From Operating Room Nurse To Medical Device Sales Rep With Bradley Sadri

A medical device sales representative can firsthand the impact that innovative technology can have on improving patient outcomes. But having a nursing background is even better as it can be leveraged to making connections with healthcare professionals on deeper levels, and more. In this episode, Samuel Adeyinka interviews Bradley Sadri on his transition from operating room nurse to medical device sales rep. Bradley shares valuable insights into the medical device industry and discusses the important role that sales representatives play in improving patient outcomes. He also discusses the amazing benefits of leveraging his nursing background to excel in his new field. Bradley also shares the most unexpected wins and challenges on the transition, and provides actionable tips and insights to anyone wanting to follow the path. He shares his experiences working with doctors and other healthcare professionals, and how he navigates the challenging and constantly evolving healthcare landscape. Tune in now and gain inspiration on how to pursue your passion.

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From Operating Room Nurse To Medical Device Sales Rep With Bradley Sadri

Welcome to the show. We have with us another special guest. He is very special because he was a client of the Medical Sales Career Builder program. His name is Bradley Sadri. Brad was a nurse that wanted to be a medical sales rep. His episode is quite a treat because he didn’t know where he wanted to go. He had the option to pursue FNP or a career in medical sales.

When I met him, he was torn. He was not sure which avenue made sense. He wanted medical sales, but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to make it happen. He took a leap of faith. We’re going to talk about it in the episode. I’m not going to give too much away. Long story short, he joined the program and his life has completely changed. He’s in a completely new world.

Now, he is a medical sales rep. When he graduated from our program, he graduated as a medical device sales rep. He’s living his best life. He loves his career. His prospects for the future are bigger than he has ever imagined. I’m over here talking about it. I want to save it because we want to hear him talk about his experience. As always, thank you for tuning in to the show. I do hope you enjoy this interview.

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Brad, how are you doing?

I’m doing great. Thanks for having me. I’m excited to do this episode with you.

Why don’t you tell us who you are and what you do?

My name is Brad Sadri. I live in Denver, Colorado. I transitioned to a role in medical device. I’m doing an amazing job. I support GYN surgical equipment and ORs all across the southwest all the way out to LA. I provide a lot of clinical technical expertise to surgeons and OR teams to make sure they match their use of surgical technology.

This is a treat for me to have you on the show because you’re not just a medical device sales rep. You’re a medical device sales rep who used to be a nurse and went through the Medical Sales Career Builder program, which is our program. You graduated in record time within two months.

It was right at the two-month mark by the time I got the job offer.

You got a job offer through our program. That’s a complete joy for me to have you on the show. Let’s talk about it. Take us back to where you were when you found us and your education as a nurse. Tell us what kind of nurse you were and what you were going through before you found us.

I was a nurse in the operating room. It was a place I loved to be in. I was specializing in robotic surgery. I was working at a facility in Denver that was a surgical robotics institute. We did DaVinci robotic surgeries all day with all specialties. I loved it in many respects, but I wanted to grow in a lot of areas. I was gaining expertise and being a scrub in those cases but with a mindset toward becoming a first assist.

In that process, I already had about a year under my belt in the NP program. I had it intended that if I was going to grow, become an expert, and be as involved in the process as possible, it was going to take more education. That was going to be another two-and-a-half-year investment. There was some satisfaction in growing in that way, but there were a lot of questions for a while about whether or not that was the direction I wanted to go. What I was seeking was to be that expert that could have those conversations with surgeons in the OR and understand the procedure and the clinical benefits. NP was a natural direction for that.

Being in the OR on a regular basis, rubbing shoulders with reps, and having good relationships with them, it was just talking to them and building relationships that I started to see myself doing what they did. It seemed to be such a break in the trajectory of the direction I was going. I was already investing so much time, energy, and money to be like, “Can I now break and go in this opposite direction?” There were a lot of questions. It was this inner intuition that I knew I would be a good rep and be great in that position. I was willing to ask the right questions and maybe take a big risk.

That makes a lot of sense. I remember when we first spoke. You were like, “I don’t know. Is it NP, or is it to take a chance and go in a completely different direction?” Tell us a little bit about how you found us. How did you discover the Medical Sales Career Builder program?

It was in that process of trying to discover and learn more about the field of medical device sales. I was looking on LinkedIn. I was looking at a job post. I haven’t been involved in LinkedIn for a while, but as I started to do the searches, different things started to come up in my feed. One of them was your feed with Evolve Your Success and your own profile, speaking to the industry and asking all the questions you do on a regular basis. It spoke to the season in life and the questions that I was asking. It started to make me aware of the community that was out there. I started to see all the people that were responding to your posts and how engaged they were. I was like, “This is an interesting community to learn more about.”

