We’ve been raised to have dream career paths and titles for us to pursue in our later years. But is this all there is in life? In this episode, Samuel Adeyinka interviews Caitlin Baker, who shares her journey of transitioning from nursing to aesthetics device sales representative. Caitlin shares her testimony, honest realizations, and open insights on how life can be unfulfilling, sad, and change drastically in a snap and how it is our responsibility to gain courage in walking away from things that no longer serve us.

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Watch the episode here

Listen to the podcast here

Nurse To Aesthetics Dev Rep In 90 Days With Caitlin Baker

We have with us a fascinating guest. She goes by the name of Caitlin Baker. Why is Caitlin fascinating? It’s because she’s a graduate of our Medical Sales Career Builder program. Caitlin was a nurse that wanted to get into medical sales. She was trying and wasn’t getting the results she was going for. She found our program, and 90 days later, we are proud to say she’s in a medical sales role now.

Her story is unique. I’m not even going to spoil it. I’m going to save that for the episode. What I can share with you is that she was a nurse. She wanted it, found us, got in, and 90 days later, she’s a medical device sales representative. If you’re someone that’s trying to get into medical sales, maybe it’s pharmaceutical, medical device, or any kind of healthcare sales, then you better be tuning in to this episode. She goes into exactly what she experienced and the unique experience she had that I want everyone to learn from when they read this episode.

If you’re someone that’s in the medical sales industry, then you had a hand in her journey. You’re one of the few people she spoke with as she went through what she went through in the 90 days of our program. If you’re someone trying to get in, read this episode. Maybe this could be you 90 days from now. I’m so proud, happy, and excited to share this with all of you. As always, thank you for tuning in to the show. I do hope you enjoy this interview.

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Caitlin, how are you doing? 

Sam, I’m great. I’m excited to be here. How are you?

I am fantastic. Why don’t you tell everybody who you are and what you do?

My name is Caitlin Baker.

This is a treat because Caitlin is a graduate of the Medical Sales Career Builder program. It’s been quite the journey, hasn’t it? You got into our program, gave it your gusto, and got a position relatively quickly, but then there’s a whole story behind that I’m not going to give away. We’re going to start with you. Let’s go back. How did you even find our program? Talk to us about what was going on in your world as a nurse before you found it.

We’ll go way back. I was a labor and delivery nurse for the past couple of years. I did 2 staff positions and 4 years of traveling. I’ve seen a lot of units and different hospitals. I got to a point around the COVID timeframe, like so many nurses out there, where I felt a combination of everything changed in the medical world. It changed so quickly, and not necessarily for the better. It was hard and stressful.

At the same time, I found myself having done the same thing each shift. Nothing was changing for me. I’m the type of person who needs new injected into their life in different amounts. I needed a new challenge, direction or do something. I loved my job and my patients. I still do. I’ll miss that aspect of my career, but I felt like I was doing the same thing every day, day in and day out. I wasn’t growing as a person. I felt like I couldn’t provide the kind of care that I wanted to provide for a myriad of reasons. A lot of it being protocols and procedures that the hospitals dictate. We are bound by those rules.

Also, COVID changed so much with patient interaction. Patients’ families couldn’t come in anymore and so much changed about the type of care I was giving. I felt stifled and stagnated. I remember thinking to myself, “What’s next? What am I going to do next?” In the nursing world, you either go administration, which I knew I did not want to do or practitioner. I was like, “Let me jump into that next thing. Let me do nurse practitioner school.”

I got into NP school and started chipping away at that. I did well there. I spent two years working on that while I was still taking travel contracts. I thought that was where I was going to end up. I realized very quickly once I got to my clinicals that I had not put much thought into it. I knee-jerk reaction did it because I was bored and I wanted something new to do. Those are not the right reasons. Patients don’t need somebody who’s going to be there whose heart’s not in it. We have enough of that in this country. We need providers who want to be there and whose hearts and souls are in the care that they’re giving.

