Dr. Amber Steves always knew one thing growing up—she knew she wanted to help people. Not in a flashy, high-profile “look at me” manner but rather in a quieter and more unassuming way.

She wanted to be a librarian.

“It’s true,” confesses Dr. Steves. “I love to read, and I volunteered at the library for years.”

It looked like her career might follow that storyline until one fateful day when a well-intentioned librarian asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up. “I want to be a librarian, just like you!” she exclaimed, to which her would-be role model replied, “It’s probably not a good career choice for you, honey. You’re a little too loud for that.”

Nice.

Thankfully, her mother signed her up for an elective health care class in high school which resulted in Steves getting her Certified Nursing Assistant license even prior to graduation. Thus began another chapter in Dr. Steves’ story. “After high school, I was pretty sure I wanted to be a doctor,” she comments. “I shadowed several health care providers but ultimately decided on family medicine.”

Today Dr. Steves helps others write their own epic stories of health at Associates in Family Medicine’s Lemay office, providing a broad range of services including preventative medicine, obstetrics, pediatrics, geriatrics, gynecology, and dermatology.

“I have to say, I love delivering babies. New parenting is such a fun, unique time of life. And then taking care of those same kids later is pretty special,” remarks Steves. “But the other end of the spectrum is rewarding, too. I have some patients who are almost 100 years old who are polka dancing fanatics. The idea of folks remaining that active at that age really makes my day. It’s a hoot!”

Outside of work, Steves and her husband Deric McIntosh, who just so happens to be an AFM physician in the Loveland office, appreciate the local restaurant and brewery scene—especially when they can include their two dogs, Fisher and Mr. Darcy, in the experience.

“The food and beer options in Fort Collins are terrific and mostly dog-friendly, which is nice. But the thing I love the most about this community is the people,” comments Steves. “They’re just so friendly and relaxed. I love all the outdoor activities like camping in the summer and hunting, too. I don’t hunt myself, but I do help dress the game. I made pheasant pot pies the other night, and they were really good!”

When Steves isn’t baking birdies into pastry crusts, she can occasionally be found chasing them around a court playing competitive badminton, a sport she embraced after meeting an Olympic-level player in middle school. “I was completely enamored, and I totally wanted to be like him,” reflects Steves. “So I competed in high school and I played in college, as well. It’s super popular in Arizona where I grew up. Americans are notoriously bad at it, but it’s really popular in Britain and Australia.”

And if her mother hadn’t served up a career in health care for her?

“Besides being a loud librarian or a badminton instructor, you mean?” she says with a grin. “Probably a CIA agent. I think I’d be horrible at it, though. I mean, I’m a pretty good shot but I’m not a big fan of the dark. So that would definitely have to be my ‘day job’—a spy with banker’s hours.”