by: Terrence Magee

It was Nelson Mandela, who was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, who once said,

“It is in the character of growth that we should learn from both pleasant and unpleasant experiences.”

Over the course of my professional career, eighteen years in consumer goods manufacturing and quality and the past fifteen years within pharmaceutical, medical device, and clinical trials and now as project manager in life sciences, I have worked with both large household name enterprises to medium and small companies in varying positions of authority and leadership. Throughout my career progression, I have first-hand experience of the various management theories of the 1980’s, 1990’s, and 2000’s, my desire to work in a culture of integrity, respect and teamwork has never wavered. I have always had a fervent desire to find and thrive in an organization I could call a Lugar Seguro. A physical and emotionally safe working environment where people can freely express themselves without fear of prejudice or negative judgement.  At the core, my story is about finding a place where your personal and professional growth really matters from both pleasant and unpleasant experiences, the words Nelson Mandela spoke so eloquently.

I am the eldest son of two younger sisters raised in a home of hard working and loving parents. Mom and dad were working professionals having attended historically Black Colleges and universities (HBCU) during a time of racial divide at the advent of the civil rights moment of the mid-fifties in the south. At an early age, my two sisters and I – and eventually my wife and her family – were raised during the sixties and seventies. My parents instilled in me a keen work ethic and a curiosity for education with a particular interest in the life sciences. This appetite for higher education and opportunity continued into my young career, marriage, and the raising of my family. After graduating from a local university in my hometown of Pomona, California, I interviewed with Miller Brewing Company and was presented with employment as an Inventory Coordinator within the shipping and receiving department. What was intended to be a short employment stint until I decided what I wanted to do with my life and career continued over the next thirteen years. For me, working was in part a means to an end however, on the other hand, I wanted my work life to be more than coming to work, putting in the hours, going home, getting up the next day and every two weeks receiving a paycheck. During the early 1980’s and through the mid 1990’s, I worked over-time, first, second and graveyard, worked most weekends and holidays to save money. Although I remained undecided about the course of my career, I took advantage of the opportunities to cross trains in other areas and after the first two years of employment, transferred to quality control. It was there I worked as a raw materials technician, chemist, and finished product quality supervisor. It was during those years that I began to pursue civic activities Miller Brewing Company was advancing and supporting locally and nationally. It was during the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, where I watched the chaos and destruction unfold on television near Los Angeles. I remember telling myself I had to do something to help the residents. The next day, I went to the plant manager’s office to express my thoughts. At the time, I had no idea of the outpouring of support I was to receive. The Public Relations department gave me a $12,000 check at that time to purchase nonperishables to assemble food baskets for the displaced residents of South-Central LA and neighboring Korea Town. In addition, the production group dedicated two bottle lines to bottle fresh water. In all, there were two truckloads of food and water dispatched to local warehouses in Los Angeles. Over the years, I volunteered at donation events during Christmas and Easter holidays. For me, volunteering and giving of my time and talents was a safe place for me and other employees who openly joined the effort I was championing. Looking back, I was making a difference in a world where I struggled to find my place. But for that period, I was in a happy place.

As a typical father with a family to support, I had great plans and ambitions to work hard, learn and make steady career advancements. If this meant uprooting the family and moving to what appeared as greener pastures, I was willing to do this. About a year following the untimely passing of dad due to cancer, I felt overwhelmed and increasingly unsatisfied with my career at Miller Brewing. I worked hard, long hours, received periodic recognition from leadership yet, it was not enough. I wanted something Miller Brewing could not provide. For the longest time, I worked overtime, weekends, and took on special assignments all to find that safe place. As I reflect on this period, I had fallen into a cycle of unfulfillment. Despite the career movement with continued bumps in pay, there was a short-lived sense of accomplishment. I recall shaking it off and continuing through the years to work longer hours that continued to place a huge toll on my personal time with family, leading to a commitment to more hours away from home and overnight travel. With the steady advancement in position, and change in industry, I used my prior experience to lead my team and acquired new and advanced skill sets. Unfortunately, despite the success of my leadership and success of the teams I was leading, the companies’ finances were not in the best place and led to increased scrutiny and layoffs. Additionally, with a few of the organizations I joined, the window of onboarding was increasingly short with little to no training program, standard operating procedures, and management governance. Moreover, the morale of the regular members was subsequently extremely low, and this led to what is commonly referred to as caustic environments where there was no safe place. And where the work environments were better than most in terms of work life balance, compensation and benefits, my values did not always align with the values and behaviors of the company I was so heavily invested in.

Despite the challenging work cultures, I worked hard and decided I had done all I could do in the consumer goods industry and wanted to follow a health care and life sciences path. I had a degree in biological sciences and had taken several courses in learning six sigma and project management. I joined Hospira in late 2007 and quickly took on assignments and positions that used my past experiences but would now be used in the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) pharmaceutical and medical device industry. I thoroughly enjoyed my evolving role of Quality Continuous Improvement Manager while with Hospira Inc, a midsized pharmaceutical and medical device organization. I joined the organization in 2007 and quickly assimilated into the role and the lean six-sigma culture movement at that time. While in my corporate role, I found my stride working alongside diverse manufacturing teams on a global scale and had a seat at the table with implementing change that resulted in quality leadership awarding me the company quality culture champion award. It was by far one of the most rewarding achievements for something I enjoyed and that was working with and implementing impactful change.