[bctt tweet=”Patients don’t need somebody who’s going to be there whose heart’s not in it. We have enough of that in this country.” via=”no”]

I had a little bit of a crisis. My mom moved out of our house. We didn’t have summer care for our two boys, so I had to stop taking contracts. That period coincided with when I was going to be starting my clinicals. I had to hit the pause button. I was like, “I got to figure out what’s going on mentally and emotionally. What am I doing? I’m charging forth without much thought. This is going to impact my future and patients’ lives.”

You say a lot changed and the catalyst was COVID. As a nurse, what was changing for you that made you say, “It has to change. I have to change with this type of change.”

A lot of the protocols in the hospitals, they had to do what they had to do. There are a lot of little things that had to change because of COVID. That’s nitty-gritty stuff. More so, it was my realization that I was never going to be able to give the kind of care I wanted to give. This goes into my own personal philosophy stuff. I’m a big fan of physiological birth. I felt like I was in this system where I couldn’t support that. I felt like I was fighting this fight every shift, every contract, and every hospital of trying to support these women and keep them out of the OR.

A lot of the care in this country, maternity-wise, is you’re going to wind up in the OR. That’s a hard system to continue to fight all the time and not succeed at. It was a marriage of feeling defeated in that sense. My career was not fulfilling. I was not being able to accomplish this thing I was passionate about. Also, there were all these new rules, stress, and worry. At that point in time, it was so scary. I was like, “Am I going to get COVID? Am I going to give this person COVID? Who knows If I got my coworker COVID?” It was a very heavy time.

Once I had taken a step when I was pursuing school and stopped taking contracts because I had to be home for my sons, I reconnected with a childhood friend of mine who’s the Regional Director for Philips Oncology out on the East Coast. I didn’t know too much about his role, but I knew he had a lot of success. He was a good friend. We’d known each other since we were babies.

We reconnected and it was weird timing. I was venting to him about this. I said, “I’m in NP school.” He was all, “That’s amazing. I wish I could do that.” I was like, “I don’t know. I feel like I’m doing it for the title or the wrong reasons.” He dug deeper and asked me more, “What are you passionate about? What do you like to do?” I started having a deep conversation with him. At the end of it, he said, “I think you’d be great for sales.” Never in my life had I ever considered myself appropriate for sales.

Sales have that negative connotation to the outsider. It always has. Unfortunately, it’s inaccurate having learned more. At the time, I was like, “Really?” It sparked something. I was like, “It’s worth looking into.” I’m a big reader and researcher. Anytime I get into any topic, I’m like, “Give me all the books and the info. I want all of it. I need to dive headfirst.” That’s how I found you.

The first thing I did was go on podcasts. I looked up medical sales podcasts. It was those three words. You were the first one that popped up. I’m like, “This is perfect. Here we go. Let’s jump in.” There were a couple of other shows I downloaded, but yours was the only one I stuck with and tuned in to. Kudos to you and your show.

 Thank you very much. That is fantastic.

I started tuning in to your show. I got a few books. To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink was the first book I ever read. That, in combination with your show, changed my perspective on sales in general. It talks about how we all sell, every one of us and every industry. A mom sells. Trying to do that had me like, “It’s not this snake oil salesman skivvy.”

I was grateful for the perspective gain that I got. I started tuning in to you and heard about your course. After a lot of meditation, reflection, digging deep and having to come to terms with losing this future, I had plopped on myself because it was sad in a way. It was all this work and all this effort. It was the title that I realized I was chasing more than a career. I had to swallow a big bit of my ego to be like, “I’m not going to be a nurse practitioner and have those letters behind my name.” I knew that if I did it and followed through with it, I wouldn’t be happy. That’s not fair to the people, right?

Absolutely. I love your awareness. You consistently checked in with yourself. Let’s understand where you were. You found us and tuned in to the show. What was it that made you say, “I’m going to invest? I’m going to make this happen. I’m doing this thing.” Talk to us a little bit about what that experience was like for you.

It was hearing on your show so many people who were satisfied with their lives. That sounds so basic. You talk to the average nurse. It’s hard to find nurses these days. I’m overspeaking, but everyone I was friends with, we were all struggling, not happy and hurting. I couldn’t find one nurse who came to it like, “I love my job.” We were all like, “It’s another day. We got to make it through it.” I’m like, “I don’t want to make it through a day anymore. I want to be excited about my day.”

