Rich traces a career that began at an ad agency and turned into 20 years in pharma, built on a single rule: never say no to the opportunity. From lobbying Congress for IVF coverage, to a lunch meeting that handed him a gene therapy launch in a therapeutic area he had never worked in, to an FDA approval that arrived by phone call with no one to celebrate with, he makes the case that the prescription is just the beginning.

Whether you’re in sales, marketing, patient services, or field reimbursement, or you’re earlier in your career and weighing a lateral move, this conversation is full of ideas you can put to work right away. The conversation dives into:

✔️ How an ad agency job turned into a 20-year career in pharma, and why Rich never says no to an opportunity

✔️ What lobbying Congress for IVF coverage taught him about patient access, years before it became his job

✔️ The FDA approval that came by phone call with no one to celebrate with, and what “let’s go to work” looked like the next day

✔️ How a team with no oncology or gene therapy experience got a first patient dosed in nine months

✔️ The four traits Rich screens for after 500 interviews: work ethic, humility, integrity, and maturity

✔️ His hot take on why pharma is too obsessed with the prescription, and where the investment needs to go instead

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Anand traces a career that started with a carefully written research proposal that fell apart within days of landing in Durban in 2004 — and the education that replaced it. From a missionary hospital where community health workers delivered outcomes matching, and sometimes beating, those in the United States, to a serendipitous board seat that opened the door to industry, he makes the case that community is the infrastructure and the patient runs the show.

Whether you work in medical affairs or commercialization, lead a startup, or simply want to make a bigger difference from inside a complex organization, this conversation is full of ideas you can put to work right away. The conversation dives into:

✔️ Why the smartest solutions he saw in South Africa cost almost nothing

✔️ How community and shared support drive real behavior change in chronic disease

✔️ How to bring a change-maker mindset into a big company without hitting a wall of sign-offs

✔️ His hot take on how AI will move healthcare messaging from monologue to dialogue

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Tinaz shares her journey — from physical therapy assistant, to launching blockbusters at Pfizer, to rebuilding at Amgen, to leading a blockbuster biosimilar launch at almost 50 with no marketing experience. Together, we unpack what resilience actually looks like in a pharma career, including:

✔️ Why failure is a prerequisite and not a red flag — "if you haven't failed, I'm not hiring you"

✔️ How stepping down to a smaller role became one of the smartest moves of her career

✔️ Why your network, not the application, is what actually opens the next door

✔️ Her three pillars — adaptable, persistent, resilient — and how to rebuild confidence after a setback

✔️ How she moved from sales into marketing at almost 50 with zero marketing experience

✔️ Her hot take: why the brutal job market is about to turn, and why AI will never replace showing up in person

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