Sultans of Sales #8 - Traci Rademacher

welcome to the sultans of spine podcast i'm your host jamil pendleton i'm so excited that you tuned in today because today you get to meet the great tracy uh i met tracy a long time ago 2009 and so math tells me that's over a decade ago and um tracy and i'll let i'll let you introduce yourself here in a minute but you you were an army brat you grew up you were born in japan which i don't think until i prepared for this episode i didn't even know that about you uh very interested in there it's one of the most beautiful amazing countries i've ever been you moved around like a lot of army families every few years of your life um graduated and left for the army base basic training at fort leonard and uh and then combat medic surgical assistant training in san antonio you were one of the exclusive members of the walter reed spine team right with surgeons like dr paulie and dr kuclo incredible stuff in the military and so so thank you so much for your service it's just one of the many things that i love about you is your your dedication to this country thanks um you know i i've seen your path and i think that maybe it's better told by you but you transitioned from the scrub tech environment to the hillside and what's interesting about that is in this time where now there's a lot of people trying to get in and break into to this world some of the best to ever do it uh we're already getting that clinical expertise um you know in the hospital setting so like scott newcaster who taught me um from green to a little bit dangerous and then you and your who taught me a lot more when i when i came to austin and joined joint medtronic and so look i thank you so much for joining again if you've seen this sultan's spine podcast you know that there's not really like a strict format tracy that we need to follow you know there's a few things that i that i sent you ahead of time uh and i'd love to ask those questions but um without further ado thank you so much and thank you for your dedication to medtronic february will be 14 years yeah which is amazing and incredible in the sales world so thank you for joining yeah thanks for having me look you know i kind of like that things have been flowing so well right it doesn't always have to be so scripted i mean you kind of you kind of gauge the experience engage the conversation so far it's been great jay so i really feel honored to be on and thank you for for asking me to come on um yeah you kind of just explained a lot of my you know coming into the sales side i mean i you know clinical it's one of the things that i am a firm believer in i mean whether you're in sales or not i mean you have got to have that clinical mindset i mean first and foremost um the patient comes first right and that comes whether it's sales clinical anything so i mean that mindset is is something that you know no matter what side you're on needs to take precedence right so um i mean i think that being on the clinical side it really kind of helps that more and kind of makes you more sort of realize that you're a part of the team right you're not just there to sell something you're you're part of the solution right i mean that's one of the great things that medtronic um you know fosters not just as a company in an organization but just in us individually and i think that that's so important you know in the clinical side really in my opinion kind of breeds that in at an early you know yeah from day one i was uh and i mentioned this on another podcast um episode i believe monty's that you i i saw early on the value of a rep through what you did and and it's not as much it honestly sometimes did not have much to do at all about the solutions that that we bring from our company but it was more so your servant leadership your value to the nursing uh or or to anyone in that room it's again we talk about the ecosystem a lot and our goal is to improve patient care and our goal is to help that surgery go well and you showed me a whole new way to do that um just in a different approach and and where did you learn that is that something that when you were a scrub tech you saw the reps and you're like hey i'm not gonna do that or hey that's something i mean where did that develop and you know for you um you know that's a good question i think i think it came with watching a lot of different folks in the room and seeing what not to do and what to do for sure i mean you can see a lot of like oh don't say that don't do that no note yourself right check um but yeah i mean i think it it's really just and i love uh monty said it best i mean and i've always said this it really is like it's almost like a dance or it's like it like an orchestra you know you sit there and you watch everybody has everybody's so valuable in that room or not right i mean some people sit on their phone up against the wall don't contribute at all so don't do that no be a part of the team i mean it goes from everything from gosh the trash bag's overflowing the nurse is charging she's running for drugs that you know i'm in the rep in the room there's no reason i can't bag a trash for them you know just little things you know moving a pedal because the nurse is like calling in labs and doing all this i mean so many people are so busy in that or and one person's not more important than the other you know i mean it's really a team effort and so i think if if you kind of go into that and observe and watch it's the best thing you can do observe and watch you will start to see where you can provide value and where you can just simply serve and help i mean that's the biggest thing right is how how can we help you know it's exactly so true it's it's simple but it's difficult to do right it's simple but it's not always done because you have it let's be honest we're there to serve a purpose you you know this is our this is our job this is how you feed your family right so but but i think that the good ones the great ones realize that there's a difference in in those subtleties and that's where you shine and also the other thing it's almost like let's say somebody's going through a tough time like somebody somebody somebody's you know loss of a family member or even a joyous event like like a pregnancy