During my time with Hospira, I met Denise Bachman, a colleague who was a most capable, high spirited and respected Project Manager who reported into a departmental senior leader and someone I was also assigned to support. Denise and I had many conversations about the project work she was supporting, and I always found her disposition and perspectives on work to be uplifting. When her assignment was completed, for a period we stayed connected. As with many professional connections, people pursue other endeavors that take them in other career paths and directions.

Towards the end of 2016, Hospira was bought by Pfizer, and about a year after their acquisition, Pfizer transitioned the majority of Hospira employees to new positions and others to employment outside the organization and I was also forced to find new employment. Over the next six to seven years, I took on challenges of increasing responsibility and pivoted from pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing to the clinical trial space working as quality director with clinical trial sponsors and CROs. The work was exciting and truly an extension of the quality and continuous improvement work from my experiences with Hospira. In some cases, I was back in my element and yet there existed a misalignment between my values and those of the company. The hours were long, and the risks were high with how the company I worked for grew its footprint and bought new business. In some cases, the business-as-usual model from 20 years ago was no longer the formula for success and the values did not align with their customers in terms of speed to market, technology, and quality of services. Moreover, many of the company values that fueled my workplace happiness and satisfaction were missing. Things such as open dialogue, trust, encouraging gratitude, promoting diversity, equity and inclusion programming, a focus on freedom and individuality, investing in leadership and regular members, working on company mission, and having a safe place to talk to name a critical few, were missing.

Over the course of the next seven years, I worked in various capacities where I made a wide range of contributions yet at times, I was stuck in a maze finding it difficult to navigate the company culture. I had the cool work titles, generous compensation, company travel along with all the outward appearances of success. Finding a job was never the challenge but finding a safe place where I could thrive, be in a happy place, have a better home – workplace balance is what I needed most. I longed to join an organization where there was an environment of open dialogue. By this time in my career, I had successfully collaborated with colleagues of varying backgrounds and perspectives. However, on many occasions, most played it safely and by not discussing politics or controversial topics. There was little to no encouragement to discuss differences in thought and decision making. Where would I find such an organization?

In November 2023 after working for a small start-up life sciences consulting firm, where I made significant contributions in helping the founder and principal consultant develop the quality strategy to meet her customer’s needs, decided they would not be able to go ahead and laid off their employees. Shortly after the notification and expressing my gratitude for the opportunity, I took a few weeks off to develop a job search game plan. After speaking with my family, I decided to continue to use my experiences and connections through Linked In. In early December of that year, I reconstructed with Denise, my dear colleague and friend from our days at Hospira eight years prior. Following what was a series of networking calls between Denise and I, she described who she was working with and the two leaders she collaborated with at BPM Associates. What struck me throughout all our conversations was Denise’s enthusiasm for the organization and the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging program BPM was promoting. Could this be the organization I was looking for? Would the work keep me stimulated? Would I be in a safe place where I could continue to use my skills, be challenged to learn new skills and be the best version of myself both at work and home?

Denise requested a copy of my resume and offered to introduce me to Steve Vinson, CEO of BPM and shortly after, I met with Jeremy Opperman, founder of the organization. On both of those virtual video calls, I found both gentlemen easy-going, soft-spoken yet comforting and respectful. In my past interview experiences with executives at the C-level, there was often a failure or success entirely tone but not in the least bit with either of these gentlemen. In fact, Denise hosted both calls and allowed the conversation to flow organically, which was a refreshing touch. I was learning all I could about BPM Associates firsthand from the leadership team and they in turn were learning about me. It was not until June of 2023 when I got a call from Denise saying she had the right project for me… BPM Associates is headquartered in Fishers, Indiana and I am in southern California, I would work remotely with occasional travel. Among the many benefits, I had the choice of working either full time, as either a salaried employee or a contract employee. Could all of this be true I thought? In late June, I started my onboarding program and rather than being turned over to a fellow colleague or someone in Human Resources, I met with Denise who presented me an onboarding checklist outlining all of the steps, including policies and procedures I needed to become successful in my new role at BPM. I was at the beginning of a new and exciting career in project management with a life sciences organization when most of my age were nearing the end of their careers and thinking about retirement. During my first few weeks of onboarding, I was immersed in all things BPM culture to include their mission, vision and DEIB program. I found Denise, Steve, and Jeremy and the rest of my team members to be most serious yet excited about the journey they were on with DEIB becoming an integral part of their business model.

