Mary Raber Johnson, PhD, RAC

I attribute my success to the influential women and people in my life. My mom was a stay-at-home mom but was 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 she had when I was a kid. My dad was Amish and always regretted not finishing high school. He always told me how much he regretted not going to college, and so in the back of my head, I thought I'm gonna go for as long as I can to honor him. He taught himself how to be an architect, took a risk in his 30s, created his own business, and 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. Laura Rush, who has her veterinary medicine degree and PhD, was my manager when I first started after graduate school. She helped guide me through medical writing and medical communications. She would tell me 'We're not saving lives here. You go, I can handle this. You need to make sure that you put yourself first.' She was a powerhouse who stood up to people, didn't care who she was talking to, had this strong presence and voice, and was not afraid of anybody. My husband has been incredibly supportive of me taking risks. He always says 'I believe in you, you do it' and has never once said a negative thing about anything I've done. 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? We're not saving lives here. You go, I can handle this. You need to make sure that you put yourself first and you take care.' 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 myself while still being excellent at my work 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. 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, I noticed that the lack of confidence was a little surprising. 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 with telling people what I need to charge. It's the hardest part of my job, and I'd rather almost struggle than feel like I'm making somebody uncomfortable. 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.

Mary will be jumping into add more detail regarding her career path and what inspired her journey, as well as the people who have impacted her life, she will also highlight things that bring her joy including her interests and hobbies outside of work, including her beautiful family. She will outline how she would like to connect with other incredible women within our community as well as how she would like to inspire our readers and connect for mentorships and consulting. She will add any additional detail she feels are pertinent in sharing her story with our readers

What I'm most proud of and what drives my values is being able to help people attain financial independence and grow their careers. The people who are now contracting for me tell me this is exciting for them, and I feel like I'm helping them feel excited and grow their identities. A lot of them want more financial independence and want to feel like they're growing in their career. We've gotten feedback that this has been really helpful to them for mental health, even, and I totally get it because it helps my mental health too. I think helping to shape identities is important, and I am comfortable saying I know you have kids, I know you have a pet that you love and you have to take it to the doctor. I'm helping other women and 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 do. I treat everyone on my team as humans and respect their independent lives, whether that be as mothers or people with pets they care about at home. Whatever their goals may be, I support them in the balance between their careers and their own personal realms. I appreciate the help from my entire team and want to help them in return. I value each and every woman 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.