The Life Science Effect

Steve Vinson interviews Jeremy Opperman, the founder of BPM Associates. Jeremy shares his journey from growing up in a small business environment to starting his own company, BPM Associates, which specializes in life science project delivery. He emphasizes the importance of quality and people-focused relationships in his business. Jeremy also discusses the challenges and successes of building BPM Associates over the past 10 years, with the support of his wife Amanda. The episode highlights Jeremy's intentional approach to business, his commitment to high-quality service, and the importance of shared success and professional growth within the company.

MUSIC:

Acid Jazz-Kevin MacLeod used under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

In Season 2, Episode 3 of *The Life Science Effect*, Steve Vinson discusses BPM Associates' work. He explains BPM’s core purpose and values—supporting people, fostering teamwork, and reducing turnover in the life sciences industry. Through personal stories, Steve illustrates the challenge of defining “what we do” in simple terms and describes BPM’s approach to managing projects in pharmaceuticals, including combination product scaling, regulatory compliance, and facility expansions. Emphasizing people-centered project management, BPM seeks to avoid burnout while meeting timelines and budgets. Future episodes will feature BPM employees sharing insights on their project experiences.

You are about to experience the life science effect season 2 brought to you by our presenting sponsor, BPM associate. Extraordinary people's relationships that matter, important change for a better world. The joy of belonging. Life, science, leadership. I'm Steve Vincent and this is season 2 episode 3. Finally, after many weeks of waiting, we're going to talk about what we do, so you'll remember Episode 1 was start with. Why? And we talked about our core purpose about extraordinary people working together in a great environment to accomplish important lasting change. And then in episode 2 of season 2, we talked about how we go about doing that, starting with our core values of people first. Relationships matter. Service to a greater cause than DEIB, and we put structures and systems in place so that our folks can be extraordinary. As exemplified by my hospital visit and the demonstration that if you take care of your folks, your folks will take care of your customers. So that's starting with Y and we got the concentric circles start with. Why then how finally we get to the outermost concentric circle? What the heck do we do? So first I'm gonna tell you a little story from a few years back. Went to a networking event and you know when you go to these networking events, somebody's always asking what do you do? And this one was no different. Had gone to this event. It was at the Columbia club in downtown Indianapolis, which is this kind of ritzy, beautiful building. They have nice art hanging on the walls. And so it was a nice place. And I practiced my, what we call the elevator pitch. The whole way there, because I had to drive there from from my house and the elevator pitch for those of you that may not know what I'm talking about there, it's that 10 seconds or so of an answer. When somebody says, what do you do? So you go to a networking event, you get on the elevator to go somewhere. You've got between 3 and 10 floors. To tell this person in that elevator what you do. That's your elevator pitch, so I'm practicing it the whole way over. It doesn't come natural for me, and answering that question, what do you do? It used to be really hard for me. You know what? What do I say? Project management. I'm a project manager. Yeah, well, me too. Everybody's a project manager these days. What does that mean? What do you? What kind of projects do you manage? And then I'm I'm talking about pharmaceutical projects. And medical device projects. Next thing I know, their eyes are glazed over and they're like, why couldn't you just say lawyer or doctor or something? My knows what that is. And I'm like. I just always had trouble with it, so I would practice these elevator pitches and this day was no different the entire way there. I'm practicing behind the wheel and then I get to the parking garage, which, by the way, paying for parking is is not easy like there's usually like an app where you got to text somebody or. And it's really expensive. So anyway, that sort of interrupted my train of thought. Then I couldn't figure out how to get out of the parking garage. I go down like three flights of stairs and then I find myself. Of trapped on the 2nd floor, I had to ask like this this one dude that was like directing people where to go was like how do I get out of here? He's like out that door and turn left. So I did. I find my way out. I finally get to the networking event and take the elevator. Ironically, nobody was in the elevator. Just me. So I'm still giving my elevator pitch to myself. I breeze out of the elevator straight into the networking event, head straight for the coffee bar, because that's what the networking books tell you to do. They say go to the refreshment area. If it's in the evening, it's where they serve the drinks anyway. I go over to the coffee thing and where people are