Innov8 your Career in MedTech & Life Sciences

Hosted by Tara

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Jul 2026

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About the show

Are you a passionate MedTech, Pharma, or BioTech professional ready to take your career to the next level? Join Tara Sharma, the founder of Innov8Search, with over 20 years of experience in the industry. On Innov8 your Career in MedTech & Life Sciences, Tara shares inspiring stories, proven strategies, and insightful interviews from top professionals to equip you with the tools and knowledge to achieve unparalleled growth and success. Whether you're an aspiring leader or a seasoned executive, this is the podcast that meets you where you are - and helps you get to where you want to be.

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11 recent

July 29, 2026Episode 1151 min

From Nursing to MD: Tony Pelle on Patience, People, and Playing the Long Game

Tony Pelle came to MedTech the long way round. He trained as a nurse, spent a few years on the wards, and found himself captivated by what he saw in the operating theatre. A friend introduced him to orthopaedics - and that simple conversation set the course for everything that followed. He learned the business at a small distributor, then a global multinational, before taking a chance on a little-known family company called Medacta. He joined as employee number three in Australia in 2008. In 2012, at 34, the founder called and asked him to run the company. Today he's the Managing Director of Medacta Australia - a business he's grown from three people to more than 150. In this episode, Tony shares: The phone call at 34: "I'd like to talk to you about running my company." Tony was a national sales manager when the founder called. His honest first reaction wasn't excitement - it was "Can I do this? Am I good enough?" He said yes, leaned hard on mentors, and brought in the skills he knew he didn't have. Get the right people in the room: Tony's signature philosophy, now diffused through his whole organisation: "Get the right people in the room and watch the magic happen." His one superpower, he says, is knowing who those people are. Cultural fit over CV: A few wrong hires taught Tony that cultural fit matters more than skillset or contacts. "A bad cultural fit is very detrimental." His test now? A question a surgeon friend taught him: "Tell me about your oldest friend." The buck stops here: On the decisions that keep him up at 3am, Tony is clear - the buck stops with him. He backs his judgement without arrogance, accepts the call could go either way, and lives by a hard-won rule: no deal is better than a bad deal. Loyalty is more than tenure: Tony's a self-described one-company man. To him, loyalty means the hard conversations, wearing one on the chin for your colleagues, and never throwing people under the bus. Everybody leaves - it's the how and why: He used to take it personally when good people left. A lesson from his martial arts grand master reframed it: "Everybody leaves. It's a matter of how and why." Build your crew: His advice to anyone starting out - know your product, stay endlessly curious, and build a crew of clients, colleagues and mentors you can rely on. Read two books: Diary of a CEO and How to Win Friends and Influence People. Be patient: "There are a lot of people chasing the next step - and they're not ready, or chasing it the wrong way." Get deep, get good, become invaluable. The next step will come. Through it all, Tony stays grounded. Eighteen years, a fast-growing business, and he's never missed one of his kids' birthdays. "If you don't love it, don't do it." A masterclass in patience, integrity, and leading by example - wherever you started.