What drew me to you and your program was the positive framework and the positive messaging. I know there are misconceptions or stereotypes of the medical device field out there, especially being a nurse and being on the clinical side. You putting the character-first mentality out there resonated with me and my own character and integrity. I kept reading about you. One of your posts had a link on it for more information. I was like, “Why not do that?” You quickly set up a consultation from there.

We had a conversation. You were at a crossroads of, “Do I continue with my NP education or do I take a chance and go this direction with medical sales?” We spoke about it. We spoke about the program, what it offers you, and what it can do for you, and hung up the conversation. When you were on your own and needed to make a decision, walk us through what happened. Were you sold already as soon as you got off the phone? Was it a discussion with the wife, a couple of friends, a mentor, or something, and then you said, “Let me look at some more stuff.” What helped you make the decision to get involved with the program?

I have a great relationship with my wife. Every big decision is something that we spend time talking through. When I brought it to her, I knew that she would be the one that would give me objective and honest feedback. If she was like, “That makes no sense,” then it would’ve ended right there, but she was intrigued. She saw the possibility in me.

I started sharing what I had been learning. I shared about the program, the prospects, and what I envisioned going from here. I talked about my goals and dreams. Even starting to verbalize my intentions to her and not just inner dialogue about things, it started to make it more real to me. We made a joint decision together that this was going to be an investment in many respects. Once I had her backing, I was able to make the decision that I was going to go all-in with this program.

That is awesome. Let’s fast forward to when you joined the program. What were your expectations, and what did you experience?

I remember at that time, I’d been talking to a number of reps in the industry. I was so intrigued about learning how to do the sales side. I had a sales background but it had been years since it was clinically based. I felt like when I entered the program, it was going to be, “Help me develop as a medical device sales professional. Give me all the tools, skills, and know-how to do that.”

There is a lot of that in the program that you’re going to learn and glean along the way like I did, especially from hearing people’s stories, your experience, and different sales reps’ experience. When it came down to it, what I realized is the program is, first and foremost, about how to get the job, how to position yourself as the best candidate in the industry, and utilizing your know-how to present the value you are going to bring in that role. You’re going to gain an understanding of the program and more understanding of what it meant to be a sales rep, but it wasn’t the day-in and day-out skills and tools.

 

You nailed it. The program was about getting the job, getting in, and becoming a medical sales rep. After that, you’ll learn sales. If you want to continue with us, we have a sales training program. I love that you identified that. I knew you knew it was going into a class environment where you were going to be with other students. What was that like for you being in that class environment?

It took a little bit of getting used to. Being in a hospital every day, it’s face-to-face. Everything is in person. Getting used to that virtual environment again took a little bit of ramp-up time. I took it seriously though. I invested and made sure I had the right equipment and everything. It was interesting because I didn’t anticipate it. It helped me a lot because a majority of my interviews were in-person or online through the different video opportunity platforms. I was much more comfortable when that time came and was prepared. That was an unexpected outcome. It ended up being good practice and good development.

It was fun to see the faces of the other people going through the program with you on a weekly basis. There must have been at least twenty students, on average, on a call with me. Over time, from hearing people’s stories, I would connect with a few of those individuals outside of the class and have conversations with them about our progress and stuff. It was nice to have that structure of meeting in person on a weekly basis.

Let’s fast forward to the offer play-by-play. Was it a phone call? Was it an email? What happened?

I got a little background during the course. Within a month, I started having strong leads. That was the fun part. The advantage I had coming from a nursing background was I had built strong relationships with the reps. I was doing my job well and being friendly and professional. When it came to the time and I made my intentions known to be like, “I’m interested in making the transition. What can you tell me about your industry? Do you know of any openings that would be a good fit for me?” That line got a lot of good receptions.

 

From the beginning, I was getting looks and offers. It was like, “Send me your resume so I can get it in front of this person.” A few went up and down, and then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, one rep that I had talked to that I saw at my facility on a regular basis texted me. She was like, “They got this job opening. They’re looking for a clinically-oriented person to support products in ORs based out of Denver. Are you interested?” I was like, “Absolutely. Send me the description. I’ll read into it.” I read it, and it is the job I got.

At that time, I didn’t know anything about the product, but it was in minimally invasive surgery. It was in GYN, which was a space I was very comfortable doing robotic surgery. I was like, “This job must have been made for me.” I was so appreciative. From that moment to the last interview, it took two weeks. I went through a recruiter interview. I went through the hiring manager through video call.