and I'm making my coffee, there's another person making her coffee. She probably read the same books. She looks at me and I look at her. We're like, here we go, right? We're about to network. Networking is about to begin and she's about to ask me what I do. I'm ready for this, she goes. So tell me about yourself. I I I was. What? That's exactly what I said. She's like. Well, well, tell me about yourself, man. I was ready for what do you do? I wasn't ready for. Tell me about yourself in my head. I'm like, let's see. I was born in Northwest Indiana. No, wait. That's too far back. Chemical engineering degree. No, she doesn't want my resume and I was like, OK, I just. I stopped. They said. I practiced this elevator pitch. I was ready. And now I'm just frozen. I'm thrown off. She was apologizing to me, and I'm like, no, I'm the one that should be apologizing to you. And I said, can I just start over? She's like, please do. I said cool. Hi, I'm Steve Vinson. I'm a project manager and pharmaceutical and medical devices. I help clients get their projects done. Faster, better under budget. And she looks at me and she goes. Real estate. What? No. What did I say anything about real estate? She's like, yeah, in the beginning, I said Steve Vinson. No, it was after that, projects. No. Before that, I don't think I. So now we got this awkwardness hanging in the air. Right. And I finally was just like. There's somebody over there I want to talk to you. So this. What do you do? Question. The bottom line is didn't always come naturally to me. Right. And you have to recognize in some ways that the purpose of the question, it's not what she asked. It's just she could have said give me your elevator pitch. Or she could have said the truth. Which is, hey, we're both at this. Event let's tell each other what we got going on so we can figure out if you can help me or if I can help you or if I know somebody that can help you or if you know somebody that you can introduce me to. That's all we're doing here. We're not trying to get each other's life stories. This isn't Life magazine. Just give me the 10 seconds so that I know whether do I need to move on to the next. So now Fast forward to today. And as I've said, I'm the CEO of a company and I represent the company at events. I'm no longer just representing me, so I need to stay on message no matter what the question is, you know, tell me about your company. Tell me about you. Tell me about yourself. What do you do? I need to be ready with those few messages. That I want to communicate. On behalf of the company. So that's what these podcasts have sort of been about. It gives me an opportunity to practice, but it also steps you through the process too, maybe for your company or you know, maybe by getting reintroduced to our company, we can find ways to help each other. So here's some messaging for you. Speaking of what we do, I saw a statistic recently. About a million people in the US work in pharmaceuticals and medical devices. And most of those are working on. Projects. 90%, I would say are more of the people of the professionals working in pharmaceuticals are working on. Projects turnover rate for those folks year over year is about 25 to 30%. That's like one out of every three or four people you're working with on a project is going to leave that job this year. And think about the impact that has on your project team. You got to really go through the storming, norming, performing, norming, storming and performing stuff. You got to reteach people. What the projects about get them back up to speed, hugely disruptive, not to mention the reason they're leaving is they're frustrated there. They don't see the connection of their project to the world or to. Making a difference for patients and so if we can figure out a way to run projects better, then we can reduce that turnover rate first of all. But more importantly, we can have people instead of feeling like they're going to a job and they're stressed out about getting their projects done, they can thrive in their career. Be happier at home and just leads to a better world. And again, not to mention patients get their medicines faster, they get their devices faster. So at BPM that's what we believe we believe in managing projects differently. Yeah, we get projects done on time and under budget by the way, if you meet somebody that works at a company and they claim they. Leverage project management or specialized in project management, but they're not telling you. They'll get their projects done on time and under budget. They probably shouldn't be in the business of project management. It's kind of like table stakes. You getting projects done on time and under budget. But I digress. Yes, BPM gets projects done on time and under budget. That's always our goal. But we also focus on not leaving behind a trail of burnout and frustration. We prioritize people. We want the people working on our projects to feel like they've grown. They've learned something new and they look forward to coming. Work because when people feel valued, they stay and the project thrives. That's all well and good, but you know, that wasn't 10 seconds. That wasn't an elevator ride. That was like, I had to capture you for a good 5 minutes to tell you all that. So how would I