In this month's episode, we are delighted to feature Doxie Jordan, Vice President, US Hematology Sales. Hosting the episode is Kwaku Sarfo Mensah, BI&A Rotational Development Program Associate, and the creative director of the BOLD Innovators podcast series. Doxie is a senior healthcare executive who has reshaped commercial models, ignited innovation, and demonstrated leadership in some of the world’s most respected pharmaceutical and biotech companies. In his current role, he leads a field-based team of about 350 commercial professionals, along with a strategy and operations team, all focused on advancing the uptake of world-class treatments for a full spectrum of blood cancers. In this episode, Doxie shares his journey from being a college athlete with an opportunity to go professional, to corporate America within the biopharmaceutical industry. He discusses the immense value of human connections in both personal and professional realms, sharing enriching stories of how fostering good relationships has played a pivotal role in his career. Doxie also shares his evolving perspective on competition and what it means to him as he has matured. When asked about a time when he was boldly urgent in his career, Doxie talks about a moment when he had to go against his usual pragmatic nature to deliver a project that addressed a critical business need.

In this month's episode, we are delighted to feature Tania Small, senior vice president and head of Global Medical Affairs and Wendy Short Bartie, senior vice president, U.S. Hematology and Oncology. Hosting the episode is Bryant Powell, associate director of social media in Omni-Channel Capabilities and the host of the BOLD Innovators podcast series. In this special BOLD Innovators Podcast Episode, Tania and Wendy share what Black Leaders Awareness Day means to them and how past and present Black leaders have motivated them throughout their journeys. During the interview, Tania, a pediatric hematology-oncologist, shares an eye-opening moment in medical school when she learned that being Black was a risk factor for mortality. This realization motivated her to aspire to be a leader to cause positive change. Wendy shares that while she didn’t initially aspire to be a leader, she did strive for excellence in whatever she did, and that quest for excellence led to leadership opportunities. When asked what legacy they hope to leave for future Black leaders, especially the young individuals who aspire to be like them, Wendy says, “I want our young leaders to be better than me.” She goes on to share her guiding principles of leadership: Grit, gravitas and grace.

In this month's episode, we are delighted to feature Patricia Cornet, executive director of Patient Advocacy in hematology and oncology. Hosting the episode is Bryant Powell, associate director of social media in Omni-Channel Capabilities and the host of the BOLD Innovators podcast series. Pat leads the Patient Advocacy oncology, hematology and CAR-T team. Her primary focus is to amplify the patient voice and promote health equity perspectives within our company and the industry. She and her team develop strategies for key accounts while fostering a collaborative environment to strengthen internal and external partnerships. Their goal is to advance research, improve access and enhance patient education initiatives in cancer care. She is a founding member of Women of Color in Pharma (WOCIP), a non-profit organization that seeks to empower women of color in pharma to excel in their personal and professional development and to transform their pathway within the pharmaceutical industry. During the interview, Pat shares an eye-opening moment from her career after returning to the U.S. from an assignment with BMS in China. She reflects on the importance of actively participating and having a seat at the table. In the past, she often found herself sitting at the back of the room and not fully leveraging her voice. She now realizes the significance of exerting oneself and actively engaging in discussions. On urgency at work, Pat emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and self-knowledge. She suggests utilizing self-assessment tools to gain a deeper understanding of oneself. By knowing our strengths and weaknesses, especially in situations where urgency is not a natural trait, we can better navigate our professional journeys.

