What if the thing holding your career back isn’t your skills, but the beliefs you keep repeating?

🔍 What You’ll Learn:

Most STEM professionals don’t lack capability. They lack translation.

This short fire chat cuts straight through the common beliefs that keep people stuck in roles that don’t reflect what they’re actually capable of doing.

• Why “I’m just a scientist” is a dangerous story to keep telling yourself
• What working smart actually looks like when time and money are on the line
• How to define what “good enough” is, so you stop waiting and start moving

This is the shift from technical expert to someone who can shape opportunities, not just respond to them.

If you’re tired of waiting until you feel “ready,” play this episode and challenge the beliefs keeping you stuck.

🧠 About the Guest:

Ben Wright is a MedTech investor and operator who works with clinicians and scientists to build real companies, not just ideas.

As co-founder of Mimetic MedTech Foundry, he helps translate research into viable businesses by bringing in the right skills, structure, and strategy early on.

His perspective is grounded in reality, what actually works when money, time, and risk are involved.

📌 Episode Highlights:

00:00 The beliefs that quietly hold STEM professionals back

01:30 What a venture studio actually does differently

03:30 Why “I’m just a scientist” limits your career

04:30 The two key skills scientists need outside the lab: storytelling and customer understanding

05:50 What working smart actually means in startups

06:40 Why “perfect” is the wrong goal in the real world

07:40 How to define what’s good enough to move forward

08:30 The real cost of starting something, time, relationships, and risk

10:00 Why clarity on your path matters more than jumping into a startup

🔗 Resources Mentioned:

• 🎧 Full Interview with Ben Wright https://shows.acast.com/multiple-hats/episodes/69ce18e3057b5949959db955
• (Deep dive into MedTech, strategy, and why great technologies fail)
• Mimetic MedTech Foundry

🤔 Reflection Time:

1. What belief about your role or identity is quietly keeping you playing small?
2. Where are you waiting for “perfect” when “good enough” would already move you forward?
3. If you looked at your career like a system, what skill or gap would you fill next instead of pushing harder?

Want to craft a career story that opens doors?

I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the right opportunities find you.

📬 Let’s connect: angeliquegreco.com.au | LinkedIn

⭐️ Help More People Reinvent Their Careers

If you enjoyed this episode, please:

• ✅ Leave a quick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 🙏
• ♻️ Share it with a friend who's questioning their path in STEM

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why do some of the most brilliant medical technologies never reach patients, even when the science works?

🔍 What You’ll Learn:

If you’ve ever thought “build a great technology and the rest will follow,” this episode will challenge that fast. Because in healthcare, the system decides what survives, not just the science.

This conversation breaks down what actually makes or kills a MedTech company, and what you need to understand if you want to move from technical expertise to real-world impact.

• Why clinical workflow, incentives, and reimbursement matter more than your innovation
• The “value triangle” every MedTech product must satisfy to survive
• How to stop trying to be everything in a startup, and build the right team early

This is where a STEM career shifts from “doing the work” to understanding how the system works, and how to influence it.

If you want to think like a strategist, not just a scientist, play this episode and start seeing where great ideas actually fail.

🧠 About the Guest:

Ben Wright is a MedTech investor, advisor, and co-founder of Mimetic MedTech Foundry.

He started in biological sciences and hand transplant research, then moved into the business side after seeing firsthand that great technology alone doesn’t guarantee success.

Today, he works at the intersection of science, clinical practice, and business, helping turn early-stage ideas into viable companies by building the right structure around them.

📌 Episode Highlights:

00:00 Why great medical technologies fail despite strong science

03:00 From researcher to startup builder, the first reality check

06:30 Why accelerators don’t prepare founders for real MedTech timelines

10:00 Should scientific founders be CEOs?

