Dorothie Gerard

I attribute my success to trying to do the best that I can with whatever situation I find myself in. An example would be when I worked at the first immunotherapy company and did flow cytometry - I really had never heard of it, and I didn't excel at it at first. But I would stay the next shift over to make sure that I learned everything that I had to learn, and eventually I became the expert on that particular assay for the entire organization. It's about meeting every challenge and doing exactly what's needed, not going above or below, just consistently showing up and putting in the work to master what I need to master.

The best career advice I ever received was from my mom, who told me to go into something where the name of that major is an actual job title. It's cheesy, but that's why I chose biology - of course, it was halfway to med school because the intent was to go on and be a pediatrician. But I listened to her and got biology as my major, and then I was able to transition as a biologist. When you're young, you really don't know what the future looks like, you're just going. But my mom saw halfway, she saw what that would look like if I decided I didn't want to do medicine. And I did decide at one point I didn't want to do medicine, because I watched a best friend go through it and she had no time, she barely could sleep, and I was like, do I really want this life for myself? I don't know if this is really what I want, or if this is really what other people want for me. That's why I stopped halfway and decided not to pursue it.

The advice I would give someone in my position is to place yourself in rooms where the decision makers are. For me, I kind of retreat into my own shell, into my own bubble, and I just want to do the work the best that I can, and so my work eventually ends up speaking for me. But I learned - of course, 25 years later - had I allowed myself to be placed in those rooms where people were trying to place me, I would have moved up a lot quicker. It's not necessarily what you know, of course your work is going to speak for you, but it's not necessarily what you know, but who you know. So make the right connections, make the right alignments, and stay in alignment. Don't go against management, but don't violate your own moral compass either. Don't follow the herd. When you're at work, there's going to be water cooler talk, there's going to be all types of talk. If you want to go up in whatever field you're in, you're going to have to align yourself with those that don't necessarily follow the herd. Find your champion, and when that champion is pushing you forward, do not retreat like I do. I'm always retreating, like, no, I'm alright!

The value that speaks the most to me is respect. After 25 years in any profession, you learn that everyone's not going to like you, and that's okay. But they do have to respect you. If I'm working somewhere and I see that there's no respect there, then I don't belong there. I don't belong in that room, because I'm going against myself to stay there. Peace is also important to me - you can find some peace amidst the chaos, because we're going to be in this workforce for a very long time. If the challenges don't match the salary, and if at a lower level I'm having to use my emotional intelligence more than I should, then I probably don't belong there. They have to match, and when you start compromising yourself and going against yourself, then you probably have to find something else. It's okay to pivot, it's okay to change, it's okay to shift lanes. I'm okay with change.