Exploring a Career in Biotech Consulting

What is a strategy consultant? This week you are in for a treat because on our Career Chat series we chatted with one of our own community members. And Christina is so active and wonderful in the community. If you are in there, you definitely know who she is because she gives great advice. Christina has a really interesting career that actually spans strategy and project management across both healthcare and biotech. And most recently, she founded her own consulting firm where she's the director of operations and innovations at Protein Insights Partner. So she walks us through how she ended up getting the experience she needed to found that consulting firm and what she does for clients. And she also sprinkles in some amazing advice along the way, like how to network your way into jobs. This was a great conversation. I love chatting with Christina and I know you'll like it too.

I'm Karina Klingman, scientist turned CEO of a talent strategy consulting firm. I've helped over 85 biotechs hire and develop thousands of amazing employees. So I know what works and what doesn't work when it comes to landing a job and then excelling in it. I created the Biotech Career Coach podcast to give you simple, actionable, step by step strategies to help you land your dream biotech job, then move up the career ladder. If you are exploring career paths, looking to learn about biotech, or simply striving to be the type of person who makes an impact and gets promoted, you're.

In the right place. All right, people will trickle in, but let's get started. Would you walk us through how you got interested in biotech, how you came into a career in biotech to begin with?

Yeah. Thank you, you know, for this opportunity for having me on. So what really got me into biotech was my motivation really stemmed from personal experience. As a child, I spent a lot of time in the hospital and I observed complexities firsthand in the healthcare system and also the struggle in finding solutions. So this experience, combined with being the first generation English speaker, first generation college student, it really sparked a passion for me in the healthcare environment. So at first, actually my focus was understanding the intricacies of the healthcare system and looking for areas of improvement. As I gained more experience and move into leadership skills, my motivation shifted towards driving strategic initiatives and operational efficiencies that have a broader and more meaningful impact in patient outcomes and organizational performance. That is how I transition into biotech.

So you have had a few career shifts also once you entered biotech, can you talk to us about what that first position was and then kind of some of the Changes in tack that you've taken during your career.

I started as an analyst consultant at Paralights and an associate kinetics group. It was a strategic advisory and marketing agencies and my tenure there as a account management director. It was there I learned how to increase market competitiveness for integrated health systems, working with life sciences companies. And it provided me a foundation for project management strategy development. And I transitioned into the healthcare setting. And I started at the beginning. I took on a patient financial rep role where I initiated a lot of quality improvement projects and volunteer in enterprise work groups. And it helped me got a better understanding of clinical workflow and electronic medical records. And from there I was selected actually to be a clinical quality project manager and analyst. And I manage strategic projects to analyze hospital rankings and improve their rankings that really enrich my experience in data analytics, quality quality improvement and strategic project management. And from my internal network I actually pitched myself for a program manager role in the research incubator. I promise we'll get to biotech, but I just kind of want to walk you through so you can see the transitions. So from there I learned because of my project management skills, now I can do to managing large scale research projects and beating the strategic initiatives that secured the significant research funding. And then I transitioned into biotech because of my network and interfacing with external stakeholders where I was a clinical science liaison in biotech for alliance management, clinical operations and patient affairs. And each of these roles have really been instrumental in shaping my career. They allow me to transfer the skills that I have built across various domains. It enhanced my industry knowledge and now I actually started my own consulting agency. I am serving as the director of operations and innovations where I help formulate my clients research strategy with the valuable insights and recommendations from the medical advisory board. My role also includes conducting due diligence to ensure the strategies are well informed and aligned with industry trends. I'm responsible also for evaluating the clinical utility of the initiatives and providing education to the core team.

So you're kind of full cycle, right? You started in consulting and now you're back. Yeah, Love that. I know that you know you've come to biotech after your healthcare stint. That's just two sides of the same coin because we do biotech to affect human health. And so the idea of biotech obviously is to create drugs and therapies that end up in patients. And so you sort of started that way and worked backward. What would you say are the big differences in maybe the culture of the two sides of that coin? The healthcare versus biotech. What Are some of the differences?

Yeah, you're exactly right. They're two sides of the same coin. I see a lot of collaboration and innovation. So academia, you know, is always, I feel that is at the forefront of cutting edge research and the theoretical advancement and industry. Biotech really excels in applying these innovations to practical real world problems. So collaboration between both can actually lead to scientifically rigorous and actually commercially viable rituals. So by working together, I feel like academia can provide the foundational research and industry can offer the resources and practical applications to bring the discoveries to market.