In early July 2024, I was assigned my first yet complex project. I was assigned to Hassan Hashem, a middle aged, seasoned project manager who also knew Denise from a prior company and who had worked at BPM for the past five years. I remember meeting Hassan, of course the first time. We met for about an hour to review the Project Management and Development (PM&D) Checklist. Our conversation was cordial enough, however, the time felt rushed and a bit robotic. As my primary go too, my first impression of Hassan was that he was extremely familiar with BPM practices, culture, and that of the client. Hassan was not shy about expressing the makeup of the team I was on. I did not meet Hassan again for two weeks while he was out on a trip and during that time, I met with the client team and project sponsor. Throughout my onboarding, I learned that BPM has had a long working relationship with its clients and that their business relationship is built on closely familiar values and DEIB principles.

I was new to BPM and was chosen to represent the company as Project Manager to a client in the life sciences industry. As project manager, I would be responsible for managing the design and implementation of new medical device equipment. I wanted to get off to a fast beginning. I absorbed all of BPM’s policies and procedures to include the clients learning plan that was outlined for me. After Hassan returned, I set time on our calendars to meet and begin to get his perspective on the project from his point of view. The conversation the second time around was filled with many details on the processes, systems, and people I would need to facilitate. I was accustomed to project management processes. This was my first project of its size and complexity involving a strong engineering focus. To be successful in the project, I knew I needed to gain the trust and cooperation of the project team members, many of whom have been with the client for many years and possessed technical knowledge of the medical device packaging lines I was to project manage. I also knew Hassan possessed a great deal of knowledge and had gained the respect of the team I was to manage. The building of our working relationship was going to be crucial because he was the program director representing BPM, my first line manager between BPM and the client. Hassan asked to be included in all my team meetings. At first, I resisted the thought of having my direct line attend all my meetings. For one, I initially thought the team would lean on him if I did not have the answer. Would he attempt to take over if the group sensed I did not have a mastery of the project details? Then there was Hassan’s familiarity with the client’s systems and procedures to include the working relationships he had formed with Denise over the past five years. How was I to get up to speed on such a complex project without appearing to be the newest project manager? Hassan, Denise, and I had a touch base meeting early on. The type of session where Denise as COO sat back as I shared my concerns with Hassan. To my surprise, Hassan was very receptive to my concerns and put my concerns at ease. His willingness to listen to my concerns with his extensive knowledge and familiarity with my project team were put to rest based on his words but I needed to see proof in Hassan’s behavior with just the two of us and during the team meetings I would facilitate with the project team.

During the initial project team meeting, the project sponsor invited Hassan, several project stewards, the program manager for the study, and me to a meeting. We went around the room introducing ourselves to each other. When it was time for Hassan to speak, he briefly spoke a few words about himself and took time to share some tidbits about my background. I was pleasantly surprised to hear the kind words on my behalf. From that meeting forward, I began to let go of the apprehension, fear, and doubt. The rear-view mirror that represented past hurt and disappointments dissolved. I began to see BPM as a safe place with having the freedom to express my thoughts and perspectives. My ideas and experiences mattered. I may have been the giraffe at the pond with the zebras, wildebeest, antelope, and lions. At BPM, the atmosphere is authentic and genuine. Everyone from the founder, CEO, COO, Directors, and staff are extremely helpful and genuine. One of the cornerstone principles of BPM leadership is stressing and fostering work-life balance among its employees. Many companies promote the same, however, at BMP and during our team meetings and one on ones with management, the emphasis on a work-life balance is reinforced through conversation. As with project management companies, project work is captured, measured and work hours are forecasted and billed. I have weekly touch base meetings with both my program manager and the COO who also function as a Program Director. During my weekly touch bases, we discuss project deliverables, accomplishments, raise risks for discussion and resolution and any other issues both personal and work related, and I appreciate the cadence and objectives of these meetings. The meetings are for my benefit and create a safe place to discuss whatever you need to discuss and clear the air. At planned intervals, growth plans are discussed which many companies perform. The difference with BPM is they are not tied to compensation which places the motivation on employee growth across professional and personal goal achievement. BPM Associates is progressive and growing with an emphasis on building and sustaining the DEIB program of routine assessments and improvement planning. It has been several months since the initial project onboarding meeting between Hassan and me to include the initial project team kick off, meeting the project team and facilitating all the various aspects of the project from A to Z. When drafting this story and my experiences, I often reflect on what Nelson Mandella said about the character of growth that leads us to learn from both pleasant and unpliant experiences and I am working at my best due in part to the support given to me from BPM leadership and Hassan. I would be remiss if I did not mention my resilience played a part with setting aside fear of failure, apprehension, and doubt. I am in a safe place, where I can be authentic, have the freedom to express and communicate in a way that is not apologetic. My ideas are heard, and I am challenged to be the best version of myself. I enjoy what I do. I can experience the incremental stages of the project and all the process steps that must be taken for the success of the project. I am challenged every day to be at my best. At the same time, I am challenged to take care of myself physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Throughout my life and career, I was continually searching for that safe place. And as they say, it is the journey and not the destination that matters most. To me, the life sciences is a journey of curiosity, and an intellectual pursuit to find the answers to life’s most elusive discoveries. And, just when scientists and researchers have found a solution, there are more questions to be answered. At BPM, I am not alone. We as employees are charged and empowered to help our clients meet their goals and objectives.