POSTED ON January 21, 2026

The Powerful Journey Beyond Medical Sales and Job Titles

In this episode of the Medical Sales Podcast, Samuel sits down with Johnny Caffaro to unpack one of the most talked about career pivots in the medical device world. Johnny shares what it looked like to build a personal brand so big on LinkedIn that it drew attention inside Stryker, how weekly legal reviews and pressure to stop posting escalated fast, and why the company ultimately pushed for a mutual separation despite his strong performance. From being handed his severance at a hotel on the day of a course he helped build, to turning that setback into a consulting run where he landed contracts immediately and became a go to connector for surgeons and orthopedic brands, Johnny breaks down the real upside and hidden cost of being the face of the business. He also opens up about burnout, chronic pain, the strain on his marriage and personal life, and the moment he decided to shut everything down and disappear. The conversation takes a deeper turn as Johnny talks about his healing journey, including plant medicine experiences that reshaped his mindset, helped him confront ego, and changed the direction of his life. If you want the truth about personal branding in med sales, career risk, and what happens when your identity outgrows your job title, this episode delivers it.

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Transcription:

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Hello and welcome to the Medical Sales Podcast. I’m your host, Samuel, the founder of a revolutionary medical sales training and mentorship program called the Medical Sales Career Builder. And I’m also host of the Medical Sales Podcast.

In this podcast, I interview top medical sales reps and leading medical sales executives across the entire world. It doesn’t matter what medical sales industry, from medical device to pharmaceutical to genetic testing and diagnostic lab. You name it. You will learn how to either break into the industry, be a top 10 percent performer within your role, or climb the corporate ladder.

Welcome to the Medical Sales Podcast.

And remember, I am a medical sales expert sharing my own opinion about this amazing industry and how it can change your life.

You’re considered an influencer in the medical space, and you’re a well-known influencer. So I think us just getting right into everything is fine.

Let’s do that.

I’m going to take us back to a few years ago. I don’t remember the exact year, but we had a conversation and you were pretty much parting ways with Stryker.

This was a shock to me because it was so cool when you joined Stryker. You did this national signing, sports-style announcement. I was like, if branding was a class, this is The Godfather right here.

What happened with Stryker?

What happened that put you in a position to say, I’m going to make some choices?

Johnny (Guest):

I mean, I was blowing up.

You saw me growing on LinkedIn. Stryker helped the brand of my brand as well, so we were helping each other.

I was traveling. I was growing. I was doing so many shows, podcasts, and different things.

They were getting more and more concerned that as I was growing, I was overshadowing the brand or not really doing the work I needed to do, which was never the case.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Hold on.

Let’s hang out there for a second.

I think this is worth everybody hearing.

The cool thing about medical sales now is if you take the time to create a brand on LinkedIn, you can dramatically improve your career, depending on how you do it.

So when you say they were concerned, give us some tactics.

Did the numbers dip?

Were their numbers increasing?

What exactly was happening?

Johnny (Guest):

They just saw me everywhere.

Every person knew who I was within the company.

They were like, how is this person so famous? He’s just a senior manager within the hip division.

But every division knew who I was because of a social platform.

There are so many divisions at Stryker. I think there are around 17 divisions, and everybody knew who I was.

I think in the old days, companies were more concerned because if they let one employee do this, then what happens if other employees start ramping up and saying stuff?

I get that employees have a responsibility. If you’re going to talk about a company, they should be able to look at your page.

But when you’re talking about personal stuff, I don’t think they have the right to tell you what you can and cannot post.

That’s my own personal opinion.

I think they were just concerned that I was everywhere and I was posting, and they thought my job wasn’t getting done, which wasn’t the case.

I was actually getting more people excited.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

That’s where I’m lost.

I get Stryker feeling compromised with your notoriety and the fact that you can talk about whatever you want.

But I still can’t understand the business decision of thinking it was hurting them.

My conclusion is it was probably helping them.

Johnny (Guest):

Oh, 100 percent.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Take us there.