answer that question today if I were to go to a networking event? I end up in the elevator. Now. I'm not perfect. None of us are. Perfect. But the difference here is I believe in this message, and this isn't just some slogan to me. And the more I practice it, the more natural it's going to sound. So somebody asked me tell you, tell me about yourself. What do you do? Hi, I'm Steve Benson. I'm the CEO of BPM associates. We're a life science consulting. Firm that overseas client projects. So our consultants and experts, they get complex projects done on time, within budget and most important to us, we don't leave behind a trail of carnage. So there you go. Our approach is all about creating an environment where teams aren't just completing tasks, they are thriving by now. If I'm at the networking event, they'll be like OK. I I still don't quite get it. I get you guys do projects. I get you lead client teams, but like what? Actually kinds of projects are you doing? So what I thought I'd do today is I'll give you 3 different examples of some projects we've done and what kind of difference we've made for the client and this should give you a little bit more of a concrete feeling for what we do. So the first one. Comes from a large pharmaceutical company that had recently gotten approval for a drug that comes with a device. So we call those combination products. It's the drug is already pre loaded into the into the syringe. And the drug took off in the market place and they had to suddenly make a lot more of it than they had capacity for. So we had a number of projects where we helped them install the equipment that manufacturers these combination devices. So our project managers and in some cases project experts were involved with helping the team specify what kind of equipment they. Created. Get that equipment on order and it's multiple pieces of equipment, so a lot of moving parts. The people who manufacture this equipment, they have questions you have to make sure you're communicating. Getting those questions answered to keep that piece of it on track. Then, when the equipment shows up at the client site, it has to be installed bolted to the floor, plugged in to the electricity has to be plugged into the IT systems. It's remarkable how much these manufacture. Lines are integrated with IT systems, so knowing something about those IT systems is important for the project manager. Keep in mind our project managers aren't usually the expert on the technology, but they know enough about the technology to be able to talk to the engineers and technicians who are the experts on the technology to identify risks. Risks help them resolve issues, remove obstacles out of the way, etcetera. So now that the equipment's on site, both the down plugged in to the electricity into the data. Systems. Now it has to be turned on and tested everything. All this equipment, the process, everything has to be tested so that we know that every single device that comes off of this manufacturing line is safe. It's effective. It's not going to hurt somebody. It's not going to be broken. When when you get it from your pharmacy and get it home and open it up, it's going to be a good one. We can't test. Each and every one of the devices, so we test the equipment and the process that make the devices so that you can know that it's still going to be a good device. That's our project and we've done a number of these. We've gotten the capacity up to the point where the market is filled fulfilled with the medicines that people need. And by the way, all the people that worked on these projects, they have really enjoyed their work. They knew why it was important. And at the end of the day, they want to do another one and they want to work with, they want to work on a project where BPM person is running the project. So next example is a lot different kind of project, but it's still a project and then we'll call it a quality system. Improvement project and that's where a regulatory body like the FDA or one of the international bodies maybe comes in. And and finds some deficiencies at a pharmaceutical manufacturer or a medical device manufacturer, and by deficiencies, I mean they're not following the regulations perfectly. They have some issues and their processes that create risk that they might be making bad product. They aren't necessarily making bad product. But there's the risk there because they're not following the regulations completely as they should be, so our project has been, would go in, we take a look at what the findings were from what they call the audit, where the the regulatory body came in and looked at their systems, gave them some. Sessions and we work with the client. We form a team of both client folks and experts in the industry. Experts on those regulations and we figure out where those deficiencies are. We get to the root cause of those deficiencies with the client so that we're not just putting band aids on the issues. We're actually addressing the underlying cultural or underlying root causes. Of the problems that they've had, in some cases that involves rewriting procedures, it may very well include identifying product that possibly is bad, that may need to be recalled, and then we'll help them through that process as well. So again we.