One of the memorable parts was I remember we were taking a little weekend trip with the kids to the water park. We checked into the hotel. As I’m about to get to my room, they’re like, “We want you to fly to Orlando on Monday.” This was a Friday. They were like, “We want you to fly to Orlando on Monday for the final interview with the senior director, VP, and HR.” I was like, “Monday?” That was my first taste of what life was going to be like. I got everything set up and went there on Monday. I was fully prepared with all the tools that you gave me. I gave you a call while I was at that hotel.

I remember.

I got some final prep work. You told me the things to focus on because I didn’t have a ton of time since it happened so fast. I flew all the way to Orlando for an hour interview and then flew home to Denver. The next day, I went to work and got a call. They said, “We’d like to bring you on. Here’s the offer.” I couldn’t have been happier. It was so happy.

I remember that. It was a proud mood for all of us. It was wonderful. What would you share with the audience? The people tuning in are in the same position you were in. They want to get into medical sales. They’re probably weighing out different options to try to get help or whatever resources they can. What would you share with the audience that they should do when pursuing this career track?

I know you have a pretty broad audience out there. I like to speak to people with a similar background to me, specifically. I know being in the industry, being on the clinical side, and being a nurse, whether you’re in the OR or not, I know there are a lot of people considering what the best path is for them. There are lots of reasons to think about that.

To anybody who has had that internal conversation or even a few conversations here and there, take one action to act on that. It can be as simple as talking a little bit more to the reps that are in the room with you or that you see in the hospital on a regular basis. It’s like, “I see you around. I’m interested in what you do. Can you tell me more about it?” It’s gaining some clarity on what it is you see doing instead of stereotypes.

Take another step as I did. Process it with a trusted friend, spouse, or whoever. It’s somebody who can be honest with you and give you objective feedback so you have some tooth in the game. Do your due diligence and re-learn as much as you can. If that internal drive is still there and you can’t shake it, take a risk. There are programs like Evolve Your Success that are available. If you connect with Samuel and learn more or connect with former alumni like myself that can talk to you about their experience, all that’s going to help. In the end, it is up to you.

A lot of times, there are two roads in life. I had one that was clearly laid out that was successful. A lot of people would’ve been proud of me, but I knew deep down that there was something else for me. There was something more. I wanted to make more money but honestly, the deep drive was that desire to be a clinical expert and to have more meaningful conversations with surgeons on a regular basis when I’m in the OR. Unfortunately, as a nurse, I couldn’t do that. I was so task-oriented. I had to execute so much that my attention was too divided. I couldn’t always focus on the procedure, be as close to the action as possible, be a part of all the conversations, and go deeper like I would like to and be seen as an expert.

Eventually, if you take that risk on yourself as I did, you’ll find out that there are big rewards on the other side. That’s the best part. I got the job. Many people that go through this program will get a job. I know a lot of them are so happy that they went through it. Put the time, energy, and investment into doing that. It’s even more amazing on the opposite side.

If you take risk on yourself, you'll find big rewards on the other side. Click To Tweet

You now realize there are more risks to take and more rewards. It sets you up to build more confidence in yourself. I have so much more confidence in myself and what’s possible in the future. It’s interesting. I feel like I can say this on occasion now. Before, I could have told you what I was going to do 2, 3, 4, or 5 years down the road. Now, I can’t tell you what I’m going to do in the next month or the next year or two, but I know I have so much more opportunities and possibilities ahead of me that I’m more excited about in life. It’s much more interesting and fun.

I was going to ask you, “How has life changed?” You nailed it on that answer there. Everything is different. Your income has gone up significantly and the pace of life is a lot different now, would you say?

Definitely. I’d be glad to share that I make over double what I did as a nurse. That’s amazing when I got a wife and two little kids. To be able to provide for them in the current situation and the future feels great. There is lots of flexibility. I’m not having to do the regular 8, 10, or 12-hour day at a facility all day long. I have the flexibility of being at home. I was able to spend a lot of quality time during the holidays.

I’m getting to travel to some new exciting cities to change it up. I go to different facilities, meet different surgeons, and meet different staff on a regular basis. I carry out my purpose on a regular basis, which is to help women out there get the best outcomes. I get to work with great teams and surgeons. I ensure that they get the best help they need on a regular basis so that they can be experts in what they do.

There is one more question I got for you. If there’s nothing, then you can say so. You anticipated what this career would be like in the field when you’re working. What has been the biggest surprise that you’ve experienced in working? When you’re doing the job, is there anything that has been like, “I didn’t know about this?”