Johnny (Guest):

Everybody was reaching out to me asking how they could be part of Stryker.

What do you want more than that?

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Exactly.

So take us there.

And of course, Johnny, share what you can share.

What did it look like?

Did a manager call you one day?

Was it an HR meeting?

What happened when they first said something?

Johnny (Guest):

They started saying, “We don’t want you going on podcasts. We don’t want you posting as much.”

I had to meet with legal weekly to talk about my posts.

Weekly.

That’s how intense it was.

I was at Stryker JR, Stryker Joint Replacement.

Then main Stryker started reaching out to me because it was getting so big.

I had to meet with the head of Stryker legal and discuss it.

Eventually, it got to the point where they said, “We don’t want you posting anymore, and we don’t want you on any more podcasts.”

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

I want to understand that.

Was there one post that turned them off?

Was it, “Oh my gosh, what did he just say, get him in here”?

Johnny (Guest):

That’s the thing.

I was very compliant on everything.

You’ve seen all my content. I’ve never done anything controversial.

They just thought I was trying to act as a spokesperson for the company when I wasn’t.

It was just, “Hey, I had a great time at this direct anterior course,” or, “I had a great time in California with the team out here.”

They thought I was trying to be a spokesperson and not really do my job.

But in reality, it was free marketing for the company.

I was just expressing.

They kept bringing me in.

And I’m going to be honest, my ego was there.

I was riding my ego.

I said, “No, I’m going to keep going. I’m going to keep posting.”

I shouldn’t have done that.

I should have been more respectful to that aspect.

But I said, “No, I’m going to keep posting,” and I actually kept posting more.

Then it got to a point where they said, “I think we need to mutually separate ways.”

It was shocking, but I felt like it was coming.

I felt like I was ahead of the times in the medical industry and with Stryker.

They’re very close-knit. There’s a lot of red tape.

I have nothing against them. I don’t have any ill will toward them.

But they were primitive.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Their culture was very primitive.

Johnny (Guest):

Yeah.

And that’s my thing. It’s okay.

But I also came from an ego place, and I wanted to keep building the brand.

So I thought, okay, I’m going to keep riding this wave, leave Stryker, and go into The Cafaro Way Consulting until I disappeared.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

All right.

Let’s talk about it.

We’re going to have fun, Johnny. We have to get into it.

From the first sign of, “We’re not sure we want you doing this,” was it an email? Was it a phone call?

What was it?

Johnny (Guest):

It was more of a conversation with upper management.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Okay.

Johnny (Guest):

I was helping upper management grow their brand as well.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Right. I know.

Johnny (Guest):

I was getting them on. I was showing them how to do LinkedIn.

I created the whole social media platform within Stryker JR.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

I know.

Johnny (Guest):

And I was the bad one.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

I know.

From that first conversation to your exit, how much time transpired?

Johnny (Guest):

It was quick.

Probably like a month or so.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Wow.

Johnny (Guest):

A month.

At the beginning, they knew what they were getting.

That article, “The Changing Face of Ortho Sales,” was a big article.

They knew they were getting some kind of influential person coming into Stryker.

That’s why I had those weekly calls with legal, to make sure Johnny was going to be compliant in all of his posts.

But I was only there nine months.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

So how many months were you there before they said, “Hold up”?

Johnny (Guest):

That’s the thing.

They didn’t.

It just came to a head so fast.

I still don’t know what it was.

They didn’t tell me I was doing a bad job.

They didn’t tell me to stop.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

There wasn’t a post where they said, “We don’t like this kind of post”?

Johnny (Guest):

Nothing like that.

I always sent my posts beforehand to legal so she could read them.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Approved before they went out?

Johnny (Guest):

Approved before they went out.

Everything was good.

That’s the crazy thing.

I still don’t know to this day what triggered it or what the main thing was.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Okay. It is what it is.

Now we have to talk real.

Income is coming from Stryker.

Income is coming from your brother, who is one of the best shooters in the world, and the brand you created with him.

