A Mother’s Day special!
Join us as we sit down with Sydney Selby, the innovative Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Medical Education at Renata Medical, during a week when we honor mothers and the gifts they bring into our lives.
Sydney illuminates the often-invisible struggles within pediatric congenital heart disease treatment, revealing how Renata Medical’s Minima Renata stent system is revolutionizing care for the tiniest hearts.
With a blend of technical savvy and personal anecdotes, she underscores the critical need for devices that adapt to growing children, the hurdles faced by clinicians, and the passion that fuels progress in medical sales.
Sydney and I peel back the layers of our career journeys, sharing how personal challenges and family experiences not only shape our aspirations but also drive our pursuit of passion in the medical sales field.
From my own start as a surgical sales representative to Sydney’s leadership in a startup environment, we exchange stories of resilience and adaptability that are essential for anyone aiming to leave their mark in this industry.
We stress that the key to success lies in starting somewhere, building upon each opportunity, and relentlessly following your career dreams.
As we wrap up our conversation, the spotlight turns to Sydney’s personal joys and professional accomplishments. In a rapid-fire Q&A, we discover the simple pleasures that bring her fulfillment outside work, as well as the strategic mindset that has fueled her rise to the top.
We close by encouraging you to forge your own path in medical sales, offering a glimpse into Evolveyoursuccess.com and how it might support your journey from entry-level aspirations to executive leadership.
Be inspired by Sydney’s story and take that first step toward shaping your future in the thriving field of medical sales.
Meet the guest:
Sydney Selby, a dynamic leader with a passion for impactful innovation in healthcare, brings a wealth of experience and insight to her role as Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Medical Education at Renata Medical. With a career trajectory marked by excellence and adaptability, Sydney’s journey from her early days in cardiac surgery sales to her pivotal leadership positions at Medtronic, Abbott, and now Renata Medical reflects her unwavering commitment to patient-centric care and transformative medical technology. Sydney’s leadership style, rooted in a fact-based approach and a dedication to collaborative problem-solving, has propelled her through various challenges, from pioneering pivotal trials for transcatheter aortic valve implantation to navigating the complexities of global sales strategies. Her leadership philosophy emphasizes the importance of uniting teams around a common mission, fostering open communication, and continuously learning from both successes and setbacks. With Sydney at the helm, Renata Medical stands poised to revolutionize pediatric congenital heart disease treatment and improve outcomes for countless young patients worldwide.
This Podcast offers a pathway to continuing education via this CMEfy link: https://earnc.me/wup7as
Connect with her: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydneyselby
Learn more about Renata Medical: https://www.renatamedical.com/
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Episode Transcript
00:00 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Hello and welcome to the Medical Sales Podcast. I’m your host, Samuel, 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% 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. Hello and welcome to the Medical Sales Podcast. I’m your host, Samuel, and today we have with us another special guest, and she goes by the name of Sydney Selby.
00:53
But why is today’s episode so special? Besides the fact that we have a phenomenal woman that I cannot wait for you to hear from, we must acknowledge that it is the week of Mother’s Day, so we could not have a podcast episode that that it is the week of Mother’s Day, so we could not have a podcast episode that is not in the vein of Mother’s Day and everyone. This is it. So you’re going to hear from Sydney Selby and you’re going to hear why she’s so fascinated and the amazing medical sales career she’s had, where she started as a sales rep and today she is global vice president of a company, about to be doing major, major things in the medical sales space. But I’m not going to give it away, I am not going to spoil it.
01:32
This is an episode that you have to listen to. If you’re someone that wants to get into medical sales, you’re not doing yourself any favors if you don’t listen to this episode because she drops gems and pearls. And if you’re someone that’s in medical sales and that has some ambition and wants to take your career further, then this is an absolute must listen. As always, we do our best to bring you guests that are doing things differently in the medical sales space, and I really do hope you enjoy this interview. Hey, Sydney, how are we doing today?
02:00 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
Hi, Samuel, nice to see you. It’s great to be here today. Thank you for inviting me.
02:04 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Absolutely Happy to see you, so why don’t you tell the audience who you are and what you do?
02:09 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
So my name is Sydney Selby. I work with Renata Medical. I’m the Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Medical Education globally, and we are a small startup company based out of Newport Beach, California.
02:22 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Wow, wow. To be based out of Newport Beach, california. I have to just spend some time there before I even continue the rest of it. What is that?
02:30 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
like Life is pretty good. I work with a great office of employees and we’re a small company right now. At the moment we’re expecting our FDA approval, probably in Q4 of this year, and it’s really fun to work for a startup. These guys have a great time in the office, we’re very close, congenial, collaborative and we all do a lot of everything, so it’s certainly wonderful because you can expand your skills and talents. In a small startup. You have a lot of responsibilities, different responsibilities that I’ve never had to do before, so it certainly makes me grow from a professional perspective.
03:11 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Absolutely so why don’t you tell us specifically what is Renata Medical? What is the technology we’re talking about here? What do they do?
03:19 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
Absolutely so. Again, we’re based out of Newport Beach, california, and we are specializing in pediatric congenital heart disease. So these are basically patients that are born with a congenital heart defect and where we specialize is innovating in devices for these infants. And then the challenge with infants is that they start at a very young age and they grow, unlike adults. So our challenge when you’re making devices is to be able to make devices that grow with the child through their somatic growth.
03:53
And that’s something that’s very challenging in the market today and I’m sure we’ll talk a little bit about that. So we make a device called the Minima Renata Stent System, and so the Renata Stent System is a device that can be put into the pulmonary arteries or the aorta and it actually avoids open heart procedures where it’s indicated and it really changes kind of the health pathway for that child and the family of that child for the future. So it’s really kind of a neat solution, and some of the challenges that those pediatric interventional cardiologists have to deal with every day is quite amazing. I mean they truly are innovators in this space because there’s so little product offering for these patients, and you know that’s.