with twins and and these these parents are just drowning in diapers you know it's not so much hey what do you need anything you need let me know it's like hey what time works for you i'm going to come bring a casserole and it's really just it's it's it's a weird analogy but my point is it's just you just go right to the help you know that trash is overflowing and eventually someone needs to take it out or someone needs to just re you know do that so that when they are opening things in sterile uh technique when there are times in the surgery where speed is important right you know implant whatever it is that the trash isn't overflowing at that time it's it's a little subtle things that make you so special and no doubt in my mind tracy that that's why you've been successful for 14 plus years oh thank you those little things yeah and i think i think you definitely nailed it it is the little things right and paying attention to those little things are are so important yeah yeah and so do you think that that's how do you think that that's what's helped you build relationships i mean throughout your career i mean what has happened i mean i think i mean i'd like to think so i mean i think it's really just recognizing like i see you right i see you're busy i see you need help like and you know that that's also a very fine walk with some people as well so it's really kind of learning the individual learning the room learning the environment because you and i both know that sometimes when you're in an environment where everybody wants to shine everybody wants to show that they can do it all and be of value you might come across as stepping on some people's toes right like i i got this like you don't you don't have to do this for me kind of thing right right so there's some of that too and i think it's it's it's recognizing and being a little intuitive reading and understanding people and their personalities and what they like and maybe what they don't like you know there's often times where you know when we have to go into a lot of accounts never stepped foot in there before first time working with these nurses texts doctors i mean i kind of go in there with the mindset of like y'all know this room and this surgeon and this environment far more than i do i'm really just here to help in any way i can i'm not gonna sit here and tell you he likes this handle over this handle if you know he likes this you pull out whatever you know he likes and i'm just here to help versus oh he's gonna want this or she's gonna want this she's gonna because it already comes off as like oh you know them huh you know you know i think it's kind of reading some of that in environments and and individuals and situations that i think you know i'd like to hope that it makes people feel like i'm not coming there to to take over anything to change anything to step on any toes i'm really simply there to be a team member and to help and provide solutions backup plans you know at what point thank you for that and i want to take a step back to one of the things i mentioned in your intro you know you were you were scrub tech you've done a lot of great things you know a great career there and i've known we've both known and worked with some great scrub techs here in central texas but they're they're the unsung heroes right right and so at what point did you think or did that transition you know materialize in your mind of that that you can do sales which is which is definitely a different muscle yeah you know it's really interesting because i think for a while um i was offered and asked and just avoided it because my mindset of what sales was is not at all what i'm currently doing right so that's like a common thing when like you know you talk with toby and all these like i know we want to be a lawyer yeah this is right now like no i didn't i was a scrub tech so i know i saw these sales reps um but in my mind i was like no no i just i can't do that and uh it took a while before um someone here locally was like you know what i think you might need to really evaluate what you think the sales side is on on this he goes because to be honest with you you know this more than any spine rep i've ever worked with including myself you know like he's like i really think you have um in your mind that it's going to be something different and he's like and you are so clinically proficient in fines in particular because that was just my baby i i realized at a very early age that um and i think i mentioned this to you that like money is not everything right i mean happiness means more and um and so i was like you know you know okay i guess i'll give it a thought and i'll think about it and had a couple phone calls and and you know kind of really laid it out and i was like you know what i'll give it a try and uh yeah and i've never looked back so glad you did yeah i'm sorry you you had a big impact on me thanks jack i still do no absolutely i love every every every moment we spend together is valuable to me uh always uh you know your email signature with the emerson quote you've got like just such a i mean i love the way you approach things you're intentional about what you do whether it be the relationship with your kids and your family your relationship with your work family um you know you always did such a great job of of leading that team in terms of um you know the the the team approach to growing business right which is a unique one there's so much of the individualism of sales and so it's just like me me me but yet you completely are you go the other way and it's team team team and there's no i in team right we know that yeah is that something that maybe you you learned growing up or the in the army or what where yeah i mean that definitely was the foundation for me right i mean you know you kind of briefly touched on it i was an army brat so my dad was you know retired army um did a lot of things i don't know because he was military intelligence you know it kind of sounds like an oxymoron but he was military intelligence for the longest time and i have like no idea what he did nor did my mom for 17 years right but i mean it was still it was such a foundation of like even you know going to something as simple as like i moved every three