A personal reflection on how joining Inspired Women Lead transformed the author from mentee to mentor, revealing the interconnected cycle of learning and lifting others toward authentic leadership.
Her Story
About Rebecca
Rebecca Pike, PhD, is a pharmaceutical industry leader and Technical Project Lead at Pfizer with more than 13 years of experience advancing small molecules, vaccines, gene therapies, antibody-drug conjugates, and operational excellence across global biopharmaceutical manufacturing. With a scientific foundation in biomedical sciences, she has built a career translating innovative science into scalable manufacturing processes that support global patient impact.
Her experience spans Pfizer, Elanco, and Novartis, where she has led complex technology transfers, process optimization initiatives, and cross-functional programs across both animal and human health. Known for combining technical rigor with strategic leadership, Dr. Pike brings a collaborative, solutions-oriented approach to complex scientific and operational challenges.
Beyond her technical work, Dr. Pike is deeply committed to mentorship, inclusion, and leadership development. She has supported initiatives including the Pfizer Global Supply Mentoring Program, WiSTEM, and Inspired Women Lead, helping foster environments where emerging professionals can grow with confidence, curiosity, and purpose. Her leadership philosophy centers on humility, resilience, disciplined problem-solving, and empowering others to pursue growth opportunities before they feel fully ready.
Outside of work, she is actively involved in community and service efforts, including Caring Hearts for Canines, a local dog rescue. Across her professional and personal commitments, Dr. Pike is guided by a belief that meaningful impact comes from combining scientific excellence with people-centered leadership, strong mentorship, and continuous learning.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Rebecca
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to a combination of curiosity, technical excellence, disciplined problem-solving, and the mentorship and sponsorship I’ve received throughout my career. My career began with a deep curiosity about biology, marine science, and natural products, which ultimately led me to pursue a PhD in Biomedical Sciences. Over time, I learned that technical expertise alone is not enough — building strong teams, creating inclusive environments, and helping others grow are equally important to long-term success.
I’ve also benefited greatly from mentors, sponsors, and colleagues who encouraged me to step outside my comfort zone and take on challenging opportunities. I approach leadership with humility, curiosity, and a willingness to ask questions, and I believe those qualities have helped me navigate technically complex and high-stakes environments successfully.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
One of the best pieces of career advice I received was to continue pushing beyond my comfort zone and pursue opportunities for growth, even when I didn’t feel fully ready. Mentors encouraged me to pursue advanced education, including my PhD, and to adopt a “figure it out” mindset when facing new technical or leadership challenges.
That advice taught me that growth rarely happens when you stay comfortable. Some of the most meaningful opportunities in my career came from stepping into unfamiliar spaces, learning quickly, asking thoughtful questions, and trusting my ability to adapt and lead through uncertainty.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would tell young women not to wait until they feel completely ready before stepping into new opportunities. Many of the biggest growth moments in my career came when I accepted roles or responsibilities that challenged me technically and professionally. You do not need to have every answer — what matters most is curiosity, resilience, humility, discipline, and the confidence to ask good questions.
I would also strongly encourage building your network early. Mentors, sponsors, peers, and trusted colleagues make an enormous difference throughout your career. Leadership is not about knowing everything; it’s about creating clarity, building trust, supporting your teams, and helping people move forward together. Staying curious and open to learning will always create opportunities for growth.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry right now is the advancement of innovative therapies and AI-supported initiatives that can improve manufacturing, development, and patient outcomes. I’m currently involved in global technical transfers for oncology therapies, and it’s exciting to contribute to treatments that have the potential to significantly impact patients’ lives. At the same time, the industry faces challenges related to technical complexity, manufacturing scale-up, regulatory expectations, supply assurance, and maintaining operational excellence in highly regulated environments. Successfully navigating these challenges requires strong collaboration, strategic thinking, process optimization, and the ability to lead teams effectively through constant change and innovation.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that are most important to me are curiosity, inclusivity, humility, resilience, mentorship, and maintaining healthy work-life boundaries. I believe strongly in creating environments where people feel heard, respected, and empowered to contribute their ideas and expertise. Building strong teams and helping others grow professionally is something I care deeply about. In my personal life, I value spending time in nature, traveling, mentoring others, volunteering at a dog rescue, and investing in my close relationships. Over the years, I’ve become increasingly intentional about protecting balance outside of work so I can show up fully present both professionally and personally. I believe maintaining that balance ultimately allows me to lead more effectively and contribute at my highest level.
Her Content Hub
Articles by Rebecca
Learning and Lifting.
How a Mentorship Journey Revealed the Profound Connection Between Learning and Lifting Others
I Came to Inspired Women Lead! to Learn. I Became a Mentor to Lift. I Discovered They Are Deeply Connected.