And I think someone with the experience in both sides like yourself is probably really valuable to the clients you consult with because you understand that end game, right? Which is getting, getting the therapies to patients. But basic researchers, we're not so good at that sometimes we don't really understand how that all plays out down the healthcare attack. How do you attack that with your clients? And do you talk about that a lot? Like what's that end game?

Earlier on in my career I have been focused on just improving it, but not seeing the end game. As I advance in my career, you know, understanding the goals, right, of what both parties want and find a mutually beneficial and agreeable solution is very important.

So consulting, that's a word we hear tossed around, right? People think, oh I want to get into consulting. Can you tell us what to you a good consultant does with clients and kind of what is a consultant?

A consultant is someone I think most importantly listen and figure out what the client needs. And sometimes you're not the right person for the job. I have, you know, been in a room where I listened to the problems that the clients are having and said I know I won't be able to do it well and propose someone else, suggest another person. So to me, besides having the subject matter expertise, but also be comfortable knowing that this is not my area, I need to send my client to someone else, my potential client to someone else.

Yeah, I agree with you. So I own a consulting firm and we turn away at least half of the folks that come to us because it's just not the right fit. And I think that's really valuable, the listening part too. So is that something that people could bring into non consulting careers too?

Definitely, definitely the active listening part in cross functional collaboration or even something as simple as a stand up meeting, you know, really trying to tease out what are the goals behind each initiative. What is the end game? We talk about an end game, right? Sometimes we hear bits and pieces of it and then being curious, following up to ask follow up questions, you know, with your direct leadership or even skip levels when you have an opportunity to understand, you know, how your work is contributing and impacting the organizational vision.

Hey, I just want to cut in to say that if you are enjoying this podcast, you may enjoy the Building Biotechs podcast from our sister company Recruitomics Consulting, which is a talent acquisition strategy firm that specializes in helping small biotechs hire exceptional talent. In that podcast we interview amazing people who are building biotechs. They are industry leaders in all different verticals and it will allow you to explore career path in biotech and to get to know companies that maybe you've never heard about.

So if you are a biotech fan.

You are exploring careers in biotech. I highly recommend the Building Biotechs podcast. We'll link that in the show notes or you can search for it on Apple Podcasts or anywhere else you get your podcast.

All right, back to our show. I love your take on networking. You've been doing a lot of networking and you are very involved in different organizations. Can you tell people a little bit about your networking and how that's impacted your career?

You live and you learn, right? Earlier on my career I had focused on internal networking a lot and it really helped me, you know, reach out to different parts of the organization to figure out who are the right people. I need to approach to get things done. And as I advance in my career I realize internal networking has its advantage, but you also need to build an external network. I had to learn how to network again because networking is a two way street. It not only provides you valuable insights for continuous learning or getting you in front of the right people, but you also have to give back and also connect others because right now of my external network, I can also help others in their career journeys as well.

Yeah, I just want to give you a shout out because you have been really, really active in the community, giving people great advice, talking about your experiences and that is noticed and it's appreciated by others and that's part of networking, right? You're actually helping people, but they may help you in the future. You just don't know when that sort of thing comes back to you, right?

And very honestly, I used to be afraid of networking because I am not sure if anyone else experienced this when I first started. I don't know what to say. I feel so awkward.

Right?

But in the end we are all human and I find that sometimes listening will actually help you become a better worker because it's not about you. You're listening to what others need and what their interests are. And that's also how I connect with people. I will follow up, you know, based on what they're interested in. If I come across an article or just send it along, hey, slow this. And thought of you. I call them the soft touches.

I love that. That's a really, really valuable tip. Everyone should take note of that. Yeah. Networking is about giving and then it comes back to you. You don't have to actually work for that. If you put in the. I call it like putting coins in the piggy bank. Right. Then someday you need something from your network. You're now on the job market, but you've built such a great rapport with the folks that you've helped along the way. I love that. Thanks for sharing that. So you have this consulting firm, but you're also considering going full time with a company at the moment. What's that like? Kind of balancing two different worlds. Because I know how demanding consulting clients can be.

Yeah. You know, it is a percentage.

Right.

