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Laidy Martinez was born and raised in Mexico and came to the United States at 18 without finishing high school. She became a mother young and spent years doing whatever work she could find, including hauling freight as a delivery driver. For a long time, she told herself that her English wasn’t good enough to work in an office. That story almost kept her from making a change.
It was her partner who encouraged her to take that first step, and her sister-in-law, who was already working in medical billing, who pointed her toward the field. Laidy enrolled in a billing and coding trade school and landed her first job at a family practice in 2011. She spent nearly a decade there, absorbing everything she could. When a coworker told her the doctor was taking advantage of her, Laidy admitted she knew it. She also knew she was taking every bit of that knowledge with her when she left.
Her pivot to medical coding came in 2017, when a coder came into the office to train the provider on risk adjustment. Laidy was captivated watching her work and she started asking questions on the spot. Two years later, she earned her Certified Professional Coder (CPC) credential.
From there, her career continued to build. She moved to a GI billing group and eventually took over the billing department as it grew. She lost that job during the COVID pandemic, and then landed a production coding role at a children’s hospital in Orange County. Shortly after, a former AAPC local chapter president reached out specifically to recruit her for a coding supervisor role.
Today, Laidy holds six credentials: CPC, CPB, CPMA, and specialty certifications in GI, general surgery, and ambulatory surgical centers.
Many of those opportunities came through her local AAPC chapter. She started attending meetings before she was certified. She showed up month after month, and eventually became a chapter officer. The supervisor opportunity came through that same network, because someone who knew her believed in her enough to make the call.
Her advice to anyone who feels like their background, their accent, or their past disqualifies them is simple: the biggest thing standing in your way may be the voice in your own head. Tune out the background noise. Do the work. Keep showing up.
It was her partner who encouraged her to take that first step, and her sister-in-law, who was already working in medical billing, who pointed her toward the field. Laidy enrolled in a billing and coding trade school and landed her first job at a family practice in 2011. She spent nearly a decade there, absorbing everything she could. When a coworker told her the doctor was taking advantage of her, Laidy admitted she knew it. She also knew she was taking every bit of that knowledge with her when she left.
Her pivot to medical coding came in 2017, when a coder came into the office to train the provider on risk adjustment. Laidy was captivated watching her work and she started asking questions on the spot. Two years later, she earned her Certified Professional Coder (CPC) credential.
From there, her career continued to build. She moved to a GI billing group and eventually took over the billing department as it grew. She lost that job during the COVID pandemic, and then landed a production coding role at a children’s hospital in Orange County. Shortly after, a former AAPC local chapter president reached out specifically to recruit her for a coding supervisor role.
Today, Laidy holds six credentials: CPC, CPB, CPMA, and specialty certifications in GI, general surgery, and ambulatory surgical centers.
Many of those opportunities came through her local AAPC chapter. She started attending meetings before she was certified. She showed up month after month, and eventually became a chapter officer. The supervisor opportunity came through that same network, because someone who knew her believed in her enough to make the call.
Her advice to anyone who feels like their background, their accent, or their past disqualifies them is simple: the biggest thing standing in your way may be the voice in your own head. Tune out the background noise. Do the work. Keep showing up.