You’re living your life.

Then income from Stryker stops.

What was happening where you were like, “So what? I’m good”?

Johnny (Guest):

I wasn’t, but I was.

I was at Mahwah, getting ready to go to the direct anterior course that I created with the team.

I got told I couldn’t go to the course.

Legal was going to come to my hotel and give me my letter of resignation and severance package.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Wow.

Our audience doesn’t know what Mahwah is. Please explain.

Johnny (Guest):

Mahwah, New Jersey, is the headquarters of Stryker Joint Replacement.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Gotcha.

Johnny (Guest):

I was at the hotel. I went there for meetings.

Later that day, I was told not to come to the course. Legal and my boss were going to come to the hotel and give me the package and the signing.

It was kind of a slap in the face because it was our first home course for the direct anterior course.

That was something that was my baby. I helped create it with my team, and it was a great thing.

They came in and said, “Here’s your severance package. We’re going to part ways right now.”

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

And they continued with the course?

Johnny (Guest):

Oh yeah.

All my surgeon friends that I had made friends with were like, “Where are you? Why are you not at this dinner?”

I was like, “Bro, they just let me go.”

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

So what happened next?

Johnny (Guest):

I got into my hotel room and started thinking.

What do I do?

I have to capitalize on something.

I’m really good at creating a brand, creating awareness, and creating this thing.

So I started calling all my connections.

I called all the surgeons I was working with and said, “Hey, listen, let’s blow you up. I’m going to create a consulting company.”

I was going to be this medical mercenary and middleman between surgeons and companies.

I was going to introduce surgeons to companies as KOLs.

I was going to be this massive networking guy and start creating.

They gave me a good three-month severance package, so that was huge for me. I was grateful for that.

That gave me a runway to create the consulting company.

Within the first week, I was landing deals left and right.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Like contracts?

Johnny (Guest):

Contracts.

The first contract came in with Organix, a CBD company.

Then another one was OrthoGrid, which just got purchased by Zimmer Biomet.

I was helping that brand.

There was OrthoLazer, Ortho Masters, all these orthopedic companies.

I was also helping individual surgeons connect with different companies.

So I was like their agent.

It was really cool.

I was their surgeon’s agent.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

You were the first medical sales agent.

Johnny (Guest):

That’s what it was like.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

You were bringing people around.

Johnny (Guest):

I was the hottest thing in August.

I was wearing fedoras.

I was changing the game.

You don’t wear hats in orthopedics.

I was trying to make a difference, and it worked.

But I was still operating out of ego.

I felt like, “I’ll show you. This is what you missed out on.”

I was still in a lot of hip pain.

I’ve had three hip replacements, and for some reason my hip started acting up again.

I was thinking, man, do I have to go through a fourth?

I was getting all these recommendations, and I was like, what is going on?

But my career was successful.

Everything was successful.

But my personal life was dipping.

My marriage was dipping.

Religion was shifting.

Throughout that time, I left Stryker, left my career, left my marriage, got divorced, and left religion.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

The divorce happened after leaving, right?

Johnny (Guest):

Yeah.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Okay.

Johnny (Guest):

And I left the Mormon religion on top of it all.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

I didn’t know that.

You left Mormonism?

I did not know that.

Johnny (Guest):

Yeah.

When you leave the Mormon religion, you’re not just leaving.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

That’s a whole other episode right there alone.

Okay, hold on. We’re ahead of ourselves.

I want to slow it down a little bit.

It’s awesome to know that when you left Stryker, you were landing contracts.

Talk to us about the trajectory of that.

Did that continue and you had to manage the personal side?

Or did that stop?

What happened?

Johnny (Guest):

The trajectory was unreal.

I was making so much money, and it was stuff I loved doing.

But then it became overwhelming and exhausting.

I almost felt like I was being used in a way.

It was like what happens with celebrities sometimes. They get used for their brand, but they don’t get true, genuine friendships.

I didn’t like that feeling.