In this month’s episode, we have the pleasure of speaking to Awara Gbeblewo, senior manager, RCO, vendor operations and engagement. This episode was hosted by Bryant Powell, associate director, social media, Digital Platform Strategy, and host for the BOLD Innovators podcast series. Awara leads a team of SRMs who are responsible for building and managing clinical site relationships for outsourced studies in Europe. Since joining BMS, Awara has been actively involved in inclusion and diversity initiatives. She founded and led the BOLD chapter in Switzerland for more than two years, was on the leadership team of the local B-NOW chapter and is now the co-lead for the BOLD LIFT program. Awara shares her inspiring story of perseverance in the face of setbacks and adversities. She discusses her journey from being a first-year medical school student to selling camera lenses for a decade before returning to school and pursuing a career in life sciences, fulfilling a lifelong ambition. When asked about moments of being boldly urgent in her career and personal life, Awara credits her mother and husband, both of whom have careers that require composure while being urgent. She draws motivation from them and emphasizes the importance of proper planning and anticipation, which leads to faster acceleration and efficient execution. Awara’s biggest life lesson is always to have a contingency plan. She says, “Something I learned is to always have a Plan B even C and D, because if your first plan doesn't work, you need to have something else because otherwise you feel really helpless.”

This season we will be focusing on a new Bristol Myers Squibb core value. In season 2, our focus was on Passion. In season 3, we will be focusing on Urgency, and how that has driven our guests throughout their careers. For BMS, urgency is best achieved with all of us working together to move forward with speed and quality because patients are waiting.

In this month’s episode, we have the pleasure of speaking to Angelique Hopkins, Vice President, Enterprise Strategy, Portfolio, and Planning Analytics. This episode was hosted by Bryant Powell, associate director, social media, Omni-Channel Capabilities, and host for the BOLD Innovators podcast series. Angelique supports total company analytics, insights, and processes, including long term financial planning as well as strategy and portfolio prioritization. Outside of BMS, she sits on the board of directors for women of color in Pharma, a BMS-sponsored nonprofit professional society focused on transforming the pharmaceutical landscape for women of color, where she draws on her unique perspective and cross functional experiences. Angelique shares her story of how she stumbled into the pharmaceutical industry. She came to BMS as an intern straight out of undergrad and pursuing a Master of Public Health, and as she put it, “I joke that I came to BMS as an intern and they kept giving me stuff to do, so I never left.”

In this month’s episode, we have the pleasure of speaking to Deidra Harper, senior access and reimbursement manager. This episode was hosted by Bryant Powell, associate director, social media, Omni-Channel Capabilities, and host for the BOLD Innovators podcast series. Deidra Harper is responsible for access and reimbursement for the oncology business at Bristol Myers Squibb. Additionally, she is the co-lead for BMS’ Tomorrow’s Innovators program at North Carolina A&T. In this role, Deidra is responsible for creating a talent pipeline for students of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Deidra shares her passion for mentoring and creating opportunities for students of underrepresented communities, particularly people of color. And, as co-lead for the Tomorrow’s Innovators program at North Carolina A&T, she visits the school at least twice a year to recruit students for BMS’ cardiovascular sales internship.

This month’s episode, we have the pleasure of speaking with Bryant Powell, associate director, Social Media, Omni-Channel Capabilities. This episode was hosted by Terris Moss, associate director, enterprise governance and creative director for the BOLD Innovators podcast series at the 2023 Future Pharma Conference in Boston, MA. Bryant Powell is responsible for leading the podcast and social audio capabilities within the commercialization organization at Bristol Myers Squibb. As well, he is also responsible for increasing BMS' evolving capabilities in social listening. Bryant is part of the Communications Leadership Team within BMS’ Black Organization for Leadership and Development (BOLD) People Business & Resource Group (PBRG), where he uses his former experience in the marketing and entertainment industry to create and proudly hosts his passion project - the global podcast series, BOLD Innovators. Bryant spoke to his passion for creating and building platforms where individuals and customers can speak about their experiences, while communicating their value and impact to the world. When trying to incorporate his passions at work, Bryant advises using the power of focus. “Double down on your strengths and brand yourself to others, what you want in your career,” he says. Focusing on his strengths and passions while uniquely branding himself as a digital content and social audio subject matter expert paved the way to where he is in his career and led to the creation of not only the BOLD Innovators podcast series, but also Bristol Myers Squibb’s podcasting ecosystem.

