Your Worthy Career

Hosted by Melissa Lawrence

Business Management Science

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Episodes

232

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

Welcome to Your Worthy Career, a podcast with Melissa Lawrence, a Career & Leadership Coach and former Talent & Development leader inside Pharma that helps women in Pharma and Biotech design their unique career path and build the skills to get a new job, get promotion, and advance their career.

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60 recent

August 19, 2026Episode 22829 min

When No One Has Your Back

You put together the strategy your VP loves, then your own manager tears it apart, and you're left standing in the middle with no one publicly on your side. Or your name isn't in the meeting where decisions about your own project get made, and you find out after the fact what everyone else already agreed to. In pharma and biotech, matrix teams and shifting priorities make this common, not personal, and most women read it as proof there's nothing they can do. That belief is the actual problem. This episode breaks down exactly what to do about it, so you stop waiting for the room to change and start leading it. In this episode, you'll learn: Why conflicting feedback from your stakeholders isn't a dead end The real reasons you get left out of decision-making meetings How to get buy-in from a stakeholder who doesn't think like you do What radical responsibility looks like when no one seems to have your back The three-step shift I coach inside The Right Move Protocol every week Get the Book: Your Worthy Career: A Science-Backed Method to Build a Meaningful Career in Pharma and Biotech here. Work with Me: Learn more and apply to work with me here. Love the podcast? Share your feedback by leaving us a review. Thank you! Connect on Socials LinkedIn Instagram

August 5, 2026Episode 22738 min

A Healthcare Executive's Real Advice on Getting Promoted

In this episode, I sit down with Christine Hummel, a healthcare executive with 25 years across the pharmacy benefit manager side, retail and specialty pharmacy, distribution, and pharma manufacturing, including running US Trade and Channel for a major pharma company. Christine has hired teams, rebuilt teams, and decided who gets advocated for the next role many times over, and in this conversation she breaks down exactly what she looks for, and why so many high performers stay stuck chasing a title instead of doing what actually gets them promoted. In this episode, you'll learn: Why chasing the next title can actually slow you down What Christine actually looks for before she puts someone's name up for a promotion The one question to ask yourself before you consider leaving your company for a title How to build a network that gets you noticed without waiting to be chosen Why AI belongs in your career strategy starting now, not later Connect with Christine: Connect with Christine on LinkedIn here. Listen to the Root to Rising podcast here. Tune in to my interview on the Root to Rising podcast in the episode, How to Build a Career You Don't Need to Escape From , here. Get the Book: Your Worthy Career: A Science-Backed Method to Build a Meaningful Career in Pharma and Biotech here. Work with Me: Learn more and apply to work with me here. Love the podcast? Share your feedback by leaving us a review. Thank you! Connect on Socials LinkedIn Instagram

July 15, 2026Episode 22647 min

Creating the Career You Always Wanted with Brena Williams (MVP)

This week I'm bringing back an episode that I think speaks to what you might be going through right now. Brena is a Principal Scientist and member of my group coaching program, The Right Move Protocol® (formerly Beyond the Ceiling) . She is sharing why she joined the group, what it's like on the inside, and the results she experienced that blew her mind. Tune in for this candid conversation about what it's like to work in the industry and the unexpected results she experienced when she invested in herself. Brena’s views on this episode do not reflect the company she works for. These are her personal insights based on her experience and expertise in the Pharma/Biotech space and in her experience as my Coaching client. What you'll learn: Why Brena chose to invest in her career even when she had reasons not to The power of having a community of like minded women to support you in your career growth How Brena landed her ideal job, built her confidence, and created more time with her family than she thought was possible The advice she wish she had earlier in her career and a message for anyone who thinks that the results she achieved aren't possible for them Mentioned in this episode: Connect with Brena Williams on LinkedIn Enrollment for The Right Move Protocol® is open until July 16th. Learn more and schedule your consultation to join: www.yourworthycareer.com/protocol Get the Book: Your Worthy Career: A Science-Backed Method to Build a Meaningful Career in Pharma and Biotech here. Work with Me: Learn more and apply to work with me here. Love the podcast? Share your feedback by leaving us a review. Thank you! Connect on Socials LinkedIn Instagram