to four years of my life right and i have a sibling i have a brother and it was literally just my mom my dad me and my brother and it was really established well on we're in this together there's no just you or him or me or it is us and we are all uprooting leaving not knowing anyone going to a new world new new country new state you know and so it really was the foundation and still to this day is with as our family grows and grandchildren and children all this not my grandmother but my parents um this is all this is a family it's it's we're in it together so i think that's definitely been the number one foundation but the thing that i've realized over my career is that we're always going to have some level of competition and competition is good right i mean we wouldn't be in this job if we didn't realize that right but there is also something so important in realizing that like if you're working together if you're working towards a common goal four legs are better than two four arms are better than two four eyes are better if you're working together and collectively doing something and you know this was sports on a team right like it's just a given that if if you can work together you can establish so much more and in my opinion and this is just mine it's so much more rewarding because you're doing it together you're not just doing it by yourself you know it's so interesting you say this i mean we talk about we talk about team and i'm a big big team guy a big big believer in it um i've got great friends in the military that talk a lot about teams two of which i've done podcast recordings and planned to to launch those very shortly um one of the things actually this morning this is just like this linkedin has just kind of consumed a lot and become such a beacon for for sharing ideas and perspectives dr corey kalandin is an orthopedic surgeon he he posted about um you know the lion is king because he's hungry the cheetah is faster the elephant is bigger but the lion is king you know what are your thoughts and so you know i i just thought about it and and i've never really vocalized this tracy but i'm interested in you like what's your spirit animal because mine is the wolf because the wolf pack is the mentality that you talked about the team uh it's they're premier hunters right but they're also hunted they are they can live anywhere wolves are nomadic right they they're built for travel they're also very intelligent and they can adapt to the environment and then the other couple pieces about the wolf that i like is that they're misunderstood right you know people think that they're predators but they actually can get along with people really really well and everybody out there that loves dogs wolves dogs come from wolves right they're in the canine and so you know i think the last thing they communicate very effectively in working a team and then they thrive in that pack or in that just dominant hierarchy so there is an alpha there is kind of like a pecking order and that just for me sometimes it makes sense and that's why i love the wolf and i also there's some really good songs like hungry like the wolf yeah built by the wolf raised by the wolves you know but with post malone i i love wolves sorry i think yes i love it i think that's what's your spirit i think that sums it up gosh she put me on the spot there i know it's i do a wild card not intentionally but every once in a while these these this literally happened this morning you know here we are and the last conversation is so great you know i don't know i'd have to really think about that i mean i think you definitely nailed it on the head i mean it is something of you know when you were talking about that you know another animal that i think about this just amazes me every time we see him when we go to the zoo or just elephants like elephants oh my gosh you know but i think you know like i said you summed it up it has everything to do with like there's gonna be a pecking order there's gonna be a leadership there's gonna be right and and we understand that but it still comes down to like the pack you know that working together you know and everybody has their role and everybody knows and again back to the analogy of in the room in that ecosystem of the or right specific room that you're in that patient on the table uh there are there are roles right there's the surge in the alpha but then there's also uh people that can ebb and flow in terms of like their piece of uh of that specific surgery so sometimes it's anesthesia and they are the most important person in that in that room right outside of the patient and then it's the rad tech it's getting that shot where you have right clear imaging that you can then work from sometimes it's us sometimes it's in history yeah what are you like so and then or sometimes it's the scrub tech the such a critical piece to the whole pie in the whole surgery again it's a symphony and you mentioned that orchestra yeah it is people passing instruments you're not in a hurry but you're efficient in your movements and there's specific reasons for why you do what you do and i think the reason sorry to talk to my i'm just so excited the reason you're so good and one of the things that i love about you tracy is you understand implicitly down to the degree of every single step that's happening in that procedure and you can respectfully assert yourself and give feedback or questions or um suggestions like during that multi-step process and that's value and the surgeons know it yeah i appreciate that you know and i think that goes back to what i said of like really i mean look it's been you know 14 almost 14 amazing years with medtronic and you know i had four with deputy before that so i mean on this side and then coupled with the you know being a surgical assistant for so many years over time it has just become one of those things for me that is just so rewarding to just watch everybody watch what they do watch every like learn everything so like you said just i'm not a radiologist i'm not a rad tech but i'm sure watching what they're doing i'm understanding how they need the wag here and how they need the angle and so how you need the spinous process and because you know as well as i know that sometimes