14:00 The “value triangle”: clinical outcome, convenience, cost

18:00 The oral chemotherapy example, when incentives block better care

21:00 Why human behavior and workflow kill adoption

24:00 When better tech loses to incumbent business models

28:00 True disruption, and why it’s harder than you think

33:00 Why Australia struggles to fund MedTech innovation

38:00 What a venture studio actually does differently

46:00 A real MedTech failure story, and what it teaches about risk

🔗 Resources Mentioned:

• 🎧 Quick Fire Chat with Ben Wright
• https://shows.acast.com/multiple-hats/episodes/69ad4b747036d73902764808
• Mimetic MedTech Foundry
• 
  

🤔 Reflection Time:

1. Where are you focusing only on the “technology” in your work, and ignoring the system it needs to fit into?
2. If you stepped back, what part of your work is actually about influence, not execution?
3. What would change if you stopped trying to do everything yourself and built around your strengths instead?

This episode is a reality check.

Not to discourage you, but to show you where the real leverage is.

Want to craft a career story that opens doors?

I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the right opportunities find you.

📬 Let’s connect: angeliquegreco.com.au | LinkedIn

⭐️ Help More People Reinvent Their Careers

If you enjoyed this episode, please:

• ✅ Leave a quick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 🙏
• ♻️ Share it with a friend who's questioning their path in STEM

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Building Your STEM Safety Net: Cassie Leonard on Being the Only Woman Engineer at Boeing and Leaving Corporate to Coach and Publish

The episode of Multiple Hats, released for International Women’s Day 2024, revisits a recorded interview with aeronautical engineer Cassie Leonard, who spent 16 years at Boeing after entering a 35-man team as the only woman. Cassie describes her path from aerospace study at UCLA to persistence in applying to Boeing, early intimidation, and career growth through frequent internal “bounces” that stretched her technically and as a leader, supported by an organic network of mentors and advocates. She recounts a difficult double-stretch role during her mother’s stage-four brain cancer diagnosis and how her network helped her recover by finding a new position. Cassie explains leaving Boeing methodically to focus on developing early leaders and supporting STEM parents, self-publishing her book STEM Mum, starting Elm Coaching and Publishing, learning marketing, redefining success beyond paycheck, and aiming to amplify underrepresented voices in STEM.

00:00 Only Woman at Boeing

01:41 Meet Cassie Leonard

03:29 Engineering Roots and Role Models

04:38 What Aerospace Engineers Do

06:30 Culture Shock in Engineering Classes

08:14 Landing Boeing Through Persistence

09:55 Finding Your Voice on the Team

11:23 Career Growth in Two Dimensions

14:44 Support Networks as Safety Nets

17:38 When Life Forces a Reset

21:07 Why She Left After 16 Years

22:50 Motherhood in a Male Workplace

27:13 Building a Methodical Exit Plan

29:18 From Pro Bono Coaching to Business

30:50 Yoga Detour and Finding a Niche

32:54 Marketing Through Community and Boards

34:11 Book Framework Origins

35:00 Science Mindset Coaching

37:12 Whole Life Career Stories

37:54 Holistic Planning YOLO

39:39 Writing Editing Timeline

40:26 Self Publishing Elm Press

42:32 Money Mindset Metrics

46:36 Building Business Systems

48:07 Pricing Coaching Services

50:10 Marketing Website Authenticity

54:31 Targeted Volunteering Myths

56:53 Presenteeism Performance Debate

01:01:39 Redefining Work Life Balance

01:04:02 No Going Back

01:04:23 Inspiration Book Song

01:05:28 Final Takeaways Village

Want to craft a career story that opens doors?

I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the right opportunities find you.

📬 Let’s connect: angeliquegreco.com.au | LinkedIn

⭐️ Help More People Reinvent Their Careers

If you enjoyed this episode, please:

• ✅ Leave a quick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 🙏
• ♻️ Share it with a friend who's questioning their path in STEM

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beyond the Pipeline: Why Women Leave STEM, How to Spot Burnout, and Advocate for Real Change

This episode will put words on what many women in STEM feel but have not articulated.

