In this concise "6 questions in 7 minutes" interview, Professor Pete Alexander speaks with Marga Ortigas‑Wedekind, a 30‑year veteran of the medical device industry and mentor at the Fogarty Institute for Innovation. Marga explains her current role helping early‑stage med‑tech entrepreneurs bring products to market, and describes the greatest reward of her field – the direct impact on patients’ lives. She discusses the challenges of work‑life balance, drawing on her experience as a working mother and emphasizing the importance of personal priorities and giving back through mentorship. Marga suggests future podcast guests, focusing on other working‑mom leaders who have navigated similar struggles. She shares a poignant quote from the late Harvard professor Clay Christensen, highlighting that true leadership metrics are the individuals one helps become better, not financial or status indicators. The conversation then shifts to her early career, contrasting a high‑pressure consulting job with the patient‑centric culture of medical devices, which solidified her long‑term commitment to the industry. Finally, she provides contact information via the Fogarty Institute website and her LinkedIn profile.
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This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast, where business leaders share their insights. It is 6 questions in 7 minutes or less because successful business leaders are busy and rarely have more time to spare. So let's get to it. Question number 1: In a few sentences, tell me who you are and what you do.
My name is Marga Ortega-Wedekind, and I am a 30-year veteran in the medical device industry. I currently work at the Fogarty Institute for Innovation, which is a nonprofit educational incubator dedicated to helping young entrepreneurs with brilliant ideas in the medical technology space see their products through to commercialization.
Marga, it's great to have you on the show. Question number 2, what's the best thing about working in your industry?
In the life science or medical device industry, you've got to be in it because you really, really are passionate, and you care about the patient, and you feel good about what's coming out of the other end. And it's essentially possibly saving a life, changing a life, having an impact on a life. And so having been in this industry for this long, there's just an incredible feeling knowing that you've had that kind of impact in your little microcosm.
Mm, that's great. Question number 3, I hear from other business leaders that staying in a good work-life balance for them and their team members is a challenge. What are your thoughts?
It is a challenge and it has been a challenge all through my years. I mean, I was a working mom and like many, many working moms out there, probably was sleep deprived while the children were young. But eventually you come to this recognition that you can do both. And the main thing is you have to decide for yourself what's most important. And what your priorities are. And in the end, I think that where I work today in this institute, where I'm a mentor to many of these young companies in residence, is the fulfillment of that. It's time to give back. It's time to mentor and help those just because I've been helped all through my career.
Oh, it sounds like you love giving back.
I sure do.
Oh, that's great. Question number 4: What other successful business leaders like yourself should be on my podcast?
Well, you probably heard from my last answer, I have a bit of a soft spot for working moms. So I have a couple of ideas for you. You know, working moms that are either in the middle of that struggle of trying to figure out work-life balance, or do I even want to quit you know, being a professional or whatever it is. And those that have kind of come out on the other end and have a chance to reflect back on, you know, the decisions they made, the choices they made. Excellent. And do you want specific names?
You know, you can say them now or I can get them to you off camera.
I will— I have a couple of names for you off camera. I'll be happy to send them to you.
Perfect. Thank you. Question number 5, what insight or advice would you give to other business leaders?
You know, I was really struggling with this question when you, when you sent it to me earlier. But early this week, and things happen for a reason, I was reading an article that was a eulogy in a sense for a hero, a hero in business that I've had for a long time. And it's Dr. Clay Christensen, who's a famous professor at Harvard. He wrote The Innovator's Dilemma and was known for a phrase we use a lot today called disruptive innovation. But towards the end of his life, as he began to struggle with certain illnesses, Dr. Christensen became a lot more reflective. And this eulogy or this memorial article had a quote from Dr. Christensen that I want to share. Because it is so meaningful. And he said, while many of us might default to measuring our lives by summary statistics such as the number of people we preside over or the number of awards or the dollars we've accumulated in the bank and so on, the only metrics that will truly matter to me are the individuals whom I have been able to help one by one become better people. And that is why management is so important because it's those individuals whose self-esteem I was able to strengthen, whose faith I was able to reinforce, and whose discomfort I was able to assuage that will really matter when I measure my life. And that just struck me because at the end of it all, it's the impact you've had, yes, on businesses, but how will you be remembered? You'll be remembered for all the individuals you touched and you helped. And that's why I'm giving back because people gave to me. So that's the advice.
That is really powerful. Thank you for sharing that. Question number 6: Tell me about your first job.
In the spirit of work-life balance and such, let me tell you about my first 2 jobs upon graduation from business school. Like many business school recent grads, I had debt. And so I went for the highest paying job I could, which was consulting and quickly learned that that wasn't my cup of tea. Not so much because the work wasn't interesting, but because there was an incredible culture of we're gonna push ourselves to the absolute limits. And this is in the days before, you know, the TSA and such. I literally remember people, consultants, comparing with each other who ran the fastest through the airport, who caught the plane right as it was leaving the gate, and to the point where one of them hurt themselves because because they had been lugging their— at the time we didn't have small laptops, it was big luggables, lugging their luggable and running through the airport. And I was like, this is not worth it. And then from there I moved into medical devices. And suddenly the atmosphere changed. It was all about the patient. It was all about doing good. It was not about competing with each other. It was competing for the patient. So just a little compare and contrast.
Yeah, I could see that you resonated much more with your second position than your first.
I never left the industry.
That's a testament to where you followed, where your direction told you you needed to go.
Yeah.
So, Marga, thank you for being on the show. How can people find you?
I can be reached at the Fogarty Institute for Innovation. If you look at their website, foguryinstitute.org, or I can be found on LinkedIn under Marga Ortega-Swedekind.
Perfect. This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. For more insights and ideas, please go to LinkedIn, YouTube, or Facebook and search for the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Thanks for listening.