May 6, 2026Episode 1047 min

Frontline to MD: AJ Moreland on Leading the Unconventional Way

AJ Moreland came to MedTech the long way round. He spent the first half of his working life on the frontline as a firefighter and paramedic, then moved to Australia and decided it was time for something different. He started as an account manager at B. Braun, found his footing, and moved to Dräger - where he spent eight years and ultimately became Managing Director for the Pacific Region. In this episode, AJ shares: The needle decompression story: Midway through his paramedic career, AJ's mentor - a US Air Force captain and doctor - sent him alone into radiology to perform a needle decompression on a decompensating patient. What AJ didn't know: his mentor had called the ICU and sent six resident doctors down to watch. You have it. You just need to believe in yourself. That moment became the foundation of AJ's leadership style - find the capability people don't know they have, and put them in the room to prove it. Imposter syndrome at speed: AJ's rise from account manager to MD was fast. Looking back, he estimates he was burning 30% more energy than he needed to - trying to prove he deserved to be in the room. Who was I even trying to prove it to? Naming that pattern was a turning point. Self-awareness is only the first step: Knowing your blind spots is not enough. Some people get stuck there. They don't do the work on what to do about it. The real hard work is step two. Leadership is a torch, not a spotlight: Early in his career, AJ received feedback that he was unintentionally dominating meetings - not from ego, but from drive. The phrase that reframed everything: leadership is not a spotlight. It's a torch. Raise it high so others can see. He still negotiates with himself on this. Every meeting. Fast decisions and the cost of delay: AJ believes over 90% of decisions should be made quickly. Delay doesn't protect the outcome - it costs the people waiting. If you're slow, you'll cost the business more than you would by making a swift call with possible failure. Failure as clay: AJ doesn't frame failure as something to avoid - it's the material that shapes you. Attempt 40 things with the right mindset and you'll get 30 or 35 right. Versus trying to perfect 10. The 4:30am ritual: AJ used to be a night owl. Now he's in bed by 7:30pm, up at 4:30am, 15 minutes of mindfulness, a coffee - and sometimes his son Cooper joins him for a baby hot chocolate. That window is where he sets the tone. Finding mentors that push, not just support: Find the ones who push you into the uncomfortable more than they comfort you. You may not recognise them as a mentor straight away. But in time, you'll see the feedback they gave you was a gift. What do you want to do?: When aspiring leaders ask how to get ahead, AJ turns the question back. Not what title do you want - but what do you want to do? Answer that first. Then find mentors who resonate with that why. LinkedIn and the candidate who found Dräger because of a post: AJ has a love-hate relationship with social media. But he's seen its impact firsthand - a finalist candidate once told him she'd been following his LinkedIn for years and had always planned to apply to Drager when she was ready. I will now get a restraining order. Authenticity travels further than you think. AJ's story is a masterclass in knowing yourself, doing the work, and leading people - not from the front, but from alongside.

April 7, 2026Episode 957 min

The $25,000 Lesson: Kartik Natarajan on Execution, Resilience, and Leading

Kartik Natarajan didn't plan a MedTech career. He started in financial services consulting in London. Worked through the dot-com boom in New York. Survived 9/11. Did his MBA. Spent a decade at GE Capital. Ran a private equity-owned media company. And then made the leap into healthcare. 30 years later, Kartik's the Managing Director for Getinge Australia & New Zealand, joining in August 2020 - right in the middle of a pandemic - and spent two years leading remotely before meeting most of his global stakeholders face-to-face. In this episode, Kartik shares: The $25,000 lesson: Early in his career, Kartik froze when a potential client asked about key findings from a report. The client walked out, saying "I had $25,000 in my pocket to give you." That moment taught Kartik: know your product inside out and preparation isn't optional. The health wake-up call: Working 90-hour weeks in New York, Kartik ended up in hospital at 27 with an ulcer. He applied to business school and learned to prioritize balance. "The work will always be there. But it's about slowing down and doing what's best for yourself and your family." The private equity reality check: Tasked with growing digital revenue while print declined, Kartik was overly optimistic. "We struggled to make payroll a few times. We had to lay off a whole bunch of people." Now he focuses on lead metrics - tracking activities before revenue arrives. Hats, haircuts, and tattoos: "A hat is easy to take on and off. A haircut - your hair grows back. But a tattoo is permanent. Most decisions are hats or haircuts. Less than 10% are tattoos. So if it's a hat or a haircut, go for it." - A framework Kartik picked up from Steven Bartlett. The "talk them out of the job" technique: In final interviews, Kartik tries to convince candidates NOT to take the job. "I tell them the worst possible scenario. Sleep on it and call me in 24 to 48 hours." Learning agility over expertise: "Execution is the ticket to play. Learn fast, adapt fast, be curious. Put your hand up for the tough jobs. That's what will get you noticed." People Day: Every six months, Kartik and his leadership team talk about talent, development, and succession. Getinge invests heavily in leadership development, running annual summits and quarterly coaching sessions. Hospital transformation partnerships: Getinge is launching a model where they partner with hospitals, diagnose workflow inefficiencies, and guarantee measurable improvements. "If we don't deliver, you don't have to pay for it." What's next: Getinge is expanding into organ transplantation and parathyroid identification technology, which detects the parathyroid gland during thyroidectomies with 100% accuracy compared to 70% without the device. Kartik's story is a masterclass in execution, resilience, and leading through crisis.

