Jill Gildroy

I attribute my success to good old-fashioned hard work and not being afraid to fall and fail. I think I had that gift early on. I'm the first person in my family to go to college. My parents were very blue-collar working folks, and I kind of always had it beaten into me of 'you'll never know unless you try.' Even applying to a school like Rice, coming from a little town in Pennsylvania whose parents didn't go to college, I just don't fear failing. That, I think, is what gets in our way more than anything. A lot of us fear failing, not for the act of failing, but what will people think. I had a gift early on of understanding that people will think it's great that you tried, not that it's terrible that you failed. Who cares what they think, anyway? They don't pay for your life. My formative years in management consulting were also crucial. I describe it like dog years - one year of consulting experience is like 7 years in any other role, because you see so many things, you work with so many different leaders and teams, and the pace is so fast. We're not so constrained by titles. It's 'can you do the work,' and then you get to do it. That, as much as the university experience, has helped shape me.

I've received a couple of pieces of related but slightly different advice. One of them is it's not just the work you do, but how you tell the story around how that work has empowered others. The second piece, which I think we get a lot as women especially, but in the past 12 months it finally clicked in my brain, was learn when to take up space in the room. We get told to take up space, we get told to not be shrinking violets, but the tweak on it that finally made it make sense came from an incredibly inspiring woman executive in my company. She said to know when to use it, and then when you're using it, it becomes very powerful. It's not just about always taking up space, but being strategic about when you do it.

I would advise young women entering the pharmaceutical and biotech industry not to fear failure, to learn from every attempt, be intentional about when and how they take up space and always focus on clearly communicating the impact of their work.

The biggest opportunities in my field lie in radioligand therapy, where innovation meets patient care, while a key challenge is balancing the transformation of organizational structures to focus on customers and future capabilities with the need to deliver on current priorities.

The most important things in my personal life are my family and taking care of myself. I'm a mom to an almost teenage girl who is neurodivergent, so I spend a lot of time learning how she learns, how her brain works, and how I can best communicate with her and work with her. I've got a husband and a dog who also take up a lot of my time. I love to work out and belong to a great health club, which is important because I'm also a pretty avid home cook. I grew up in an Italian house with my grandmother teaching me how to cook, and we didn't grow up with recipes - you measure it by when it looks right and tastes right. I love to feed people, and it makes me happy to gather people and cook for them. In my work life, mentorship is incredibly important to me. The best part of my day is when I get to do one-on-one mentorship and coaching sessions, especially with women earlier in their careers, because I didn't have that when I was coming up. I want to be the thing I missed. I also value working in an environment that has the potential to dramatically improve human life, which is why I'm in healthcare innovation.