MedTech Mentor: Recent Episodes
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This is a series of real-life conversations with a rotating cast of industry professionals from the medtech industry.
Our Host, Crystal Howell, dives into our guests' journeys, uncovering honest and real stories of passion, purpose and impactful learning- aiming to deliver thought provoking ideas and tactical takeaways to help you further develop in this competitive ecosystem!
With our own ânorth starâ of paying it forward, each guest donates an additional 1-hour mentoring session to a lucky listener who subscribes and shares the episode with #medtechmentorpodcast. Start listening, start sharing and learning!
In this episode of the MedTech Mentor Podcast, we welcome Judith Mitchell, CEO of Next Science.
Next Science is a company pioneering technology to combat the rising problem of antimicrobial resistance. Prior to joining Next Science in 2017, she was President of Depuy Synthes APAC where she led the Orthopaedics Division of J&J. She was also the President of Asia Pacific for Synthes GmbH, the world leader in Orthopaedic trauma care. Prior to joining Synthes in 2004, she held several senior positions at Cochlear Limited in Product Development, Global Marketing and Education.
Judy shares how she started her MedTech journey, a happy accident of geographical convenience. She was a single-mum trying to balance family and a career, and secured her first position with General Electric as an Administrator. What happened thereafter is a testament to her natural talent and drive, as well as the blue sky within medtech.
Fast forward, and this year Judy celebrates her 40th year of service. Judy discusses how the mission and purpose to improve the lives of patients is what kept her in an industry that demanded a 24/7 pursuit of continuous improvement. Familiar with the tough decisions, she shares stories of some of her hardest calls and lessons learned, and how those experiences keep her focused on whatâs important, the patient- that is the north star, that is how decisions get made.
Judy has this beautiful knack of being able to bring the "human into the room", and she is always there to help. Undoubtedly, if you spend any amount of time with Judy, sheâll ask you that exact question, âHow can I help?â which is where the title of this episode comes from.
I am such a tremendous fan of Judy and am not not shy to say I truly soaked every moment of our time in the studio together... She carries the conversation! Her story and sage advice made a marked impact on me, and I hope that you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.
Please donât forget, Judy will be generously donating an hour of her time to for a 1:1 mentoring session to one of our listeners who like and share on social media with the #medtechmentorpodcast Don't miss this outstanding opportunity to spend quality time with a leader like Judy, it's an opportunity not to be missed!
This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm
In this edition of the MedTech Mentor Podcast, we welcome Sabeen Shaikh, a healthcare executive, board member, thought leader, and public speaker with over 15 years of experience in the industry.
Sabeen's present-day purpose shows up with her very own consultancy, Crescent Strategy, and she currently sits on various boards with the aim to help others realise their commercial ambitions by creating effective go-to-market strategies that take these amazing technologies to the next level. To date, she has worked with over 300 start-ups and is sincerely passionate about opportunities that push innovation forward in the Asia Pacific region.
Sabeenâs been part of my village for a few years now, and Iâve always found her experience to be so unique and her perspective enlightening. She has an uncanny ability to understand both sides of his ecosystem, the new and the established, and sheâs always rooting for the Underdog⌠which I love.
In this conversation, we explore how she cultivated this mix of experiences, and as a result, uncovered a new nickname, the MedTech Double Agent, which is where the title of this episode comes from.
I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did and find it insightful to just what opportunities exist if you are willing to take a risk and live outside your comfort zone!
Topics discussed:
- Career building
- Accelerators, and scaling up
- Start-Up Space, what you need to know!
Links mentioned in this episode: https://www.crescentstrategyconsulting.com/ https://www.thebalancecareers.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-working-at-a-startup-company-3859588 https://www.ausmedtech.com.au/
This podcast is produced by PodStream Studies and hosted by ZenCast.fm
In our fourth and final episode of MedTech Mentor for 2020, our host, Crystal Howell, sits down with Medtech Leader and Positive Psychology Performance Coach, Kirsten McKenna with Cortex Consulting and Winefulness.
Kirsten dedicates her time to helping individuals find focus and igniting curiosity. She partners with individuals, inspiring teams, and engendering positive change in corporate culture. As an accomplished leadership and performance coach, well-being expert & author of the book Lead Well: How to Show Up Consistently Well in Leadership and Life, Kirsten is someone who is passionate about human potential.
That being said, Kirsten did not start out as an entrepreneur. She spent the better part of two decades within MedTech, starting out in sales, to people management, and finally as a National Salesforce Effectiveness Lead with Johnson & Johnson.
Kirsten shares her professional journey as a MedTech professional and now entrepreneur and gives us tactical takeaways of how she practices building resilience, and her mentors within the space of positive psychology.
Considering what a year 2020 has been, we could not think of a better show to leave our listeners as we pause, reflect, refresh, and prepare for 2021!
Topics discussed:
- What is resilience?
- 2020- Think of us as a ball, and 2020 as wet cement...
- Building Resilience, it's the micro and the macro
- Breathe
- Susan David's TED Talk, "discomfort is the price of a meaningful life."
- Grounding Exercises
This podcast is Produced by PodStream hosted by ZenCast.fm
In our third episode, I sat down with Chris Szeleczky, General Manager of Service & Operations with Olympus Medical, a leading global medical device manufacturer of optical and digital precision technologies.