04:41 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
I kind of want to get into that a little bit. What is the challenge with this condition right now? What is the maybe top three things that clinicians continue to bump their heads against when they’re trying to manage this condition?
04:55 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
The physicians that I talk to are amazing.
05:08
I mean, really have hearts of gold, really committed to this space.
05:09
But because it’s so highly specialized, a lot of companies don’t have a dedicated innovation strategy specific to pediatric congenital heart disease because it’s so small, so the space is small.
05:26
Because it’s so small, so the space is small and they’re challenged with FDA approved devices that they can use, that are studied and really designed for these little babies that are going to grow. Oftentimes they’re innovating themselves and taking adult products that are off label and putting them in the patient, but they have to because they have nothing putting them in the patient. But they have to because they have nothing and space is relatively small. And so a lot of the big strategic companies incorporate a pediatric portfolio into a bigger, broader picture, but often, again, because the space is so small, it gets overlooked and maybe they don’t necessarily vest their dollars in this particular market. So this is kind of where my CEO and COO they came from, a big strategic organization, along with myself, and we saw that happen over and over again, and so we really wanted to be highly specialized to provide these solutions to the intervention cardiologist and for these babies.
06:30 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
You know, it’s really, it’s quite unique. So is it too much of a statement to say that, as of right now, clinicians in this space are almost like they’re in the wild wild west? We’re trying to manage this.
06:37 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
Yes, but and you can see why In fact last week when I was at this conference they just don’t have options. So the options might be higher risk, and these kids are very they’re born quite sick. You know they have multiple disease state etiologies that are challenging, and so, you know, not to any fault of their own, they’re just trying to make do of what is out there, and most of those devices are clearly adult devices that are not designed for this or may not have been studied, and so this is a really exciting, breakthrough, revolutionary product, and our community is extremely excited about it, so we’re really happy.
07:16 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
I can only imagine I’m sure there’s a lot of passionate clinicians that have been trying to tackle this thing. They’re like thank you for finally being here. It’s true, trying to tackle this thing.
07:23
They’re like thank you for finally being here, it’s true, so. So in in the description of Renata Medical right now, it mentions series B, you know. I think it’s important for our audience to know what that type of thing means. I think the startup world, especially when it comes to medical devices, it’s becoming more and more prevalent. I would say there’s there’s more and more startups every single day because of the, because of how empowered we’ve all empowered we’ve all become in being able to get people together to tackle these solutions. What does it mean to be a Series B?
07:52 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
So that’s just the terminology for the stage of funding. So we’re privately funded as an organization. Oftentimes people look at venture capitalists to support until you’re commercialized and, you know, in the black making money. So Series B just means the round of funding.
08:13 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
So the round of funding means and it kind of indicates the phase the company is in when people hear that, is that the time to get excited that this is actually going to happen? Is that the time to get excited that this is actually going to happen? Is that the time to say, well, let’s see, give us a little bit about the sentiment behind being at a stage where you can get Series B funding.
08:32 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
Well, we’re always excited.
08:33
I mean every little thing that we do is meaningful to us, and I’m not at liberty to share a lot of details, but what I can say is I mean we’re always excited with the next gen we’re working on, or you know, just the little milestones, because it’s so meaningful for a smaller organization that’s in a startup mode.
08:53
But I think the real time to get as excited is, you know, clearly, when you have FDA approval and then also when you’ve completed your trial endpoints and you’ve completed your audit. So you know we’re well along in the process and so we’re truly excited on these milestones. Renata’s been exceptional in hitting all their milestones that they committed to, to their investors and to the marketplace, but it hasn’t been without a lot of partnership with our physician community. We’ve got really great relationships with some key institutions in the United States and really key KOLs that have been great partners with us, and so that makes all the difference in completing the milestones that are required to get approved. So we’re really thankful for that and we’ve had great trial partners to meet our endpoints that we expect will be all published later this year.
09:52 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
That is so exciting. So one thing we talk about when it comes to understanding these different spaces, especially specialized space with this, is the makeup of what a sales team could look like to sell something like this, with a product like this. Would it be more an individual sales rep having their own territory, kind of giving free reign to make it happen, or is there more of a team dynamic where there’s a lot of support?
10:17 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
Well, it’s a combination of both, I would say. So I have had the privilege of developing the go-to-market strategy for the organization. I have had the privilege of developing the go-to-market strategy for the organization and we will have a sales team that have individual responsibilities to drive the business and support the business clinically and to support the business from a revenue-generating perspective and everything that requires in the startup phase of building out an organization. But what’s always been really important to me is every single person that I hire. I think about the makeup of the organization and long-term growth with the organization. So I’m always looking for people that will grow their career with us, especially now, because it’s a great time to get in, because we will continue to expand and through the expansion will be opportunities not only just in the United States but also around the world. So we’re really looking forward to creating that career path. So, to answer your question, there’s individual you know contributor responsibilities, but collectively, as a team, and really uniting on the mission, is how we get there and we have to learn, you know, from each other.
11:25
So one of the things as a leader that I really have always proactively done is make sure that we celebrate our successes together. We’re also very transparent and celebrating the successes, but discussing where we might have made, you know, a grave error. You know, in our job it’s it could be the cost of a life. You know, maybe we’re the last person standing between you know a good decision and a bad decision and trying to help influence the best outcome for that patient. So, of course, our physicians are exceptional, but we also know our products and we might know some nuances and things that might make a difference. So, you know, I always try to tell the team we come together as a team and it’s important for me that we have a really strong, bonded team, because that kind of is what sticks when the times get tough.