That the, there are times when the client load is heavier and you know, you just put your job search on pause and when it's lighter, you pick it up again.

Yeah, yeah. I think you're balancing that well with. If you could, if you could choose, would you like to stay consulting or now that you've sort of done that, you actually really like being in the company. What, what are the pros and cons?

Yeah. With consulting, you know. Yeah. You're on employer.

Right.

So in United States, we have to think about the healthcare benefits and whatnot. And also a pipeline, you know, you can't just rely on one project because what happens when that project ends? You need to continuously be networking again to build those pipelines.

Oh, I know all about that. Yep. Last 11 years of my life has been basically constant business development. Um, you never know. You can be so busy, but you can't take it for granted. I think that's one of the frequently asked questions when people want to know what it's like to be a consultant. You are self employed. Your paycheck's dependent on your ability to keep business coming in.

Right. And also as a consultant, it's your professional reputation. You need to be able to look at your plate and also be comfortable. I can do this right now, I want to, but I cannot do a good job right now and pass on it.

Yeah, Overextending is. Yeah, definitely a mistake. How do you avoid that? How do you look at your, your plate and how do you evaluate Projects that are coming in for what their time commitment might be, evaluating how much.

Time it takes is a survival experience. And then I always just, you know, tag on under 50% of what I think it would be. That way it will give me some buffer in the event that it turned out to be more involved than I thought it would. And then I have a very crazy calendar. Everything goes on my calendar and it's color coded.

Yeah, that sounds familiar. So scope creep, that's something that we talk about as consultants, but it also happens in, in full time jobs too. Scope creep is real. Can you talk to us about scope creep and how you avoid having that happen in either full time jobs or in your consulting?

Yeah, scope creep. You know, as a consultant, I actually find it easier because I have a written contract as well as scope of work. So whenever, you know, I look at, I do something, I look at it. If the client asks for something, I have it in front of me and be able to succinctly say, you know, this is our statement of work. That's beyond our statement of work. Where else in an actual role I find that more difficult because job responsibilities, as you know, is very broad. So I think that has to be really on the individual sometimes to even manage up with your managers, you know, to set expectations, to understand the what they want or what their KPIs or performance indicators for you are.

Can you tell people a little bit about, in your experience, what does managing up look like and how have you managed your managers? On occasion, because I know you've talked about that.

Yeah. So what we manage up is fundamentally coming to different people, having different management styles. How you manage or how you want to manage isn't necessarily what your manager expects or will do. So when you manage up, you talk about the expectations if they're not provided, you know, don't hesitate to ask what they are. And then understanding how they prefer to receive information and updates to ensure you're aligning to their communication style to meet that is managing up and to make sure that you and your manager are both on the same page at the end of the day.

Yeah, that's a really good explanation. I think that communication styles vary widely. I don't know if people have heard of love languages, but that sort of translates to work too. Obviously not the same way, but it translates to how do you like to receive feedback and how do you give feedback, how do others receive it? And that's not always obvious. And so sometimes those conversations, especially at the beginning, if you can have them at the beginning of a relationship with a manager just makes it all so much easier. Communication's everything.

And I'm not sure if you heard of a personal user manual. I recently came across it and I'm like, that is such a genius idea. Essentially, products have user manuals, lab instruments have user manuals. Why not you?

Right?

Some, you know, I saw people writing them, having them available even as a, you know, first meeting when you hire with your manager. And I just thought it's brilliant. It lays it out and tells them how you like to receive feedback, how you like to be managed.

I think that's great. That's really good advice. Christina, what are you really excited about right now in maybe the intersection of healthcare and research?

Yeah, you know, there are a lot of things to be excited about. I know AI has been a big thing in lately and the possibilities it could, you know, provide to the healthcare industry is just huge. From drug discovery to, you know, optimizing workflows to helping out with clerical tasks to take away, you know, all the clinicians time. So I'm very excited about that this year too. I think that people are more enthused about investing again. So I'm looking forward to seeing those investors, you know, opening up their purse strings and hopefully turning biotech on market around.

Yeah, we're definitely seeing good signs there. For everyone watching, it's predicted that within the next one to two years we're going to be back to sort of status quo, which was a strong biotech market, a strong research market. It always has been. So. Yes, I'm also anxiously awaiting that. Okay. Margaret is wondering how you pitched yourself as a program manager and made that shift.

Yeah, so previously I mentioned about, you know, having an internal network.