you five o'clock you get a brand new rad tech you know and they don't know like oh which lever moves this and you can just i think it's this one you know like you know just kind of like help out you know um so it's just little things like that of like watching every little thing that's happening is just fascinating to me and and i love i mean still to this day it's honestly one of the things i love about my job i mean i love being in that environment it is so i mean in my in my world it's rewarding but i mean you know you and i can both say there's some folks that have been in this and they're like yeah this is not for me it cannot be that's not yeah so you're a sultan of spine that's that's that's why you're on this show that's why i love you and that's why we've always had a great relationship you know even when we competed together there's a mutual respect absolutely 100 people you bring such value to the room and so if i'm a surgeon or if i'm a nurse and see you in that room it's like if you watch caesar milan and he talks about those dogs that are crazy as soon as they they relax right you provide that relaxation and the ability for a surgeon to take on tough pathologies right because they know you've got their sex you know they know that you're there and that's value and you've done i mean gosh eighteen years plus yeah i appreciate that and you know look i i will i will say that you know one of the other things that i feel is so valuable and i i tell even my own kids like learn from your failures i have made a lot of mistakes okay i have made a lot of them and i don't regret them because i learned something from them you know like i i believe in not having regrets if i learned something from it so i take all those failures and all those things that i did wrong and make sure i learn how to improve and correct them right and i think that that is something that in our industry in itself provides such value i mean how many times do you go in or there they'll be like oh we're just going to do an l5 l45 fusion no no t-lift no and you don't have a t-lift cage and they change their mind you know like little things like that you've got to just you got to be prepared you got to plan that mistake happen once and it won't happen again you know like i know you've got no cage but i'm gonna have a cage you know i'll still i'll say yeah i mean 100 i mean we're cut from the same cloth in that regard like it's always about about that because i will never forget we were supposed to do an mist or yeah we're supposed to do an mist lift uh or no do they wear i'm supposed to do an a-lift and then they switched to an misc lift one of the one or the other just a completely different procedure um yeah i think it was because of the because of the hip uh the pew is right and so but but it was just like i think i just luckily and randomly had something clean and sterile and just probably because i hadn't gotten to tearing it down and singing it out i mean that's what a lot of people that don't do this they don't understand uh all the the complications um i shouldn't say complications they don't understand all the logistical challenges that go into uh putting on a surgery right it's it's it doesn't just start an end with the patient and their insurance and all the stuff that has to go on for them their surgery to be scheduled it it it also has a lot to do with the behind the scenes work you know the surgeon and the staff there's there's physical therapy that happens there's there's all sorts of things that happen you know for that patient and then on our end right there's so much work i mean how much of your day or the week would you say is still dedicated to logistics oh gosh i mean it's every day it's every day i mean every day you're dealing with it i mean and that's one of the things that it's not always pleasant right but you know that that's just part of the job like it's gonna every day you're gonna be a part of that right you're gonna be in an or where it's like oh my gosh somebody has an emergency needs this set okay well hold on i'm using this set so we gotta wait till it gets out of the wash and then we'll ship it over here and it's always something you know and and here's the one thing that i will say is and in this industry with logistics and and commenting that that's probably all of our least favorite things right about the job it carries so much value in the sense that like we are all dealing with logistics issues we're all dealing with inventory issues we're all dealing with like not being able to have all the sets you need all the time and so we have to share and we have to borrow and in my mind if i have a set that i know i don't need and that i know i don't need for the following day and somebody else needs it it's going out because i know that that's going to happen to me i know that i'm gonna need that i'm gonna end up paying for it end up asking somebody else please please please after your busy day stay and get that wash and send it to me you know all these little things go so far in like that kind of call it karma call it universal like what comes back what goes around comes around and so that's one of the things that as a rep when it comes down to logistics i think we all need to remember so that we can kind of help one another a little more you know 100 so i know we don't we only have a little bit of time so i want to get to a couple more questions that uh you know i wanted to ask your your your story you know you know dig deep into your why i think that that's one of the most important things and one of maybe one of the four reasons why i'm doing this podcast is uh it's great to have followers on followers on linkedin it's great to have like um a platform if you will but i want to use this to shine light and spread the stories of others because those people you specifically tracy have had a major impact on me and if there's the least that i can do is share your story because it's one that needs to be told so um let's let's let's dive there like you're why and wherever you wanna everyone yeah so i mean my my why i mean first and foremost is my family i could not be doing this grind and this grit and this sometimes just wear and tear you down if i didn't have my husband my kids my