12:16 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Absolutely. That is exciting, so let’s let’s take it back to you, because you’re now at the, at the forefront of this amazing opportunity as Global Vice President of Sales and Marketing. We got to know, how did you get here? So let’s go all the way back. We’re going back now to college. Oh gosh.
12:35 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
We don’t want to go back that far.
12:37 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
We’re going to graduate and are we thinking, you know, one day, I think, I know I want to be a global vice president of sales and marketing or we think of something completely different and it has nothing to do with this.
12:50 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
So there’s two parts to that equation. I always knew I wanted to be in leadership because I was really bossy as a little kid, always, always doing. You know you had to be in the joy club or something like that. So I always knew I wanted to be in leadership and so that was really important to me when I graduated I actually graduated from ASU in Arizona and you know you, I think your parents are a great influence on what you think you might want to do. So my mom was a very successful commercial real estate broker and my father was a big wig who served for the Department of Public Safety and the Phoenix Police Department, and so I studied justice studies, which kind of followed my father’s footsteps in some regard.
13:39
But then I decided to go into sales and that was really from the good guidance of a great mentor and my mom. My mom has been a huge mentor in my life and I determined that at that time that I had done an internship in college for a law office in the Attorney general’s office in Arizona and I decided that wasn’t for me and I couldn’t see a long-term career with that. So I thought, okay, I’m going to try sales. What am I going to do for sales? And so my sales career started really early. My dad actually this is a funny story used to take me out and we’d chop wood. I have three older sisters, so I’m the youngest.
14:24 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Okay.
14:25 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
He treated us all like boys Motorcycle riding, chopping wood, cleaning horse corral pins. He taught me great work ethic. So did my mom, but I don’t think anybody ever necessarily says I want to be a salesperson. It wasn’t innate for me, but I knew I was good at talking to people and I liked what I saw in my mom’s business. So I started out just really in the copier business, which was really tough, and I did that for seven years.
14:59
I learned how to cold call, get doors slammed in my face, all the resilient things you have to learn as a salesperson. So you know, at the time I I look back at it even then it was fun, but I think about you know, I just knew there was something more that I, that I wanted to do and I just didn’t know exactly what it was. And then I had a life experience with my daughter being born, alexis, as a premature baby, and she had a congenital heart defect, and so I knew at that time that I just fell in love with the nursing staff and the physicians and the care she received and I knew at some point I wanted to that it was. That moment was a life changing moment, not only, of course, personally, but professionally that that was the direction I wanted to go.
15:47
I wanted to get into medical device sales because it was so meaningful and I say anything to your listeners.
15:55
you know, follow your heart, because the beauty of that is it never feels like work, because it’s just your mission and you’re inspired naturally, and that I mean I would get a high when I’d go into the hospital. So you know, every time I’d be like this is the place I’m supposed to be. It’s just, it’s incredible. So I would say, because we do so much of it, if you can make it your mission, because you’re truly passionate about it, that you’ll never be sorry about that. So that would be. You know, one thing I would tell your listeners, as they’re thinking about the career they want, pick where it’s meaningful and then you have to start somewhere. So you don’t always usually get first shot on goal in going, you know, doing the product you want or necessarily the company you want, but get your foot in the door and then there’s a progressive way to get to the end goal. You know, to your pathway, that you’ll, that you’ll, you’ll go, you know love that advice.
16:53 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
I love that advice. So let’s, let’s. Let’s take it further, then. So you jumped into medical sales. Let’s take it to where you were a surgical sales representative for Medtronic. So now we’re back in an earlier time and you were killing it. I mean, you got Rookie of the Year, you won multiple awards. You automatically started with strong performance that you took to your career. I want to jump to where you decided to go from individual contributor to your first leadership position. So it looks like it was with what looks like it was with Medtronic actually. So talk to us about that. You know what was going on. Was this deliberate? Were you tapped?
17:43 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
You know, how do you, how did you make that transition, that first leadership transition? Well, I have in that woman who hired me. Her name’s Margaret. She’s still a dear friend of mine and mentor and just love her to death. She took a chance on me. She actually had another individual that she I’ll start with Medtronic the position so she could have chosen another individual as the rep. So she hired me into the organization and then, you know, performance gets the attention of people and so often you’re hired into a leadership role because of your sales performance and sometimes there’s a disconnect between coach and player right. So it can be a hiring mistake that often organizations do. But for me I always knew I wanted to get into leadership and the first year, when you take me back to that time, I actually was promoted to manage and lead the team that I was on. So that’s very weird for people.
18:48 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Yeah, absolutely. Your colleagues are like absolutely, I’m not going to, she’s not going to tell me what to do. Yeah, right, of course.
18:55 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
Exactly so you have to. It can be lonely at times. You know there was moments I had to make some really tough decisions. There were some individuals that I thought, you know there was moments I had to make some really tough decisions. There were some individuals that I thought, you know unfortunately weren’t contributing, and I knew that. So I, you know, set expectations as a leader and I think you observe the first. It’s important to take time to observe and not make rash decisions initially when you’re put into that position, especially in this case, and so I did have to to terminate an individual and that you know, of course, wasn’t popular.
19:29 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
And.
19:29 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
I quickly learned that, you know it can be lonely at times. You know it’s not. I wasn’t hired to be popular. I wasn’t hired to to, you know, make sure everybody was, you know, happy. But I was hired to make sure everybody was productive and to tow the corporate line of what we needed to get done and get accomplished. And that sometimes was very difficult because I love the people that I worked with and who you know were on my team and I’m such a people person.
20:01
But as a leader you really have to, you know, make some tough decisions at times and that wasn’t quite natural really early on in my leadership career. But I really loved it. I really have always loved leadership. Typically, you know, from a compensation perspective it’s it’s usually less if you were then, if you were a really good rep. So you, you have to be in it for the right reasons and I’ve always taken leadership and thought about what an honor and a privilege it really is. I can impact a lot of people’s lives and their families, and so for me, I just love leadership and it was just really natural, you know, and building teams and being able to do that, it really has been a fortunate part of my career.