July 1, 2026Episode 22513 min

Coming in Second

You did everything right, made it to the final round, and still got the call: number two. In a competitive Pharma and Biotech search, coming in second rarely means you failed. Often it means you are in the right arena, against strong people, with a process that is finally working. In this episode, you'll learn: What coming in second really means in a Pharma search The 5 things to do to rebound after you come in close but do not get it The one question to ask next time so you do not get surprised again Why your brain fixates on the offer instead of the progress How a "loss" can set up the role you actually want If you are sitting in the waiting and the second-guessing right now, this one is for you. Get the Book: Your Worthy Career: A Science-Backed Method to Build a Meaningful Career in Pharma and Biotech here. Work with Me: Learn more and apply to work with me here. Love the podcast? Share your feedback by leaving us a review. Thank you! Connect on Socials LinkedIn Instagram

June 17, 2026Episode 22425 min

I Took My Own Advice: How I Prepped to Interview After 12 Years

I coach women through interviews all the time. So when I had to sit in one myself, for the first time in over 12 years, I learned something I want you to hear. Even though interviewing is something I teach regularly, doing it myself, under pressure, with the outcome out of my hands, was a different experience. So I recorded a raw voice memo the moment I walked out, before I knew if I got in. In this episode I play you that unedited memo, then break down exactly what I did so you can do it too. In this episode, you'll learn: Why I prepared with bullets instead of a script, and what I put on that list before I had my panel interview The kinds of questions I asked that took the interrogation feeling out of the room and got me real answers What I watched for across everyone I talked to, and what that one pattern told me about the culture The question almost nobody asks at the end of an interview, and why one interviewer lit up when I asked it Why the confidence I felt walking out had nothing to do with whether I got the spot I received the outcome two months later. I'll tell you how it went, and why the answer matters less than you think. REGISTER: The next Strategy Hour for Women in Pharma and Biotech is July 9th. Secure your spot here. Get the Book: Your Worthy Career: A Science-Backed Method to Build a Meaningful Career in Pharma and Biotech here. Work with Me: Learn more and apply to work with me here. Love the podcast? Share your feedback by leaving us a review. Thank you! Connect on Socials LinkedIn Instagram

June 3, 2026Episode 22318 min

Sitting on the Fence

Sitting on the fence feels like the smart move. You weigh the pros and cons, you do the research, you tell yourself now isn't the right time. But indecision is still a decision, and in a pharma career it has a cost. The promotion you're not sure you're ready for. The role you can't decide is right. The difficult stakeholder you don't know how to handle. Every time you stay on the fence to avoid the discomfort of the unknown, you make less progress and you quietly hand the opportunity to someone who decided faster. This episode is about why we do it, and how to get down. In this episode, you'll learn: What sitting on the fence really means The questions that expose the real reason you're not making a decision How to calculate the actual cost of indecision before it costs you in your career Where certainty about a decision actually comes from Get the Book: Your Worthy Career: A Science-Backed Method to Build a Meaningful Career in Pharma and Biotech here. Work with Me: Learn more and apply to work with me here. Love the podcast? Share your feedback by leaving us a review. Thank you! Connect on Socials LinkedIn Instagram

May 20, 2026Episode 22215 min

Activity vs Strategic Positioning in Pharma Careers

This episode is for the woman in pharma or biotech who has strong performance reviews, a supportive boss, colleagues who rave about her, and still can't get the move she wants. We're getting into the difference between activity and strategic visibility — why being known is not the same as being positioned, and how to fill the gap. In this episode, you'll learn: Why you can be exceptionally well-positioned with your immediate team and completely invisible to the people who actually control what's next for you The difference between being valued and being someone the organization has a stake in keeping The nuance in visibility and positioning that can result in roles being created for you even when there isn't an allocated budget Monday May 28th - Strategy Hour for Women in Pharma - Limited to 25 women. Register at https://yourworthycareer.com/strategy-hour Get the Book: Your Worthy Career: A Science-Backed Method to Build a Meaningful Career in Pharma and Biotech here. Work with Me: Learn more and apply to work with me here. Love the podcast? Share your feedback by leaving us a review. Thank you! Connect on Socials LinkedIn Instagram

