Mary Raber Johnson, PhD, RAC

I attribute my success to the influential women and people in my life. My mom is incredibly artistic with her words and a super creative soul. I feel like I get my ability to think beyond traditional scientific boundaries from her because of the storytelling when I was a kid - and still today with her grandkids. Her way of thinking is also unique and reflected in the work she does at her home. My dad was raised Amish and always regretted not finishing high school and attending college. He taught himself architecture - drafting plans for an array of clients - and took a risk in his 30s to create his own business. Now he's in his 70s still doing it. He's my inspiration for taking a chance on myself and saying I can do this - and for pushing hard to appreciate and follow my passions in college.

My husband has been incredibly supportive of me taking risks. He always says 'I believe in you. Do it' and has never once said a negative thing about the risks I've taken in my career. Having a supportive partner is so important. My children make me want to face my fears and pursue things I may have shied away from because I want them to be confident and feel they can have an authentic life.

The best career advice I received came from Laura Rush, my manager when I first started in medical writing. When I was dealing with significant personal life conflicts, she would always tell me, 'You know what, Mary? This project isn't saving a life. You go, I can handle this. You need to make sure that you take care of yourself and your family first.' She taught me the importance of balancing personal life with career and not sacrificing everything for work. She also modeled what it meant to be a powerhouse, to stand up to people regardless of who they were, and to have a strong presence and voice without being afraid of anybody. That confidence and that permission to prioritize my well being, and that my true self worth is not accomplishments alone, has shaped how I approach my career and how I now support the women who work with me.

I would say don't be afraid to ask for things you need. Early on, I didn't value myself enough, and I tend to see this with other people. Even when I was an advisor at Ohio State and helped mentor graduate students, whenever I saw a lack of confidence from bright, intelligent students, I would be surprised. I guess I would say don't undervalue yourself, know your worth, and don't be afraid to ask for what you deserve. I still struggle with that myself, especially asking for what I need. It's the hardest part of my job, and I'd rather feel the struggle than feel like I'm making somebody go outside their comfort zone. But I would say it's okay to feel uncomfortable, and it's okay to do things that scare you, and to just know your worth. If you don't feel like you're worth anything, look around you and look at the things that you're doing, what you're responsible for, and other people in similar roles, and realize that you're unique and everybody has something unique to offer the world that somebody else doesn't have. Everybody has that value.

The biggest challenges in my career right now are staying up to speed on technology innovation and how that relates to healthcare. While technology can make me uncomfortable, when I try new things around AI for example, it's pushing me to grow in my perspectives and expertise in ways I haven't done before. And, as with any time in my career, finding my ideal work-life balance is difficult since they are not separate entities for me. I enjoy writing and learning about new ways to help people within the pharmaceutical industry - and this does affect people's lives, including my own. Being able to take a step away from the work-focused portion of my life even more difficult in recent years with how much information is available to us across everyday platforms.

What I'm most proud of and what drives my values is being able to help people shape their own financial goals and grow their careers in a way that works with their strengths and feeds their mental health. I think helping to shape identities is important and that behind every career is a person who needs emotional balance and family balance - however, that family looks to them. I want to help other people live the life they want to live, and I don't have strict guardrails as to how they live it. I'm here to have them help me, and I'm here to help them. That's the model that I want to continue to implement. I treat everyone on my team as humans and respect their independent lives. Whatever their goals may be, I support them in the balance between their careers and their own personal realms. I value each and every person I work with and their unique identities. Having an authentic life is important to me, and sometimes that means you don't live it the way other people do, and that's kind of scary, but it's worth it.