The podcast episode critiques performative International Women’s Day gestures and focuses on lived experiences behind why women leave STEM, featuring three co-authors of the collaborative book Beyond the Pipeline: Cassie Leonard, Associate Professor Jessica Borger, and Dr. Belinda Bartolo.

The 3 authors represent 3 paths within the STEM sector, pivoting and staying to change the system from within.

Host Angelique shares her own career pivots and ongoing struggles with high expectations and fatigue, while the guests describe identity shifts, loss of joy, and turning points that led them to stay and advocate within systems or pivot into new paths.

They discuss systemic drivers of attrition—burnout, feeling undervalued/imposter syndrome, and bias—illustrating bias through examples tied to motherhood and career interruptions, as well as bias toward non-parents.

The conversation covers boundaries, redefining success, portfolio careers, four types of burnout, and advocacy that is collective and non-performative, including allies’ roles and examples of media-driven national-level change during the pandemic.

00:00 IWD Hype vs Reality

01:16 Meet the Authors

01:44 Host Story and Stakes

03:22 Jess Finds Her Voice

06:04 Filters and Advocacy

07:30 Belinda Loses the Joy

11:25 Cassie Pressured Out

14:07 Boundaries and Glass Balls

18:34 Portfolio Careers in STEM

21:15 Why Women Leave STEM

23:29 Bias Stories and Language

29:03 Motherhood And Imposter Syndrome

30:45 Fixing Parental Leave Systems

32:34 Bias Against Childfree Workers

34:21 Finding The Right Workplace Fit

36:13 Career Visibility For Students

37:20 Four Types Of Burnout

42:01 Breaking The Busy Culture

43:56 Advocacy Without Performative Gestures

47:22 Allies Speaking Up Effectively

50:16 Pandemic Anger To National Change

52:38 How Media Advocacy Snowballed

53:37 Final Takeaways

Want to craft a career story that opens doors?

I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the right opportunities find you.

📬 Let’s connect: angeliquegreco.com.au | LinkedIn

⭐️ Help More People Reinvent Their Careers

If you enjoyed this episode, please:

• ✅ Leave a quick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 🙏
• ♻️ Share it with a friend who's questioning their path in STEM

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beyond the Leaky Pipeline: Redefining Success and Keeping Women in STEM with Cassie Leonard

The episode of Multiple Hats, hosted by Angelique, addresses why women leave STEM,.

Citing a global survey where 50% leave due to burnout and lack of support, 40% for greater fulfillment, and 30% because of bias in career advancement, the authors of beyond the pipeline argue that the real challenge is retention rather than recruitment.

The host introduces a three-episode series on the “leaky pipeline” with authors of Beyond the Pipeline, a collaborative book carrying insights from 25 women in STEM worldwide and grounded in lived experience.

Guest Cassie Leonard, an aerospace engineer who left a senior management role at Boeing, discusses her identity shift in decoupling self-worth from paycheck and title, her FIRE-based financial choices, and how the book rejects the outdated pipeline metaphor in favor of a Rubik’s-cube model of complex, non-linear careers, organizing chapters around values/thriving, drivers of attrition, and solutions, and building an ongoing community via LinkedIn and Slack.

00:00 Why Women Leave STEM

00:46 Beyond Cupcakes Real Support

01:24 Series And Guest Preview

03:25 Meet Cassie Leonard

03:50 Why Write Beyond Pipeline

05:15 Rethinking Leaky Pipeline

06:54 Leaving Boeing Identity Shift

09:05 Redefining Success And Money

12:29 How 25 Authors Wrote Together

16:56 From Pipeline To Rubiks Cube

18:48 Community And Book Tour

20:01 Biggest Attrition Factor Bias

21:26 Ideal Worker Parent Paradox

24:17 Closing Takeaways Next Episode

Want to craft a career story that opens doors?

I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the right opportunities find you.