My personal life was taking a dip.

Even though I was making so much money and having so much fun in medical device, I wasn’t being present for my kids.

I was always gone.

I have five kids.

I wasn’t present at their basketball games or football games.

If I was there, I was on the phone.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

I hope you’re enjoying today’s episode.

And I want to let you know our programs cover the entire career of a medical sales professional, from getting into the medical sales industry, to training on how to be a top performer in the medical sales industry, to masterfully navigating your career to executive-level leadership.

These programs are personalized and customized for your specific career and background, and trained by over 50 experts, including surgeons.

Our results speak for ourselves, and we’re landing positions for our candidates in less than 120 days in top medical technology companies like Stryker, Medtronic, Merck, Abbott, you name it.

Would you run an Ironman race without training and a strategy?

You wouldn’t.

So why are you trying to do the same with a medical sales position?

You need training. You need a strategy.

And you need to visit EvolveYourSuccess.com, fill out the application, schedule some time with one of our account executives, and let’s get you into the position that you’ve always dreamed of.

Johnny (Guest):

When you start a company, as you know, and you’re a one-man show, holy hell, dude.

You are swamped.

I didn’t know how to balance it.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

And you weren’t trying to build a team?

Johnny (Guest):

Not at all.

I was concerned because it was The Cafaro Way.

Who else is going to emulate how I want them to do it?

I had that ego.

How am I going to train somebody to be Johnny?

Everybody wants the Johnny effect, but they don’t want me to hire somebody.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Your business was too contingent upon your face.

It wasn’t showing people how to implement or execute effective ways to market.

It was, “Put my face on your stuff, watch your brand blow up.”

So you got compromised by how many places you can be at one time.

Johnny (Guest):

100 percent.

I tried to come up with it, but I was having one-on-one conversations with so many different people every day and every week.

I felt like I needed to branch.

I started suggesting, “What if I brought somebody on?”

They were like, “No, we want your touch. We see what you do.”

And I’m like, damn, am I that good?

Can nobody emulate what I do?

I don’t think so.

I’m not a superstar who has the magic sauce.

I just bring good energy, and people get stuff done.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Did you attempt to build a team, or you didn’t?

Johnny (Guest):

I did.

I attempted it.

I brought stuff on, but it was more toward the tail end when I was already burning out.

Then I was like, I’m done.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Take us there.

Was it a night?

A day?

Breakfast?

What happened where you were like, “I’m done”?

Johnny (Guest):

The pain was so excruciating.

One morning, I woke up after not sleeping all night.

I had been rolling in bed in pain.

I was thinking about everything I had to do the next day.

I was like, what is my life?

I went from being in meetings all day with Stryker to feeling like I had financial freedom, but I didn’t.

I was actually locked in even more by this consulting gig.

So I called everybody and said, “I’m done. I’ll finish out the contracts, but we’re done.”

And I completely disappeared.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

That morning, you woke up in pain.

At that point, the divorce had already happened?

Johnny (Guest):

We were separated.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Separated.

Stryker was gone.

How many months or years had you been running the branding business before that morning?

Johnny (Guest):

Probably close to a year.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Okay.

Stryker was gone.

You were separated.

You had a year of potential financial freedom, but you were expanding yourself to the nth degree.

That morning happens, and you wake up like, this stops now.

I have to reevaluate.

You call your contacts and stop everything.

What happened next?

Johnny (Guest):

I’ll get into it.

I started doing plant medicine.

I did psilocybin because I heard it could help with pain, help with neural pathways, and help you get unstuck.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

This is new to me.

What is that?

Johnny (Guest):

Mushrooms.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

That’s huge.

Microdosing mushrooms.

I know a couple of physicians who are doing that and even prescribing that.

I know that can be life-changing.

Johnny (Guest):

It changed everything.

Instead of going right, right, right, the mushrooms helped me finally go left and create a whole new pattern.

It showed me subconsciously where I kept making the same mistakes so I didn’t have to keep repeating them.

