How To Break Into Medical Sales And Build A Six-Figure Career With Samuel Adeyinka Gbadebo

On today's show, we have Samuel Dianka Bedebo. Samuel is the founder of Evolve youe Success. He helps professionals and medical manufacturers reach their highest potential. As I said in the intro, if you're interested in getting into the pharmaceutical or medical device industry or taking your career in those industries to the next level, you're going to love this show. Samuel, welcome to the show.

Hey, how are we doing, Chris? I'm glad to be here.

Oh, doing great. It's Friday. I'm excited about the weekend and I always love our conversations. So for anyone that hasn't had a chance to listen to your wonderful podcast, Know hasn't seen your background, please share with the audience kind of where you are today and short history, how you got here.

Yeah, yeah. So you know what you're talking about? You're talking about the medical sales podcast. And that's all part of my business. I have a company, Evolve with Success. And we help, you know, people in the medical sales profession. So we help professionals that want to get into the industry, professionals that want position within the industry, and then we help professionals that are working as a team and they want to do better. So anywhere CEO that maybe has a company that's a sales force of 20 to 100, we can work with them, or we can work with individual sales professionals in the net, or we can work with their managers. And yeah, you know, we want people to perform very well in the sales role and we want people that aspire to be in those roles in. And we discovered this because I was a rep, right, And I started off in pharmaceutical and then went biotech. And I know that the sales rep role, if you're not careful, if you're not managing your career well, you can easily just kind of get lost in that role and get real stagnant and be, you know, 20, 30 years, you're in the same space wondering why you're in the same space. But if you're careful to navigate from the beginning and you understand some things trying to get in, then you can have a really bright career. And that's what we want to help people do.

No, I love it. And in our book, we talk about the make, keep and grow strategy. And I think personally I had a real similar path, which I think is why we enjoy going back and forth so much. I started in pharmaceuticals myself, spent a couple years, and I chose sales because I think it is just the best career if you want earning capability and flexibility. But I agree wholeheartedly and this is why I wanted to have you on the show, Sam, was to kind of share some of your secrets, what you do with evolving your success and do that. But why did you choose sales?

Right, so it's funny, I actually initially wanted to be a physician. That was way back when I went to college. I got into a biomed program with UC Riverside and it was a really stupid program. I did pretty well in it. But as I started getting closer to the actual opportunity of becoming a physician and getting ready for med school, I started shadowing some and I came to the conclusion that, you know what, I love medicine, but I don't see myself in this hospital setting and working in this kind of space for the rest of my life. Not sure I see myself in a patient facing role on a consistent basis either. So I was working at a lab at the time and the lead pe, he was a scientist. We were working on a molecule for kidney function. And I was talking to him about what my options were. And I spent last four years doing neuroscience and biochemistry and organic chemistry and all these things. What do I do with it? And he said, you know what, you should look into the business side of medicine and look into pharmaceutical sales. You have a great personality for it, you understand the science very easily. You might find a career in that. So I literally applied to three companies right after that and one of them hired me and the rest is history.

That's awesome. Yeah, it's kind of amazing. I was in biomechanical engineering, so kind of really similar. And I thought I was looking at the world of medicine back then. And this is actually before all this stuff has happened here recently. And I went through a similar process. And I had no idea this world existed when it came to medical sales. So talk a little bit about your pharmaceutical start, how you moved into biotech, kind of where you are now.

So I think the natural progression for pharmaceutical sales is either management or more sales. Right? That's natural progression. Or just switching industries altogether and getting into something like medical device or genetics or biotechnology. And that's, that's kind of the track I followed. I knew I didn't want to be in management. I loved what I was doing. I love the interaction. And you're right, you know, when it comes to a sales position in medicine, I think it's the best combination of flexibility with your time, great compensation, great benefits, and a bright future. Now you've got to deliver, you got to be a performer to experience all of that. But I mean the opportunity is there to experience that. And I knew that I didn't want to Ascend the corporate ladder, so to speak. But I loved the development that comes with help do. So that's not even it. You know, I got to get a little personal if you really want to know why I'm in this developmental space and why eventually developing company called Evolve of Success. So back in, you know, 2012, I was married actually, and I was doing really well. I was performing. I think it was, my gosh, I want to say my. I don't remember which year it was, but I had already come off of about three winner circles. So I was really well.