They.

Aren't necessarily the expert on FDA regulations. We know an awful lot about FDA regulations, but we have a network of experts and sometimes the client is an expert, but they don't know how to take their expertise and turn it into actual strategic and tactical actions to get these procedures. Rewritten or get these deficiencies remediated so the project becomes organizing that team and organizing the effort to get things rewritten and redone so that the FDA or whatever regulatory body can come back in, take another look at the. System and in every single case in the projects I've been involved with, the FDA comes back and says, OK, everything's fixed, you're out of trouble now or whatever the whatever the case may be. So that's quality system projects. The third one is maybe more standard of what you would think of a project and that is facility expansion. And that is just straight up somebody's building a building or they're changing something inside of a building. They're renovating a building or they're building a new building. So those of you who maybe didn't know about pharmaceutical manufacturing or didn't know about the quality system type projects, this is the kind of project where you're like, ohh yeah, I know what a building is. I know how that works, a lot of the facility expansions we do or the facility renovations now it's happening within a pharmaceutical or medical device company. So it has to follow those regulations as well. And some of these end up being a much bigger too. So we our project managers, we would put us more senior person. On a project like that, because now they're overseeing a team of hundreds of people that are doing wildly different things, you know, some of them are the experts on what does this facility need to accomplish, what kind of air handling units, what kind. Of floor finishes, wall finishes need to be in here. So you got those experts all the way to the experts on construction. So you might be working with a large. General contractor concrete people. So that's a really those are fun projects because you're working with a wide range of people and when we're on those projects again by understanding what's this building for, who's it for, what does it need to do? Why do you need this building? What happens if you don't build this building by understanding those things? Our project managers can really motivate and inspire A-Team to do their best work. Those are my three case studies for the day. I've got a lot more I think now that we've gotten through the why. The how and we're on to the what we're going to do a few more. What's so? I'm going to bring in voices of our employees to tell you about the projects they're working on. Because. You can hear it from me and you get my perspective. But boy, when you maybe hear from a project manager who's still out there every day running these projects, it it brings a different perspective. So we'll probably do a few of those in the future as well, but that's it for today. Thank you for listening. Don't forget, do all the Internet things you know like subscribe. Comment Send me an e-mail, go to thelifescienceeffect.com to figure out how to listen to this thing on all your favorite platforms and subscribe so you don't miss a single episode. You want to learn more about BPM? Go to bpm-associates.com. And continue listening to the life science effect.

Host Steve Vinson continues exploring BPM Associates' core philosophy, following up on Simon Sinek’s idea of starting with "why." In Episode 1, Steve shared why BPM does what it does—now, he turns to "how" they do it. Before diving into the business side, Steve shares a humorous and mostly true story about his recovery from outpatient surgery, which highlights the value of a great work environment and how it can translate into better outcomes for patients, employees, and even clients. Steve emphasizes that BPM’s approach centers on strong leadership, effective project management, and living out their core values. These principles, coupled with rigorous internal processes, help BPM drive successful, lasting change for pharma and medical device companies. Tune in for insights on how BPM nurtures its people, ensures client satisfaction, and continually strives for improvement—ultimately creating a workplace where change is embraced and employees are empowered to excel.

FULL TRANSCRIPT:

I'm Steve Vinson, and this is Season 2, Episode 2. If you watched the Simon Sinek TED Talk, or if you listened to Episode 1 of Season 2, you know that Sinek asks us to begin our communications with why, then how, then what. In Episode 1, I talked about why BPM does what it does. Today, I'll talk about how we actually do it. Then in future episodes, we'll get into what we actually do, but first, a story about that time I was recovering from outpatient surgery. Now it involves anesthesia, and I didn't get permission from the nurse to tell this story, so I'm changing some of the details to protect their privacy and maybe my fragile ego, but the gist of the story aligns with many of the conversations I've had with several folks at that same hospital. I'd say this story is mostly true, true enough, we'll say. You'll get the idea. I was walking down the hall of the hospital in my very fashionable hospital gown, in my grippy socks, and the nurse was there, of course, to make sure I didn't fall over. If I did fall over, it wouldn't hit my head. It was all part of the anesthesia recovery process, of course. I asked them how they liked working there. I have a habit of doing that at this hospital system, and you'll see why later. But they answered me, and they said they love it. They love working there. They said the administration listens to the employees, and they implement things that'll make nurse lives better and also make for better patient outcomes. They said they wish they'd started there sooner. See, they used to work at another hospital that's farther away that I've been to. I don't particularly care for it, the times I've had to use it. They lived near the hospital where I was, and they would drive past this hospital every day on their way to work for many years. They would think, you know, my commute could be a lot shorter if I'd just work at this hospital since I live closer, but we all know how that kind of goes. You get an inertia, and it takes hold, and it's hard to leave a job. As long as you feel like you're making a fair wage and things aren't too bad, folks tend to stay, even if something else might be better. It might be better. It might be worse or even the same, and if it's no better or no worse, then you went to all that trouble and the stress of changing jobs, maybe leaving work friends, not knowing where the coffee pot is. You might be right back to a job that's no better than the job you left, so we tend to stay with the devil we know because changing jobs is hard. A number of years ago, this particular nurse finally reached the tipping point at the other hospital. The specific reason or the reasons they left aren't that important. We've all been there. There's a proverbial straw, a bad day. The dam finally bursts, whatever that metaphor is, and they finally decided to leave the old job and take a job at this hospital, and now their only regret is they should have done it sooner. It's not about whether the pay or the benefits are better. I didn't ask about that. The pay and benefits might be better, but it's really the working environment is better, and the staff gets what they need to do their jobs well, and the administration truly listens at this hospital. If something will make the patient experience better, they listen and they take action. If a procedure can be changed to improve patient outcomes, they listen and they take action. If something can be changed to help the nurses have a better working environment, they listen and they make that change. I told this particular nurse that their story sounded the same as the other stories I've heard when I've talked with folks at this hospital system. I have a habit of asking them how they like working there, even when I'm not under anesthesia wearing a very flattering hospital gown. Now, I happen to love this hospital system. I really don't want to have to use it much, but when I do need it, this is where I try to go. If I need a doctor, if I need a procedure done, if I need anything, this is where I start. Thankfully, they're covered by my insurance. I feel safer there. I feel more comfortable there. Their systems are patient-friendly. It's easy to schedule there. The staff seems to like their job. The billing always seems to work out okay. I've had disputes, but they haven't been contentious. It's just like we've got to figure this out, and we fix it, and we move on. I just feel like I'm going to have better outcomes, like the procedure is going to go better, the treatment is going to go better. If the administration listens and acts on their staff's suggestions and thoughts and feelings, well, their staff is going to listen to me, and the doctors and their nurses are going to listen to me, which confirms my belief that if you focus on people first and work to create a great environment, the customer will notice, and the customer will have a better experience. What does any of that have to do with how BPM does business? That's what you came here for, right? Let's get back to Cynic's advice first and try it out with BPM's why, how, and what. As you know, our why is we believe in the power of extraordinary people working together in a great environment to accomplish important, lasting change. How do we do that? We leverage strong leadership, effective project management, and a commitment to our core values. What we do is we lead teams to deliver complex technical projects at pharma and medical device companies. Typically, we lead teams that have client experts, contract resources, other BPM experts. The projects range from R&D to manufacturing, asset delivery, to quality improvement and business process excellence. Let's try that out in Cynic's style. When he was talking about Apple, if you watch the videos, it's really compelling when he talks about Apple. Everything we do, we believe in the power of extraordinary people working together in a great environment to accomplish important, lasting change. We do this by leveraging strong leadership, effective project management, and a commitment to our core values. We happen to lead complex technical projects at pharma and medical device companies. Want to buy some? Maybe I have a future as a TED talker. We'll see. Important, lasting change. Change, as we know, is essential for business. The right people working together is essential for change to be successful and lasting. If it's important, you want it to be successful and lasting, right? We're talking about a world where change isn't scary. It's a world where change is welcome and we look forward to change, where people cannot wait to wake up and get to work on solving the most important challenges of our time. And people do change the right way, a way that leads to job satisfaction and lasting impact. At BPM, we believe a strong, skilled leader makes all the difference to completing projects on time at the right cost. A strong, skilled project manager leading a good team is going to leverage the principles of project management and organizational change management to ensure the project's done on time and at the right cost. And team members will feel like they gained something in the process. In short, they will accomplish important, lasting change. And even if BPM is not serving as the project manager, maybe our resource is an expert on the team or some other kind of individual contributor, that's all right. We still believe in leveraging project management practices and we'll support whoever the project manager is, whether it's a client or even another contract company. Because to be a great leader, the project manager needs great team members. And we know how to do that. A good leader knows how to be a good follower as well. All of that