20:44 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
So then, being such a fan of leadership, I mean, if you had to answer this question to the best of your ability, what is the secret sauce? You know, you know. I think you nailed it when you said that it’s a, it’s a, it’s almost a fallacy to assume that an individual, a high performing, individual contributor, is going to be a rock star manager. There’s, there’s, there’s there’s enough things there to consider that can make that true or untrue, but for you it was true, and then you went ahead and did it as a manager, which got you to your second line, leadership. So what was your secret sauce? If you had to answer that question, what’s the thing that you kept the reoccurring theme that you utilized to get the same level of performance? You gave yourself out of the people that you decided to lead.
21:30 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
Yeah Well, first it’s shocking to see, you know, not everybody works like you, so you have to get over that quickly and it’s no longer me, it’s we, and you hear that, but it really is about that. So for me, I think the secret sauce was number one uniting people on the mission, and there’s nothing more inspiring than if you can all align to that, If you have the ability to hire your teams, which is really a gift. Trying to get that right, so are they in it for the right reasons and, again, keeping in mind, for me, that’s how I got started, so it’s really my true north Just making sure we stay patient-centric and focused. I’ve left $40,000 on the table before and then your career will continue to unfold in the med device business If you keep that. You know that focus as a leader. I think the big things for me were and I made mistakes all the time, of course- you know, but you.
22:43
You have to take time to reflect on your mistakes and you have to take time to build and establish collaboration with cross-functional partners and build your stakeholder support. So you know, there were times I made an error where really my biggest cheerleader was maybe only my boss you know, and so that’s a mistake.
23:05
I think you have to really be sure you have great relations across the board and all different functions, especially the higher you go up, because you you are, you know you, you are over a bigger scope of responsibility which involves multiple touch points and multiple cross functions. But I think for me and leading a team, it was about empowering them. Leading a team it was about empowering them being decisive. I’m extremely decisive person. Being attentive and responsive when they have needs and really being clear on kind of the objectives and priorities are super important. I think gray as a leader doesn’t do, doesn’t sit well with a lot of people. I think you have to be you know, of course very approachable, your door open and, again, you know, leverage the learnings and take time to reflect, to make your team better. And I think also it’s important to really understand what motivates them. You know, love on them as individuals and be sure that you understand the corporate objectives and you bring the two together. So I think that’s really important.
24:13
I’ve never been a person to manage up. I’ve always, I’ve always. That’s just not my way and it’s probably cost me some jobs along the way. I’m assuming or delayed my timing for promotion because I’m not a manage up person. I’m a straightforward, straight shooter. You get what you get out of me and I’ll just be straight up with you. So usually the team likes that, but sometimes that can be a challenge.
24:40 – 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 the medical sales position?
25:24
You need training, you need a strategy and you need to visit evolveyoursuccesscom. 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. I’m going to be honest I’ve not heard of someone ever say they are not a manage-up person. I’ve heard of people say I had to manage up, I didn’t manage up or whatnot, but not a manage-up person interesting.
25:54 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
When you say it that way, how are you defining? Well, how do you define what it means to manage up? I do so I first. I think I would define it as maybe often it’s it’s perceived as a negative perception of doing what or saying what they want to hear. I see your leaders.
26:14 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
You’re definitely not a yes woman.
26:16 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
Exactly. That probably summarizes it in the best, and people who worked for me or I’ve worked for would tell you that, and so I think you know that that can be very positive in many ways. And then also, can you know, you can have setbacks if you’re not careful, and so I think that’s super important. You know, for me, I truly give my heart into everything I do with my job and my career, and so when I make recommendations, you know or I you know say something, I’m really thinking about it holistically, as a company as a whole. So I feel really good about and really strong about the recommendations I make. But sometimes, you know, maybe that doesn’t align with the organizational’s view.
27:11 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
I’m going to be honest, Sydney. You know I’ve I’ve been sitting in this, in this chair, talking to amazing, you know powerful career professionals like yourself for the better half of four years now and I have not met one yet that was an adamant, non-yes person. I am under the belief that to get to where you are and beyond you, better not be a yes person and if anything needs to show, you need to be decisive, like you’re saying, and you need to have really good evidence on why you’re so doubled down on whatever your belief is.
27:50 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
What you’re saying is really key, because it’s not about belief for me. So I think for me it’s about when I make a recommendation. It’s very fact-based. So I get my facts together and then I will say here’s what I think. So it’s hard to argue with facts. It doesn’t mean that it’s not done. It’s easier to argue with emotion. So I’m really I take the emotion out of the equation. I really approach how I build a business, you know, based on facts, and I really learned that from my leader, my former leader at Medtronic.
28:28
So, she taught me a lot. She was a great mentor, tough, but she taught me a lot, and she always would say you know, fact-based, be fact-based. So that always sticks in my head and it’s really true. But if you do that, you stay. You know, you kind of stay objective and that’s the important part.
28:46 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
I love it. I absolutely love it. Okay, so you started in cardiac surgery and then you moved into management in cardiac surgery and then you went into second line leadership as the director. Talk to us a little bit about so cardiac surgery as a manager and then as a director, you were dealing with therapy development, catheter-based therapies, core valve, pivotal trials. That seems like a world of difference there. Talk to us a little bit about two-pronged question. What was the difference in how you had to adjust your leadership style? And then what was the difference in the specificity of the condition you’re now dealing with as opposed to just cardiac surgery?