March 8, 2026Episode 81 hr 2 min

Jane Crowe on Grit, Culture, and Leading Authentically

Jane Crowe didn't plan her career. She worked at McDonald's while doing a double degree at Canterbury University. She's been managing people since she was 18. Then she took a sales rep job at Janssen Cilag instead of a cigarette company. Started in New Zealand. Got posted to Beijing through J&J's International Development Program. Moved to Australia with two suitcases and no plan. 30 years later, Jane's the Vice President APAC for Cardinal Health. She's run organisations through crises, scaled teams across time zones, and learned what it really takes to lead at this level. In this episode, Jane shares: The Beijing moment: Six months into her posting in China, Jane sat in a hotel room watching a research group discuss athlete's foot through a glass wall. She spoke no Mandarin. She was accountable for the project. She went back to her hotel, sat on the floor, and cried. Then she got up the next day, found a Mandarin teacher, and gritted it out. "I wasn't going to let it beat me. The more you do, the more you know it's not gonna kill you." 8 interviews and the one question that mattered: Jane did 8 interviews for Cardinal Health. The then-Global Head asked about her career aspirations. Jane said: "When I'm 80, I want to be running the local bowls club." After he stopped laughing, he said: "What I tell my team is, after they've spent time with their family and their sport and their community, whatever's left is what they bring back into the business." That told Jane everything about the culture. How to read culture in interviews: "An interview works both ways. Ask if you can meet with others in the organisation, not just senior leadership. Ask specific questions about how they handle things — how the organisation adapted through COVID, for example. That tells you how they treat their people." Correct vs. right: "There's decisions that are correct, and there's decisions that are right. And knowing the difference between the two. I used to make correct decisions based on data. I'm now leaning more into what is right." How she disarms people in interviews: "By the time the interviewee gets to me, we've gone through all the skills and attributes. I try to unpick them a little bit and get them to relax. I make them talk about family and sport. Anyone can fake the normal interview. I want to get to know who you are as an individual and what makes you tick." The year of learning: Jane chooses one thing to focus on each year. One year was quality (ISO leadership course). One year was governance (AICD company directors course). One year was privacy and cybersecurity. This year? AI. The stopwatch trap: "I see people running their career with a stopwatch. 'I've done this role for two years. Now what?' That's very linear. What about building a parallel career path through board roles?" Board roles and giving back: Jane's held multiple unpaid board roles — vice president for a community transport organisation, president for a childcare organisation, and vice president for the MTAA. "I've learned more from those than I have from my paid work." What's next: Jane's leading Cardinal Health's APAC region, launching new products in nutritional delivery (Kangaroo Omni) and compression (Kendall Smart Flow), and bringing their sustainable technologies business to Australia. Jane's story is a masterclass in grit, resilience, and leading with your authentic voice.

February 11, 2026Episode 71 hr 3 min

The Mindset of Leadership: Maurice Ben Mayor on Turning Around a Business in Crisis

