Needed: A Few Big Brothers

I read in today's Philadelphia Inquirer that the regional Big Brothers Big Sisters chapter are looking for more men to be mentors to young boys (see "Big Brothers seeking more than a few good men"). It seems that only 3 in every 10 mentors in this organization are men.

[This photo, which accompanied the article, is of Blair Shaw of West Philadelphia, who became a Big Brother six months ago.]

This caught my attention for two reasons: (1) the goal of this blog is similar to that of Big Brother: find mentors that young people can look to for guidance and help, and (2) maybe there's a way for us to help Big Brother find men and for Big Brother to help us find kids.

Speaking to #2, here's my idea: perhaps the Philly Big Brother/Big Sister organization and Life Science Profiles of Color (LSPOC) can work together. The latter has connections with children in schools and LSPOC has connections to people of color within the pharmaceutical industry. Perhaps we can bring the two together?

One way to do this is to have kids "interview" pharma people of color about how they came to work for the drug industry. This may elicit more interesting and inspiring stories than do the questions we ask in our questionnaire, which you can find here.

I've spoken to Craig DeLarge and Fard Johnmar, my partners here on LSPOC blog, about reaching out to students this way, and maybe we can get connected to Big Brother/Big Sister to help us and help them at the same time.

Before going off on that tangent, however, it would be helpful if any readers of this blog submitted comments on this idea. Thanks for your input!

Karen Colquitt-Hall: Diabetes & Vaccines Marketer

Joined GSK in 1999 through a Management Development Program. As part of this program I worked on key projects in marketing and as well spent a year in the field as a Pharmaceutical Sales Representative. After completing this program I worked with the Avandia Product Team with responsibilities in consumer and professional marketing and strategy (market shaping.) Currently I am a Director in Vaccines leading one of the pediatric brands (Pediarix™).

What was your first job in the industry? Manufacturing supervisor in a pharma plant.

Which companies have you worked for? McNeil Consumer Products (Johnson & Johnson) and GlaxoSmithKline.

What is the best advice you have received that has helped your career?  Don't be afraid to ask questions and  always come with possible solutions. 

Why did you decide to work in this industry? I wanted to be a doctor but didn’t see how I could afford it. This industry keeps me close to healthcare/medicine and helping people.

What has been your most challenging opportunity? Being seen as a leader. I was always considered a “good” worker. I had to make sure that my efforts and accomplishments were also understood as being those of a “leader” as well.

What advice would you give a young person considering this industry? Understand this is a very competitive environment where you will need to be persistent and seek mentors to help navigate the process of setting up informational meetings that lead to opportunities.

How is your career different than what you envisioned when you started? It has been more rewarding than I ever thought possible, extremely complex, very high paced, full of experiences.

Where did you go to school and what is your educational background?  Drexel University, BS in Engineering.  LaSalle University, MBA Marketing.

What has been the biggest thrill of your career?  Being on a launch team and real crisis management.

What are the benefits and drawbacks of the industry's focus on diversity initiatives? The benefits related to multicultural initiatives are huge as the disparities in healthcare are widely known. Unfortunately, this area is seldom funded to make a difference and typically first to be eliminated when funding is tight.

Racism in the Life Sciences: What Should be the Response?

Announcing a live Internet talk show/podcast interview with Craig DeLarge, Associate Director, eMarketing & Relationship Marketing at Novo Nordisk Inc. and Fard Johnmar, founder of Envision Solutions about The Life Science Profiles of Color (LSPOC) project and blog.

• Live Podcast Date: Tuesday, June 17, 2008, 2 PM Eastern US time
• Duration: 30 minutes
• Go to this Pharma Marketing Talk promo page for more information about participating in the live show -- via live chat or call in number -- or accessing the podcast archive after the show. time indicated above to listen to the LIVE show via streaming audio.
  

Some Questions/Topics to be Discussed:

1. Is there racism in the pharma and life sciences industries?
2. How did the idea for LSPOC come about?
3. What are the goals of the LSPOC project/blog?
4. How can people help?

Craig A. DeLarge, Healthcare Marketing Communicator

Professionally, Craig works as an internet marketing director at Novo Nordisk, a diabetes healthcare company, a life & career coach at Christian Stronghold Baptist Church and a marketing professor at Philadelphia University. He is a certified Gallup Organization Strengths Coach. His career has involved 20 years of marketing experience as a marketing researcher, advertising media director, product director, global eBusiness manager, and knowledge network manager for Johnson & Johnson, IMS America and Communications Media, Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline.

Academically, Craig has his MBA in Design Management from The University of Westminster, London, U.K., where his research focused on knowledge management, organizational storytelling, and professional service firm management. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from Philadelphia University.