📬 Let’s connect: angeliquegreco.com.au | LinkedIn

⭐️ Help More People Reinvent Their Careers

If you enjoyed this episode, please:

• ✅ Leave a quick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 🙏
• ♻️ Share it with a friend who's questioning their path in STEM

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why job descriptions are narrow by design, and how to read between the lines to shape a bigger role.

This is my takeaway episode from my interview with Catherine O’Mahony, the founder of OnQ Recruitment (Recruitment in Life Sciences).

If you are delivering well but still feel boxed in, is the problem really you, or the way roles are designed?

Either way there are ways to expand!

🔍 What You’ll Learn:

This Quick Win episode is for STEM professionals who are no longer struggling with competence, but with scope. You know how to do the job. You meet the criteria. Yet the work feels too narrow, and the frustration keeps growing.

In this episode, you will learn:

• Why job descriptions are written narrowly, and why that does not automatically mean the role will stay narrow
• How ownership, vision, and visibility change what is possible inside a role
• When to shape breadth where you are, when to change environments, and when entrepreneurship becomes the right answer

Action:

Press play if you want a practical way to stop fighting job descriptions and start using them as an entry point instead of a ceiling.

🧠 About the Guest:

Catherine O’Mahony is the CEO and founder of OnQ Recruitment. With over 25 years hiring across the life sciences, Catherine brings a hiring-side view on why roles are designed the way they are, where flexibility really exists, and how careers actually move forward in real organisations.

This Quick Win episode is drawn from the full-length Multiple Hats conversation with Catherine, where we go deeper into beyond-the-box careers, hiring risk, salary transparency, advocates, and entrepreneurship.

📌 Episode Highlights:

00:00 When competence is no longer the problem

01:30 Why job descriptions optimise for delivery, not vision

03:00 Ownership, why your career is not your line manager’s job

05:30 Vision and visibility, seeing opportunities and being seen

08:30 Advocates vs mentors, who actually opens doors

11:30 Reading between the lines of narrow job descriptions

14:00 De-risking yourself, depth first, breadth second

17:00 Where breadth is structurally possible, small vs big companies

21:30 Portfolio careers and not asking one job to meet every need

24:00 When entrepreneurship becomes the answer

29:00 The real signal behind feeling boxed in

🔗 Resources Mentioned:

• Full interview episode with Catherine O’Mahony on Multiple Hats
• OnQ Recruitment Salary Survey – https://www.onqrecruitment.com.au
• 
  

🤔 Reflection Time:

1. Where do you currently feel boxed in, and what capability of yours is going unused?
2. Are you waiting for permission to grow, or actively shaping visibility and advocates?
3. If this role cannot stretch further, is the next move redesigning it, changing environment, or building something of your own?

Want to craft a career story that opens doors?

I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the right opportunities find you.

📬 Let’s connect: angeliquegreco.com.au | LinkedIn

⭐️ Help More People Reinvent Their Careers

If you enjoyed this episode, please:

• ✅ Leave a quick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 🙏
• ♻️ Share it with a friend who's questioning their path in STEM

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A rapid-fire reality check on why STEM professionals stay stuck, and how to move anyway

What if the real thing holding your STEM career back is not your skills, but the story you keep telling yourself?

🔍 What You’ll Learn:

This short Fire Chat is for STEM professionals who know they have more range than their current role allows, but keep hitting the same mental brakes. In a fast, no-fluff format, we tackle the beliefs that quietly stall momentum.

You will learn:

• Why “I’m just a scientist” is one of the most limiting stories STEM professionals repeat, and what actually transfers across roles and industries
• How to tell when perfection matters, and when it is just procrastination in disguise
• Why waiting until you have more time, money, or certainty is still a decision, and often the riskiest one

Action:

Press play if you want a sharp reset on how to stop overthinking and start moving with what you already have.

🧠 About the Guest:

Catherine O’Mahony is the CEO and founder of OnQ Recruitment. With 25 years of experience hiring across the life sciences, Catherine has seen firsthand why capable STEM professionals underestimate their value, and what actually helps people break out of narrow career lanes.