Oh, wow.

I was performing. I was like, okay, you know, this is great. And I actually, I experienced divorce and some people, you know, especially nowadays, it happens so often. It's kind of. Some people look at it as just part of life, but for me, it wasn't right. For me, it was a big problem. And I tied getting divorced like a failure in my identity. And I really internalized it and literally affected my entire outlook on life. And I thought that, you know, because I've experienced this, I'm going nowhere. Like it's over, you know, real negative way of thinking. And it's because I always held myself such a high standard professionally and personally. So I started looking into, you know, people do this. How do people go through very intense personal experiences and continue to perform with everything else they're. And also personally. And I found out about these development groups. Right. And you've heard of them. You know, Landmark, I think is one of them. That's pretty potter. There's some others out there. You know, Tony Robbins has a whole thing of courses you can take things like that.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

So I found one of these groups and I signed up. It was life changing. I mean, not only did I get to rebuild myself and my abilities, but, you know, I started doing things that were much bigger and better than what I was doing previously. And after my experience one of those organizations, I not only got a better position, I mean, it almost doubled what I was earning move. I was able to handle my divorce through all the details of that. And I literally just came out a completely different person on the other side. And that's when I said, you know what? I want to dedicate my life to this. Kind of like this is where it's at because I get to continue to stay in the space and stay in the work, and I get to continue help other people just make their lives as big as they can possibly see.

That's amazing in a lot of ways. I want to talk about evolve Your success. But you said something that kind of brought it back. A memory. And I remember talking to one of my managers. This was probably much more than five years ago, not quite 10, though. And I told him I had a coach, and he's like, well, I can be your coach. So it's interesting you went outside of the company you were working in to find developmental expertise and resources. Can you talk about why you did that versus just because. I mean, a lot of these pharmaceutical companies, they have phenomenal training programs. I mean, we have. We have phenomenal training within, you know, a lot of the medical device industry where I spent my time. Talk about the mind. Like how you decided to do that.

Yeah, it's funny you say that. So, you know, I was actually in a developmental training program, the company I was working for. And, you know, it was a management training program. So they're training you to become a manager. And, you know, they include some introspective work. But the kind of development that I got to experience with these groups was it was deep. I mean, I'm talking deep, interactive work. You're not just assessing how you can help lead other people and how you can set a better example, but you're assessing what you truly believe in person and how you align your identity and what you align your identity to. And when you're asking those tough questions, you know, you're. You have opportunity to really sit with yourself and say, okay, what is my life philosophy? And from what I've seen, I mean, you included, Chris, people that are really succeeding and things taking life to a whole new level in any way you want to see it. You know, a lot of them are aligned. Whatever they believe in, they're aligned to that belief. And I think that gives them the freedom to focus enough on whatever it is they want to accomplish. And I didn't that type of. That level of depth within an organization like a pharmaceutical company. I saw it in these developmental organizations that literally focused on bringing that out of a person.

Yeah, no, I agree with you. And I was fortunate when I was with Medtronic to go through a terrific leadership development program, which was at least 18 months long. And then same thing when I was with Nuvasive and ton of value. But I see. Start with why on the back on your desk there behind you. It's fantastic. And it brings to my memory Dean Graziosi has a book, and he talks about the seven levels of why and kind of getting down to really why you're doing. Doing what you're doing. And the thing is as professionals, we focus on certain metrics and what our team has to do. But at the end of the day, I always believe that if you want your people to be successful, you got to know their why. You got to know why they're doing it, whether it's for their children, whether it's for even the new boat that they're buying, something that they're going out there and doing. So I guess tell us why you developed, evolve your success, you know, what your mission is and what it's all about. Yeah.

So after I had this experience with the developmental organization, I wanted to get into that work. I said, you know, this is it. I want to be in work. And then I. So I actually said, okay, how can I do this on my own? Because I have the. The entrepreneurial bug, Right. I always wanted to start my own thing. And I said, you know, how can I take what I've learned and use it with something that I want to start? And I started actually consulting sales reps. And so it wasn't just medical sales reps, it was any kind of sales rep. So people in the resort industry, real estate agents, the food industry, I mean, you name it, they were just sales reps from everywhere. And I would just consult on just performing higher. Now, I know that's the cliche, just, you know, high performance. It's a cliche word. But really what we were doing is how do you get numbers? So how do you get better sales numbers? And how do you appreciate what you're doing as a professional?

