Guest Sara Paisner, Dartmouth ’96, had a teacher who brought the sciences alive for her early in life. She was drawn to chemistry in particular, with its explosions and crystals and what seemed like magic. It seemed a logical path to study chemistry in college and go directly into a PhD program. But along the way, she learned that academic research wasn’t what she thought it would be. She chose her postdoc someplace that would put her close to industry—specifically the Research Triangle of North Carolina. She began her industry work creating the materials that would go into microhips. And every job seemed to get her closer and closer to the customer, which she loved. But she discovered the irony of educational attainment: Nobody thinks a PhD is well suited for the business world.

Despite having three small children at the time, she decided to pursue an MBA. She found that marketing and product strategy—particularly for scientific companies—let her meld her skills perfectly and a number of companies thought so, too. But at some point, as much as she enjoyed being part of another company’s team, an offer to buy a business that she had long declined resurfaced one more time and she seized the opportunity to run her own thing.

In this episode, find out from Sara how changing other people’s minds about you can be is as important as changing your own mind about where opportunity lives.…on ROADS TAKEN...with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

Dr. Sara Paisner is owner and president of Synoptic Products, a medical products distribution company based in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area. She is also an avid sailor, martial arts enthusiast, and mother.

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Email the show at RoadsTakenShow@gmail.com

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at RoadsTakenShow@gmail.com

Chemical Attraction: Sara Paisner on getting close to the customer and using what you know

Roads Taken