Hearing the guests you had, their gusto, and their drive, aligning with that, and feeling like I was listening to people who got me even though they didn’t know me, I’m like, “I feel like this person. I feel like that person.” That made me look into your course and think this was going to be the right path for me.

You get into the Medical Sales Career Builder. What was it like? Talk to us about your first day. What was your experience? What were you thinking? That’s what I want to capture. Were you like, “What have I done?” Talk to us a little bit. Share with us what was going on when you first started the program.

I was scared. First of all, I knew that if I was going to do it, I had to do it 100%. I was still in my FNP program. I didn’t withdraw, but I put my program on hold and stopped everything. I was like, “I’m not going to take a contract or work on school.” This is it. I knew that if I didn’t do it 100% or wasn’t fully committed, it wasn’t going to work. Other people can manage things like that better, probably, but I knew my focus had to be this program.

I was nervous. I knew there was a lot riding on it. It’s a big commitment and a huge change. I was a professional and I felt like a professional in my career. All of a sudden, I’m this newbie starting over. I don’t know if you’re big into the Myers-Briggs four letters. I’m an INFJ. I’m an introvert by nature, but I can be extroverted, especially in small group settings or one-to-one like this. I have no problem.

In that big group setting and class, when we had to right off the bat, introduce ourselves, I had to catch my breath and breathe. I was panicking. As it went on, I got way more comfortable with it. It got easier, but it was intimidating. I didn’t know anything about sales. There were people in there that had a sales background in their careers. I felt not ready.

You felt unqualified.

Yeah. It was Impostor syndrome. I was like, “I don’t belong here. I’m going to be a fly on the wall.”

What would you say were some of the biggest learnings you took away or even things you didn’t even know you needed that you learned in the program that you could take into your interviews to knock them out of the park?

Networking, building a relationship, and not having it need to go somewhere. A big lesson for me was to talk to people and know that it might not go anywhere, and that’s okay. It’s not having an agenda and gathering information. That was tough because in my background, especially with the Military before nursing, you have an objective and you complete the objective. For me, having regular conversations without planning on having it go anywhere besides gathering information and getting to know them was new. That was helpful because doing that led to where I am and why I got my offer.

Talk to us a little bit about the different things you experienced when you were in the program, from the structure of getting into a position and the process. Talk to us a little bit about what it was like for you.

From the start of the class?

Yeah.

It was so smooth. I was so impressed. The way that you have your course arranged made it easy to flow and very understandable. It was Goldilock’s information. It wasn’t too much and it wasn’t too little. Being able to move through it at my own pace was nice as well. Some of the key components of your course, like the resume and LinkedIn, helped. That was massive. I had LinkedIn, but I hadn’t seen it in years. I didn’t know LinkedIn was what it is. Now I’m like, “You got to get to LinkedIn. You’re late to the game. Where have you been for years?” Nurses don’t have that.

It was so professional and flawless. I was impressed. I am genuinely satisfied that the investment upfront and putting my resources into this course was paying me. I didn’t feel taken advantage of or I was paying for something I could learn myself. I legitimately learned so many new things. Every week, the guests you had on always had great things to say. It felt like I was getting secret knowledge. I was a step ahead of everybody else because nobody was getting what I was getting. It was great.

Let’s fast forward. We’re going to spend some time here. Let’s talk about what was said when you went with your first round of interviews. If you don’t want to mention the company, you don’t have to, but what was going on?

The first offer?

Yeah. Everybody reading doesn’t know the story like you and I know the story. We know the story. I’m going to let you tell it because I want to do it justice. Go ahead. I’m going to let you tell It.

It was a rookie mistake right off the bat. I had an offer pretty quickly. It was month two into your program. I have fixed my LinkedIn. I felt good about it. I started getting recruiters hitting me up on LinkedIn. This one woman had seen my profile, messaged me, and said, “You seem great for this clinical nurse educator position. Call me.” I immediately was like, “I’m looking for sales. I’m sorry.” She said, “I know you’re looking for sales, but please consider it.” I, again, turned her down. I was like, “No, thank you.” She was so pleasant and kind.