Right, yeah.

Which means we have to get a little per. And I got some. I experienced some really interesting things. You know, some people, you know, we were able to go from, you know, middle of the pack performance, top 10% performance. But other people, you know, they actually realized that they didn't even like what they were doing. And that's why performing. And they had to. We started entertaining where they would perform. They transitioned industries, and now they're killing it. While that was happening, I started to see that a lot of people wanted to get into medical sales. And I started seeing this need that, wow, you know, this career is getting harder to get into. The secrets out, right. People are learning that they can find a career that allows them to talk to doctors on a regular basis, you know, utilize their own brain and learn all this information about how science works and how medicines work and how devices work, and then be challenged to run the territory and make magic happen. Right?

Yeah.

I mean, when you really think about it, that's a beautiful gig. And A lot of people started to find out about it, and now everybody wanted to do it. And I started to say what I want to be a part of that. I want to help people get into the space. Because I see these highly qualified people that just did not know communicate. They didn't know what to show. They didn't know what to do. And it was rough because I'm saying you'd be excellent at this, but you're literally can't. Because you don't know how to deliver yourself so that someone can believe that you'd be a great candidate. And that's what. That's where part of Evolve youe Success started. And then we were already working with, you know, a few small teams, and we're working all these different sales professionals. So we see, you know what? Let me take where my. All my credibility is and all my experiences, which is medical manufacturing. Right. And let me put it into that industry. Let me help people that want to get into this industry do the same. And that's where the training started. And then the program opened up where we help people get in. We got the ball rolling. You know, probably about the end of 2018 is when we started putting it all together after our experience with sales rep in 2016. And then by the time Covid happened, we were rolling. And then Covid just ramped everything up because we were already virtual. So, you know, everybody was forced to become more virtual. And we got a lot of exposure. People started utilizing the program, and people were just experiencing success both on the developmental side with teams and sales professionals and people getting positions. And then we went full force, and that's where we are now.

No, and I think you do a phenomenal job. I think back when I was trying to break into the industry and when people call me for advice and I said, listen, you got to be patient. It's going to take you a while. And now I feel fortunate I have somebody to refer them to that has a process to help them out and do this.

Yeah, look, especially now, right? People have been displaced. Very competent people have been displaced. The best of the best from different industries want to get in. It's extremely competitive. And, you know, now some people tell me they've been trying. You know, some of the people that we. The clients we work with, they've been trying to get in for two to three years, and it's not working. They work with us and, you know, three to six months later, they got the position of their dreams. And it's like, you know what? There's A science to this. Now there's a way to present yourself, and it's about, you know, show these things to get the position. It's about learn how to show yourself the right way, and you're gonna see all these opportunities right in front of your face. And that's really what we're teaching people to do.

Yeah. No, it's. I mean, I always tell people, like, if you can't sell yourself, then you're not gonna be able to sell a product. And there is a science to it. There's a way about it, and it doesn't have to be complicated. So what I love is that you talk about mindset, which you and I are huge on systems and communication. So walk us through your methodology with Evolve youe Success.

Yeah, so I'll be. You know, we have it broken up into three areas, and you can kind of align what you just mentioned. The first thing we believe in is, you know, your personal brand. And that comes in. I guess you can kind of correlate that to the mindset, too. Everyone has a brand, you know, and what we really believe in is. And what we found to work is when your brand is consistent with being a performer and someone that doesn't want to get to the position you want to get into, but someone that is ready to get into the position you get into. Right. There's a big difference. Right. You can, you know, be a medical device sales rep that's selling implants and want to get deeper into med tech. And then you're going around telling everybody you want to get into Medtech. And you've already established a brand. Now, could that get you a position in Medtech? Maybe, if you know the right people and you really demonstrate a great work. But imagine how much powerful your message would be if it wasn't about, oh, well, you know, that's Jack, and he wants to get into Medtech. And it was, man, Jack is so ready. Med tech, you know, if an opportunity comes up, I know I want to plug Jack right away. And that's personal brand. So what we do is we help people create that on all facets. So you have your personal brand, what people say about you, but you also have a personal brand online. And let's go back to where we are now. We're more than ever.