The universe is powerful. It’s going to keep showing you that lesson until you finally go left.

That’s the beauty of it.

I went on this medicine journey, and it showed me a lot of things I needed to work on.

It showed me where I needed to take accountability for everything.

I stopped blaming everything on everyone.

I stopped blaming the marriage and saying it was her fault.

I put everything on me.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Ownership.

Johnny (Guest):

Extreme ownership.

I love that book.

Jocko.

100 percent. It was all on me.

I was still in pain, but I knew I was doing the right thing.

I was stopping.

I was going somewhere, and I felt like I was going in the right direction.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

How did you find out about this?

Was it a doctor who introduced it to you?

Johnny (Guest):

No.

I was at the gym talking to some friends, and they said, “Hey, I just did this mushroom journey that changed my life.”

And I was like, “I want to change my life. Sign me up.”

I had never done any kind of drugs like that.

I grew up Mormon.

I grew up with drugs, alcohol, drinking, smoking, sex before marriage, all that stuff being off limits.

I was this clean kid.

Then I’m like, mushrooms. Okay.

There are different types of journeys.

They say five grams or more is like a hero’s journey.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Is this a social circle guiding you?

Did you eventually go to a physician?

Is there a circle that includes physicians?

How do you know what to do?

Johnny (Guest):

Great question.

I didn’t.

I’m Johnny, and I just went.

But for most people, there are facilitators who can guide you through it in a social setting, especially if darkness comes in or deep shadow stuff comes up.

But I didn’t know much about it, so I did it on my own.

I took seven grams the first night.

It allowed me to see so much of who I was, where I was going, and my higher self.

I believe in higher self and higher being.

It was like, thank you for stopping where you were going, because where you were going was burnout, chaos, and destruction.

For me to wake up, cancel everything, disappear, and take this medicine that showed me I was on the right path, it was life-changing.

It showed me things.

There wasn’t a physician involved.

There are energetic healers and spiritual healers who help guide you through it.

There are dosages and things like that, but there’s really no overdosing on mushrooms.

You’re either going to have a magical trip or a dark one, and it depends on your headspace.

It’s called set, setting, and intention.

What does your setting look like?

What do your intentions look like?

Are you here to heal?

I had never done any kind of drugs for partying.

I did it more spiritually to heal.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Right.

So that night happens, and you’re like, okay, this is whoa.

Did you have a conclusion from that first night that said, okay, I’m going to put myself in a regimen and this is what we’re doing?

Or was it more like, I need to explore this way deeper?

What happened after that night?

Johnny (Guest):

You just nailed it.

There was no regimen yet.

It was, I need to go deeper.

I need to go a lot deeper.

And the deepest, highest, most psychedelic thing they say is ayahuasca.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Oh gosh.

I’ve heard of that.

I know physicians who do this and have whole practices.

I’ve never done it, but I’ve heard so many people talk about it.

Did you have to join a group and go somewhere?

How do you even get your hands on it?

Johnny (Guest):

I started doing research.

Peru and Costa Rica are the biggest places that administer ayahuasca.

You can find it in the States, but it’s illegal in the States.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

It is what it is.

Johnny (Guest):

It’s the most healing and incredible thing.

I’m in marketing, so I Googled ayahuasca Costa Rica, and the top ten places came up.

I knew the top seven were ads and paid, and I was like, I’m not going to those ones.

So I called number seven.

He got on a video call and interviewed me to make sure I was good and not this crazy person.

Then he said, “It’s going to cost $1,500.”

I asked, “What does the process look like?”

He said, “There will probably be a group of five to seven. We’re out in the jungle of Costa Rica, and we do ayahuasca two nights in a row. It’s a five-day retreat.”

Before you go out there, you have to prepare.

No sugars, no salts, no alcohol, no sex.

You have to be as clean and pure as possible.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Clean emotionally and physically.

Johnny (Guest):

Yeah.

You start meditating and prepare for it.

I thought, okay, this is going to be it.