There are probably a few things, but one of the bigger surprises is the level of independence and autonomy. It’s going from clinical where you go and things are mostly regimented that you have goals and tasks each day that are pretty well-defined. Now, I work with a great team. I have other product specialists with me. I have an area manager. I work with territory managers and regional sales managers. Our team is vast and broad. There are lots of support, development, and conversations about what to do.

I’ve had to learn and grow in utilizing my strategy skills, knowing what to focus on at what time, building my own schedule, making calls when I need to, and making arrangements to get to cases all across different states and show up. A lot of times, I’m hardly checked on. I’m expected to do my job and do it well. That level of independence and autonomy was something I didn’t envision or think about before I made the transition.

That’s exciting. That’s awesome. This is all music to my ears. I love the experience you’re having. Thank you for spending time with us. We’re going to bring it to a close. I know you got to get back to this wonderful life that you’re leading, but I want to ask four questions in our lightning round. Are you ready?

Let’s do this.

What is the best book you have read in the last six months?

This will be a little bit of an interesting one. I wrote a bit. I’m mostly reading instruction manuals and stuff to learn, but at night, I’ll hit up an Audible book. I’m a big C.S. Lewis fan. One of his classics is called The Screwtape Letters. If you’re ever interested in a flip on morality and learning about what evil thinks from an evil perspective even though you’re trying to live a moral spiritual life, it’s an interesting take.

I’m not going to say I’ve read that because it was years ago that I came across that book. I can’t remember if I even tried to give it a good read, but I keep hearing it brought back up, The Screwtape Letters. I’m going to have to check that out. What is the best TV show or movie you’ve seen in the last six months?

I got a better answer for that. I’ve been watching The Recruit. It’s a Netflix series about a new lawyer that gets hired at the CIA. He gets wrapped up in all these crazy operations along the way from the get-go as he is trying to learn how to navigate the CIA and all the one-upmanship, playing, being a jockey for position and leverage, and all the politics involved. It’s a pretty cool and interesting story. My wife is usually the one that will recommend them. We’ll watch them together, but she’ll fall asleep so I’ll be watching myself. I try to choose ones that are only eight episodes long so that I don’t get forever in a show. I can get it done and move on to the next thing.

I get it. What a time to be alive. That’s how I’ll say it. What’s the best food you’ve had in the past six months?

The fun thing about traveling is getting to eat on the road and maybe eat a little bit better than I would normally do at times. One of the hotels I’ve been staying at in Salt Lake City has a steakhouse in there, but I didn’t get the steak. I got the salmon. It was cooked to perfection. It had the skin crispy on it, which we always try to do but it never turns out crispy. It turns out soggy so we pull it off. This one, you’re able to eat. I’m not sure if you’re supposed to eat it, but I ate it because it was so crispy and good. It’s a crispy salmon.

You can’t say all that and not give us the name. You’re killing me here.

The name of the restaurant?

Yes.

It’s called Spencer’s Steaks and Chops.

It’s Spencer’s Steaks and Chops in Salt Lake City, Utah. Lastly, what is the best experience you’ve had in the last couple of months? I know the answer, but please share.

It makes me intrigued about what you would think. I’m referencing the fact that I got to spend more quality time. I was flexible with my schedule. My wife and I celebrated our tenth-year wedding anniversary. Since I had the time, we got our in-laws to come and watch the kids all the way from Texas. We took a weekend trip to Vail. Not only was that amazing and beautiful staying in the resort there, but a crazy long story that I’ll make short was there was this ice skating show there that was sold out. The reason it was sold out was because Nathan Chen was skating. He was the gold medalist from the last Winter Olympics, the US figure skater.

Long story short, we were out one day and I made a connection with somebody we kept seeing throughout the day. It ended up being the mom of a girl who worked at the event. She said, “Go up there and my daughter will give you some tickets,” so we went and got free tickets to this show. We watched some amazing performances. It was my first figure skating show to ever watch Nathan Chen perform his gold medal-winning performance. It was such a cool experience.

I wasn’t going to guess that. I was over here thinking it was getting the job. That’s awesome on your tenth-year anniversary. That is beautiful. Brad, it was a true joy having you spend time with us on the show. I’m so proud of you. You’ve come such a long way. You’re making amazing things happen. It’s a whole new spin on life with a whole new outlook. Who knows what amazing things you have to come? We’re going to be watching you the whole way. We can’t wait to see what comes next. Thank you for being on the show.