Way different than 20 years ago. Yeah.

Oh, come on. Way different than five years ago. Way different than three years ago. We're more virtual than ever, and things keep happening that are forcing us to get even more virtual. So this whole online brand, what's your online brand? It used to be just something that, yeah, you have an online brand. No. Yeah, maybe now it's, look, do you have an online brand? And if you don't, you're doing yourself a disservice. Half business that's conducted today is done through an online platform like what we're doing right now. Why wouldn't you position yourself to be extremely relevant, power ready for an opportunity? And to do that you need a personal brand. So that's the first thing we do. We focus on your personal brand, your personal profiles. LinkedIn is a huge part of that. Your resume, the different things anyone can see about you and who you are and who you say you are and what you believe you can do. Then after that we go to foundational skills. So what we mean is, especially when it comes to getting a position and really making the case that you can do it, there are these foundational skills. You know, the basic things you need to understand. How to answer certain interview questions, how to understand how to communicate with a decision maker before the interview, understand how to enroll people to vouch for you when you're trying to go for that position. We consider all of those foundational skills and most people don't know them, even experienced people. You know, if you're a performer and you've been doing your thing for six, seven, eight, 10 years, you haven't interviewed for a very long time, you've just been doing your job and you've been doing it well. But then when you're now put on the spot to make the case for why you believe you should be in this position, you really don't know what to say and you find yourself stumbling and mumbling and you're just a mess and you're wondering what's connect here. And that's where these foundational skills come in. So we do personal branding, foundational skills. And then the last thing that people just don't understand is mastering the interview. You know this very well, Chris. No job in the medical sales industry is a one interview thing. Yeah, I mean, if some people, if they've already been considered for the role and they've kind of been groomed to the role, one or two interviews will get them in there if they already work for the employer. But most is you're looking at a 4, 5 in some cases, 6. I mean, I just heard of a recent client that just joined us, they had nine. I mean, it's getting ridiculous. And what we're seeing is that there's a sequence, there's A sequence here. And if you understand how to show up each stage of the interview, you can dramatically increase your chances of receiving an offer.

That's awesome. Yeah. So branding, foundational skills, mastering the interviewing sequence. And I think you're spot on. I think it's interesting. You and I, we have a similar start, but we kind of come from it, from different sides. I always tell people, I'm like, man, if you could blend a pharmaceutical rep with a good medical device rep, you're like, it's like a super salesperson. Maybe I'm a little biased, but I know a lot of pharmaceutical reps and people make this assumption that's easy to sell. It's not. It's really hard to sell when you have a very short period of time. It's commoditized in a lot of ways. Whereas the medical device side, you're so spoiled with time with the surgeon, a lot of times you lose those foundational skills like you talk about. And if you go into an interview process where really you have to be concise, you don't have the ability to just pull something tangible out and hand it to somebody. This is so critical. So if you're listening, whether you're on the pharmaceutical side or the med device side and you're looking to make a step up, to me, that is such an important area right there. So we were talking about brand foundational skills. Master. Reviewing the interviewing sequence and why foundational skills are so important, especially even if you're established in your career.

