Today is my final day at Marina Maher Communications and naturally I am a bit sentimental. I feel so blessed to look back on the first year of my career with such positive thoughts. How many people can honestly say in their first year at the “bottom of the chain” they felt nurtured, appreciated and valued by every level of colleague? I have been given incredible opportunities and learned so much from such brilliant women.
A little over a year ago if you told me I would still be in New York City, let alone working in healthcare PR, I would have laughed hysterically. Well, I am still here and I can honestly say I love working in healthcare. The once overwhelming tasks of learning FDA regulations, various disease categories, what the heck a PDUFA means and understanding patient symptoms now make me thrive. The patience my teachers in MMC’s healthcare practice bestowed upon me is unbelievable. I can’t even believe how much I have learned, but here are a few tidbits:
- As soon as you know, open a PO
- My definition of a PDUFA date: Plan for months. Expect a Delay. Understand that inevitably half your team will be out when the announcement comes in. Forget about knowing (or in my case understanding) what the answer will be. Anticipate lots of media coverage and don’t think you can arrive at 8:30 and have a monitoring report out by 9 (major mistake)
- The Swine Flu Brigade will forever be my favorite costume ever
- The office services staff are incredible people and always help you when you are in a jam
- #MMC14 is the best Twitter hashtag
- Always, always, ALWAYS make sure the correct file is attached to an email
- An article was PUBLISHED, not PICKED-UP (Shout out to AB)
- I’m calling the Clairol team if I ever decide to color my “virgin strands”
- A junior level project may be extremely time consuming, but being in the trenches is the best way to get to know your coworkers
- Emailing support (aka Jeff) will resolve any technology crisis and he is the genius of all things computer
- Friday Happy Hours are critical to team bonding. They help you realize that your supervisors actually have pretty cool lives outside of work and you have more in common with an SVP and MS than you would think.
- I was able to avoid drinking coffee the first three months of working 9-6, but that collapse was inevitable
- Thanks to the well-being group and our monthly practice meetings, I am comfortable saying the word “vagina” :o)
- An FDA approval will always be delayed
- It is possible to strike the balance between boss and friend while maintaining a high level of respect for her
- No one knows how to throw a great party like the MMC HR department
- You are never too senior to jump in and tackle a project
- And finally….The six most important words: I admit I made a mistake. The five most important words: You did a good job. The four most important words: What is YOUR opinion? The three most important words: If you please. The two most important words: Thank You. The one most important word: We. The least important word: I.
I am a far better PR practitioner thanks to the incredible people I have worked with over the past 13 months and I can only hope that I maintain the professional and personal relationships I have developed.
Thank you to MMC for an incredible start to my career.
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