I wasn’t being rude, but I was very single-minded. I was tunnel vision on sales. I only wanted sales. I talked to another friend of mine about it. She advised me, “Maybe hear what she has to say. You never know.” After a couple of days, this lady messaged me again. The third time she messaged me, I was like, “I’ve got to follow up with her. She’s not giving it up.” I took my friend’s advice and called this lovely woman. She told me about this position. It was a clinical nurse educator so I would be educating on a labor and delivery device that I already knew about. I got excited because it’s my wheelhouse.

I don’t have to do something new. I know how to do this. I know this position and these people. I used to work with these educators who would come in and in-service us on different new Tegaderms or devices we would use. It was a great opportunity. I interviewed one time and got the offer. She had canceled the rest of the week of interviews, which gave me a major ego boost. I was sobbing and in my vault.

What did one of the hiring managers say to you when you went to that first offer?

I’m glad you mentioned this. She had said to me that the digital portfolio that you helped me with, she had never seen anything like it in the whole 33 years she’d been in the industry. Her boss, her boss’s boss, and everybody since then who has seen that digital interview has said the same thing. She’s blown away by it. It’s such an awesome tool.

That is fantastic. Finish the story. What happened? 

I got the phone call. It was the devastating, gut punch, roundhouse kick to the face phone call. They said, “We’re so sorry. We didn’t realize that they had hired somebody. We have to rescind the offer.” They were like, “Bad news first or good news first?” I was like, “Give me the bad news first.” They had said they wanted to do right by me, so they gave me this opportunity that I got the offer for, but I had to go right back to square zero. It wasn’t like I was given another job.

You had to re-earn that position.

It wasn’t just one interview. It was way more. Ironically, I’m a firm believer in everything happens for a reason as much as that hurt so much, it was a great lesson. It was bizarre because originally, coming into this, I knew I wanted derm pharm. That’s where I wanted to be.

[bctt tweet=”Everything happens for a reason. As much as that hurt so much, it was a great lesson.” via=”no”]

That’s your wheelhouse. This brought you back to that wheelhouse. Isn’t it crazy how the world works?

It was wild.

God works in mysterious ways.

This opportunity had me snotting and bawling. I was like, “This is perfect. It’s going to work out.” It was a painful lesson to learn, but I’m glad I learned it. I know now to not celebrate until anything is in writing.

It’s not until you sign that offer letter. I want you to fast forward to your signing. This time, you’re signing the second offer. You got an offer. It’s real. Take us to what you were thinking and what was going through your head. Talk to us.

This one is the same scenario. I got the verbal offer on a Friday. It was written on a Monday, but it didn’t come through. I had a little bit of PTSD there for a minute, but my best friend Becky was like, “Relax. Take a deep breath. Things take time. It’s the holiday week.” I’m like, “Okay.” I sit on my hands. I was like, “Don’t freak out.”

I was on my way up to go snowboarding for the day at Snow Basin with my husband. It was already a good day. I got it in the car. It was anti-climactic in a way because we were in a car, but so relieving and exciting. I was proud that I had stuck with it and did this massive 180-degree turn away from everything I knew. It was my comfort market. I did it. In the grand scheme of time, I feel like it hasn’t been that long. It’s been maybe six months since I started this journey.

It is even shorter than that because you got the 1st offer and the 2nd was a month or two after that.

It’s been six months total since I decided.

I don’t even think we hit four months. Technically, we’re still in that three-month-ish window. That’s a beautiful thing. It’s fantastic. You deserved it. I knew when you signed up that this was going to be a wonderful journey for you. It was a tumultuous but still wonderful journey for you. You did land on two feet into your role. We’re very proud of you here. A lot of people are reading this episode and trying to get in or thinking about getting in. Is there anything you want to share with them?

Commit. It’s hard to give advice when I don’t know how a lot of other people operate. I know from what I’ve learned throughout my life that if you want to do something and you’re unhappy, don’t overthink that. Listen to that little voice because that little voice is so much more than what you think. That’s your insight, your gut, or your inner child telling you, “Something is off here. Something is wrong.” Listen to that voice.