Right? So important. Exactly. So I want to also talk about the other side of what we do. But then I realized, even before that, I want to just highlight one more thing. So the way our program works is we actually, we have everybody coming within our. So even alumni, people that have went through us, got the position, we have them come back. Because if you think about it like you just said, personal branding, foundational skills, messing up your sequence. If you're someone that's after going for, you know, some higher position or being second line leader or beyond, you have to have those things dialed in at all times. And we don't train it so that, you know, it's a one and done. We are literally developing. We have speakers come in, we have hiring managers come in. We have experts around these different topics come in, all within our program. So our alumni, they're still. Everyone's still getting something as they stay in it. That's designed intentionally and it creates this community within our program as well. Because then, you know, alumni that wants to get in there's already a direct connection outside of the connections that we teach them and we expose them to and we train them on how to actually make these and activate network. So it's good for everyone, not just people that want to get in. It's good for people that want to get in. It's good for people that are in and move their career forward. Now when they go through our program, the next thing they have the option to go into is the sales training part of it. And that's where we work with teams and work with other companies small and mid size. And what we do that's a little different than a lot of sales training is, you know, going back to the development, I want to spend time on why is this person in this position? Why do they want this for their life? Why do they want this for the career and what can they pain the future looking like? Because with everybody that we've worked with, you don't have to know exactly what you want to do in 10 years to be successful. Have a very strong direction of where you want to take things. As you know the futurist you are, Chris, when you can be really clear about, I want to hear the steps you take in between are so much more pointed and you can really get some traction.

No, I think that's so important. I mean, every one of my clients that I work with, the first thing we do is establish their three year vision. And if you know where you're going, you're so much less likely to get pulled from side to side. And again, going back to your why you got to have that strong why? Because listen, if you're listening and you're like, oh man, I'd love to break into this industry. Samuel, you can chime in here if you want, but these are tough industries. There's a reason they're lucrative. It's because not everyone can do them. And even if you can do them, there's a lot of people that don't want to put the sacrifice in.

Those are the facts. Those are the facts. You're absolutely right.

Yeah. So as you look into the future, so as you're saying this industry's changing, we're seeing things go more virtual, talking about how to break into it. But for somebody that's been an industry veteran now and has talks to so many people and sees so many different things, what do you think the real promising areas are going forward in these different industries?

Promising areas. What should people be anticipating getting into?

Yeah, I mean, do you see I've been in orthopaedics you know, for 18 years. So orthopedics, diabetes, robotics, when it comes to, you know, biotech and those sorts of things, what do you think are the most exciting areas in our future?

Yeah, well, I mean, look, I like to divvy that up into the generality of the industry. So let's talk medical devices. Okay, so if we're gonna talk medical devices, I think robotics is extremely exciting. If you're someone out there and you're selling implants, I wouldn't be surprised if you've been tinkering with the idea of moving towards more robotics space and doing something in that space. Right, because that's where the future is headed. There's no if, ands or buts about it. You want to align yourself with that. If you want to stay in that, you want to stay in a very lucrative, groundbreaking space. What I want to bring into this conversation though, is I want people to think beyond pharmaceutical or medical devices. And this is part of the reason I also created the medical sales podcast. There's a lot of industries to consider that people just don't know, like genetic testing, for example. That's another growing, hyper exciting space that might not be demanding as some medical device roles, but compensates extremely well. And if you're great with people and you're great with the science, I mean, really, you can really have a very exciting career and you can climb right up the ladder if that's your ambition as well. And then also I would challenge people to think about other types of cells, like molecular cells. You know, this is the lab testing that's not talked about a lot. People don't know what that is. People like, what's lab testing? Again, another very high compensating role where you're dealing with the opportunity to really develop some amazing relationships that you in business and allow you to thrive. And again, the management track, if that's what you want, if you want to run one of those types of companies one day, it's open for the taking. This is what I like to encourage people to really understand. If you want to get into sales, medical, manufacturing anyway, be open to it all. Really be open to it all, indeed. And think about where do your interests lie. If you love being in the hospital, if you want to be able to get into scrubs and get your hands dirty with a provider, then you know what, something in medical devices really makes sense. It really makes sense to explore. However, you might not love that, you might still love the science and you might want to just wait in account offices and sell drugs either. As a pharmaceutical sales rep, it doesn't mean that you have no options. There's a whole world of, like I said, genesis out there that you might really, really enjoy. That's something that we try to do, is educate people on all the different industries you can get into. And honestly, Chris, it's less about what's the hottest thing, and it's more about what's best aligned, how you want to lead your life.