having been said, how do we do our work? We start with our core values of people first, relationships matter, service to a greater cause, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. We leverage those values and also our core traits of desire and curiosity. We express, model, reinforce all these values and traits in everything we do. We add in a set of key skills that we can round out what it means, what the definition of extraordinary people is, and what the definition of great environment is. And applying all these, whether we're recruiting for the next extraordinary person or developing our systems in the training curriculum or working with our folks to develop and grow, these values, traits, and skills are what guide us as we're doing those activities. So we're always building and strengthening our processes and tools to ensure people have what they need to be in their happy place and to do their best work. We started the journey a few years ago by focusing first on our people, the people of BPM. Because, again, by taking great care of our employees, we believe they will take great care of our customers. So we listened and we took action. We worked hundreds of hours over the past few years to improve our internal processes and expand what we can offer people. We partnered with a professional employment organization so we could offer big company benefits at our small growing firm. That's not just health insurance, by the way. It's also, well, health and dental. But it's also an employee assistance program that is normally only offered at bigger companies in which you can call and get any kind of support you want when it comes to that. And what you can call and get any kind of support you want when it comes to mental health, physical health, whatever. And it's free to employees. There's also discount programs. There's tons of training. So it's as if we were a hundreds-of-person company offering these benefits. We regularly conduct salary surveys because we want to make sure our compensation is fair and equitable. BPM employees take advantage of our PTO program, which is take as much PTO as you need. In fact, we encourage folks to take PTO because they're such hard workers. We sometimes have to remind folks, hey, you haven't taken any PTO in a while. Let's get somebody to cover your project so you can take a week or so off. If they need to take a day off to take care of something in their family or they have to run a particular errand or go vote, they can take that time. And it's not tracked. It's not limited. We have involved everyone in our DEIB strategy development and training. Every employee at BPM is part of a task force that works on a particular element of our program, of our strategy. And these task forces work on assessing and developing our practices using global benchmarks that we evaluate in conjunction with our DEIB consultant. And we have monthly recurring meetings that we call culture development meetings where everyone comes together. We focus solely on ways to build and improve our people-first culture. It's anything but a typical staff meeting. We can inform folks of what's going on with an email or whatever. I love the mug, the coffee mug that says, I just survived a meeting that could have been an email. We really take that to heart. I mean, if we're just trying to convey some information, we'll send an email. If you have questions about that email and you want to discuss it in a group setting, especially if it's a way to move our culture forward, let's do that in a culture development meeting. Or anybody at any time can access leadership and have a heart-to-heart conversation. One-on-one or in small groups. We apply the same rigor to how we serve our clients. So now that we had spent several years working on our internal processes, we turned our focus on, we continue working and building our internal processes, but we also, for the last couple of years, have been focusing on our client delivery practices. So our project methodology and delivery process is comprehensive, and it balances the needs of a diverse client base, the needs of specific projects, and a standard approach to project management and change management. Our resource management process and tools allow us to quickly identify any resource capacity issues, any problems that might be coming up, and identify those potential problems and opportunities well before we get to them. We've streamlined our recruiting process and we have partnered with a staffing firm, actually, so that we can bring well-qualified resources to clients two or three months faster than we were able to do it before. This allows us to respond quickly and to bring the right resources on board at the right time for our clients. The faster we can find someone when we've identified a need at the client, the quicker we can find a well-qualified resource. Because we're small, we don't have a bench at the moment, so we knew we needed to compress the time it took to find a well-qualified resource to bring them on board. Speaking of onboarding, we have worked on that process quite a bit as well to make sure that one thing that clients tell us all the time is to bring on new folks because they don't have the time to train them or to bring them on board or to tell them what it's like around here to bring them on to the client culture. We have built that process and really built that up and strengthened it so that we are the ones, our program directors are the ones doing that training. We have enough experience at our clients that we could say, you don't need to do that part. Some things have to be done by the client employee, but the things that don't, showing them where the coffee machine is, telling them what the etiquette is on when you have to make the next pot, but more importantly, what is it like around here? What's it like doing work here? What are the different processes and procedures at this client? We take care of that so the client doesn't have to. Our program directors provide oversight and experience and expertise to make sure resources are successful. We strive to identify any issues well before the client even notices. We want to ensure project success even if we didn't bring on the right resource. We don't always get it right. Stop. Nobody gets it right every single time and we recognize that. We do our best to get it right the first time, but if we don't, we try to notice that before the client does so that we can work on making a change, help that person be extraordinary someplace else maybe. Even if we don't notice it and the client notices it, we don't like that situation, but we make sure we quickly jump in to make sure the project is successful and we make a personnel change if we need to. Our account managers are able to help the program directors and the client sponsors always be monitoring for what's important and how are we doing? Are we meeting your needs? Do you have any other needs that we can take care of? In all, we think focusing on strong leadership, effective project management, and a commitment to those core values are not just embracing change, we're driving it. Together we can create a world where change is welcomed and leads to lasting positive impact. From a story about me in my flattering hospital gown talking with the nurse as we walked down the hallway together to truly building an organization that values people and the belief that if we value our folks, our folks will take care of the client. Make sure you like, subscribe, comment. Let's engage together, reach out. I'm at stephen.benson at bpm-associates.com Go to bpm-associates.com or thelifescienceeffect.com to see more and hope to see you next time.

