Meet Amy Cain Sousa
I’m Amy Cain Sousa, founder of Three Stones Advisory and a senior marketing advisor with decades of experience in healthcare marketing, communications, and business strategy.
Before founding Three Stones, I spent much of my career inside hospitals, health systems, and civic organizations, advising CEOs and executive teams through periods of growth, change, and public scrutiny. I led brand, public relations, and community engagement work for hospitals serving hundreds of thousands of people, managed million-dollar budgets, supported service line growth, and helped build nationally recognized campaigns.
Today, I bring that experience to independent healthcare practices and mission-driven organizations that need clearer business and marketing decisions before investing more time, money, or energy in the next tactic. Through Three Stones and my consulting work, I support clients from coast to coast.
My work sits at the intersection of business model, positioning, messaging, patient experience, offers, and practical growth strategy. I help practice owners look beneath the surface of their marketing to understand what is really needed, what deserves attention now, and what will support the practice they are actually building.
I also advise small business owners through the Santa Cruz County Small Business Development Center, part of the national SBDC network. This gives me a grounded view of what it takes to grow a sustainable business. Combined with my healthcare and consulting background, it helps me see both the big picture and the practical next steps.
Clients describe me as a calm, thoughtful partner who asks better questions, listens for what may be beneath the surface, and helps clarify the business beneath the marketing. My goal is simple: to help you make decisions that support your business, your values, and the practice you are building.
I hold a master’s degree in strategic public relations from George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of South Carolina.
The Meaning Behind Three Stones
My mother used to say things happen in threes.
I’m the third daughter, so maybe the number has always carried a certain magic for me. Over time, I began to notice how often three appears when we are trying to make meaning: beginning, middle, end; past, present, future; mind, body, spirit. For me, it also holds something more personal: work, life, and soul.
The stones come from another part of my story. All four of my father's grandparents emigrated to America from Ireland and maybe that's why I have always felt some deep and ancient connection to all things Irish. In Irish and Celtic landscapes, stacked stones and circles of stone often mark a path, a boundary, or a place of meaning. They offer a kind of quiet wayfinding when the route is not obvious. I love that.
The name honors family, ancestry, intuition, and the belief that clarity does not always come from more hustle. Sometimes it comes from slowing down, noticing what is true, and choosing the next right step.