29:31 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
So those are great questions. Corevalve, which is called, it’s a transcatheter aortic valve implantation, so it’s delivering an aortic valve through a catheter instead of surgery. So that’s the actual therapy. In 2010, we at Medtronic went to non-competitive sites, so it was in the early clinical trial stages, and there was only about 40 centers in the United States that were currently doing this therapy actually therapy. So I’m not just even talking about the device, I’m talking about the therapy. And so they asked me to leave commercial and be a leader of a trial team that was going to bring this product to market. So, clearly, that was a very different thing than what I had done from a leadership perspective. So, automatically, the posture was very different.
30:29
I was fortunate because we were actually bringing to market the therapy and many interventional cardiologists wanted to be a part of this. This is going to be revolutionary, and it really was, because aortic stenosis patients would pass away if they had, you know, the severe state and they were really high risk. They couldn’t afford to do surgery. So in two years, those people would pass away. So life changing, revolutionary technology.
31:02
So, by following the innovation, that really afforded me a little bit of a kind of a different posture with how I went to market. We were in a trial. Many physicians those physicians that you know we taught the therapy to became lifelong friends and mentors and now are really big KOLs in the space. So it’s really been fun, you know, kind of to see that partnership and see the therapy grow up with, along with the people that I worked alongside of. I had the privilege to really work with the class A, the best of the best, the creme de la creme of cardiologists in that space. So that was different in and of itself, going from a commercial to a trial state and then leading a team. We had to build the team as well there and I looked for certain profiles that were really clinically astute to be able to do that. And now it’s even.
31:55 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
I’m even more curious, because now you’re telling me that you weren’t even managing the same type of team. So how did you, how’d you get that in order?
32:03 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
Yeah, so my leadership style changed just because of the nature of the job change. So it was a director level and then I went global after that, so it was director level, but just because it was trial and it wasn’t commercial, you’re a little bit different in your style. The one thing that I loved about that is when you’re bringing an innovative therapy to the market, something similar like what we’ll do at Renata you really ask a lot of questions and that’s something different. Sales reps often get into a presentation mode and they don’t hear the customers. They don’t do the discovery phase, maybe they just. You know, one of the biggest mistakes early on in your career is you just kind of dive right into your sales pitch and discovery Right.
32:54
And so what I really learned from a leadership perspective is when you’re in that discovery phase, there’s so much to, there’s so much value in asking questions and really understanding the physician’s challenges with patients, the various things that are important to make your sales process move forward, and so that was a lovely thing that I really learned, because we all learned together and then now back at Renata similar that we’re going to bring this breakthrough technology to the market and it’s something they’ve not had before and it’s going to change the career I mean the care pathway of these patients. And so if you ask a lot of questions, it’s very helpful. And then again, bringing the team together from a leadership style, learning from the mistakes as well as the successes, and you just got to keep repeating that that has to be a repeated ingredient, that you bring the team together to discuss those things to further. You know better the business.
33:58 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
I love it, and the fact that you were made a director in a completely different space give you a whole new set of skills that you ultimately took to director of sales for cardiac surgery. That’s correct.
34:09 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
So from there I was a director of sales over in Europe. So I moved to Europe for Medtronic and did that in that space.
34:18 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
So you know I’m going to have to spend some time there, all right, all right. So let’s get the full picture here for our audience. So what’s going on? Are you family? Do we have kids? Are we saying everyone’s relocated to Europe? Are we by ourselves? This is 2016, 2019.
34:40 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
So this wasn’t too long ago. Talk to us. So, in fact, I had global responsibility based in the United States and I got the call from my boss we need you to go to Europe for a year. Go, fix Europe that was her. That was her comment to me. You need to take us from number two to number one, and so that was the assignment. I happen to be dating who’s now my husband? He’s Italian.
35:06 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Everybody. We didn’t plan this, but go ahead.
35:09 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
It’s true I say he’s the best souvenir I got out of Europe. So for me it was a no-brainer, it was a one-year assignment. I’ve always loved Europe. I love the European people and I couldn’t imagine you know, from a business perspective how much that was going to make me grow. Because you have to understand social medicine versus private practice in the United States.
35:35
You have to understand the motivations, the different countries. I lived in Switzerland that year and I had responsible for EMEA, but I was still functioning in the global role from an education perspective. So part of my plan was to make sure the sales team was competent, that we understood our gaps, and I retrofitted everything. So I redesigned kind of the curriculum and retrofitted and did some things that put them in a better position above their competition. That they didn’t think was possible, but I pushed for that. We did that. I worked very closely with all the business leaders in the different countries and the regions and again drove towards that mission and we accomplished the goal and so and.
36:26
I was supposed to come back to the United States and the director of sales quit and they said do you want to come on a European contract? So then I moved over there permanently on a European contract.
36:35 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Wow, okay. So in Europe, I mean, gosh, talk about a culture shift. You had a lot to manage because on the one forefront, you’re dealing with your career and trying to get the ship in order and whatever resistance you met, with the American coming over them, telling them what to do, and on the whole, other forefront.
36:54
You’re literally having to learn how to live in this whole new country. Talk to us a little bit about that. You know what? Did you get a lot of resistance, did you not? Were they kind of like we’re not? We know we’re not doing it right. Please tell us what to do. Were they kind of like we know we’re not doing it?
37:09 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
right, please tell us what to do. Or was it something different? You know, I think it’s important. Again, I would recommend, if anybody had an opportunity to be an expat, do it, because it makes you grow in so many different perspectives.
37:21
And I understood you know, I didn’t want to be the loudmouth American over there. That was the perception, you know, that they have sometimes of us. So again, it was very important to understand, country by country and there’s, you know, really, the big five countries over there that drive the revenue is to understand what they were faced with and understand the different challenges. And what happens in Italy is different than what happens in the UK versus France. So they all had different dynamics. So, understanding that, before you move forward and then again, I was empowered to move forward I did encounter quite a bit of resistance at first and then, but then they started to see the success. So, and the differentiation in the sales force, which is really what I was trying to do is differentiate differentiate our Salesforce versus the competition and give them the tools to be able to do that. So you know, success, you can’t argue with that. They probably did think I was a little bossy at first, but they got used to it and eventually liked the results.
