There is a specific kind of clarity that comes from the back of an ambulance. It is a place where titles, politics, and bureaucracy dissolve, leaving only the stark reality of human need. For nearly three decades, Marlenis Hernandez Novoa Smart has operated in this space, a world defined by the urgent, fragile line between life and death. She is a woman who has held the hands of the terrified, stabilized the broken, and navigated the chaotic frontlines of emergency medicine with a calm and practiced hand. But Marlenis is not just a first responder. She is a visionary healthcare leader, a business owner, and a Chief Operating Officer who is now taking the hard-won wisdom of the street and applying it to the complex, high-stakes world of artificial intelligence and healthcare operations.
Marlenis is a woman of many titles: Firefighter Paramedic licensed in multiple states, Business Owner at MLHN LIBELULA, COO of HiveMind Holdings Inc., and a former candidate for Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina. Her commitment to service is renewed constantly; on December 1, 2024, she reaffirmed her role, taking another oath to the United States of America in both Florida and North Carolina.
But beneath the impressive resume lies a singular, driving purpose: to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency. This philosophy, borrowed from Arnold Glasow, is the bedrock of her leadership. Whether she is managing a fleet of AI-driven contact centers for Fortune 500 companies or personally ensuring a patient understands their care plan, her goal is the same. She is here to fix the system so that people don’t have to suffer.
The Scholarship and the Hustle
Marlenis’s journey began in Florida, born into a family where money was scarce, but ambition was plentiful. Growing up poor, she learned early on that if she wanted something, she would have to build it herself. In her senior year of high school, a scholarship changed everything. It was the spark that ignited a relentless drive. She put herself through college, working full-time while attending classes at night, paying for every credit hour with her own sweat equity.
“I knew I was not an office desk person,” she recalls. Her goal was medical school, but life led her to the frontlines of emergency care. On December 1, 2025, she will celebrate her 27th year as a Paramedic. It is a career that has shaped her soul, teaching her the profound value of listening, of touch, and of seeing the whole person, not just the symptoms. As a firefighter and paramedic, she remains dedicated to her community, also volunteering to clean the streets of drug paraphernalia, including fentanyl, cocaine, and heroin, and directing these dangerous situations to the right resources. This is her volunteer service to the state.
The Flight of the Dragonfly
The origin story of her company, MLHN LIBELULA, is a testament to her adaptability and deep compassion. When the world shut down due to COVID-19, Marlenis, then based in North Carolina, found herself traveling back to her home state of Florida to help.
Years before the pandemic in 2020, she knew what was then referred to as ‘Covid,’ but due to union agreements, she was unable to speak publicly about it. Recognizing a gap in the system, she identified a pressing need for personalized, holistic care that extended beyond the rigid protocols of emergency response.
She named her company “Libelula,” Spanish for dragonfly, an insect she has always admired for its beauty and resilience. The name is fitting. Like the dragonfly, Marlenis moves with agility and grace, navigating complex environments to bring healing. Her approach is radically simple: “First I talk to the patient. I do head to toe myself.”
Marlenis is also a certified inspector, and her paramedic training means she habitually does a ‘head-to-toe’ assessment, a quick count, and scans for exits whenever she walks into a room. She asks the question most doctors are too busy to ask: “What can I do to make them feel 100 percent and back to a normal balanced life?”
Her mission is preventative. “My job is to make sure my patients never see a hospital,” she says. She acts as a bridge, teaching patients how to use tools like Epic and MyChart, ensuring they attend follow-up appointments, and involving family members in the plan of care. It is a high-touch, deeply personal model of healthcare that treats the patient as a partner, not a problem.
The AI Operator
While her heart remains with the patient, her mind is focused on the future. As the Chief Operating Officer of HiveMind Holdings Inc., Marlenis operates at the intersection of healthcare and advanced technology. HiveMind is a CCaaS (Contact Center as a Service) provider for Fortune 50, 100, and 500 enterprises, specializing in the integration of AI into customer contact ecosystems.
