Today's guest is Dr. Melissa Haulcomb, an Intellectual Property attorney at K&L Gates. Melissa has a PhD in Neuroscience from Loyola University Chicago and a JD from Indiana University - which she pursued during her post-doc! Melissa's story is one of how perseverance, the right mentors, and incredibly hard work can help you find the career of your dreams. Melissa and I talk about her career journey and what sparked her interest in patent law, and importantly the ways her life changed for the better when she decided to stop doing what was best for everyone else and start doing what was best for her. (As the saying goes, "self-care is never selfish.").

Today's guest is The Bold PhD herself, Dr. Gertrude Nonterah! I first learned about G's work when I came across some of her wonderful LinkedIn articles and promptly signed up for her newsletter. G has a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from Temple University, and has been a prolific writer since 2018 when she began freelancing after her postdoc was cut short. Since then, she's built the whole The Bold PhD brand around helping PhDs and trainees build their personal brand and also find jobs outside academia. G and I have an amazing conversation about everything career- and brand-building. Hope you enjoy!

Today's guest is Dr. Erin Zook, Director of Medical Affairs at BD. Erin and Cynthia met as graduate students at Loyola University, and we got Erin to break out of her comfort zone for this on-the-record trip down memory lane! On this episode, Erin and Cynthia discuss their shared experiences as graduate students who didn't learn about their career options outside academia until after graduation (and how you can better prepare yourselves), how Medical Affairs has something for everyone who loves to tell a story through good data, and how improv classes may actually be a key to building a better career path for yourself! Enjoy!

In this episode, Erin talks about participating in Women in Bio, which can be found at https://womeninbio.org/.