Vice President of Member Relations at Georgia Bio; Former Postdoc, Department of Physiology; 2000-2002
Interview by Claire L Jarvis, PhD
Postdoctoral Scientist, Department of Chemistry
Stephen MacDonald received his Neuroscience MSc and PhD from the University of Manitoba. He left Canada in 2000 to start a postdoc at Emory University, where he studied spinal cord physiology. Stephen’s first job was as a patent agent. Over the years he became more involved in the Atlanta business community, receiving an MBA in 2008, serving on non-profit boards and managing an angel investor network. He became Vice President of Member Relations for the trade association Georgia Bio in 2017.
How did you get your current position at Georgia Bio?
After my first year as a postdoc back in 2001 I started going to Georgia Bio meetings. They were doing breakfast meetings every month, so I’d go to those first thing in the morning then go to lab and work. It was really good to start my networking early – that’s probably the main lesson I learned.
I was hired by Holland & Knight as a patent agent in 2002. From Holland & Knight I went to Kilpatrick Stockton then King & Spalding, where I’ve been for the rest of my career. In 2006 I went back to Georgia State to get my MBA, only to finish when the economy died. So I stayed in patent law, took a sabbatical for a year then got into non-profit work. I was helping out Southeast Bio, an investor forum in the region, with membership, fundraising and stuff like that.
Two years ago in 2016 the President of Georgia Bio reached out to me and said they were looking for someone to be the managing director of their new angel investor network and Vice-President of Member Relations for Georgia Bio. He thought I’d be a good fit because of my science background, my business background and because after 16 years in the community I already knew a ton of people. Getting this position took a lot of networking. I built the relevant skill-set so when the opportunity came knocking I was suited.
Describe your current daily routine.
I spend about half of my time at King & Spalding prosecuting patent applications for clients - it’s a big part of who I am, I’m good at it. The other half of my time I spend recruiting, managing members and helping with events at Georgia Bio. Sprinkled on top is some freelance medical writing. I recently gave up my role with the angel investor network – that role needed a full-time person and I was juggling too many things to give it the attention it needed.
It works for me. A lot of people need to have one job, one revenue stream. I’ve actually found I enjoy wearing multiple hats – it allows me to access the different facets of who I am. In his book ‘Career Judo’ John Long calls it job crafting – where you literally create your own career. When started my postdoc I knew I wanted a non-academic career - but I’ve taken a non-academic career and made it into something that is even less traditional.
Before becoming the VP of Member Relations, you founded Georgia Bio’s Emerging Leaders Network. What motivated you?
Around 2005 when I was working in patent law, Georgia Bio approached me and said, “We’re having issues with brain drain - folks are graduating from our universities and leaving Georgia because they think there are no opportunities here.” They wanted to create a young professionals network to engage students and postdocs: help them develop professionally, create business networks and find opportunities so they stay in Georgia. I pulled together a great team of people, including grad students and professionals. We created a whole host of programs specifically to engage this market and provide resources for them. I was awarded Georgia Bio's Emerging Leader of the Year for this work in 2008 and I’m grateful to say many of those programs are still in place today.
As a result of the universities being members of Georgia Bio, all the grad students and postdocs are automatic members of Georgia Bio and the Emerging Leaders Network, so it doesn’t cost them anything to join, get on the ELN mailing list and attend events at member rate. A lot of the costs are even waived for students.
What advice do you have for postdocs about networking?
- A network is something you have to grow and cultivate, you can’t turn it on like a light switch.
- Networking is not about asking for things, it’s about two-way relationships. You build them over time by listening to other people, finding out what they want and introducing them to people you know. Then as what you are looking for comes out organically, people will be motivated to help you.
- Build your network early and build it broad, even if you don’t know what you want to do. Use your networking activities to find out what people do and how they got there.
- Keep your network hot. If you get a job, let your network go cold then get laid off, people aren’t going to remember who you are.
- Clearly I’m an extrovert, that’s why I’ve been recruited into this position. Some folks who come through the sciences have much more introverted personalities, so when I say “go and network” they get totally overwhelmed by the prospect of walking into a room with 500 people. Networking can be like that, but is also about identifying ‘networking hubs’: those people like myself who are the connectors. If you foster a very tight relationship with these connectors you have a network by extension.
What other resources should Emory postdocs take advantage of?
Atlanta is a ‘big small town’. If you start attending Georgia Bio meetings regularly you’ll meet some really senior level folks - it’s easier than if you were in a larger biotech center. Frankly, I think it’s a great community for postdocs to build their business networks here. The connections you make locally extend way beyond the city, even internationally.
From a training perspective there’s a lot of resources. There are internship opportunities with companies, there are professional development programs offered through the universities. For example, Emory has the history of taking on interns in their tech transfer office. Those kinds of opportunities exist to get some relevant work experience and make that person more marketable for positions. It’s about getting that experience and waiting for those opportunities to manifest.
This interview was published in July 2018.