In this role, Marlenis is responsible for the strategic and operational execution of a mission that sounds almost futuristic: modernizing large-scale contact centers with AI capabilities, particularly within the medical vertical. She oversees the integration of solutions that support clinical contact centers, nurse triage, and care coordination. But for Marlenis, technology is never the point. The point is the patient.
“My role is to make sure the company understands what we are trying to do as an AI/ Healthcare company,” she explains. She ensures that every AI solution adheres to strict industry standards like HIPAA compliance and PHI handling, but more importantly, she ensures they are designed with empathy. She wants to make life easier for the patient, the family member, and the caregiver. She wants to use technology to improve the process so that doctors, nurses, and PAs are all on the same page, and the patient never feels lost in the machine.
The Test of Leadership
Leadership is often tested in the quiet, desperate moments that never make the headlines. For Marlenis, one such moment came while working with Angel Staff from Texas. As an Advanced Paramedic working directly with an MD, she was put in charge of a group of children crossing the border. These were children aged 9 to 18, many of whom had been raped or were pregnant, with no prior healthcare.
“To see what those children have gone through was a lot for many RN’S,” she says, her voice softening. Her job was to be professional, to explain the plan of care to terrified children, to document everything, and to set up transfers to hospitals. She ensured they had fresh, cooked meals and new clothes. In the face of overwhelming human suffering, she did not look away. She led with compassion, dignity, and an unwavering commitment to care.
This dedication has earned her recognition. Marlenis has been named Woman of the Year multiple times and was the First Female to graduate at the top of her class from the Coral Springs Fire Academy. She played a significant role in changing protocols for RNs and Paramedics in the state of Florida, a legacy of systemic improvement that she carried with her to North Carolina. She has also embraced North Carolina, noting, “I have traveled all over North Carolina and I fell in love with the state, too bad it took me this long to move to the state.”
A Future Built on Trust
Marlenis is clear-eyed about the challenges of integrating AI into healthcare. She believes that healthcare AI must be built on an “uncompromising ethical foundation.” Leaders must implement strong governance and design AI that enhances safety and equity, not risk. “Patient trust grows when organizations are transparent, disciplined, and proactive in protecting data,” she asserts.
Her vision for the future is expansive. She has just opened a new company in North Carolina with a specific goal: to help children with disabilities. As a mother of four, including a daughter with a rare disability, she understands the struggle parents face.
“When things go wrong, my family comes together,” she says, emphasizing her core values: “God, family, and country.” She wants to provide the right resources and support to help families navigate a system that is often short-staffed and overwhelming. Her daughter, currently in middle school, is also writing a book about the difficulties of being a disabled child in the school system.
Marlenis herself is writing a soft-cover book designed to be easily carried while traveling, with the goal of sharing her wisdom and perspective with a wide audience.
The Balance of a Life Lived Fully
Despite her demanding roles, Marlenis finds balance in the simple, grounding rituals of life. She works out, cooks every day for her family, and prays to her maker. She coaches and tutors children in Wake County, NC, staying deeply involved in her community.
Her philosophy on health is personal and rooted in self-care. “I am not a Pharma person,” she says. Born in the 70s, she believes in respecting the body and teaching children to do the same. “We all need to always respect ourselves and everyone around us. Our Children are our future.”
She shares a personal plea for empathy, stating, “Hug yourself first. Be nice to everybody. Smile to everybody. We never know what anybody is going through unless they tell us or they express it in their face.”
Marlenis Hernandez Novoa Smart is a leader who defies categorization. She is a paramedic who runs a tech company. She is a politician who cleans wounds. She is a mother who builds empires. But above all, she is a woman who has dedicated her life to the simple, radical idea that healthcare should be about care. She serves the patient, the community, and the future, proving every day that the most powerful tool in medicine is not a machine, but a human heart.
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