38:23
So it was great. It was really, really an incredible journey and and then I chose to you know, to move back to the United States for some another opportunity.
38:34 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
So now between you and I, is Europe a place you could. You could relocate there and live there permanently, based on your experience.
38:42 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
No, I say. I’ve always said this. I’m truly a European trapped in an American body.
38:47 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
I’m truly a European trapped in an American body. So you were adjusting, you were thriving over there.
38:52 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
Yes, I loved it. I really, really loved it, and my husband’s Italian. So my stepdaughters live in Italy and in-laws live in Italy and all of that, so that’ll eventually be a place where we will retire.
39:06 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
That’s fantastic, gosh. Yeah, you know, global living is something that I am such a ridiculously huge fan of. I incorporate some of that in my own life, so to hear that you are on your way to just making that be the thing that is is fantastic. All right. So you know, and this is so good, you know, because I think it’s important that people see the opportunities a career in medical sales can actually provide. I mean, here you are someone that you had a personal experience that allowed you to pursue your passion, to address your personal experience and do more for others, and it took you on this journey that had you running a whole division in Europe, and now you’re literally going to Italy and other countries in Europe on a regular basis, and it’s all thanks to your involvement in this career. I think that’s a beautiful thing.
40:01 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
It really is and I look at my career, it’s been a lifetime journey. I have not isolated career, personal. They’ve been really, you know, truly blended and I think about that. You know the physicians I’ve met along the way. They’ve helped my family when I’ve had medical crises. I’ve been able to intervene for, you know, family and friends on certain medical decisions and reroute, you know, to maybe a better physician to treat their family, route you know to to maybe a better physician to treat their family. I think about, you know, my kids were able to, you know, graduate college without debt. I found my husband.
40:40
I’ve got, you know, all these beautiful things that intertwine with your career journey and I would say, you know to, to your, to your, to your listeners. You know, follow your heart. That’s going to be your biggest, you know, mission inspiring thing that’s going to guide you. You know, be sure you follow the innovation. For me, I knew I wanted to be in cardiac. That was my biggest interest and you know, follow the innovation that there’s very innovative there and your career will continue to unfold and you’ll have opportunities that will. That will come of that. And then I would say, follow the leader, because leaders make a difference in in your career path, but they also come and go out of the jobs that you might be at. So it’s important to build your stakeholder network and and I think, if you can, you know really do those key things, that you’ll have a really beautiful career and a life, and and your family will too, you know.
41:40 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Couldn’t be said better, real quick. So then, from Medtronic director of sales, you went to Abbott as West Area vice president. Talk to us a little bit about why the move. Was it something that you were tapped on again, or was it something that you said? You know what? I see that’s out there. I want it. Talk to us a little bit about what went behind that decision that decision Actually.
42:07 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
So when I left Medtronic I was in Europe, so I decided to move back to the United States and again it was an opportunity. I was at two different parts of Abbott. One was acquired CSI and then the other was Abbott, so the Western Area Vice President was a step up again for the United States. And then I moved into the area vice president at Abbott for Tavi to build their business. So for me, I’ve been in the Tavi space for 13 years and it was quite natural to build a business.
42:34
I’ve been able to build multiple businesses through my career and that was really the attraction for the move, and I love starting from scratch, you know, and just it’s. It’s so cool. I mean, if you think about it, your, you know your fingerprint is on every single thing, and I just love the creativity behind that. It also challenges me to. I mean, I’m today at Renata. I’m doing things I never thought I would be doing, but I didn’t even I’m. Sometimes it’s overwhelming. You go, oh my gosh, I don’t know how to do this, and then you just have to kind of work through it and you get over on the other side of that.
43:10
And it’s great, it feels like you’ve got, you’ve accomplished something. So you know, for me I think the decision was really based off of the therapy. I love, I really love the tabby space, but I also knew it was time to leave it and and and then kind of rejoin back to why I got into the business and the congenital space. I think it’s just really beautiful place for me to be in and a place for me to end my career. But the opportunity and the reason why I was driven there was because of the therapy. But also people recruited me and so I wasn’t necessarily looking. But you know when, when your old boss calls you back and wants you to come work for them, you know you, you like that boss and you like the opportunity, it’s hard to say no. And if you’re called back and I call many of my, my people that I’ve hired, they’ve kind of traveled with me to multiple companies If I call you back, you know you’re good because I know what I’m getting.
44:15 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
That is awesome. You know what’s so cool about your career, Sydney, you, you literally your passion for building businesses and your passion for being in this space of cardiology it’s just, it screams at you. You know, it’s undeniable that you clearly have a skill in building businesses that keeps taking you to higher levels, and it’s undeniable that you clearly have a passion in cardiology and your entire career track reflects that.
44:41 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
You know you bring up a great point career checker, flex, that you know you. You bring up a great point, you. The beauty, the beautiful thing about being a sales rep is you own your career. You own your career and you know when I would make a move, I was making it for the right reasons. But the title doesn’t hurt. You know, like you’re you kind of self promote yourself, you know. You know what I mean.
45:03
To get to that next level, the other thing is you have to sit in a company long enough to be recognized for that opportunity to come available. As a regional manager you know there’s more of those than there are as vice presidents. So you have to be there long enough to wait for the opportunity to be able to come or make a jump out of the company to get to the next level. If you have to do it, if it’s the right, right, you know right path for you. So I think it’s really important people take ownership of their career. The companies never do that. They may have, you know, an individual development plan or performance.
