Lesa Sommers calls her last job her “past life,” a chapter that ended when she and her husband moved from the Cleveland area to Central Ohio in 2019. At the time, Lesa had been caring for her mother; after her mother passed away, they sold the house and relocated to be closer to their son. They first settled in Westerville, where Lesa’s commute was just three minutes. They recently moved again, this time to Galloway, just minutes from their son, daughter-in-law, and first grandchild. “He has the best smile,” she says of her grandson. “We call him ‘smiles for miles.’”
Now, nearly three years into her role at Accountable, Lesa serves as the AR Team Lead and is helping shape the company’s growing training program. “It’s a really nice place to work,” she says. “Everybody’s friendly and helpful, and they let you know when you’re doing a good job. You feel appreciated.”
Lesa has been in medical billing for 18 years, and before that, she worked in an automotive warehouse doing everything from taking and pulling orders to stocking shelves and inputting inventory. “That may be where I get my attention for details,” she says.
Learning With Grace, Not Pressure
As the person heading up Accountable’s training program, Lesa wants people to know that going for training doesn’t reflect any inadequacies. “Sometimes when someone comes back for a couple of weeks of additional training, they say, ‘What am I doing wrong? I thought I was doing great.’ And I say, ‘You are doing great. There’s just more to know, so you can be even better.’”
“You’re not going to get this in two weeks. We don’t expect anybody to get it quickly. We just want you to take the time to learn it”
To Lesa, the secret ingredient for learning something new is grace. “It’s okay if you don’t understand how to do something the first time you see it,” she says. “People say, ‘I should know how to do this because I have experience,’ even when it’s their first time in the system or with a particular client. Don’t beat yourself up,” she says. “It’s a learning experience, and it doesn’t take away from anything you do know. You’re not going to get this in two weeks. We don’t expect anybody to get it quickly. We just want you to take the time to learn it” Lesa’s advice for the people she trains? “Let go a little bit and relax.”
Lesa doesn’t believe in one-size-fits-all training. “You can’t cookie-cut it,” she says. “Some people need to watch. Some people want to do it while you’re sitting there.” She encourages everyone to ask questions. “I always stop by people’s desks and say, ‘You need me?’ Because a lot of times they’ll say, ‘I don’t want to bother you,’ and I say, ‘You’re not bothering me. I worry if you don’t bother me.’”
Weekends and Weeds
Outside of work, Lesa loves animals, gardening (“pulling weeds relaxes me”), and her grandson, who just turned eight months old. On her longer commute these days, she mixes up podcasts, sometimes it’s The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer, other times it’s New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce. Different vibes, but both keep her company on the road.
On Saturday mornings, you’ll usually find her at her son’s house weeding. “I like the smell of dirt,” she says. Her family knows not to bother her then, though her son only watches her from the window for so long before offering her a cup of coffee.
