Most Powerful Women 2016: Tammy Hawes

After growing up in a very small town and being one of only two women in her graduating computer science class from East Tennessee State University, you would think the odds of Tammy Hawes creating a thriving startup would be slim. But that is precisely what the Virsys12 CEO has accomplished. Hawes has worked in various software development positions throughout her 25-year career, making her way up through middle management and focusing primarily on health care. Soon after moving to Nashville, she was recruited by HCA and spent five years at the hospital industry leader, a time she says was a “phenomenal launching point.”

Hawes later worked as the president of Axis Accounting and was CIO/CTO of Paradigm Healthcare, among other positions. In 2011, she launched Virsys12 to provide technology solutions for businesses — again focused mainly on health care — in need of streamlining their processes.