beautiful daughter who's my gosh she's going to be 14 jay i can't believe it and my son is about to be 11. i know it's crazy remember me waddling around pregnant like it was yesterday i absolutely did those aforementioned trays the logistics while pregnant you know i haven't sorry i have a video while you're laughing i'm gonna keep going it's like when my sister starts laughing i just kind of keep going on i have a video of why people need to return their shopping carts and i'll post this on linkedin at some point because i've seen a mother of four with like these gremlins hanging off of her she's got probably two baby bjorns and another two on her legs like like 80s weights on the legs she went and put her shopping cart back in the heat of texas and for those that have i mean if she can do it anyone can do it like the people that don't put them back need to just change their ways now so anyway sorry that's a little preview of maybe a post i a so with you on that i always love when you do those shopping cart posts because i'm like seriously i'm right there with you um so yeah for sure that's that's first and foremost my why i mean i mean my husband is hands down the best thing that's ever happened to me and and been so helpful and um and just been my advocate you know like he's just always in my corner so uh first and foremost and then second jay is like i love what i do absolutely love serving others i love being in the or i love being a part of what we do i absolutely love medtronic the organization leadership i mean you know i used to joke with you like when you're coming back to big blue he can't stay i came back i recognized you know no place like home it's a it's a i mean it's a great organization good team um such a rewarding job you know and and i think that like i told you earlier i learned a very valuable lesson in my life that money is not everything it's it's happiness and so i am so happy and love what i do and you know second to my family as my number one why that that's my second why i love this industry i love where we're going what we're doing i mean it's so where are we going and i still learn something new every day you know i mean this i mean i i'm really looking forward to seeing how robotics pans out for us within medtronic it's such an exciting exciting area challenging one for sure but i mean different than you you know you know i had time to spend um with dr greg poulter up in indianapolis a couple weeks back first part of this month and you know just saw like just such a symphony back to that word of this when everything works together and seeing him dictation room where he took us through his pre-operative plan you know talking about specifically the pathology the the patient that that we were treating a three-level multi-level olaf and then a robotic assisted you know medical school placement and just understanding you know from the jump before we ever draped or cut skin understanding all right this this patient needs 36 degrees correct yeah yeah jet 11. and also what you think the most interesting thing about that which really speaks to the power of robotics when you put it all together with this surgeon's uh you know hand and your skill set his or her skill set is they he he had planned to get quite a bit of reduction with the inner body and but he wasn't mobile yeah basically just took what he was gonna get he wasn't going to you know damage the inflates and risks of guidance because that's a whole nother challenge and so he took what he could get and then realized that he has another opportunity posteriorly to do some to do some correction with some fulcrum on the rod and you know you understand this and got it to the exact degree 36 degrees measured just as the plan was and just the way that that all worked together to see it ebb and flow because it's right now it's predictable with the plan and it's it can be harmonious in the room but i think the magic is when you've got to realize that there's still a science there's a science piece but there's still the art to surgery right and that's the thing where i think maybe some deviation is occurring today is is in that surgical piece uh you know some people just they think of robotic surgery and they think oh i'm just going to kind of program it and it's just going to do it and it's not really the case today it's more of a of a tool to help in my estimation the way i my my simple mind grasps it it's a robotic assisted surgery today tomorrow i don't know you know i've seen what they're doing in gi and in in general surgery right with the hugo and the da vinci right which is a lot more mature market than ours but anyway it's interesting you've been you've been in those rooms and you've done some of the robotic stuff you know some go good some don't yeah but what are your thoughts on what do we have we have to evolve right like that ball's rolling that train's going i mean it's it's not going anywhere so we have to evolve and i think you know getting on and learning on the front end is is going to be so beneficial you know the other thing that i'm kind of excited about too is like the the ai aspect the predictive analytics of it right like you and i both know like i mean how much have we grown and evolved and learned in five years right or let's even say eight years three years yeah i mean it's it's right and so if you could start collecting that data and minimize like junctional kyphosis or minimize like some of these things that we see over time are happening with certain patient pathologies it's not everyone it's not every surgeon i mean but to be able to collect that data while we're evolving i think is going to be so critical to bettering outcomes you know what i mean so i'm excited about that you know yeah and you think about machine learning right let's just think about it in our in our environment when you when you go into a search it's like did you mean this or uh if you like a song on a playlist you like it you give it a thumbs up then they're going to play more songs from that artist or in that genre um what i see it as and you hear dr joe sorio right in san diego talk about this a lot with his medicare and the unit platform right and so what dr osorio says is the hub engineers and the unit the