Barbie Role Models: Amy O'Sullivan

Emergency Room Nurse, United States

Amy O’Sullivan is a proud ER nurse with nearly three decades of experience in her field— including nineteen years at her current workplace, Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. Amy’s dedication to her calling is obvious to anyone who sees her in action; but never has her devotion been more evident than during the COVID-19 pandemic, which, in its early months, hit New York City especially hard. Her essential work on the frontlines of the pandemic was honored with official recognition when she was featured on the cover of Time magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2020.

Outside of work, Amy’s pride and joy is her family: her partner Tiffany; their three daughters, Ocean, Kali, and Summer; and a lively crush of dogs and cats of all ages and sizes. On her days off, Amy is likely to be found sunbathing or swimming at home with her family, or loading up her vibrant, tropical-blue Jeep for a day of fun-in-the- sun at the beach. Whether it’s surfing, swimming, or teaching her girls how to catch a wave, Amy is as clearly in her element in the water, as she is in the emergency room. There’s a balance to the elements of a life fully-lived. Amy’s nursing, in the time of COVID, would be enough to inspire. But it’s that balance— time for service; time for loved ones; time for self— that allows one to breathe deeply in the richness of life’s many colors. Amy O’Sullivan lives in that air; walks its beaches. And that’s what truly makes her a role model for the twenty-first- century girl.