In late 2021, the COO, founder, and CEO of BPM Associates gathered to do their annual planning. They decided that they needed a new vision statement that would resonate with their core ideology. They watched Simon Sinek's TED Talk on starting with "why" and realized that people don't buy from BPM or work for BPM because of what they do, but because of why they do it. They decided to focus on doing business with those who believe in their "why", even if it meant walking away from some opportunities. They wanted to create a company that attracted outstanding people and provided top talent for life science projects.

We're back! In this trailer, Steve explains why it has been so long, how we can have a Season 2 when there wasn't really a Season 1, and what you can expect from this season of the show.

I've heard it said that culture beats strategy. I believe that. I also believe culture beats tactics and process and procedure and technique. In this episode (another solo episode), I will relate a recent story in which I had the chance to stand up and reinforce the safety culture of my client.

It may not be for everybody. It may not be "life science" specific. That's okay. Not to worry. Life Science talk returns next time and guests return late summer or early fall this year. Thanks for your support!

Thanks to our sponsor BPM Associates - www.bpm-associates.com

What Does It Take To Succeed As A Bioentrepreneur? Source: Life Science Leader By Karl Schmieder

Steve continues the discussion of how to transition into the startup world. The context is an article from a while back that still has relevant lessons for today.

Also referenced in this episode:

EP. 455 — RICH KARLGAARD Maybe You're a Late Bloomer. It’s More Possible Than Ever Now to Flourish Later in Life

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't Kindle Edition by Jim Collins

Steve is solo this week. He decided to give his thoughts about an article in Life Science Leader - From Academia To Pharma CEO: Challenges and Lessons Learned by Graham Kelly

Be sure and visit our presenting sponsor:

BPM Associates

What if a cutting edge technology saved your life? And then what if you got to be part of a startup company that is working on similar technology to save others' lives? Karen Momper, of Theratome Bio is living that story.

