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.

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.