unit uh technology it's getting smarter as they learn what it does in his hands right and they understand like how much correction he's going to get out of these procedures right being able to dial up and know what a pso is going to do for you before you even cut skin it's unbelievable so absolutely it's incredible it's my it's mind-blowing really when you think about it i mean right mind-blowing yeah you're right i mean we use this stuff every day in our day-to-day lives i mean something as simple as like using waze or google maps right like right like certain routes we take every day and it's like oh gosh there's traffic which way can i go now and it's giving you and directing you all these new ways and learning ways that you can go to and from your typical route right like we use it every day and i think that is so key to bettering patient outcomes you know it is it's interesting tracy i mean i'm sure you have friends that are that are outside the industry your family members right and whenever i describe to them kind of what we do and you know i think recently some of this is starting to trickle into my talk track about what we do and what's interesting about their reaction honestly almost every one of them wait that doesn't exist today i know like like they don't have a plan going into their surgery and i and i think i mean we've grown up you you longer than i but i've grown up you know over a dozen years doing this and i'm like yeah yeah you know what that's a great question it should exist and yeah you know every time a pilot flies the plane you're using robotics yeah yeah yeah so but i do think that um you know it's it's not as much as like they don't have a plan right they do but but what i mean is like the plan that you know it's amazing to me sometimes like when you go and you'd see like let's just take it back to when navigation first came out right right and you'd see surgeons that oh i don't i don't need that i don't need that don't want it it's going to slow me down like i can place medical screws all day long no problem right and they can they can but then you bring them this technology and they start seeing like huh yeah that anatomy is definitely different than what i had expected so i'm gonna have to redirect it this way i mean just something as simple as that that goes and changed their thoughts of what their plan was and now as they're evolving they're like i might use it and now some of these surgeons use it all the time you know so it's little things like it wasn't in their plan initially that's not how they that's not their workflow initially but you start adding these little tools into their workflow their plan as well as patient outcomes evolve and get better you know so it's just it's just tools you gotta you gotta have more tools in your tool bag you know absolutely and i think it's a good way to look at it yeah you know you've embraced new technology you've always been you know one of those that likes to dive right in and yeah is that something that uh that you see in this one like you just want to get your hands on it you want to learn it so that you can oh for sure you can communicate absolutely yeah i think um the one thing that um you know when robotics first came out and we and we were doing robotic cases and you know here in austin it really was we were learning literally together like we were all learning this early on and so to see where it's evolved and how you know where it's going makes it even more exciting but you know it is one of those things that you have to realize you can't just dive into something like that you gotta do more you gotta do some leg work you know it was always interesting with olive right you know when we'd have these discussions with lateral surgeons or with any surgeons and it's like we started trying to tell them about the evolution of the lateral procedure and so you know if if a certain surgeon from brazil would have would have come up with the olive procedure you know there's no way they would have gone through the muscle i'm convinced i'm not a doctor but but i'm pretty sure like avoiding a major muscle like the psoas is is a big big thing um and there's ways to do it you're right in and out and then shutting the retractor down and less time under tension and i get it i've been in thousands of those cases but i'm here to say that that anterior to the psoas is the way so when i'm talking to surgeons about this that have already adopted that workflow of transsoas and they're like okay yeah i'll give you this just crazy anatomy awful pathology it's a hard lift whatever life it is a-lift xliff it's a tough lift it's like hey doc you know this is gonna go bad regardless so why don't we do a chip shot here you know don't don't give me the the shot in you know when you're buried in the rough where it's going to be difficult to hit regardless of what club you select let's go for the the bread and butter that that you you have a sense that it's going to go okay and predictable and then you're comparing apples to apples and so you know for the surgeons out there maybe the three of them that watch this or maybe there's more i think i would certainly get more you know get give a shot if you're trying new technology and this is not just overlooked talk you know that's just one example if you're trying robotics if you're trying medicare if you're trying tighten please don't do a t10 to the pelvis after you're thirsty i mean why would you yeah it's like the analogy of it is like if you're trying something new um that you you really want to give it a fair shake then just do it in a controlled environment where the variables and the risk is less and so i think we've learned that along the way as as the techniques evolved as the adoption has risen and as the ability to to really truly understand the solution that we have where you combine you know multi-level olaf with robotic like i saw dr polter do with a robotic assisted uh planned screwed uh placement it's really truly powerful and it's to the point where i know a lot of doctors and i have a lot of good friends that are doctors but i'm pretty sure if i need care or if my wife needs care we'll be heading up to indianapolis i mean that's how convicting it was what i just saw yeah it's