📌 Episode Highlights:

00:00 The self-limiting beliefs STEM professionals carry

01:10 Why science skills transfer further than you think

02:40 Analytical thinking, process discipline, and communication as hidden strengths

03:30 Working smart vs working hard, and when to stop doing everything yourself

04:40 Done vs perfect, how to judge what “good enough” really means

05:30 Will your work speak for itself, or do you need to advocate?

06:40 The first step, de-risking action and why inaction is still a choice

🔗 Resources Mentioned:

• OnQ Recruitment – https://www.onqrecruitment.com.au
• Full interview episode with Catherine O’Mahony on Multiple Hats
• 
  

🤔 Reflection Time:

1. Which excuse do you default to most often, time, money, skill, or certainty?
2. Where are you aiming for perfect when acceptable would be enough to move forward?
3. If not acting is still a decision, what is that decision costing you right now?

Want to craft a career story that opens doors?

I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the right opportunities find you.

📬 Let’s connect: angeliquegreco.com.au | LinkedIn

⭐️ Help More People Reinvent Their Careers

If you enjoyed this episode, please:

• ✅ Leave a quick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 🙏
• ♻️ Share it with a friend who's questioning their path in STEM

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You are a STEM professional and you tick every box on paper, so why do you still feel boxed in, underused, or quietly restless at work?

🔍 What You’ll Learn:

If you are a STEM professional who has done everything right but feels stuck in a narrow lane, this episode is for you.

We unpack the dynamics shaping recruitment and job seeking and how you can find breadth beyond the job description and when to build your own box with insights from Catherine's own founder journey.

You will learn:

• What actually makes a STEM candidate stand out beyond the job description, and why EQ, delivery, and motivation matter more than endless upskilling
• Why most companies hire you to stay in your lane, and how to deliberately create breadth without burning trust or credibility
• How to take ownership of your career, whether that is shaping a role internally, choosing the right company size, or stepping into entrepreneurship

Hit play if you want practical, grounded advice on how to design a STEM career that fits your life, not just your CV.

This episode was recorded in July 2025 but Catherine's word are as relevant today as they were a few months back.

🧠 About the Guest:

Catherine O’Mahony is the CEO and founder of OnQ Recruitment, which she started 25 years ago. With a background in science and decades of experience placing talent across the life sciences, Catherine brings a rare dual perspective, how careers are built inside organisations, and how creating your own business can be a deliberate career move rather than a leap into chaos.

📌 Episode Highlights:

00:00 Why high-performing STEM professionals still feel underused

03:45 How STEM recruitment has changed since 1999, from fax machines to LinkedIn

07:00 What makes a stellar candidate beyond technical skills

10:41 Learning fast vs delivering value, where many STEM professionals trip up

15:00 Employer value proposition, power shifts after COVID, and what changed back

22:00 Salary transparency, equity, and what the data really shows in life sciences

27:40 Why women are still underrepresented at the top, and the role of advocates

32:10 Beyond the job description, breadth vs depth and choosing the right company size

38:00 Why career ownership is not your manager’s job

45:00 Catherine’s founder story, the real first step to starting a business

52:00 Rapid-fire truths on transferable skills, perfectionism, and taking action

🔗 Resources Mentioned:

• OnQ Recruitment Salary Survey – https://www.onqrecruitment.com.au
• Company Directors Course (AICD) – https://aicd.com.au

🤔 Reflection Time:

1. Where in your current role are you delivering value, and where are you quietly bored but staying silent?
2. Do you want more depth, more breadth, or more control, and which environment actually supports that?
3. What is one conversation or small action you could take this month to stop waiting and start shaping your path?

Want to craft a career story that opens doors?

I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the right opportunities find you.

📬 Let’s connect: angeliquegreco.com.au | LinkedIn

⭐️ Help More People Reinvent Their Careers

If you enjoyed this episode, please:

• ✅ Leave a quick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 🙏
• ♻️ Share it with a friend who's questioning their path in STEM

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.