What was your first job in the industry? Post college, in 1988, my first pharma industry job was as a client service analyst at IMS Health, a syndicated pharma marketing research firm which at the time was a part of Dun & Bradstreet

Which companies have you worked for? In 20 years, I have worked for IMS Health, (2 years), Communications Media, Inc (CMI/Compas) (5 years), Advanced Clinical Communications (0.3 years), Johnson & Johnson (10 years), GlaxoSmithKline (2.5 years), Novo Nordisk (1.7 years)

What is the best advice you have received that has helped your career? “Be the President of your piece of the business” and “take your boss solutions, not problems”

Why did you decide to work in this industry? At first for income and prospective growth as it offered the most money out of school (and I was married with 2 children shortly our of school). Today I stay in the industry to contribute to making the world a healthier place.

What has been your most challenging opportunity? Being resourceful, resilient and persistent in the face of barriers, some related to my race/gender/lack of pharma sales experience. Getting a product management opportunity without an MBA or pharma sales experience after 10 years of planning, strategizing and performing in marketing research and advertising roles.

What advice would you give a young person considering this industry? Study science in undergrad and save business for graduate school. Research the broad number of opportunities available in the global Life Sciences industry. Finish school with relevant work experience to accompany your degree even if you don’t finish in 4 years.

How is your career different than what you envisioned when you started? I started out envisioning that I would go into fashion, graphic design and/or advertising and stay there indefinitely but I glad that obstacles and other opportunities forced me into marketing research before pharma advertising, and then on to product management and eMarketing with teaching (in the evenings) and career coaching interspersed in there.

Where did you go to school and what is your educational background? I received my B.S in Marketing from Philadelphia University (after spending my first year of college at Peirce Junior College) and my M.B.A. in Design Management from University of Westminster, London, U.K. which I earned via a 2.5 year online program.

What has been the biggest thrill of your career? The biggest thrill of my career so far has been developing and leading the team which launched the professional repositioning of Pepcid AC which resulted in its regaining #1 professional recommendation share.

What are the benefits and drawbacks of the industry's focus on diversity initiatives? While I cannot think of any drawbacks, the benefits of the industry’s diversity initiatives, racially and otherwise, have been greater reflection of our customers in our organizations with the corresponding benefits of greater innovation and openness, customer empathy and broader more relevant perspectives. While there is always more to be done, in 20 years, I have seen pharma manufacturers come along way. That said, the service and vendor sides of the industry is seemingly lagging behind its clients.

Introducing: Life Sciences Profiles Of Color

This year, Americans and others from around the world have been gripped by the contentious and fascinating US presidential campaign. On the Democratic side, the contest is between two people who would make history by becoming the first African American or female President of the United States. While much has been made of the candidates’ policy positions, fundraising prowess and numerous misstatements, we have also had the opportunity to focus on our country’s fraught history of race relations. Overall, it has been a painful, but enlightening conversation. We’ve had to face how far we’ve come – and how long a road we have yet to travel.

This conversation has inspired people from around the country to reexamine the role of race in their personal, professional and religious lives. In this context, I, along with my colleagues John Mack of Pharma Marketing News and Craig A. DeLarge of Novo Nordisk, have turned our attention to the powerful Life Sciences industry. Companies as diverse as Eli Lilly and Company, Johnson and Johnson, MedTronics, Genzyme, Genentech and Pfizer have long made it a priority to hire a diverse array of people to run their businesses. These efforts are admirable, but have not been universally successful. While the ranks of diverse employees have swelled at these companies, some wonder whether it is wise to institute and pursue hiring policies where racial/ethnic background is a major consideration.

What’s often lost in this debate is a true picture of who these individuals are and what prepared them to assume positions of power and responsibility in the Life Sciences industry. We aim to partially fill this gap by launching a blog “Life Sciences Profiles of Color” that:

o Highlights the achievements and contributions of people of color in the Life Sciences industry, and

o Encourages and inspires young professionals and students who are considering a career in our industry.

How You Can Help

In this blog, we plan to showcase the accomplishments of people of color from a wide array of companies, organizational functions and life sciences industry segments. You can participate by:

o Submitting your story via this online form (or cadelarge@yahoo.com) and granting us permission to post your image and responses on this blog

o Recommending others you think should be featured on this blog

o Sharing news about this blog with your colleagues throughout the industry

Over time, we hope to expand our efforts by creating opportunities for individuals from diverse backgrounds to communicate, network and collaborate. Another goal is to provide people with opportunities to mentor others seeking to enter or advance in the Life Sciences industry. Won't you join us?