When you have a whole new spin on life with a whole new outlook, who knows what amazing things you have to come. Click To Tweet

Thanks for having me. It was my first show ever. I hope to do more. Best of luck to you and all the students that go through your program.

Thank you.

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That was Bradley Sadri. It’s truly a treat to hear someone go through the program and change their life. That’s why we do it. That’s why Evolve of Success exists. That’s why the Medical Sales Career Builder exists. It’s a beautiful thing to see. Bradley is a living testimony of someone that wanted something, took the right steps to make it happen, and is living a completely different life. I want the same for you.

If you want to get into medical sales, pharmaceutical sales, or some type of sales within healthcare, you have a number of avenues, to be honest. If you’ve been tuning in to this show for any number of episodes for any amount of time, then you know you have one avenue right here that has worked for so many people. Over 200 people have gotten positions in companies that they love. They’re living the careers that they’ve previously only dreamed of. This could be you. You don’t have to wait three years or do trial and error every single day, weeks, and then months. You have the opportunity to follow a method or a strategy that has worked for so many people.

Let me be brutally honest here. For some people, that strategy works in five weeks. For some people, that strategy works in 6 or 7 months. For the lion’s share of people, that strategy works in 3 to 4 months. What I do know is without that strategy, getting into medical sales can become a journey that takes a while. Why not cut that while down to a number of months? Why not get into a position that you love?

Another thing that happens in medical sales is people don’t know all that’s out there. They throw themselves. They work hard. Two or three years passed and they finally get into a role. They think it’s what they want. They do it for 3 or 4 months and hate it. They leave a bad taste in the employer’s mouth. There’s a bad taste in their mouth. Anyone that gets to hear about their medical sales experience also is left with bad taste. That doesn’t have to be.

Why not find out what medical sales field makes sense for you? Why not find out what specialty you should be in based on what you desire out of life, the money you want to make, the lifestyle you want to have, and the impact you want to make? When you can align yourself to the right field, learn the strategies to make the right impression, and get access to the right people, you’re going to find yourself in a career that you will love. That’s what we’re offering here with the Medical Success Career Builder.

If you’re in that situation where you know this is a move you’ve been wanting to make, take a step in a very serious direction. Visit EvolveYourSuccess.com. Select Attain Medical Sales Role, submit an application, and have a conversation with someone from our team here at Evolve Your Success. Let’s get you to where you want to be.

I have a special note that I want to leave for everyone tuning in. Our show has been going on for almost three years. It is over 128 episodes. I could be off on 1 episode or 2. We’re approaching 130 episodes if we haven’t already passed it. If you’ve been tuning in and love this show, then I want you to do us a solid. I want you to go to Apple or iTunes and rate this show.

If you love these episodes and you love hearing these stories, and they have either helped you in the field, helped you get a position, or led you to work with the Medical Sales Career Builder and then got a position, whatever your story is that this show has had the opportunity to be a part of, I want you to go to Apple or iTunes. I want you to rate a five-star rating on Apple or iTunes and leave us a comment or write a review on what you are learning from these episodes. We want to hear from you. We do this because we want everyone to understand how vast the medical sales world is.

I’ll even say this so that it’s more encompassing, “The healthcare sales world is.” We want you to understand how vast it is. We want you to see where you fit in it. Whether you’re in a role already and you’re looking for a transition or you’re trying to break in, we want you to know as much as possible. That is why we do what we do here. Do us a solid. Go to Apple or iTunes, rate us five stars, leave a review, and make sure you come back for another episode of the show.

 

Important Links

• Bradley Sadri – LinkedIn
• The Screwtape Letters
• Attain Medical Sales Role
• Apple – The Medical Sales Podcast

 

About Bradley Sadri

Bradley Sadri is an accomplished and results-driven Operating Room Nurse who specializes in surgical robotics. He is highly skilled in circulating and scrubbing various surgical procedures using the DaVinci Xi robot at the Surgical Robotics Institute of Excellence. With a strong focus on patient outcomes, Bradley is dedicated to using the latest medical equipment and technology, and he advocates for his patients by working closely with surgeons. As a leader, he has trained over 20 nurses on the use of surgical robotics, promoting best practices for minimally invasive surgery.

Bradley has a talent for implementing effective systems in and outside of the operating room, which allows him to solve complex problems with ease. His calm and professional demeanor enables him to remain composed during critical situations. Bradley is passionate about promoting innovative surgical technology across the nation and believes that patients everywhere should have access to these life-saving advancements. Currently, Bradley is a Regional Acessa Specialist at Hologic Inc.

 

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