This is going to be the start of everything.

My hip is going to heal.

Everything is going to be this magical, amazing thing.

I got there, and Costa Rica is unbelievable.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

I just went last year, so yes.

Johnny (Guest):

The place is like an oasis.

It’s gorgeous.

We went over by La Fortuna, by Arenal Volcano.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

That’s where I went.

Did you go to the hot springs?

Johnny (Guest):

Yeah.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

I went to the hot springs and hiked the volcano.

Johnny (Guest):

So did I.

We got there, and the group was powerful.

There were a lot of cool people there.

A lot of people were searching, seeking, and looking for answers.

Some people weren’t in pain. They were just looking for the ayahuasca experience and enlightenment.

I had very high expectations.

Because the medicine journey with mushrooms was so good, I thought this was going to be next level.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

You were leaving the minor leagues.

Johnny (Guest):

Yeah.

I was going to the majors.

But nothing happened the first night.

I was so mad.

I was like, why am I not feeling anything?

I was throwing up, which they call the purge. You purge out emotions and energy.

But nothing magical happened.

I learned the biggest life lesson of my entire life.

Stop having expectations, and you’ll never be disappointed again.

That’s what the medicine taught me that night.

At the end, the shaman asked everyone in the circle to say one word.

Everybody was saying positive things.

I said, “Disappointed.”

Everybody looked at me, but I was being honest.

I was super disappointed.

I left the meeting at 2:00 in the morning, sat in front of my bed, looked over the view, and started bawling.

I was like, why did I come here?

What am I doing?

This sucks.

But then it registered.

I had high expectations throughout my whole life, and I had been disappointed so many times.

If I could leave expectations at the door, I would never be disappointed again.

That was gold to me.

I could leave the retreat with that and become a better version of myself.

That was pure medicine for me because I had so many expectations.

We all do.

We grow up in a society of expectations.

You should do this. You should do that.

Even within the Mormon religion, there were expectations.

The next night I was like, come what may.

Whatever comes tonight, I’m good.

I had no expectations.

If it doesn’t work, I’m already happy.

So I took the ayahuasca.

Ten, fifteen, twenty minutes in, I started touching my toes and stretching.

Then I got up.

You’re supposed to be quiet and meditating, but not me.

I was moving around and stretching.

The shaman was looking at me like, sit down.

I was like, no, I can’t.

I stood up, did a hip movement, and my hip popped.

All the pain, all the emotion, everything vanished.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Stop.

Johnny (Guest):

I swear, bro.

Everything you could imagine that I held in my head went away.

Everything from childhood to all my hip replacements, all that pain just vanished mid-air.

The ayahuasca healed it.

I saw the energy come in, the healing of the grandmother, as they call her, and heal my hip.

Then I was the most flexible person in the world.

I could bend in half.

I could do everything.

I was physically healed, but I wasn’t in the physical realm.

I was in the spiritual realm with ayahuasca.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

Hold on.

This is awesome, by the way.

So you’re saying you had a moment of feeling like you were healed, or you’re saying you had a moment and you were actually healed?

Johnny (Guest):

I was actually healed.

Jesus talks about, “Thy faith hath made thee whole.”

He talks about frequency and energy.

I tapped into the high frequency of healing energy, and we healed each other.

I was open to the healing.

I was open to receiving anything the universe was able to give me.

And I had such hope that I could heal myself somehow, someway.

Nobody understands if they have never lived in chronic pain.

It is the absolute hardest thing, day in and day out.

Samuel Adeyinka (Host):

I hope you’re enjoying today’s episode.

And remember, I have a customized and personalized program that gets you into the medical technology industry as a sales professional, or any type of role for that matter.

Become a top performer in your position and masterfully navigate your career to executive-level leadership. Check out these programs and learn more by visiting our site.

Fill out an application, schedule some time with one of our account executives, and allow us to get you where you need to be.

Stay tuned for more awesome content with amazing interviews on the Medical Sales Podcast.