1.

What brought you to Mayo Clinic, and how long have you worked here?

I have worked for Mayo Clinic for just under a year-and-a-half. My wife and I moved to Rochester after she took an inpatient nursing job at Saint Marys Hospital. After graduating college from the University of Northern Iowa, my first job was in digital media sales. Then, in the spring of 2022, I joined Mayo Clinic as a marketing and recruitment coordinator in Donor Services for the Mayo Clinic Blood Donor Program.  

Adam and his wife Shay had their first child, Eli, in April.

2.

What’s your current role and what does a typical workday look like for you?

As a marketing and recruitment coordinator for the Blood Donor Program, each day is different. My team and I manage the program’s social media pages, plan promotional events for donors, share blood donor and recipient stories, seek out and plan mobile blood drives, and design and order branded marketing materials. We do our best to help in any way we can, and I love that we get to do a little bit of everything!

3.

How do you think your work benefits providers and patients?

The work done within Donor Services and the Mayo Clinic Blood Donor Program keeps our shelves full of blood products for providers and patients. These products can be given to babies born prematurely, cancer patients seeking treatment, or even in emergency situations on Mayo One.  

4.

Is there anything about you or your job that others might find surprising?

When we recruit donors, most are surprised to learn that a blood donation appointment can be done in around an hour, but once they’re hooked up to the machine, it only takes five to 10 minutes to collect blood. For the remainder of the appointment, our donors answer screening questions, receive a short physical exam, and enjoy cookies in our waiting area after their donation. People also find it interesting that it takes up to 100 donors each day to keep our shelves fully stocked and maintain a healthy local blood supply. This is why setting up routine blood donations is immensely important to helping local patients in need.

5.

Which part(s) of your job is the most challenging, and why?

The most challenging part of my job is dealing with the unexpected. When organizing mobile blood drives, there are countless variables that can change in an instant. Whether it’s a foot of snow on the morning of a blood drive or a power outage at the drive’s location, our recruitment team must always be ready to help our on-site staff troubleshoot bumps in the road. Thankfully, our technicians are experts and adapt to these changes. They’re always able to make the most of a blood drive regardless of what situations arise and we appreciate them.

6.

What gives you meaning and purpose in your work?

Each year the Blood Donor Program produces a calendar filled with stories based around lives that have been impacted through both donating and receiving blood. While curating and writing these stories, we get to hear about the lifesaving and life-changing impact these blood products have within our community. This calendar inspires us all to go the extra mile to help local patients in need of blood, and it gives my daily work purpose. We know when our schedules get busy, it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture; however, seeing donors come through our doors to help patients makes it easier to keep going!