Right.

So when I was the clinical quality project manager, I was working on a lot of different projects cross functionally and getting to know different people within the organization. And I, I am the person that, you know, you give me 10 projects, I'll find you 12 projects. And what happened was I started a pet project and I knew we didn't have the expertise or resources to do it. And I started talking to the research incubator and that's how I got to know the director there. And she agreed, she saw value in the project and agreed to sign on. As we work on it, you know, when the timing was right, I just approach her and show her my skill sets. These are my skill sets, I think how I could contribute to her department and make a business case for myself.

So you networked yourself into that role yeah. Again, with a networking note. So powerful. Yeah. So you made great connections. You pitched yourself.

And I think, you know, what really helped was I didn't approach it as I want to be in your department.

Right.

It was more like, these are my skill sets. I see where your department could, you know, potentially grow and how I can help.

I think, too, your strategy background probably translates really, really well. A lot of people come to project management from more of a research background and. But your strategy brain that you got to develop in your first role probably really set you up to be. Just know what needed to be done.

You know, to that point. I think people are afraid of the word strategy sometimes or they don't know what to do.

Right.

To me, it's simple, you know, it's being curious and just willing to learn, staying abreast of the trends of the articles, of what's happening. Not just, you know, at a macro level at the industry, but also talking to different people to get different perspectives. So I'm. I felt that I was never afraid to say when we're working on implementing an unbranded disease management program. I made friends with the nurses, I made friends with the receptionists, just to understand how they see, you know, their clinical workflow. I think it really helps. And then you just. As a researcher, I think we all have the skills to be able to look at different, a lot of information and figure out, put together what you need to form a cohesive story and tell it.

That's a really good explanation. When people engage with a strategist, especially from the outside, one of the major things that strategy consultants bring to the table is just an outside perspective. They're not as attached to everything. And so being able to get that bird's eye is easier. You can connect the dots that maybe the people who are just too close to it, they can't see them. And so that's really something that I think people don't. You may not think that you have the qualifications to. To go into strategy, but really, like you said, it's just having that curiosity, that willingness to listen. And then you go in and you bring that external perspective in. So valuable for. For companies. Yeah, that's sort of what I do when I do resume reviews and things like that is I just. You're too close to it. It's like it's your resume. You're so attached to all the things you put in there. And I come in and I say, yeah, let's just chop all that out, because that is important to your overall career. Arc. But from an external perspective, this is what's important. And that's exactly what a good consultant does. Yeah, Sunny wants to know, what do you like or not like about being a consultant?

What I love being a consultant is you get to see a lot of different areas in the industry. It, you know, one day it could be oncology, the next day it could be schizophrenia. So a lot of different therapeutics. It made me have to learn at a very quick pace. That's what I love about that. What I do not like so much about it, especially being a solo consultant again, is sometimes always having to worry about your pipeline.

Business development never ends. Yeah, I echo that. I think the reason that I've been so happy over the years is the diversity of the different companies, their pipelines, their therapeutics. If you want to hear the rest of that conversation with some more questions and answers, be sure to jump into our free biotech career development community. We have all of these recordings in there with a little bit more fleshed out versions where we actually have folks from our community asking questions on camera. We don't put that obviously on our podcast for confidentiality reasons, but you can get all the goodness in the community, so jump in there so you don't miss any part of the conversation. We hope you enjoyed this career chat. We have these every other week in the community and we always love hearing from you. What do you want to hear next?

What types of career paths do you.

Want us to explore? Please let us know so we can queue up some amazing guests for you in the upcoming weeks and months. That's all for this week. Bye for now.

Thanks so much for listening to the Biotech Career Coach podcast by the Collaboratory Career Hub to join our free Slack group and to get access to to other great free resources and materials. Head over to CollaboratoryCareerHub.com and be sure to connect with me on LinkedIn Pro Tip. When you connect with me on LinkedIn, you get instant access to my entire network of biotech folks, which is powerful for your career. If you found this podcast valuable, please subscribe or follow us on YouTube so that you never miss an episode. And if you leave us an honest review, screenshot that review and send it to hellolaboratorycareerhub.com com we'll give you totally free access to our popular LinkedIn course so that you can learn all of the secrets behind creating a magnetic LinkedIn profile that drives your career forward. Have an amazing week and we'll see you back here next Friday.