With a Mission-First Mentality, CFP Fellow Assists 27,500 CVS Health® Colleagues
Roxanne Lyons naturally applies the lessons from her military career to the corporate world, even during natural disasters.
“I volunteered for an extra seven-hour shift overnight. No one told me to do it. I did it because it had to be done,” Lyons said.
This is one example of how Senior Master Sergeant Lyons applied a mission-first mentality during her fellowship with CVS Health. As an incident coordinator with the enterprise resiliency (ER) team, Lyons served as a point of contact for business continuity and disaster inquiries submitted by colleagues impacted by Hurricane Ian.
“In the Air Force, you are taught the mission comes first,” she said.
Lyons is a transitioning service member enrolled in Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellowship Program. She is also CVS Health’s first fellow in the Business Intel Analyst career track for transitioning service members.
“The ER team has welcomed me as one of their own, and it’s a great feeling,” Lyons said. “I had no idea how busy the position would be and how important the work is that we do at CVS Health. This position has been a great learning experience. I am gaining critical knowledge, but it’s also challenging and fast-paced. Having this opportunity has opened my eyes to what the civilian sector has to offer. I am so grateful Hiring Our Heroes teamed up with such an amazing company.”
‘They Trusted Me’
Lyons had been at CVS Health for less than 30 days when she “was thrown into the fire.”
Hurricane Ian intensified to become the strongest September hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico since Hurricane Irma in 2017. On Sept. 29, 2022, Hurricane Ian hit Florida’s western coast, “bringing intense winds, heavy rainfall, and catastrophic storm surges,” according to the National Weather Service. The storm “knocked out power to more than four million customers in Florida, and an additional 1.1 million homes and businesses lost power in the Carolinas,” NWS reported.
With more than 1,000 stores in Florida, the ER team worked around the clock. They responded to more than 27,500 colleagues living and working in the storm’s path.
“When a natural disaster hits, we want the CVS Health employees to hear it from us first. It’s our priority to ensure the information about mandatory evacuations and a state of emergency gets out to them,” Lyons said.
The CVS Health Workforce Initiatives team collaborates with Hiring Our Heroes to tailor its employment opportunities for the military community. In this webinar, CVS Health leaders explain the various pathways available in the CVS Health family of companies.
While the response was intense, Lyons leaned on her military experience to “get the work done.” Meanwhile, her host company looked toward her expertise as a military veteran.
“They trusted me knowing what I had done in the military,” Lyons said.
“When a natural disaster hits, we want the CVS Health employees to hear it from us first.”
Roxanne Lyons, CFP fellow
CVS Health Takes Care of its People
CVS Health EVP and Chief Compliance Officer David Falkowski highlighted the Enterprise Resiliency team in a company-wide email.
“The work this team does is important to helping CVS Health achieve its strategy and I wanted to say thanks to all the team members listed below and for helping us realize our purpose of bringing our heart to every moment of your health,” Falkowski wrote.
Lyons, a CFP fellow, saw her name listed among the ER team members. While she didn’t expect to receive any recognition, she said she was “overjoyed” to be recognized for her work.
In the days following Hurricane Ian’s landfall, the enterprise resiliency team provided resources to colleagues needing assistance. CVS Health’s proactive response impressed Lyons.
“I saw how CVS Health takes care of its people,” she said. “It was amazing.”
Lyons will wrap up her fellowship in early December. She expects to retire from the Air Force in 2023 and hopes to join the CVS Health team.