This week, Micheal Coleman, PhD, and Karen tell the story of Theratorm Bio and the exciting platform they are working on. Learn about how Theratome Bio is developing a portfolio of products derived from adult stem cell secretions. The future includes exciting potential therapies like stroke treatment and organ preservation during transport.

Learn Michael's and Karen's inspiring stories.

Resources in this episode:

Indiana Center for Biomedical Innovation

TheratomeBio.com

Theratome Bio on LinkedIn

Theratome Bio on Facebook

About Michael Coleman, PhD: Michael brings a wealth of research and new drug development experience to Theratome Bio.  He directed multidisciplinary teams at GeneMedicine and Valentis in Houston, Texas, prior to accepting a role with Centelion (a subsidiary of Sanofi-Aventis) as Vice President of R&D.   He there led a team of scientists in discovery, process & clinical development, and regulatory affairs.  Most recently, Michael was President and CEO of InGeneron, a medical device firm committed to driving personal regenerative medicine therapies.  During his tenure InGeneron attained several regulatory approvals in Europe and initiated clinical trials in the US under FDA approval.

Michael has dedicated his career to developing new therapies, ushering these innovations through regulatory paths, and ultimately seeing new therapies transitioned into the clinic.  He has also continued to publish research in peer-reviewed journals and maintain a close relationship with leading researchers and clinicians in academia.

He earned his BS and MS degrees from Texas A&M, his PhD from Penn State, and completed post-doctoral work at the Baylor College of Medicine.

Michael has a passion for the regenerative medicine space.  He’s long thought that a cell-free option is where the future of regenerative therapy is headed, and believes that TheratomeTM technology provides the key attributes of product consistency and ease of handling and administration necessary to achieve widespread clinical application.  In his own words, “TheratomeTM technology solves the key issues limiting clinical application of stem cell based therapies.   I am excited for the opportunity to be part of developing this technology that will provide life changing benefits patients and disrupt the field of regenerative medicine.”

Karen earned a B.A. in Chemistry with a minor in Marketing from the University of Dayton.  She completed an Undergraduate Thesis while there, worked for the Office of Admission leading campus tours, and was hired as a new grad to work as a Traveling Student Recruiter.

Karen began her career with the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company shortly thereafter.  During her ten years of employment, she served Primary Care and Hospital Sales roles, sold in multiple outpatient and inpatient therapeutic areas, negotiated formulary contracts, earned district, region, and national recognition for sales, and was selected to serve in leadership roles within her district.

Since then, Karen has taken on several non-profit initiatives whereby she has initiated a group, raised funding, and marketed and maintained a leadership role in organizations. She has also used her public speaking abilities to fund-raise.  In one such effort, she contributed to the establishment of an in-house Therapeutic Massage Therapy Program to treat Oncology Patients at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) Hospital in Portland, Oregon, a cause that was previously only filled by intermittent volunteers.

Karen is happily married, and proud mother to two sons. In addition to multiple volunteer roles at her Parish and children’s schools, Karen reads live broadcasts for IRIS Radio, a free service that provides audio news and literature for the visually impaired.  Karen is also the survivor of a stem cell transplant (2009), and an autologous stem cell procedure to her hip to reduce the likelihood for need of replacement. These experiences fuel her unique passion for furthering regenerative medicine innovation.

If you have not already done so, check out Beyond the Stethoscope - Angela Demaree's wonderful podcast for veterinarians, healthcare providers and busy professionals who want actionable, implementable solutions surrounding work-life balance, accomplishing your goals and living your dreams.

Angela does a great job of interviewing Steve Vinson in this cross-cast episode of The Life Science Effect.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Indiana Health Industry Forum, https://ihif.org/

Indiana Biosciences Research Institute, https://www.indianabiosciences.org/

Inside Indiana Business, Life Science Newsletter http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/category/301752/life-sciences

The Life Science Leader https://www.lifescienceleader.com/

Connect with Steve on Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenvinson/

and Twitter  https://twitter.com/steve_vinson 

[email protected]