Your Personal Board of Directors

Hello and welcome to this week’s episode of the podcast

Today’s episode is about the value and power of having a community that you can trust and grow with, especially as a woman in Pharma/Biotech.

The truth is, there isn’t a safe community for women in Pharma/Biotech to be vulnerable and grow their careers. There isn’t a safe and confidential space for women to talk about their goals, share the real issues like men taking their ideas or bosses that don’t get it, and connect with other like-minded talented women.

Yes, there are amazing organizations that have networking events, mentoring circles, and so on and those are great.

But they are surface level. There isn’t a strong investment of any individual in the group or in each other.

Plus, the group isn’t curated for you.

What I mean by that is you can join a life sciences group and there are some rare groups for women, but you never know who you’re going to get in those spaces.

You can’t control the level, the professionalism, the moderation, or the goals of the group.

You don’t know who is a service provider or vendor, who is in it just to get job connections, who is a fly on the wall, who is in industry and who is trying to be in industry.

Some of my clients have told me that a reason they decided to join my group coaching program is because they wanted a curated space. They knew that it was a higher level space with intention on behavior and goals. That it is moderated and that everyone is working toward a similar goal, at a similar level, not necessarily in title but in maturity and commitment to their growth.

They also knew there wasn’t going to be anyone in the group selling them or trying to get information from them.

This is one of the reasons I created my group for women in Pharma/Biotech: Beyond the Ceiling. This is a space for you, that your boss or HR don’t know about, where you can be your authentic self and finally ask the questions you feel like you can’t ask anywhere else.

You may have heard of the career advice to have a Personal Board of Directors – a group of professionals outside of your work area to support you in your career, brainstorm options, and get new perspectives, help you grow and make decisions. Expand your thinking and help you tap into new people and companies.

They are important because having one can skyrocket your career – imagine having a strategic and professional group of your allies who only want the best for you, willing to connect their network to you, give you advice, cheer you on, and offer new ways to think of things…all in service of you.

No wonder executives talk about this being an important part of their own development.

But how do you create one?

It would take so much work, you’d have to find mentors and women then build relationships with them, keep up the cadence, and ensure you are still on the same page with you. You would have to carve out time for each other in your busy schedules. You would find it hard to get everyone together so you’d have to have multiple 1-1 private conversations then synthesize their feedback.

Plus, you only know who you know and the industry is huge. There are hundreds if not thousands of Pharma/biotech companies globally.  The best personal board of directors is going to be diverse in level, in company, in experiences.

In Beyond the Ceiling, I curate the best group of women for you to grow with and from. They serve as your personal board of Directors.

This is a very intentional part of the program.

Here’s why: Coaching women in industry for years 1-1 I discovered that the problems you have are similar if not the exact same as the other women. I was coaching and teaching the same concepts and philosophies, tools and resources over and over.

And one of the biggest problems some of my clients have is thinking they are the only ones struggling with what they are dealing with and a fear of being too visible.

The community in Beyond the Ceiling solves for this. You see you’re not alone and other women at the same level, higher level, and lower level have similar fears and experiences.

You don’t outgrow these issues with a title change. You have to solve the root cause.

Plus, you learn in a really simple and tangible way, built into the way the program operates, how to speak up comfortably in front of new people.

And guess what happens? You then build your confidence in the program to practice those skills at work. You learn how to do new things and build your leadership skills in a true safe space.  Then you can do it at work easily.

The program is designed with so much thought and strategy to get you the results you want just by doing the program and working the coaching into your day-to-day experiences you already have. So it’s not something extra, it’s something you look forward to.

It’s a resource that saves you so much time because you don’t have to wait or figure things out on your own. You have me and your personal board of directors to answer your questions and give you feedback, and celebrate with you every step of the way.

Every member is a woman in industry who has a similar goal to you.

The group is controlled, meaning there is an application process to confirm fit.

With my application and selection process, you know that this is a talented and professional group who will maintain your confidence, empathize with you, and help you reach your goals.

When you have this community of industry professionals from all different companies and levels you:

It is only for women in Pharma/Biotech and only for women who have goals I know they can reach in my program.

At our kick-off event you meet your personal board of directors. There are actions you take early on to build relationships easily, you don’t have to feel awkward or do it alone. I have designed the program to make it natural for you and for you to have these relationships after you graduate from the program.

When you tap into this professional curated group of women you get insider information on companies and types of roles that exist you wouldn’t get otherwise.

You have a safe space to practice your leadership skills without fear of judgment or doing it wrong.

You leverage each other for referrals and connections so you can get coffee chats on the books, tap into the hidden job market, and get a new job or promotion faster.  85% of roles are filled through a relationship so I have built this in so you can leverage each other and get more interviews and offers than you would on your own….even if you didn’t do anything else in the program but build these relationships.

You see you’re not the only one that struggles with the problems you do

Y learn from others who have already solved the problems you’re having.

Y gain insight from their Coaching when they ask questions you didn’t think or are getting proactive solutions on something you haven’t experienced yet. Think about how much this expedites your growth when you get to benefit from someone else’s coaching you didn’t even think to ask.

Or you see someone get coaching on a problem you haven’t had yet. You proactively know how to solve it when it happens for you.

When you are in this community you rise up together. Together you show each other what is possible and you get real-examples to show you what is possible for your career.

Instead of talking to your work-friends who are also unhappy or don’t know how to advance, you are surrounding yourself with people who are making their career goals happen.

When I talk to my clients the community is something some were excited about and some were a little hesitant about.

But once they are in it, they consistently tell me it is one of their favorite parts of the program and couldn’t imagine coaching without it.

Here is what the Beyond members say about the community. I’m going to share 4 different quotes for you to really see how the community which is just one feature of Beyond the Ceiling is invaluable to your career growth.

“I’ve gotten such meaningful support from you and the other women in the community; our group calls each week have helped empower me to persevere through difficulties in my current role and in the job search. I’ve felt a genuine connection with the group; I definitely had some vulnerable moments, which was initially stressful, but looking up to see everyone nodding in support and validation gave me such a sense of belonging.”

Another member shared: “Also important for me were the cohort members and the sense of community. Knowing that other cohort members were working through the same challenges and successes was great. The community was powerful!”

Another just shared with me her favorite part to be: I can’t speak highly enough about this program, the access to Melissa and the network of amazing women, the coaching, I felt like I had a space to get the support and feedback I needed!

And another said her favorite was: Getting to know the other women and seeing that my struggles were not unique! Having someone help me figure out what I bring to the table and how to articulate my transferrable skills is a game changer for me.  I knew I needed to make changes but having someone be able to help me navigate what they were was exactly what I needed.

You belong with us.

In Beyond the Ceiling, the 4-month career advancement program for women in Pharma/Biotech you will design your career path, and build the skills you need to re-shape your current role or get the new role, responsibilities, or promotion you want.

You will achieve your goals with me and your personal board of directors who will fearlessly support you.

If you are ready to grow your skills and your career with your personal curated group of women in Pharma Biotech to serve as your personal board of directors,, apply to join us in the next cohort. 

Enrollment ends August 6th. To join, submit your application at www.yourworthycareer.com/beyond.

If you have any hesitancy about joining, you can select on the application that you want to have a consultation call with me first to confirm it’s the best decision for you.

I can’t wait to review your application. This is the last cohort of the year, so it’s the perfect time to join us.

That’s all for this week’s episode. Have a great week!