Adaobi E. Anyiwo, PharmD, RAC

First of all, I would say it's my relationship with God. I don't know if you're very religious or anybody is, but that has always been the base and the foundation, and it's been my compass and how I manage life and my career. The second thing is just the relationships I've had with people. I've been favored in ways that don't even make sense. Like I mentioned, I was the only fellow the first time the fellowship was created at Howard, and it would have been two slots, but they said, don't we want you? And then after that, it was a tug-of-war between FDA and GSK, like, we want her. So, you know, being favored in those times, people say, yeah, if you have the experience, you know, really flex your experience, but there are certain times where certain things just don't make sense, and I just attribute that to God, and just the amazing relationships I've built over the years.

The best career advice I've ever received actually comes in two parts. One of them is linked to a book, Never Eat Alone, with Keith Ferrazzi, where it really delves into having genuine relationships. Like, no matter how high you're trying to reach in your career, it will never be more than the genuine relationships you just build with people, because you never know when you may need the person, or when they may need you. So when you meet people, be truthful, have integrity, you know, all those good qualities that build a genuine relationship, and don't look at each relationship as, okay, this is what I'm gonna get after. The second thing was more on seeing the beauty and the imperfections. You will move from different organizations, and you are always going to find something that doesn't seem to work exceptionally well. So it's just really finding out how do you fill in those gaps, understanding that history, but truly appreciating the beauty in those imperfections, because not only can it be an opportunity for you to grow and build, chop in your skills, it's also an opportunity for you to make more genuine relationships, to understand and also support that organization. But also just understanding that nothing will ever be perfect. So just truly going in, understanding that it may not always be perfect, but it offers opportunities that you may not understand at that time.

I would say truly do the research to be sure that this is what you want to go through, because people may not really know much about it, so connect with folks that are in the role that you think that you are interested in, to truly understand what it's like. Because I've had folks that have said, oh, they're passionate about it, they want to do it, and then they do it, and they're wondering, it's like, what did I get myself into? But then you have others that came in, and they've just fell in love with it. So, I always say do the research, learn as much as you can before you jump, because when you jump, you have to jump in wholeheartedly, because it's also a very competitive career. It's a small group, like, everybody knows almost everybody knows everyone in regulatory affairs one way or the other. In LinkedIn, you will find multiple links to each other. So, it's definitely a career that it's worth it to come into it with passion, because you will have those days where it seems a little bit, you know, okay, we're seeing the same issues over and over, or you're debating the same, or negotiating the same issues over and over, but really having that passion that this is the reason you're doing this, that will take you the long way. So, doing the research to really understand what the role is about, and of course, having good mentors. They don't have to be in the field, but people that understand the type of person you are, your character, what your weaknesses or your opportunities or strengths could be. And those mentors having trust in what they are telling you, and having those that are there with you for the long run.

In regulatory affairs advertising and promotion, when certain organizations get enforcement letters about certain tactics, it becomes public, you know, this company has a TV ad and they didn't have this safety put on there, and it's in the enforcement letter. But when there's no enforcement letter and you're somewhat trying to follow the guidance and the regulations, you're still working with marketing, you're working with sales, you're working with other arms of the organization, trying to explain, like, hey, this is an interpretation of the guidance. Sometimes it's subjective, and sometimes it's not. Hey, this is the best way to do this, but you still have to sell the product, right? So you end up finding yourself flexing within certain gray zones, and making sure that you're mitigating risks as much as possible, but it's hard to really quantify that risk until you see an example out there. So it's kind of hard to really put that warning in flares and say, hey, you know, we can't do this when they've not been impacted themselves, or the organizations that may be trying to see their taxes as like, oh, they did it this way, why can't we do it this way? We're not sure why you can't at this point in time, but one way or the other, because we know that's not the most appropriate, just maybe we need to revisit the situation or mitigate this risk as much as possible, because every company has a different risk tolerance. So it's just really mitigating risk, managing the risk tolerance with each different organization, and just really having the trust of the organization. Like, yes, we know what we're saying, we're trying to keep you out of the news.

First and foremost, I would say just integrity. What do you do when you think no one is watching? Being truthful, because that tells a lot about a person. That means that if the person has integrity, they won't lie, they won't cut corners, right? They would put their best foot forward, because their name is on the line. So, someone that has integrity feels that what they bring to the table has to always be the best put forward. Knowing that no one is perfect, but you're able to really provide the best work truthfully, without cutting corners. With the role for regulatory affairs, the word is regulatory, right? I have to follow the rules. So, integrity, for sure.