is great to be included in this honor.”
Gina was teary-eyed when she learned that she had the opportunity to be honored as an OL Reign Legend. “Heidi and I were on the frontlines and we were honored to be there. We learned so much and got to take care of so many amazing people. It was really sad for a while. People couldn’t have visitors and we were honored to be with those people during that time. We were doing our jobs and for the team to reach out and say they wanted to honor these people… I feel like I’m representing all of my friends at work that couldn’t be there. For every one of me and Heidi, there’s a hundred other people.”
“By honoring us, you are honoring everybody that we work with throughout the whole year. I am honored, but with that I know that I am taking all of the people that I know couldn’t be with me as well. The doctors who have stayed up all night at work, the cleaning staff, all the support staff. It was a real group effort to get through this pandemic that is still going on, but especially those first couple months.”
The Starbucks Foundation has a long history of supporting local communities and healthcare workers. During the COVID-19 outbreak, Starbucks partners have served more than a million free cups of coffee to first responders and healthcare workers. Starbucks partners across the United States and Canada committed to helping show their support and admiration to those on the front lines, in many ways, delivering coffee to those who need it, writing notes of encouragement to accompany each order and more.
OL Reign is proud to honor these inspiring women and healthcare workers everywhere.