My best advice for achieving success in industry is to network seek out experienced individuals that work in roles you aspire to and seek them out as mentors. In our ever-digital world, most people check their LinkedIn messages or respond to cold call emails. I know personally, this happens to me every week, where I receive messages from other chemists or law students wondering what it is like to work in a field at the intersection of law and chemistry. When I was first breaking into this field, I did the same thing. I truly believe in paying it forward and know a lot of mentors helped me navigate my career and so if I can do the same to newer professionals, I’m happy to do so.
I also believe in the power of perseverance. We work in a technologically advanced field, and there can be a bit of tough competition for certain roles or career advancement. A lot of time getting told no or being passed over for a promotion can be tough to digest. However, I try to utilize these failures as lessons and motivate myself to be better. Maybe it didn’t work out this time, but if I self-reflect and see where I can improve, I will feel more confident and ready for my next challenge.
About the Contributor
Katherine (Katie) is a partner and director of Caldwell’s life science practice group. She focuses on the representation of life sciences companies discovering, developing, protecting and offering pharmaceuticals, therapeutic vaccines, digital health, medical devices, biologics, and antibody products. Katie guides her clients across a range of transaction structures, territories, product stages, and technologies. Her experience collaborating with life science companies has led to the creation of numerous successful business driven outcomes
Katie has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business, and Nature Biotechnology for her intellectual prowess governing legal and scientific disputes. Katie specializes in transactions involving intellectual property rights, strategic partnerships, licensing, and research collaborations. In addition, she maintains an active practice in cross-border transactions, being dually qualified to practice in both the United States and England and Wales.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the view of their employer or the American Chemical Society.