the most recent example so there's you know it's it's biased it's interesting you say that and i laugh because it's really it's so true when it's you know whether it's robotics or navigation like i can't tell you how many times i'm like you know selling that synergy right like trying to get something that's never done navigation to just try it right and then they give you a c1 c2 navigated posterior fusion and you're like that was not at all where we should start like even if we've done hundreds of navigated cases c1c2 posteriors is challenging you know yeah it it's tough the surgeons though as we know you know and and i know they're creatures of habit for a reason it mitigates the risk and so the less variables that they can change the better so i think if they're going to look at something that's different anyway so this is what this is kind of where i've come to to to metabolize this scenario if they're going to look at this case this is going to be difficult it's going to be you know a goat rodeo in there i might as well try this new olive thing as well it's you know like i guess look i i don't have to carry i have the luxury of not having to carry the burden of the the patient in their family right hands i'm not a surgeon and so i completely it's not it's never been our call um you we just kind of can give some suggestions as to what you know works the best and right you know i think if you do that respectfully with tact and with care and with love absolutely then that's our job as an interoperative consultant yep absolutely i totally agree and that's the thing i mean that's one of the rewarding things too is when you get to that point and you give your recommendations and you're trusted and they value you because they they see what you can do and how you can help it's so rewarding when you provide a solution that they never would have considered and then they consider it because you you know recommended it and you're giving your expertise and it goes great i mean there's nothing better you know you're driving home that day and you're basically you got the music going i don't know about you but i like the windows all of them down on the drive home to decompress you're freezing because you are cold you got the windows down and like you know it's just that time where you yeah and you reflect that's that's the or is a drug let's be honest it's a drug i i'm still going through withdrawal from not being yeah but it's a drug and yeah you're you're when you could because of what you just said that is there's something extremely fulfilling and almost like a high of what you're doing and and what we get to do yeah and how special and how much of a gift that it is and absolutely but you know understanding that it it takes so much persistence and tenacity and consistency and patience and i mean you know understanding that some days are going to be rough and they're not going to be years like years yes but you get up you dust it off you try again and you improve and i mean there i in my opinion there's nothing better in a career that you can just continue to be in and that's just what you have to deal with every day and like you said on the way home you sort of decompress you sort of evaluate how the day went what you liked what you didn't like how you could improve what you did that they liked and how you can evolve together i mean it's just it's such a relationship that i mean look i hope i retire with medtronic but i mean i absolutely love it love it so one final question do you have time for one more yeah one more okay i do have a call here in 15 minutes so let's let's try to get this and i think we'll be good work-life balance it's kind of like a topic that you hear it a lot yeah but what is it to you and how do you focus on it you mentioned your family and your why i'm the same way yeah but we are in an industry that that patient on the table is is the priority right yeah yeah how do you manage as a mom as a busy mom and a in a very good interoperative spine consultant right a sultan if you will how do you manage that it's a really good question right i think first and foremost you have to realize that the balance could change from one day to the next right you can't define what balance is going to be in this line of work okay in my mind one day my balance is here the next day my balance is here and and and i get in that mindset of knowing and this has taken years by the way it's taken years because in the beginning it was very very rough as a mom going back to work i think my first pregnancy i took six weeks off and then the second was eight i mean it was like bam right back to work right two days two days for me it's it no it's a sore subject so it it is it is is understanding and getting in that mindset of what this job entails number one and number two just you know thankfully having the support system of my husband that you know in the very beginning had to say you know in that mindset frame right like every day imagine that you have a new pie and each pie some is going to be carved out the majority of it might be carved out for work and some carved out for us and the kids and then the next day you might have more carved out and that's what i mean is that like realizing the balance changes from one day to the next right and get yourself in a good mindset to where you know what tomorrow find some better time right like because we can get so consumed in this to sometimes i come home and my husband's like i don't think you need to be checking emails right before we sit at the dinner table you know like take a break decompress let's all talk about our day let's have dinner tuck the kids in then go to your emails you know like getting helping me to really balance that of like you know what you're right because my mind can go and i could work non-stop in this you know put it down you have to train yourself and i think first and foremost is realizing that you know some days are more of a balance than others but you know again it goes back to like if you love what you do you'll find ways to balance it you'll find ways to balance it and stay happy and positive and so that's what's well said you know well thank you for that thank you for sharing that because your perspective on this is is