In this month’s episode, we have the pleasure of speaking with Paul Ashley, senior director, strategic engagement and inclusion within the Global Procurement Group at Bristol Myers Squibb. Paul Ashley is a seasoned procurement leader with over 20 years of industry experience. Paul holds a bachelor of science in industrial engineering from Northwestern University, as well as a master of science in industrial operations and engineering from the University of Michigan. Born and raised in Detroit, MI, the capital of the automobile manufactory industry, Paul Ashley decided to focus his higher education pursuits on engineering. After grad school, Paul landed a job at IBM where he was first exposed to the field of procurement and his love of bringing diversity to companies' supply chains from business owners of color, the LGBTQ+ community and women. When asked what Paul is boldly passionate about, he refers to his social media profile which demonstrates Paul is unapologetically black, gay and Christian. Paul is passionate about uplifting these communities by being an example of how to live the intersections of these communities freely. “In times where I've had to navigate troubled waters is in the intersections of being, black, gay and Christian.” Paul had to learn to fully embrace and love all of himself, unapologetically. He advises others to “stop coming out, just be out and be who you are, and people will figure it out.”

In this month’s episode, we have the pleasure of speaking with Akintunde Bello or “Tunde,” senior vice president of clinical pharmacology, pharmacometrics, disposition and bioanalysis. Tunde speaks about his passion for science and technology and its application for improvement of the world. His passion spans beyond the pharmaceutical space to include other technological advances in engineering, medical science and digital technologies. As one of the few people of color within the within the pharmaceutical industry in the UK, Tunde attributes his career success in part to his “village”. This village consisted of managers and colleagues along his career journey who clearly believed in him, offered support, insights and valuable career development advice. In fact, it was a former manager who was an advocate for his advancement where Tunde learned of the opportunity which led him to return to BMS in 2015 and to the executive director position heading up clinical pharmacology oncology. This episode was originally released on BMS.com in May 2023

Growing up in New York as a second generation Indian American, Deepika Catty was the only minority in her high school and the first in her family to attend college. Although she faced challenges, it also fuels her desire to give back to other minority students, her community and eventually at Bristol Myers Squibb as the PAN STEM lead. As the PAN STEM Lead, Deepika can inspire, mentor and provide support to at risk and low-income individuals seeking STEM careers by helping set them up for a successful first year in school. She also speaks to the power of kindness. An act of kindness goes a long way, either in the board room or a smile in the office, it’s a simple yet powerful tool to being an inclusive leader. Deepika shares her story of failure to triumph. Applying to medical school twice and not getting in, she still triumphed by securing a career which combined her love of science, research and business. “Failure is hard to accept especially when it is not normalized in our day to day,” Deepika states. She attributes her parents stressing the importance of hard work, dedication, and motivation to get through obstacles of failure. She also leaned on her mentors to gain the framework to map out what was the root cause of failing to learn from it. This episode was originally released on BMS.com in March 2023

In this month’s episode, we have the pleasure of speaking with Wendy Short Bartie, chief of staff to the Chief Executive Officer, Giovanni Caforio. In addition to being boldly passionate about helping disenfranchised, unrepresented and vulnerable people; Wendy is boldly passionate about kindness. She considers kindness to be acts we commit that helps someone else without expecting something in return This episode was originally released on BMS.com in February 2023

In this month’s episode, we have the pleasure of speaking with Rondu Vincent, executive director, Global Supplier Diversity and Sustainability. Rondu is boldly passionate about leveraging his platform to change lives of the underrepresented and marginalized. “I am fighting for something bigger than me. My goal is to talk myself out of a job,” said Rondu. “The day there is no longer a need for supplier diversity is the day diversity is part of the culture and society in general.” Rondu continues to challenge the status quo and is okay with being in difficult situations. He stated, “As long as we are being comfortable, I don’t think we are challenging the status quo enough.” This episode was originally released on BMS.com in December 2022

In Part 2 of this two-part episode, we have the pleasure of speaking with Nnenna Kalu, Commercial Leadership Development Program associate and Youssef Jouichate, aCTivate associate, Science and Technology, both early careers hires at BMS. This episode was originally released on BMS.com in November 2022