I think that's perfect. And I talk to a lot of people. They want to get into orthopedic sales because they hear it's lucrative. And I always say, well, have you thought about this? Have you thought about that? You have to think about what you enjoy. It's like a sport, right? You may be good at a sport, but you might not like it. But that doesn't mean you can't be good. Another one, my personal story. My dream job was selling orthopedic implants. Hips, knees, shoulders. After a year, I got called and introduced to the spine industry, specifically biologics. And I was like, well, that's not really in my mind what I thought, but I started to learn about it. And I was like, wow, what a complex industry that has all this in front of it. And it turned into just a wonderful career with a lot of wonderful friends, a very challenging environment. So I think that may be the most important thing that I've heard you say today, which is think about really what you enjoy, what you're good at, but then be open to what's out there and consult with somebody like Samuel that can give you some of this perspective. So, Samuel, we've talked a lot about the industry and how to be successful. What you do, I'd love to hear. How do you balance all this? You have a fantastically successful career. You have this business that's been growing over the past few years. You have a family. How do you balance it all? What are your secrets?

Yeah, you know, just be open to learning how to better balance it. That's the secret. The secret is don't ever stop learning. You know, there's so many philosophies out there about how we should be conducting our daily lives. I think one of the things that has worked with me really well is understanding that a lot of life is about conditioning. You know, what you condition yourself to do on a regular basis is really going to produce a lot of the results that you experience. If you condition yourself to go to bed at a decent time. So you could always wait at a decent Time. And if you condition yourself to take in new information and dedicate time to learning something new every single day, if you condition yourself to not doing any of that and just kind of fly by night seeing what your day brings, that's also going to produce fruit. So the best thing, say around, you know, how I do it is I try to find the best ways to maximize my conditioning and the things that I like I said, I go to bed. I try to go to bed the same time every night. I try to get up early every single day. And you know, we don't have to do 4am or 5. But consistency is powerful.

Absolutely.

And if you can develop great habits around when you sleep, when you wake and then what your day should look like. We talked about this before, Chris. You know you're a big fan of planning your entire week well ahead of time schedule. I 100%. I think if I didn't plan the majority of my year ahead of schedule, a lot of things that I am able to accomplish just wouldn't happen. And that all comes with conditioning. So I think people should really be aware of their conditioning and always be thinking in this moment, is what I'm doing something to who I want to be? And is what I'm doing going to benefit the kind of results I want to create? And if you find yourself saying no, no, no and no, you know what you need to do?

Yeah, no. And it's hard to be honest with yourself. It's hard to look in the mirror and do that. So I ask everybody this question. So if you had to go back to your 25 year old self and he was looking in the mirror and you were looking back, what advice would you give him?

Oh man, you know what I'll tell myself honestly, I would say you need to give yourself some grace. Set your goals, whatever you're trying to accomplish, and as you go after it, give yourself some grace. If I can look back and think what didn't I do a really good job of? I didn't give myself grace. And I think what we can, at least what I fell victim to is I would beat myself up about, you know, certain things and sometimes it would be warranted for development, but a lot of times it was not. And it was counterproductive because when you beat yourself up, you know, you tend to get in this, you're not really proactively going after things and your creative, innovative mind is kind of off. You're working in survival mode. And that does not bear a lot of fruit compared to being in this thriving mentality and you're ready to just tackle the day and conquer your day. So I think giving yourself grace is critical. And that's definitely something I would tell myself if I can go back 25 years.

I love it. So you talked about habits, building success and then taking something that's a little more qualitative and talking about being forgiven when you have to get up and get beat down. And sometimes it's okay. And that's the process that life goes.

In we the time. I think it's even cliche now. Fail fast and fail often. And I think you can get really good at that and progress really well if you're giving yourself grace as that's happening.

Yeah, that's terrific advice. It really is. So Samuel, like I said, man, you've given so much good advice here today. People are listening. They want to get ahold of you. They want to learn more about the programs that you have that evolve your success or maybe even work with you one on one personally. What is the best way for them to get a hold of you and learn more about what you do?

Yeah, they can go to evolveyoursuccess.com and find me on LinkedIn. Just type in Samuel Adeyinka. I'll pop right up and they can just send me a direct message or they can email me@samuelvolveyoursuccess.com Excellent.

We're going to have all that in the show. Notes Samuel, make sure that it's going to be easy for anybody listening today that wants to learn more to get ahold of you. Really appreciate you sharing so much value with our audience today and it's always a pleasure to speak to you.

Definitely.

Thanks for having me, Sam.