important right i mean the last couple of uh uh women in this industry that i've had on you know both money and melanie different stages of their career but you know i think that the the work-life balance you know for me is different from you know those that that like money and and you and yourself that that have had kids yeah like that's a different that well another balance absolutely yeah absolutely but you know one that i will say you know again like we say this is not for everybody and and to include you know not for every woman right um who wants to be in this med tech or in this role um but for those uh that are or want to get in here understanding that it's not always going to be as conducive as you would like to family life but if you love it that to me is so important to show my kids of like there's days that it's like really you gotta go to work you're on call for christmas yes i do i gotta go to work but you know what i love what i do and i do this for you i do this to help provide you know so it teaches kids also that you know what it just it takes grit you know it's not always going to be easy and i'm not always going to be here but i love what i do and i love to be able to provide for them doing what i do you know that positive affirmation jay positive i love that we we will we will close we will close on that unless i did i'm going to try to get i'm involved i'm evolving myself do you have any questions for me is there anything i can answer that anything that you you'd like to ask or or that's you know you can just anything at all before we before we close this puppy down yeah i mean first of all like what i mean i know you did a couple of podcasts and like i i could see as your journey was evolving and really just connecting people and it's absolutely your niche you are a connector for sure so like what like what made you decide to just dig deep and go into this i mean i love it well first of all nobody's really doing a podcast yeah it's the most crowded space right now no um i i yeah i think it was a couple of different things before i was ever a guest on either of those shows i had this kind of already in my moleskine sketched out and ready to go i had the name picked out right the sultan's is something that's uh and it's gonna evolve right we're gonna do different types of sultans uh but but but i'm a sultan of spine and so are you and this is our world um you know so for me it's it's been uh i want part of my journey has always been about connecting with others and learning from others right you specifically tracy one of the best one of the reasons i reached out to you to be on the show and also the reason why i'm excited that we did this is because you have been instrumental and foundational to me and my success and my growth and so the way i approach this and kind of my why for doing this is i'm just one person and i'm a combination and a blend and a culmination of a lot of different really really great and smart people like you and so i want to share that i want to share the people that have helped me you know get to this stage of my career and beyond because it's a it's a it's a team back to the wolf pack you're part of my wolf pack we work together in trenches right and we've shared a lot of good uh positive things and we continue to working together right different capacities but we're we're still working on the same on the same team and so like the podcast for me it's i may have my thoughts and calls and my opinions on things but i mean just as you referenced toby and moni and others that i've that i've had the pleasure to record but have yet to launch you know that they have all shared a different viewpoint and i think that that's enlightening and so just like i'm reading a lot more books now i i feel like this is a good use of the 45 minutes for me to i mean every single episode has been an organic and great experience for me and i've learned something about it that i can then take away right and jot down in my moleskin right yeah look i've got it's so funny you do that i've got i've got mine right here i got my yeah oh my gosh i know i love that but but that's just what we do that's who we are and so like for me the podcast just allows me to reach maybe other people at scale and maybe i can convince uh someone else that medtronic is a great place to work right that's that's kind of the genesis behind it one of the genesis behind it but at the same time regardless it's valuable to me it's valuable for i feel for others and i'm getting affirmations and positive reinforcement to keep going and i'm gonna keep going and you'll see this i love it i love it i love not only you know those of us that know you absolutely know you are a connector but i love that i think you know getting more perspectives on what we do and how we do what we do is going to hopefully not just reach people that should be in this industry but that we need in this industry more of you know so to gain that perspective is so important so but i'm so honored and thank you jay i mean feel love you feel you're doing what you absolutely need to be doing and so i'm happy for you um um that means a lot especially coming from you you're one of my rocks you're one of the people that have really really truly lifted i like your little sluggers behind you yeah yeah those uh do i need to explain what they are i don't know no no i won't they were big months for me and uh well thanks again jay i really appreciate the time i know you got another call so much love you and your family and yeah likewise i hope you have a great summer and thank you again for your service and thank you again for not just in the us army but for medtronic and for this whole industry and what you do every single day to help the surgeons to help the nurses to help the scrub techs the rad techs anyone in that room and anyone that's there observing you even some of our junior associates in clinical i love them all they're making a light you are a light yeah thank you celebrated thank you for the time thank you absolutely bye guys we'll see ya thank you for joining the sultans of spine tune in every tuesday it's 7 a.m central

we'll see you next time pj bye guys

2021-07-25 18:40

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