What inspired you to join the BioRender team?

BioRender’s mission to accelerate the world’s ability to learn, discover, and communicate science really stood out to me. I’ve been around tech for a while now but never worked with a brand that had a mission this authentic or additive to the world. After speaking with members of the team, it was hard not to recognize that something special was percolating here. Everyone is highly intelligent, low ego, eager, and incredibly genuine. I was worried it seemed too good to be true but the more people I met, the more I understood that the culture is by design and that the team is in meaningful pursuit of this mission every day. That was certainly enough to be inspired, but when I saw the impressive business health and growth trajectory (with my background in Growth, and BioRender’s product-led, freemium business model) – I realized that the mission is truly within reach and that I could help the team get there. 

What are you looking to accomplish as the Director of Growth here at BioRender?

I’m excited to build upon the foundation that’s been laid and to do my part in designing a world-class Growth team at BioRender. This includes things like tapping into our huge user base and their scientific brainpower to scale our user-generated scientific content, personalizing the product experience to make BioRender intuitive and seamless to learn and use every day, experimenting toward making BioRender a destination for where science is communicated, and utilizing creative growth strategies to help BioRender reach the next million scientists.

How do you like to organize your day? 

I start my weeks knowing what my 1 to 3 big, thematic “boulders” are to move so that I can remain adaptable and agile. Therefore, despite what unforeseen opportunities or shifts emerge, I know what should ultimately measure success come Friday.

I start each day by getting an idea of what my goals for meetings look like, figure out how I can be best in service to each conversation, and prep any agendas or topics for 1:1s. Then I’ll scope out the remaining time in between to assess what I think I can realistically get done in the margins and make a plan for maximizing that time. Next, I’ll catch up on Slack for company updates and team news before kicking off the day.  I always reserve three focus blocks weekly and a whole focus day on Wednesdays to get into an uninterrupted flow state. My creativity usually comes online after 11:00am, so I’ll reserve 2 to 3 larger blocks in the afternoon weekly to allow time for writing, feedback, deep thinking, or strategic planning while intentionally allocating lighter weight and less thought-intensive efforts in the mornings.

Which three words would you want your teammates to describe you with?

Lighthearted, dependable, and creative.

What was your first job, and what valuable lesson did you learn from it? 

I grew up in a suburb of Buffalo, NY, and my childhood house was next to a public golf course. Around age 12, I would sneak out at night to fish golf balls out of the ponds and resell them to golfers from my yard alongside the 6th-hole fairway. So I guess you could say this was my first job! I would test different copies on the sale signs and create pricing bundles for different ball types, and I even had regulars. My parents have never seemed too surprised that I ended up in Growth and Marketing.

What does the perfect weekend look like to you? 

The perfect Saturday would start with meditation, like all days do in my house. But I’d follow it with a slow, leisurely morning. A perfect omelet, reading a great book, an espresso at the little window down the street. Always a hot vinyasa class at our yoga community center, where we linger and chat. A whole afternoon of gardening or tinkering on our latest craft project, usually involving wood. And wrapping it all up with a night at our favourite swimming hole– hanging with friends around a fire, grilling food, and jumping into Lake Michigan in the moonlight! If the ideal day involves a lot of extra energy, we’d catch a late-night show at the coziest, hole-in-the-wall venue in Chicago, Empty Bottle.

What was a recent vacation that left a lasting impression on you, and what made it so memorable? 

My partner and I are lucky to have dear friends who were born and raised in Mexico City, so we love to spend a month or two each year there to see the city through their eyes. I love how the unwieldy trees and jungle-like vines grow into and out of the technicolour urban landscape. And the rich, industriousness of multigenerational families who set up and break down full restaurants on the sidewalks each day. It’s the most energizing combination of old and new. I never eat better. And I leave feeling creatively inspired.

What is the next trip that you would like to take? 

We have a little 1994 Japanese 4x4 camper van we call ‘Mosey’ because she tops out around 65 mph. It always gets us where we’re trying to go but slows us down, so we enjoy the ride. “The next trip” I’m scheming always involves jumping in Mosey with a loose destination for a new adventure but inevitably letting the trip unfold as we go. The American Southwest is constantly calling, so I think we’ll head that way sometime soon to soak up the desert, see some friends in Santa Fe, and experience an epic piece of land art (decades in the making) called Roden Crater. My partner is also a student of ancient cultures and a medicine woman in training, so I’m sure she’ll get us into some weird and life-changing sacred stuff along the way.

What is a piece of advice you would give to new BioBuddies? 

Take advantage of the collaborative nature of the company. People are always open and willing to share everything they've learned in their respective domains since they know it's in service of collective problem-solving. It may sound odd, but things like territorialism and politics don't exist here. Lean into that knowledge since it's an advantage for not just a speedy ramp-up for you but also the key to the clip that the whole company is able to move. It's one of the reasons this place is great, and it's a competitive advantage we have, so feel empowered to use it and perpetuate it.

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If you are interested in joining Nick and our growing team here at BioRender, head on over to our careers page to learn more! You can also try out our product for free by signing up for a BioRender account here.