Leading Without Illusions

The October edition of Athena's Blueprint for Success showcases the unconventional career journey of Lauren Miskelly, Managing Director, Chrome Browser Enterprise GtM Lead @ Google.

A thriving Tech executive and Google veteran of 13 years, Lauren shares some surprising insights about her own confidence, and credits building strong networks both inside and outside of Google with her longevity and success.

We can't be what we can't see, so listen for powerful career insights and guidance from someone who has defied the odds to become a woman leading in STEM.

The September edition of Athena's Blueprint for Success showcases the leadership journey of Molly He. 

Following her company's successful close of $276 million Series C funding last summer, Molly has an intriguing story to tell. Click below to listen or watch as she describes a long and winding journey while she shares the most important advice she ever received, and what qualities to look for in a mentor (you might be surprised!) 

Athena's Blueprint for Success featured guest is Tracy Ting, Chief Human Resources Officer at Encore Capital Group. Tracy's illustrious career includes notable achievements in multiple male-dominated industries - from finance to medical devices to pharmaceuticals.   

Watch or listen below to learn from Tracy's exhilarating career journey and come away feeling inspired to "try new things. It will only make you richer in your breadth of knowledge and can open you up to new jobs that you may have never imagined for yourself."

Female Founder and international tech entrepreneur Jaye Connolly-LaBelle shares her Blueprint for Success with the Athena community this month. Listen below as she gives insight into the unique experience of being a woman forging new paths in business around the globe.

With a career spanning 20 years across a variety of industries, Ambreen Farook brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and inspiration to this edition of Athena's Blueprint for Success.

Listen as Ambreen details the blueprint that propelled her intentional pivot to a more transformational and purpose-driven career, granting access to invaluable tools for accelerating your own professional journey.

In this month's Blueprint for Success, we're featuring a very special guest, Dr. Madhushree Ghosh, VP Strategic Alliances at NeoGenomics. She is well-regarded across the STEM community and wears many hats including esteemed scientist, precision medicine executive, diversity champion and now a published author. Madhushree shares her intimate story of coming to this country, building an accomplished career and more recently the boundary-setting lessons she developed inside the pandemic. As an introvert by nature, Madhushree's dynamic leadership journey will certainly resonate and inspire many across Athena's community. Watch and listen for Madhushree's invaluable insights on vulnerability and bravery. And check about her new book coming out next month: Khabaar: An Immigrant Journey of Food, Memory and Family (University of Iowa Press).

Welcome to Athena's Blueprint for Success with special guest, Allison Kemner, VP, Clinical Science & Operations @ Tyra Biosciences. Allison's leadership discoveries focus on the invaluable lessons learned instead of the inevitable career failures and setbacks. She shares the value of "giving yourself a break and playing the long game on personal development that extends to greater leadership development.

Athena's Blueprint for Success podcast catapults into 2022 aTyre Pharmaceuticals Vice President, Research, Dr. Leslie Nangle. Longevity can be elusive in the life sciences industry, making Leslie is bit of a "unicorn" as she has been with the aTyr for 15 years. She shares how she resisted the "competitive, critical, micro-managing" mindset, and helped to develop and preserve the company's empowering culture that has kept her with the company for so long.

Leslie describes learning about leadership through the mentor-mentee relationship, and how important it is to regularly access other leaders in STEM. Click below to listen or watch to gain valuable insight into how staying mindful of your personal development helps to prevent burnout, benefits your employer, and helps you stay open and ready for new opportunities.

We are excited to feature Christy England, VP Marketing @ Heron Therapeutics in our Blueprint for Success Series. Christy describes the critical "weigh-stations" along her journey, and details how she capitalized on these career opportunities when presented.

Christy also shares her vision on the opportunities for women that are contemplating a STEM career in the wake of the She-cession pouring into 2022. She highlights the importance of factoring in your vision, values, and passion into your career choices and the importance of building a circle of trusted advisors.

Dr. Gina Wallar, President, Pharma Services @ NeoGenomics shares her Blueprint for Success which began with early career advice that ran counter to her values and passion.“Oh honey, just marry rich...” was the direction she often heard when sharing her passion to pursue science as a young girl. Instead, this merely fueled the flame for Gina's STEM career aspirations.

Early in her career, it was that same tenacity that led her to discover a passion for both science and business. Leveraging her penchant for building a business with a scientific foundation and the desire to do “big things', Gina deepened her skill set to include management, people, finance and sales, and ultimately pursued her doctorate degree. As a “non-traditional” doctoral student, Gina even had a child while earning her degree. 

As for the detractors along her career path, click below to discover how Gina made a practice of stepping back, evaluating her long-term goals, and assessing the role the particular offender may or may not play in achieving that goal. A strategy that has served her well for more than two decades.