May 6, 2026Episode 22117 min

Be Irreplaceable in a World of AI

The AI conversation in Pharma and Biotech is generating a lot of anxiety, and a lot of misplaced action. Women are either chasing every new tool or avoiding the whole conversation entirely. This episode cuts through both reactions to get at what the research and the data actually say about what protects a career right now. The skill most likely to determine who gets promoted, who survives a reorg, and who gets called first is not the one most strong technical performers are investing in. That gap is what this episode is about. In this episode, you'll learn: Why the women who will be hardest to cut in Pharma are not the fastest AI learners, and what they are building instead What the actual drivers of biopharma layoffs are in 2025, and why they matter more than the AI narrative How AI raising the technical baseline changes what gets you promoted, protected, and noticed in a matrix organization Why strong technical performers in Pharma systematically underinvest in the skills that determine advancement The one relationship move to make this week that compounds in ways credentials never will Get the Book: Your Worthy Career: A Science-Backed Method to Build a Meaningful Career in Pharma and Biotech here. Work with Me: Learn more and apply to work with me here. Love the podcast? Share your feedback by leaving us a review. Thank you! Connect on Socials LinkedIn Instagram

April 15, 2026Episode 22024 min

The Cost of Career Confusion in Pharma

You have impressive credentials, a track record that speaks for itself, and a career that looks exactly right from the outside. And yet something is off. The work has become transactional. Your role has accumulated tasks that don't connect to a strategy. You can see a vision for what you want, but you cannot articulate it — partly because it does not exist yet in any form you have seen before. That is a clarity problem. And more information is not going to solve it. In this episode, I am breaking down why accomplished women in Pharma and Biotech get stuck in a research spiral — and why the fix is not another job change, another course, or more time spent gathering options. What you will learn: Why the brain under uncertainty does not settle into clarity by accumulating more information — and what organizational psychology tells us actually resolves it. How to recognize whether you are solving real problems or hypothetical ones you have invented to avoid committing to a direction. What granular clarity actually requires — and why it is not about a title, a company, or a timeframe. How the Right Move Protocol™ functions as your career's decision-making filter — the process that tells you whether any opportunity in front of you is actually the right one for you. The neuroscience behind why defining a specific target changes what your brain notices, what conversations feel useful, and how you show up when you are not prepared. If you are technically excellent, genuinely accomplished, and still not where you want to be — this episode will show you why that is a protocol problem. Referenced in this episode: The Right Move Protocol™ - Schedule a consultation at yourworthycareer.com/application Get the Book: Your Worthy Career: A Science-Backed Method to Build a Meaningful Career in Pharma and Biotech here. Work with Me: Learn more and apply to work with me here. Love the podcast? Share your feedback by leaving us a review. Thank you! Connect on Socials LinkedIn Instagram

April 1, 2026Episode 21919 min

4 Actions to Stop Being Pharma's Best-Kept Secret

This episode picks up where the last one left off — and gets super specific. If your performance and results are strong but your advancement isn't reflecting it, the issue isn't how hard you're working. It's where that work is being directed. I'm walking you through four moves you can make right now to see growth in your career. What you'll learn: Ask the one question that reveals exactly how your manager is positioning you in leadership conversations. Map where your reputation currently lives — and where it needs to go for advancement decisions to go your way. Communicate your work in the language that actually moves the needle with senior leaders. Build the relationships that determine whether your name comes up when opportunity is available. If you're ready to stop being the best-kept secret in your organization, this episode gives you the specific moves to change that. Referenced in this episode: 3 Reasons Pharma's Best Performers Get Passed Over - New Live Webinar April 14th at 12pm EST. Register here. Get the Book: Your Worthy Career: A Science-Backed Method to Build a Meaningful Career in Pharma and Biotech here. Work with Me: Learn more and apply to work with me here. Love the podcast? Share your feedback by leaving us a review. Thank you! Connect on Socials LinkedIn Instagram