[bctt tweet=”If you want to do something and you’re unhappy, don’t overthink that. Listen to that little voice because that little voice is so much more than what you think.” via=”no”]

Once you listen to it, have the courage to take action and commit to whatever it is that you’re going to do for this change. It might be a small change or a huge change like my entire career. If you’re unhappy where you’re at, do you want to live the rest of your life in that space? I don’t know if this happens to your previous careers or jobs, but I found myself each year being like, “I was unhappy last year at the same time, but I didn’t do anything.” A year goes by so fast. Much can change in a year.

Listen to that voice. Make the change and commit to the change. In a year, you’ll be somewhere completely different. You’ll thank yourself for taking that leap, even though it’s scary or a lot. It’s a lot of work or fear. I use fear as my cue to follow it because on the other side of it is growth. On the other side, it is a success. If you can acknowledge that fear, walk with it, and do it anyways, you’re going to thank yourself in a year. For me, that was committing to your program.

Those are true words of wisdom. What about those that are in the industry? They’re medical sales reps that read this episode. Is there anything you want to share with them? 

I’ve been so grateful for each and every one of them that I’ve already spoken to who have taken the time out. Every person has been genuinely helpful. That is very weird to me. That’s how it should be, but that has not been my experience thus far in other careers. It was so refreshing and lovely to experience people who genuinely wanted to help educate me, give me advice, or be an ear to listen to my questions.

I would say keep doing that. Keep being that shoulder for new people like myself to lean on. It means a lot. It’s that support and those late-night questions of, “How do you think I should answer this?” There are a couple of people whom I remember specifically that I was getting antsy. I’m like, “Should I call the recruiter back? Should I do that?” They’re like, “No. Sit on your hands.” That small feedback of, “It’s going to be okay. This is normal,” was so helpful for me. It relieved a lot of stress. I felt like I was supported by you, your course, all of your coworkers that you have with you in the program, and everybody. It’s been supportive the whole way through. That’s nice to know that I didn’t have to do this on my own.

We’re going to have a little bit of fun here as we close up. Thank you for taking the time to share with us your actual experience. We’re going to have a lightning round. Are you ready?

I’m ready.

You have less than ten seconds to answer every question I ask you. I’m going to ask you four questions. The first one is, what is the best book you’ve read in the last couple of months?

Untethered Soul.

By who is that and about what?

I am horribly embarrassed that I can’t give this man credit because he’s brilliant. I can’t remember the author at this moment, but it is about recognizing your potential. It’s a lot about meditation and woo-woo stuff that I’m into. It made me see life from a whole different perspective. It’s about letting go of your perceptions, living in your feelings and allowing them to be there. It changed how I see everybody and the world. It is maybe 150 pages. It’s short, but it’s life-changing.

I’m writing that one down. What is the best TV show or movie you’ve seen in the last couple of months?

Yellowstone.

I did like it. It was very interesting. I can’t believe I’m blanking on his name. Who’s the main character? What is his name?

I can never remember his name. He looks like a few people to me, so I always want to say the wrong name.

He’s a phenomenal actor. He really has points so you know that Yellowstone is going to deliver. That’s awesome. What is the best meal you’ve had in the last couple of months?

There are these Chinese dumplings at this place in Bountiful, Utah.

You better give us the name.

It’s called Boba World.

Where?

It’s in Bountiful, Utah. Do you know Northern Café? You got to know it.

I’m not familiar. 

I’m not far from you. You got to go. There are multiple locations, but the one went to is in Torrance. They have these pork soup dumplings that I dream about. I’m on the hunt out here in Utah and can’t find anything. I have to drive 45 minutes for them, but I’m getting in that car and going there.

Here is the very last question. What is the best experience you’ve had in the last couple of months?

I went to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks with my boys. We’re big hikers. My son did his first legit hike with me. It was a 2,800 feet elevation and 8.8 miles. He was the only kid on the trail. It was a pretty strenuous trail, and he rocked it. This kid didn’t even break a sweat. I was trying to keep up with him. I was so proud and so excited. Being in those parks is unreal. If you’ve never been out there, you’ve got to.