In this month’s episode, we have the pleasure of speaking with Gaetano Crupi, general manager, Brazil, and Fernanda da Silva Joao, senior manager, Global Procurement, Brazil site. As a son of immigrants, Gaetano Crupi grew up embracing two cultures, Brazilian and Italian. He was the first member of his family to graduate from a university and began a pursuit of an international career. Gaetano is an advocate for diversity and inclusion and has a passion for eliminating any type of discrimination in his environment. Fernanda da Silva Joao joined Bristol Myers Squibb for the opportunity to work in her passion and purpose. Receiving mentorship and support for her personal development, Fernanda is passionate about supporting others to succeed in their career. As PBRG lead, Fernanda is able to work in her passion to move forward diversity and inclusion in Brazil. She speaks of diversification of suppliers to provide innovative solutions for patients. This episode was originally released on BMS.com in October 2022

In Part 1 of this month’s episode, we have the pleasure of speaking with Carla Ayala, manager GPS Emerging Leaders Program and Stefan Ade, Business Insights & Analytics MBA Rotational Development Program, two recent early career hires at BMS. This episode was originally released on BMS.com in September 2022

In the first episode of Season II, we have the pleasure of speaking with Adam Taliaferro, director, Strategic Alliance lead, U.S. Policy & Government Affairs. Passionate about playing football, Adam was offered a scholarship to play at Penn State bringing him closer to realizing his dream of possibly playing professionally. At the fifth game in his freshman year against rival Ohio State, Adam made a routine helmet-to-helmet tackle that would change the course of his life. He had broken his neck — a similar injury suffered by the late Christopher Reeve. Given only a 3% chance of ever walking again, Adam fought insurmountable odds to not only walk, but to walk well. Adam’s hope that he would walk again was fueled by the constant support of people, family and friends that encouraged him every day. “No one person can get through this type of injury by themselves,” Adam explains. His desire to help patients overcome adversary led to an advocacy position at Bristol Myers Squibb in U.S. Policy & Governance Affairs. Adam educates patient advocates on health policy and how to make their voices heard to state policy makers about the importance of access. This episode was originally released on BMS.com in August 2022

BOLD Innovators podcast: Season II - Passion Trailer sponsored by Bristol Myers Squibb

In this month’s episode, we had the pleasure of speaking with BOLD member, Jessie Hwang, TYK2 medical scientist. Jessie is responsible for supporting the team and implementing the U.S. medical strategy for Bristol Myers Squibb product program launches in psoriasis and dermatology. Jessie also serves on the BOLD Leadership team, most currently as co-chair of the inaugural virtual program for Black History Month 2021. Jessie is a proud Spelman College alum and obtained her PharmD at St. Louis College of Pharmacy. Jessie shares her career journey, passion about diversity in clinical trials and explains how she identified and uses her superpowers to fuel her passion for breaking down barriers to healthcare access in diverse populations. Jessie speaks on the importance of learning and leveraging feedback even when it is not so great and paying it forward by passing on the information to others. She advises when choosing a company for a career that it is important to look at the company’s culture and discern if your voice will be heard to ensure the right fit. For Jessie, Bristol Myers Squibb was the right fit. She stated, “I chose BMS because BMS also chose me.” This episode was originally released on BMS.com in April 2022

In this month’s episode, we have the pleasure of speaking with BOLD member, Thalia Mingo, who is also the PBRG lead, Bristol Myers Network of Women. Thalia shared her 20-year career journey at Bristol Myers Squibb, which included opportunities in sales, marketing commercialization and a tour of duty in Switzerland. As the new lead for B-NOW, Thalia is a champion for gender equity and is shaping B-NOW strategy and execution to enable all women an opportunity to develop, advance and be supported throughout their career journey at Bristol Myers Squibb. Thalia accredits all experiences, whether they were successful or had some failures and learnings, and the support from mentors and sponsors for propelling her to where she is today. She would love to get to a place and a time when we not having to have talk about underrepresented ethnic groups or gender as it relates to the workplace. Rather, it would be great to talk about people and their contributions overall and any dimensions of diversity that makes us unique and authentic becomes more natural. This episode is presented by special guest host Terris Moss. This episode was originally released on BMS.com in March 2022