Anthea Zeise
Administrative Support
“Experiences and opportunities are key to a person’s character.”
Anthea attended Pierce College and received her Associates degree in Administrative Assistance for Healthcare and a Certificate for Medical billing and Coding.
Ten years of customer service work and her own smarts, has contributed greatly to her smooth operation of the front desk. She has her hands full with scheduling, and performing various office projects. There are many aspects to the work that she does at the front desk, like learning to use online Practice Management Software for setting appointments, color coding them and customizing codes needed in the office. In addition to that, introducing electronic billing has cut down on paper waste and is much faster than checks.
She’s always learning more ways to make her work easier whether it’s facilitating calls between clients and the office, or calls with insurances or EAPs as well as with other agencies. It can be a tall order explaining changes in insurance policies to clients. She says it’s important to her to work with the client explaining to them so that they understand their policy. She says co-pays and deductibles are discussed the most and can be confusing. Dealing with insurance companies can be very challenging, however she’s even come up with helpful tips to more easily facilitate those calls.
She takes much pride in the work that she does, her skills continue to improve and compliments all the work we do at Develop Minded Therapies
Mercy Benitez
Administrative Support
“The best way to earn respect, is by treating others with respect.”
Mercy was born in Me’rida, the capital and largest city in Yucatan state in Mexico. At 18, she joined her family when she moved to Tacoma.
After graduating high school, she worked and earned professional certifications in collections. One of her earlier jobs was at a property management firm which piqued her interest in attending college and one day owning an agency that handles real estate and property management.
Mercy has interest in a wide variety of things. She loves the Seahawks. She enjoys cooking family recipes and going to the movies with her nephews. She enjoys 80’s movies- especially those starring Molly Ringwald or Michael J. Fox, and she loves the TV sitcom “Friends”.
Mercy’s big dream would be to travel to Japan, and to enjoy the culture, landscaping, architecture and food. The peak of that dream would be for her to climb Mt Fuji. She has become enamored with Mt. Fuji after viewing countless videos about Japan.
She says going to college is the hardest thing that she’s done. For many years there was one obstacle after another in her way; including financial challenges and bad timing. She reveals that because she was born with one arm that the physical aspects of trying to get around and carrying things are part of what makes going to college challenging for her. However, she has a goal to finish her associate’s degree for business in 3 years and she says she’s determined to finish it!
Jennifer Robinson
Jennifer is from Milton, WA. A city of less than 10,000 situated in both King and Pierce counties. She has fond memories of growing up and going to school there. She felt safe in a community where her graduating class numbered 180 and a large majority, were people that she’d known since elementary school. At home they were able to leave their doors unlocked and garages wide open without issue.
However, growing-up in a city that lacked diversity was a struggle with her identity and trying her best to fit in as a bi-racial child. She adds that once she moved away, she was able to learn so much more about her struggle and she made friends who shared similar experiences.
She has two cats (Marley and Forrest) the latter named after the movie and because her name is Jenny. She enjoys walking and hiking. Lately, she’s been enjoying waterfall hikes. She plays violin and piano. Previously, her piano lessons were all classical, but now she enjoys learning more modern songs via YouTube tutorials. Her favorite foods are Sushi and Mexican foods, in particular chicken flautas and making tacos at home.
The achievement that she’s most proud of so far, is getting her Associates of Arts degree. It took a long time, and she failed some classes in the process. What she’d tell someone who wanted to give up is that “sometimes it’s not about giving up, but about re-assessing and taking a break”. Further, she’s, “learned to think of failing as just part of the process and that failing doesn’t mean it’s over.”
Her future plans are to continue her education within the mental health field to help herself as well as others. She feels that her own upbringing and mental health struggles have allowed her to have empathy for people. She now has first-hand knowledge of how difficult it is to get help when you are struggling. She also feels that there is usually an explanation for someone’s behavior. She says,” It’s not an excuse but if we understand the struggles one may go through, then we can have empathy for them and hold space for their healing. So, I want to help people by using my own experiences and the things I learned.”