Caitlin, it was awesome spending time with you. Thank you for sharing your story and experience in the Medical Sales Career Builder. Congratulations again. You got the job. You’re out there doing your thing. We’re going to catch up with you sooner than later. We can’t wait to get an update from you in the field. 

Thank you so much for having me. This has been awesome.

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What a story. We were right there when all this went down. Here’s what I want to say. For all of you out there that are going for positions and you’re in the interviewing process, you’re maybe in the last round, or you’re waiting to hear back and you finally get the call, and the call says, “We want to make you a verbal offer to what have you,” learn from this. This is not about the company. This is something that can happen to anyone, especially when a third-party recruiter is involved. There’s misinformation. Sometimes, people think that people are hired when they are not.

What I want you to learn from this is that when you get that verbal offer, tell no one. You don’t tell anyone until you sign the dotted line. When you’ve signed the written offer, then you can climb the mountain, stand at the top of it, and shout from the mountain tops that you are a medical device sales rep, a pharmaceutical sales rep, or a genetic testing sales rep. Whatever it is that you were working so hard to achieve, you can let the world know, but until you’ve signed it, don’t say anything. We knew better. I knew better.

She was phenomenal. She didn’t show up to the program and sluffed her way through it. She showed up 110%. She utilized every tool we gave her and practiced everything that we trained her on. She delivered. We were so swept up in it all that when she got the offer. We were so excited. When we heard that verbal offer, we said, “Wow.” We all learned because the bomb was dropped. We realized that we got to stick to our guns and don’t celebrate until we signed the written offer.

That aside, this was a beautiful story. I’ve been so excited to share it. I’m going to be sharing more of these stories from our students that graduate and get into these wonderful positions. These are things that everyone should know. If you’re someone that wants to get into the industry, you read it right here. What are you waiting for? Go to EvolveYourSuccess.com, select Attain a Medical Sales Role, submit some information, and schedule a call. Let’s get you into a position.

This is something that is changing lives. We’ve done it for hundreds of people that have gone through this program. They’re healthcare sales reps. They are so proud and happy to be in their positions, and so are we. If you’re someone who wants to get into the industry, visit EvolveYourSuccess.com. Select Attain a Medical Sales Role and let’s make it happen.

She was not even halfway through the position, but it was time to deliver. We are 300% confident that she will because she is phenomenal. However, maybe you are in a position. In 2022, you didn’t get the results you wanted. In 2023, you’re like, “2023 is going to be different.” I know I dated this episode. If it’s 2026 and you’re reading this, this happened in 2023. Maybe you’re thinking that it’s going to be different. Let’s do something you haven’t done before.

Let’s get you some results. Every person that’s gone through that program has had tremendously significant results, whether it be a promotion, finally getting to a Winners Circle or a President’s Club, or getting a new opportunity in a different division within the organization they work for. Everyone has experienced a dramatic level of success. You can, too. Please, don’t hesitate. Don’t wander. Visit EvolveYourSuccess.com and select Improve Sales Performance. This is such a pleasure, for me especially, to share this story. I’m excited. I hope you are, too. I hope you tune in for another episode of the show.

Important Links

• Caitlin Baker – LinkedIn
• To Sell is Human
• Untethered Soul
• Attain a Medical Sales Role
• Improve Sales Performance

About Caitlin Baker

My first delivery experience with my son was exactly that; it was so jarring that I actually separated from active duty Air Force with the singular goal to become a labor and delivery nurse who deeply cared for birthing persons, their infants, and the entire labor and delivery experience.

This determination led me to an incredibly fulfilling career as an OB registered nurse and opened the door to my ultimate dream of transferring my patient-centered skills to a career in medical sales where my charisma, drive, and competitive nature can fully thrive.

When I’m not acting as a guardian while patients bring their most precious gifts into this world, you can find me somewhere outdoors challenging myself on backpacking trips, summits, snowboarding, immersing myself a new country and culture, meditating, and deep diving into my passions for aesthetics, dermatology, women’s health, personal growth, and personal finance.

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