I first heard about Inspired Women Lead (IWL) through my colleague, Francesca Morgera, and was intrigued enough to apply. After reflecting on my vision and values, I was accepted into IWL and paired with my mentor, Alix Leon. One of the most meaningful parts of the program is being paired with women from around the world. Equally powerful was the opportunity to pause, reflect, and ask: What is my vision? What are my values? What kind of leader am I becoming?
Over six months as a mentee, I clarified a vision that I realized had been quietly forming for years. Sometimes vision begins as something fuzzy and vague—a dream, a pull, a sense that there is more to build. Pieces of it had already been showing up in the conversations that energized me, the people I wanted to support, and the work to which I felt drawn.
The most rewarding part of IWL came when I became a mentor and was paired with my mentee, Micaela Gutierrez. As her mentor, I walked alongside her through the same process I had experienced. I quickly learned that mentoring is not about giving someone the answers. It is about creating space for discovery through presence, active listening, thoughtful questions, and the belief that another person already possesses wisdom within them.
The most powerful moment came during our final session when we discussed vision. It is difficult to describe how moving it is to watch another person discover something that had been buried beneath responsibility, uncertainty, or expectations. Through reflection, that vision came to light. That moment changed how I think about mentoring.
This experience helped me understand that mentoring is a cycle. There are times when we are learning and times when we are lifting—often simultaneously.
I am continuing to build on my IWL vision and am thrilled to remain engaged with IWL as a Pair Guide.
This Program Left Me with a Few Lessons
- Leadership grows from the inside out: Authentic leadership begins with our roots—our values, strengths, lived experiences, and deeper "why."
- Mentoring is listening before advising: The best mentoring creates space where someone can hear themselves think, identify what matters most, and trust their own voice.
- When we grow, we are called to lift: Encouraging another person to step into their leadership creates ripples—in our workplaces, communities, and throughout the world.
Bonnie Fatio founded IWL around a powerful guiding idea: "Transforming the world, one woman at a time." Transformation does not always begin with a grand gesture. Sometimes it begins with a 45-minute conversation, a thoughtful question, a moment of encouragement, or one person helping another see the leader they are becoming.
Who has helped you see the leader you are becoming—and who might you be called to lift next?
A reflective essay about hiking Old Rag Mountain and discovering that the obstacles we fear are often smaller than we imagine. Through personal experience and vulnerability, the author explores how preparation, support, and courage can help us overcome self-imposed limitations and unlock our true potential.
We conquered a mountain.
Discovering Your True Potential by Overcoming the Mountains You Fear
What Is Your Mountain?
Yesterday, my dear friend of 32 years, Laura Yevchak, and I hiked the Old Rag Mountain Loop in Shenandoah National Park. It was my first vacation of 2026, and I could not think of a better way to spend it: outside, challenged, humbled, and in the company of someone who has known me through nearly every version of myself.
Laura and I have been friends since fourth grade at Purchase Line Elementary School. Our friendship deepened in high school through hours spent at track practices, races, musicals, and everything in between. Over the years, no matter where life has taken us, we have found creative ways to stay connected—often through adventures that push us a little outside our comfort zones.
Old Rag had been on Laura's bucket list for quite some time, so when she asked if I would help her check it off this year, my answer was an easy "yes."
Then, about a month ago, I actually started researching the hike.
That is when I realized Old Rag is a bucket-list hike for a reason. It is rated "strenuous" on AllTrails, includes a notorious rock scramble, and has a reputation for being both physically and mentally demanding.
That is when some doubts began to creep in.
I have always considered myself active, but I also had hip surgery a year and a half ago to address an old running injury. Suddenly, this hike felt much bigger than I had expected. Could I do it? Would my body hold up? Was I underestimating the challenge?
As I tend to do when something scares me, I went into research mode. I watched videos. I read trail reviews. I compared it to other hikes I had completed in the past. I prepared carefully.
I was still nervous, but I felt ready.
And then we did it!
What surprised me most was not that Old Rag was challenging; it was that it was challenging in the best possible way. It felt like an adult jungle gym—demanding, fun, technical, and energizing. More than once, I found myself thinking, I built this up to be much harder and scarier than it actually was.
And isn't that true of so many things?
- A career transition.
- A new role.
- A physical challenge.
- A personal goal we keep postponing because we are not sure we are ready.
Often, the mountain becomes larger in our minds than it is in reality. When we finally take the first step, prepare, show up, and keep moving forward, we discover something important:
We are more capable than we thought.
So my question is this:
What is your mountain? What scares you?
My lesson from Old Rag is simple: educate yourself, prepare well, bring the right people with you, and go do the thing you have been putting off.
You may discover that your true potential is not limited by the mountain in front of you, but by the boundaries you have placed around yourself.
And once you start climbing, you may find that those boundaries were never as permanent as they seemed.
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