45:43 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Hey, it’s time now.
45:44 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
Yeah, yeah, but you, you really control that. And so many of my moves I made for you know they were promotional in nature, but I really loved the mission and I really loved building the businesses, so it all kind of fit. So I would tell you know, people who are starting out in the business, get settled, perform, you know, be there long enough. You know, it seemed like every three years something was coming up on my plate. It kind of seemed like that was the natural cadence, you know. And then you know, make the move, but again, follow the innovation, make sure you’re getting in a good place, especially in this space. This isn’t, you know, like you. You can’t. You know you, you can’t be with a bad product. That’s career ending for for most people. You know so and you need, you need the performance in order to get to your next level, along with other attributes. So, you know, I think that’s really important attributes.
46:48 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
So you know, I think that’s really important. You know, so there’s a narrative that this generation, the latest generation of workers, really sees value in not spending time at one company, and even in the vein of getting those bigger titles, getting those big opportunities, more responsibility, jumping from company to company, trying to get what you can and then leverage the larger title into the next company you join and then doing the same thing in the next company. What is your perspective on that?
47:16 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
I do see with the younger generation in general. You know, because I look at a lot of resumes. Of course there are a lot of job jumps and I would say as a hiring leader, um, that’s always a red flag for me. So if I’m interested enough I will inquire um, because you’ve got the background I’m looking for or you know, you’re competitive. I love hiring athletes cause they’re very competitive and so I’ll look at their sales performance and then if they’ve made logical leaps, then I can get to the place where I’m going to interview them. If they’ve made too many leaps, I usually won’t. There’s a red flag there to me. So I usually I will hesitate before I would inquire. If I do then get the chance to interview them, then I’ll really dive into that. Just to you know, eliminate the concern. But if it’s logical it will make sense. But I do see more movement and it will be a watch out for, you know, the generation of people that are hiring, you know to be a little hesitant.
48:23 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
I know that’s well heard. I hope everyone’s taking notes right now. So let’s bring this to a close, Sydney, but before we do anything you’d like to share? I mean, you told us so many great pearls about what people should be thinking about that are thinking about getting into medical sales. Let’s address those that are in medical sales right now. They’re thinking of ways to really get ahead and maybe have a career that looks kind of like yours and maybe even get an opportunity to be outside of the country and have a stint there. What would you tell them right now?
48:57 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
I would say to break into this space. It depends on what point in their career they’re at. To break in this space it just takes a lot of attempts. So network work with companies like yourself that are really committed to their growth. They really need to be sure they’re polished on their interviews that it’s situational interviewing. A really good interviewer will do situational interviewing, which means you know asking the question and they want you to answer based on how you did that and, of course, the end result and the impact. So they’re looking for characteristics. So a really good interviewer will move towards that and let you do most of the talking. One of the things that I do in interviews not that you asked me this is that I do try to get them relaxed so that I kind of see the real person behind the scenes and kind of try to break down the walls.
50:01
maybe take them to lunch or something like that, and you can kind of get a little more out of them and get a feel for them, things of that nature. But preparing for the interview is really what’s going to set you apart, get you to the next step. So, piece by piece, one, don’t give up. Keep interviewing. The more interviews you do, the better off you will be. The more prepared you are, the better off you will be. It’s not enough to just have a 90-day plan that looks like it’s just a 90-day plan.
50:28 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Right, you got to go above and beyond each day.
50:31 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
You know it needs to be customized, thought out. You need to take initiative and your due diligence, which would mean maybe reaching out to people in that space if you’re interviewing. So breaking into the space is tough to do and you can’t treat interviewing as a benign experience. You really have to be prepared and every interview I’ve ever done, I’ve always anticipated the questions they’d ask me and then I’d walk myself through that situational interviewing Okay, this was what I did and how I did it. And then here’s the impact, and so I would have my answers, you know, ready to go. So really working with companies like yourself that prepare people to get into the space and then be better is great.
51:16
And then networking and then you know, staying visible. So, those would be my big, you know, tips of the day.
51:24 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
And for those that want to just get ahead, that are ready in, that are individual contributors and companies right now and they’re trying to get opportunities like what you created for yourself. What would you tell? What would you tell them should be their, their primary focus, if they have this kind of ambition?
51:38 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
I would tell them collaboration with cross-functional partners, expand your network and endorsement, find a good mentor to help challenge you and then sign up for team lead type projects. So if you have the ability, even as a rep, to help lead a cross-functional project that you electively want to sign up for, it will help give you more dimension to your role and make you more valuable. So if you can do some of those types of things, that would be very, very helpful from moving to the next level or into a leadership position. So sign up for team lead type projects that can bring cross-functional teams together and then you get the visibility.
52:22 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Fantastic.
52:23 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
And sit long enough at the company in order to get promoted.
52:27 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
You heard her. So three years, no less than three years.
52:30 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
I’d say no less than three years, because usually you know you’ve got your performance behind you and you’re established.
52:37 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
So you heard it from her. You heard it from her everyone. On that note, Sydney, this has been fantastic. We have one more thing to do before I let you go. Today, it’s called the lightning round. Are you ready?
52:49 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
Uh-oh, I guess I have to be.
52:54 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
All right, you have less than 10 seconds to answer four questions, and let’s get started. The first question is what is the best book you’ve read in the last six months?
53:06 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
I don’t you know what I read publications.
53:10 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Best publication you’ve read in the last six months.
53:14 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
Gosh, I would say. Well, I’ve read multiple congenital heart disease publications, so I’d say the guidelines on congenital heart disease.
53:26 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
You know what? That’s an answer. All right. What is the best TV show or movie you’ve seen in the last six months?
53:33 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
Oh gosh, I’m watching the Affair right now on Netflix, so that’s probably discredited everything I just said.
