“Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions.”  —Albert Einstein

From time to time we interview a client or former client about his or her career transition and their experience with Kelleher Associates.

Mary Brawner has held scientific leadership and discovery roles for major pharmaceutical companies and run her own innovation consulting firm serving both established and early stage clients. She recently accepted a position as Business Capability Director for Discovery Automation for the Genomics and Biologics Groups of a major global pharmaceutical company (BMS).

How did you learn about Kelleher Associates for Career Transition services?

I learned about Kelleher Associates from my Financial Advisor, Gregory Sarian, who has sent other clients to Kelleher and was very complimentary about their services.

What sold you on using Kelleher Associates for your Career Transition services?

I was impressed with their knowledge of transition challenges, their connections within the Philadelphia Life Sciences community, and the positive attitude they brought to the search process.

What Kelleher services and methodologies proved to be especially valuable during your search?

I was really helped by going through the PARS (Problem-Action-Results) process with Mitch Wienick who was my coach. As a scientist, I found it difficult to relate my experiences to “business value” descriptors. Mitch was able to pick out business value themes within my PARS which enabled me, with his help, to create a very compelling resume.

Did the fact that you have a very sophisticated scientific background create any barriers or problems in working with Kelleher Associates?

No.  I think Mitch enjoyed learning about my scientific background and expertise and we really got pretty deep into my accomplishments. This process was very helpful to me in crafting the narratives and success stories for my interviews.

What was the most frustrating part of your search and how did Kelleher Associates help you get through the rough patches?

I originally targeted small biotechs.  My search did not immediately identify biotechs who were able to use my expertise.  Anne Robson, another Kelleher Associate, connected me to the PA Bio group which did value my background and helped put my search into a higher gear.

Toward the end of your search you had a number of key interviews followed by a compensation negotiation process. How did Kelleher Associates help you manage each element of the process and help you keep focused and at your best?

Mitch and I discussed each interview to identify themes for thank you emails and any issues I needed to address.  We also discussed potential Q&A’s and what answers would be most effective when I responded.

I really appreciated his ability to keep me grounded after I was told BMS was preparing an offer.  While they were incommunicado, Mitch kept me focused on my value to BMS and helped me draft very thoughtful communications to the hiring executive (my boss to be) and HR that conveyed my continuing interest while gathering intelligence on where the company was in the offer process. He also helped me think through and negotiate the key elements of the offer.

What did you like best about working with Kelleher Associates?

Mitch – from my perspective he is a brilliant business strategist and a wonderful person.
 
What were some of your key learnings during your search process, and what would you recommend to others seeking their next position?

You really need to know who you are and how to translate that into value you can create for potential employers.

Would you recommend Kelleher Associates to others and why?

Absolutely!  My former colleagues tell me I am the only person among all of us to have landed a full time, high value role in a large pharma organization.  I attribute that to Kelleher’s ability to help me describe my accomplishments in a very compelling way and link that to my ability to bring value to my future employer.

Mars Susas has accepted the position of VP-Business Development and Strategy at NRG Energy.  This Fortune 500 and S&P 500 Company owns and operates one of the country’s largest and most diverse power generation portfolios and has ~2 million electricity customers.

How did you come to choose Kelleher Associates for your recent transition?

I was presented with a few options during my transition and after talking to some former colleagues I was concerned with the level of support I would receive from some of the national executive transition firms.  I was looking for more of a personal approach to the search process. 

Kelleher was recommended to me by a former manager, who is now a CEO of a building materials company.  He described Kelleher as a local executive transition firm that offered a process that would be very helpful to anyone going through a transition and found that the coaches there offered personal support.  It was exactly what I was looking for and it turned out to be a great decision.

We understand that you continued with an active consulting assignment while conducting your job search.  What issues did that pose and what would you advise other job seekers trying to simultaneously manage these two activities?

The biggest issue is carving out enough time for the job search.  I knew a search was going to look like another job, so it definitely felt like I was juggling several clients at once. 

What worked for me was blocking specific days for search activities;  it forced me to spend time on my job search and to finish any consulting assignments in their allotted time.  I also made sure not to take on a full time consulting assignment, essentially prioritizing my search over any consulting work.

What was the most frustrating part of your search and how did you get through the rough patches?

The search process has many ups and downs;  getting started was the toughest part for me.  Early on I made a list of all the folks I wanted to contact. Jim Miller was very helpful by suggesting I look at it like any other business result by measuring my results.  I started with measuring emails and phone calls.  This transitioned to phone calls and coffee networking sessions.  Finally, I started tracking interviews.  I think focusing on the outputs helped drive me to keep pushing and keeping the “search funnel” full – which was a key part in finding the roles I did.

Melinda Decker recently started a new position as Director, Marketing – Commercial Innovation with MedImmune.  With its cutting-edge biological products, MedImmune is a leader in scientific and medical progress.

Why did you choose Kelleher Associates for your recent transition?

I felt an outside perspective could be a valuable addition to my search process.  I hoped that some of Kelleher’s connections could open doors and/or broaden my network in important ways.  Although the expense was something I weighed carefully, I felt that if I could land a great opportunity sooner with professional help or if I could land a better opportunity than I would have otherwise, it would be very worthwhile.  Kelleher received high marks from people I talked with and I was impressed when I met with them to discuss what they offered.

How valuable were the exploratory sessions when deciding which career path was best for you?

These sessions were helpful in providing focus to my search and shoring up my positioning and messaging.  Additionally, they were helpful in assessing my job options and making timely decisions.

How useful did you find Kelleher Associates as a catalyst for networking and connecting you to people who were relevant to your search objectives?

This is a strength of the firm. I was working with Mitch Wienick and Tammy Beil. Mitch helped connect me to critical people with whom I had productive, insightful conversations about positions I was seeking, companies that represented quality targets, and other connections who could be helpful to me.  Tammy helped me think through how I could best approach these new contacts. I am hopeful these new relationships will continue.

• Identifying and getting introduced to target companies, regional recruiters and key networkers.
• Coming from so far away, it was challenging to gain credibility in the local job market.  Companies and people didn’t know me or my past employers and didn’t have a reason to work with me. Kelleher Associates helped me to gain credibility in a community that is very ‘local.’
• Learning about the Mid-Atlantic business community.
• Determining which companies would be both great to work for and a good cultural fit for me.
• Settling into the job search routine after not having had to look for a job since college.
• Staying motivated in the search.

Al Thorp is a senior financial executive with a unique combination of CFO and Segment CEO roles in various environments.  He worked with Kelleher Associates all the way through the process of voluntarily leaving Globus Medical Products, where he was the CFO, to his position at Storeroom Solutions.

Another challenge was ageism.  I found that prospective employers fell into one of 3 categories – those with a bias against gray hair, those with a bias in favor of gray hair and those with no bias, with the majority falling into one of the two extremes. While I did not pursue an active strategy to combat this circumstance, I sought companies (particularly private equity firms) that would have a favorable time frame pursuing liquidity issues that were commensurate with my situation and age.