Chris shares his professional journey as an Electrical Engineer who accidentally found his way to MedTech through the service pathway, and how he utilised a strength-based approach in forging a non-linear career path that took him into operations, and eventually even policy writing and corporate sales.
Chrisâ journey was supported by amazing coaches and mentors who encouraged him to jump into different projects, and they were also not afraid to share clear constructive feedback. He shares those pivotal moments where he received that feedback and how he leaned into it with gratitude which helped him mindfully recalibrate. These experiences in his professional development ultimately enabled him to push himself outside his comfort zone and job-craft his way to his current role as general manager.
Chrisâs story is an excellent reference point on so many levels. It speaks to young engineers looking to break into the industry, as well as seasoned professionals who experience those moments of tough feedback and how to embrace them with gratitude and grow!
This podcast is Produced by PodStream hosted by ZenCast.fm
In this episode, I am joined by the incredibly tenacious Lauren Barber, Founder and CEO of Needlecalm, MTAA Board Member, and Chair of the MTAA's Women in Medtech Group. Lauren shares an unabashed story of her journey from Nurse to MedTech Entrepreneur, and how she found her purpose of reducing needle-related anxiety for patients around the world and establishing Needlecalm. Lauren gives a candid view of the hardships of commercialising a medical device in this highly complex and competitive industry. She shares how she "leveled-up" with the likes of an accelerator program, and pushed through the highs and lows by keeping her purpose front of mind. Lauren's brave account of her own fears and anxiety particularly around public speaking (her kryptonite) are something I know many of us will relate to. Lauren also gives practical tips and tricks of how she prepares so she can show up and present with confidence.
Topics discussed:
- Inventing and commercialising a medical device
- MedTech Accelerator Programs
- Public speaking
Links mentioned in this episode:
- https://www.needlecalm.com.au/
- http://medtechactuator.com/
- https://ritualize.com/box-breathing-military-secret/
This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm
This week, Crystal Howell and Annie Arnett cover her personal MedTech story and how her journey made her mindful of her personal brand, how she shows up as a leader. Sharing some of her most cherished pieces of advice throughout her career from her own mentors. Annie provides an honest conversation about self-reflection, staying true to values, and remembering that your personal brand is your own.
Links mentioned in this episode:
- https://thenounproject.com/
This podcast is a personally-funded passion project created by Crystal Howell, produced by PodStream, and hosted by ZenCast.fm
TRANSCRIPT OF SHOW:
MTM001 Annie Arnett - SHOWNOTES
Crystal: [00:00:02] Hello everybody. This is Crystal Howell host of the MedTech mentor podcast. The podcast is designed to provide mentorship and advice to personal connections, with stories with our guests. In our first edition, we had an opportunity to sit down with Hologic's very own Annie Arnett talking about her own personal story and how she's mindful of how you show up and lead day to day. I'm really excited today to be here with Annie Arnett. She's the general manager and vice president of Hologic ANZ. And sheâs had a prestigious career within med tech, you know, starting out within her field of technical sales within microbiology and moving into marketing with the likes of Kimberly Clarke and eventually Stryker where she had an impressive decade with them, promoted from product manager to marketing manager and eventually marketing director of their surgical division in the United States before taking this role here at Hologic as again, the general manager and vice president. Thank you so much, Annie. I'm so excited to have you here today.
Annie: [00:01:01] Oh, Crystal. Thanks for having me. It's great to be here and you know, I'd love to help you sharing my story of how I've got to where I am at. It's a great opportunity so thank you.
Crystal: [00:01:10] Oh, you're so welcome! So that, that background, there's a lot in that, but it's really funny. I'd love to hear your story of, you know, med tech is it's not very transparent. What does your family think that you'd get up to all day in this role?
Annie: [00:01:25] Yeah, it's um, it's funny you ask that cause uh, mum is a, she, she was a nurse, retired now, but, uh, an operating room nurse, and then a community nurse. And she's been a school nurse and a few other things, but always through her career, she's, she's been a nurse. And, and so I'm working in a complimentary industry in the med tech industry. You know, we have some great conversations. Um, but I just started out in this role and mum had to go and get her mammogram. And so she rocks up. She lives in, in Lismore. Uh, so she walks up to get her mammogram and it's a Hologic mammography machine. And so mom can't help herself. And this is where I was like, Oh mom, you did what? So she's talking to the radiographer and she's like, Oh my daughter, my daughter works for this company. She actually leads it in Australia. And I was like, Oh mom, no, you didn't. But then she had a really great conversation. She said it made it, made the mammogram go, go by really, really quickly.
Crystal: [00:02:22] Thats the funny thing is when you ask, you know, what does your daughter think you do? And what do your kids think? Are your parents? Um, you know, I asked Lucas once, you know, what do you think I do? And he's like, Oh, you talk to people a lot and you send them to jobs. Like I was like, yeah, Yeah. Yeah, that's it that's pretty much it.
Annie: [00:02:39] Um, Georgie has come to the office a couple of times in a couple of different companies that I've, I've worked for. And in, in one of the companies...