53:43 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Is it good?
53:44 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
It is good. Yes, it’s good.
53:45 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
All right. Third question what’s the best meal you’ve had in the last six months? We want the item and the restaurant. Location item and restaurant.
53:56 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
Well, I am always up for Italian food. Probably, I’d say, the best restaurant is my husband’s cooking right at home, with, with, with, gnocchi, gnocchi, pesto gnocchi, or you know he. I mean, he’s got all sorts of little things that he, he, comes up with. That counts.
54:16 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
So for the chefs that cook Italian, listening right now, you know, here’s some things you can. You can really entertain with your next set of guests and, last but not least, what is the best experience you’ve had in the last six months?
54:29 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
I would say having my adult kids and their significant others together around the dinner table with my husband yeah, because we don’t get to get together that often and watching your kids grow up and be beautiful people and the people they are dating be beautiful people it’s the best thing that a parent could ever enjoy.
54:54 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
That’s fantastic, Sydney. It was an absolute pleasure learning from you today and seeing all the amazing things you’re doing out there. We can’t wait to see what’s to come and thank you again for being on the Medical.
55:05 – Sydney Selby (Guest)
Sales Podcast. Demel, you are so great. You’re such a breath of fresh air. Thank you for having me.
55:11 – Samuel Adeyinka (Host)
Absolutely, and that was Sydney Selby. So I mean, there’s only so much I can say after that A phenomenal career. She clearly, from the jump, was in the right place. Milestone after milestone, accomplishment and achievement after accomplishment and achievement. And again, I said it in the episode and I’ll say it again what I loved so much from her career is that theme that her passion was clearly to be thrown into a situation where results in order was not there, and create results in order and then move on to a bigger and better opportunity. That is her theme. That is what she’s done. That is literally her skill set and she’s leveraged it into the highest opportunity she could with the opportunity she has today. It’s amazing, it’s inspirational and it’s something we should all be striving to do.
56:01
So if you’re someone that heard this episode and you’re thinking to yourself I want to make this happen. What do I need to do? How do I get to where she is? How do I even put myself on a pathway to entertain getting to where she is, then you know what I’m going to tell you Go to evolveversusfesscom, select the application, fill it out, schedule some time with one of our account executives, take the assessment and let’s get you to where you need to be. It’s groundbreaking, life-changing work and we want you to be a part of it.
56:35
You’re not listening to this podcast for your health Well, you kind of are but you’re also listening to it because you know there’s opportunity out there that’s for you and we can help you get there. Evarvissuccesscom as always, we do our best to bring you guests that are doing things differently in the medical sales space, so make sure you tune in next week for another episode of the Medical Sales Podcast. I hope you enjoyed 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 at EvolvesAssesscom by visiting our site, dealing on an application schedule, some time with one of our account executives and allowing us to get you where you need to be. Stay tuned for more awesome content with amazing interviews on the Medical Sales Podcast.
Medical Territory Manager!
I was a Regional Sales Representative for Long-Term Care pharmacy services. I had dreamed of getting into the med sales industry when I went into my career as a nurse, but the pharmacy sales job came to me, and I had just settled. Fortunately, I had a job shakeup that allowed me to determine that now was the time to pursue my original vision.
I absolutely would not have this position without Samuel and the Evolve Your Success community. A lot of people my age would just stop trying, but EYS believed in me.
EYS allowed me to break into the industry in 90-Days after I had been trying on my own for over two years! I had lots of recruiter screenings, and a few interviews with hiring managers, but I was never offered a position.
Before EYS, I didn’t realize I was doing the bare minimum to get hired. I was applying everywhere, hoping to get noticed and waiting. It just wasn’t working! I didn’t know that that was not enough to compete in an industry this sought after, and against people who knew what I didn’t know about the process.
Of course, I had to think hard before making a financial investment that’s reasonably substantial. But when I read the testimonials of real med sales reps on the site and learned that I wasn’t the only one taking a chance on my success, that EYS was sharing that risk also, I knew I had to do it. Though you might be able to cobble together some of the steps of getting a role in med sales from online research on your own, you just can’t know what you don’t know!
The process of going through EYS presents this insider knowledge to the student, as well as giving you a progression of difficulty as you obtain the information, and you begin to master it. Not only that, but they give you access to amazing mentors and instructors, allow you to practice your interview skills, and teach you how to market yourself through social media and your own website! I cannot stress enough that EYS was the factor that made the difference in my successfully landing my dream job! The support, structure, and knowledge gained was invaluable!
I would recommend this course to ANYONE looking to break into medical sales
Thank you so much, EYS! This journey has been life changing and has resulted in the successful culmination of my 18-Year ambition! 
Sports Medicine in Phoenix! I extend so much gratitude to the Evolve Your Success group as I land this role and get ready to pursue my dream job. I am a Physical Therapist who became a little stuck in the profession due to issues with reimbursement and the difficulty for continued growth upwards. I turned to EYS to assist me in learning about the medical sales industry and gain knowledgable mentors who were able to help coach me in this process. I am a strong believer in surrounding yourself with the best and good things will happen. I did work hard, but with the support of my mentors and other colleagues going through a career change, I felt a sense of community and it confirmed my drive to get into this industry. I have already learned so much through the interview process, and feel very blessed to have had the resources this group provided. I have made lifelong friends and I cannot wait to continue to follow others’ journeys to pursue this incredible field. I urge you to give Evolve Your Success a try to gain mentorship, guidance, and support through any career transition.
and am excited to make a difference in patients’ lives as a Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist.
! Though I truly enjoyed working as a physical therapist, I can’t wait to start my career in the sales world as a Clinical Account Executive.
. I owe this opportunity to Samuel, the program, and the incredible mentors at EYS.