Maurice Ben Mayor didn't plan on a MedTech career. He studied psychology, played guitar in a band, and took a warehouse job at Synthes through a family connection. Then a rep asked: "Do you want to come with me?" That theatre visit - watching a surgeon in the theatre environment helping a patient - changed everything. 30 years later, Maurice has led one of the most successful runs in Australian MedTech. 11 years as President of Stryker South Pacific. Multiple business turnarounds. Chair of the MTAA during COVID. In this episode, Maurice shares: The 2012 turnaround: Three months into his dream job running Stryker's joint replacement business, customers and team members were leaving "at a great rate." The business went backwards. Maurice had to cancel the noise - the blame, the market excuses, the self-doubt - and focus on what he could control: great products, good people, and building the team. By 2013, they were "screaming." The COVID response: Newly appointed as MTAA Chair, Maurice texted Health Minister Greg Hunt: "If there's any way we can help, let us know." Hunt called back immediately. "You've got to tell the industry to act like the country's at war. We need ventilators." Maurice's approach: "I don't know what to do. But what can I do? Take the next step." The path revealed itself. The formula for talent: Maurice interviewed every rep Stryker hired, even as the company scaled. "You should disproportionately spend huge amounts of time on recruitment. Get that one right hire and everything works." His three pillars: how you recruit, how you engage, and how you develop. Three mindsets for pressure: Focus on what you can control - ignore the noise Believe that if you take the next step, you'll find a way Step back and ask: How lucky am I to be in this role? Leadership signals over words: "If you spend five minutes on a performance review, your team will too. If you're highly compliant, your team will finish slightly below you. If you set the bar here, that's where it's going to be." The stopwatch trap: "I see people running their career with a stopwatch. 'I've done this role for two years. Now what?' That is the most destructive thing for people's careers. Focus on business life cycles - running a business that does well, then badly, then back to high. Those rhythms don't happen on a stopwatch." Acting like a leader before you are one: "If you aspire to be a leader, act like one. Treat your peers, your boss, people in other functions like you're their boss. Don't be the one who achieves the goal but leaves body bags everywhere." What's next: Maurice is working with Australian scale-ups, particularly in private equity, helping them navigate complex technologies and reach their next level of ambition. And managing his daughter Chloe May's debut album, "Train to Nowhere," just released. Maurice's story is a masterclass in resilience, self-awareness, and leading with integrity. Whether you're a rep in your first year or a leader navigating uncertainty, this episode will ground you.

May 29, 202545 min

The Energy of Leadership

I sat down with Glen Pearce — and serendipitously, it was the same day Ryeqo, Gedeon Richter’s treatment for women suffering with endometriosis, was listed on the PBS. We unpacked some brilliant leadership lessons: Be curious, not the one with all the answers Read the room and look to your team for solutions Trust that the answers often lie within the group Ask the right questions Listen closely — even to what your body is telling you Glen’s perspective is thoughtful, grounded, and genuinely inspiring.

March 25, 2025Episode 513 min

Mapping Success: The Power of Territory Planning in MedTech SaleS

An inside look at what great territory planning really involves—featuring insights from John O’Hare, a highly accomplished and experienced National Sales & Marketing Manager at one of the world’s leading Medtech companies.

May 27, 2024Episode 437 min

Demystifying AI

In this episode, Tara interviewed Tim Martin, an expert in delivering Generative AI training for businesses. Tim shared tips on: Where to start with Generative AI for novices How AI can be incorporated into businesses Watch out and pitfalls The future of AI in business

April 23, 2024Episode 359 min

From Pharma Sales Rep to Group Sales Manager reporting into the CEO. Shannon Walding's career steps to success.

This episode takes us through the journey from sales to sales leadership with expert advice from Group Sales Manager Shannon Walding. Shannon shared some great tips, here's a sneak preview of just some of his insights: When preparing to move from sales into sales leadership: exhaust your sales experience and opportunities in your current position take on additional responsibilities without a title take on international training opportunities or invest in your own training and share those insights with your teammates coach and help your peers without a leadership title gain sales leadership training be open to relocation to access leadership opportunities build up your influencing skills access mentors If you are in sales and looking to progress into leadership, tune in to learn more about how to do this successfully.

March 8, 2024Episode 233 min

Mapping the Journey: Kelley Mirabello's Career Path from Account Manager to VP of International Markets.

This episode takes us through Kelley Mirabello's remarkable path. Beginning her career as an account manager in the pharmaceutical world, Kelley rose to become VP of International Markets, overseeing multiple P&Ls globally for a heavyweight in the medical technology sector. Her narrative is filled with actionable advice and the kind of insights that can only come from someone who's navigated the ups and downs of a dynamic career. Here's what you're in for: How to gear up for leadership roles Expanding your scope from one P&L to over 20 globally Crafting questions that cut through to what matters Decision-making powered by data and analytics Maximizing mentor relationships Kelley shares the strategies and mindset shifts crucial for navigating your own professional journey, whether you're aiming for the top or just curious about what it takes to advance in the med tech world.