Meet Toni Watts: Mammography Technologist in Atlanta, GA
When it comes to working with incredible people in the healthcare industry, we’re pretty lucky that we don’t have to go very far. Our network is full of wonderful people who are doing meaningful work across the country and we’re fortunate to hear their stories, get to know how their day-to-day is, what they had for lunch, and the people like (or don’t like) working with on assignment. Look, we’re all humans at the end of the day and sometimes work is just hard, full of challenges, mistakes, and unfortunate circumstances. Heck, even a bad lunch can make the difference in having a good or a bad day.
We’re highlighting one of these delightful folks here. We’d like to introduce you to Toni Watts - a Mammography Technologist in Atlanta, Georgia. She’s been with Spire for a little over two years and she’s seen multiple assignments with our team. Something we love about Toni is that she encourages everyone around her, genuinely cares about the well-being of others, and likes to connect people. Let’s get to know her a bit more!
How long have you been with Spire?
I joined Spire in October of 2022 through a referral. I’m now working with a young lady that referred me to Spire - she initially introduced me to Matt. He immediately was eager to get me on the team. I loved it. I love the energy. I love the fact that we're not going to try to prolong this situation - I told him “The first thing that comes available, let me know if it fits or if it clashes.” And we rebuilt my resume to the criteria for the facilities that he would apply me to. From there, I landed a job and started October 24th.
Onboarding was extremely easy. Matt gave me everything I needed and honestly, he offered me more than the other agencies offered me…I'm super appreciative that I can call and he has the answers I need, especially as a traveler, not knowing where you're going, not knowing what you're doing and it's all foreign to you, but having someone readily available is awesome.
I started out in Sandy Springs at a Breast Care Center - a high-volume, fast-paced environment. There were a lot of hands there — about 6-7. We saw about 120 patients per day! I was in that assignment for about 6 months and then moved to a new facility in Lawrenceville. I wasn’t sure about it at first - I was the only tech. The supervisor basically told me “So, this is all you. You’re the lead. Just let me know if you need guidance.”
So, I called Matt telling him I wasn’t sure it was going to work out. He, again, gave me great advice: “Toni, you’re great. You know what to do. Just give it some time and you’ll do great. Plus, if it doesn’t work out we can find you someplace new. Well, fast-forward one week and I love it. The area around the facility has everything I need from food to shopping, I’m basically my own boss — and I ended up staying at that assignment for 9 months! Then, instead of renewing, I was ready to try something fresh and Matt got me something closer to home in Atlanta.
Tell me about your current assignment and what you love about the area:
I’m currently at an office in Midtown, Atlanta. It's a beautiful building. It's about five levels of offices. It's a doctor's office, so it's not a hospital. I'm in mammography and we occupy two suites on the 8th floor and on the 9th floor. The area is amazing - eateries all around you. It isn’t great when you have to order delivery and pay $20 - Here we can walk right down the sidewalk or just right next door, and we have all of these options close by. One of our favorites is a local cookie shop just down the street - so good!
This current office is pretty much a mosaic in terms of freedom. You have the freedom to express yourself within your attire. I enjoy that because so many places you must get this new color in order to work there. But then you only get reimbursement for, I think your first set of scrubs. But here, it's like, oh no, if you have scrubs, wear them! I love that.
As far as the equipment, the entire office is on Hologic, across the board - and I'm used to working with Hologic. To me, it is the more advanced, the more dependable, durable work equipment. So, if you have Hologic, I know your facility is up to par with the standards of work equipment as far as the imaging goes. I was really happy about that.
What advice would you give to other travelers in this city/facility?
Take your time. Understand that your environment is new, and it is not expected for you to know everything on day one. You want to go in and give yourself grace. The way the policies are set up are always going to be different at each facility. Different doctors want different things. Different policies are implemented at different locations. So with that being said, come prepared to learn.
Also, remember, you're in this career and you likely love it. So always remember to have fun. Have fun, enjoy what you're doing. Even if you make a little boo boo, your next patient, go in there, give her your smile, and then just rock it from there. Your energy is going to transfer and the day is going to end up better than the way that it started. So always remember, one day at a time, one step at a time.