Alyse Charleron

A lot of my mentors have really helped me learn that stepping into the unknown is not scary, especially because it's never truly unknown - you always know your end goal, you always know your plan that you're taking to get there, you just question if it's actually going to get you there. You don't have to know for certain, you just have to take the step. And if it doesn't work out, you can pivot. My mentors helped me navigate the unknown and learn that lesson through hard situations that were placed in front of me from external factors. They helped me really consider what I value in my education, what I value in my execution, and what I value in my personal relationships.

I would say really align with what it is that you want to do and have a clear path getting there, especially when it comes to working in the regulatory affairs space. It combines a lot of law and science, and you don't necessarily have to get a law degree - you could get a PhD in your typical sciences - but that marrying and understanding is a part of that insatiable curiosity. With regulatory affairs, you're working with the government and trying to understand the regulation as you're applying that to the science that you're conducting. Having the curiosity to explore the science and making sure that what you're working on is appropriate is really, really important, and that comes with that curiosity and wanting to make sure and learn and grow in that sense as well. You really have to be flexible. Science is not just facts and data, it's also art, in my opinion.

My biggest value is growth. I think as we get older and achieve goals, we kind of get comfortable, and we think once we've achieved something, 'what more else?' But it doesn't have to always be that. I think listening to yourself and your emotions, and really listening to who you are is something important. Changing is a part of what it means to be human, and you'll end up being happier that way, especially if you don't ascribe something material to that. You could get a whole bunch of positions or titles, and that's fine, but you don't need to ascribe your value to that, especially thinking that that's what you need in order to grow. You should want that for yourself. Growth is really, really important to me. And on top of that, authenticity. I don't think authenticity is just being genuine and a good person all the time. I also think that being authentic means knowing that you've had a setback or a mistake, owning up to that, and then moving on from it. Not trying to push or invalidate or minimize anything - owning that these are the moments in my history. So just authenticity and growth.