The Leading Difference
Kat Hurd | Founder & CEO, Med Tech Collective | Shaping Industry Leaders & Enhancing Patient Outcomes through Sales Excellence
Descripción
Kat Hurd, executive coach and founder/CEO of Med Tech Collective, shares how nearly two decades in medical device sales and leadership, including at Boston Scientific and Saluda Medical, shaped her mission to help reps and leaders build influence, ownership, and long-term career momentum in complex, high-stakes environments. Kat explains why strong clinical partnership can elevate sales conversations into trusted-advisor relationships that impact outcomes, and outlines how she coaches individuals, trains teams, and supports go-to-market strategy. She also dives into the distinct challenges women face when navigating rooms where they’re “the only,” the career accelerant of mentorship versus sponsorship, and practical ways to break into medtech by identifying gaps and learning the industry’s language. Guest links: https://kathurd.com/ [https://kathurd.com/] Charity supported: Save the Children [https://savethechildren.org] Interested in being a guest on the show or have feedback to share? Email us at theleadingdifference@velentium.com [theleadingdifference@velentium.com]. PRODUCTION CREDITS Host & Editor: Lindsey Dinneen [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindseydinneen] Producer: Velentium Medical [https://www.velentiummedical.com] EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Episode 079 - Kat Hurd [00:00:00] Lindsey Dinneen: Hi, I'm Lindsey and I'm talking with MedTech industry leaders on how they change lives for a better world. [00:00:09] Diane Bouis: The inventions and technologies are fascinating and so are the people who work with them. [00:00:15] Frank Jaskulke: There was a period of time where I realized, fundamentally, my job was to go hang out with really smart people that are saving lives and then do work that would help them save more lives. [00:00:28] Diane Bouis: I got into the business to save lives and it is incredibly motivating to work with people who are in that same business, saving or improving lives. [00:00:38] Duane Mancini: What better industry than where I get to wake up every day and just save people's lives. [00:00:42] Lindsey Dinneen: These are extraordinary people doing extraordinary work, and this is The Leading Difference. Hello, and welcome back to another episode of The Leading Difference podcast. I'm your host Lindsey, and I am delighted to welcome today Kat Hurd. Kat is an executive coach and the founder of MedTech Collective, where she helps medical device sales reps and leaders build influence, ownership, and long-term career momentum in complex, high stakes environments. With nearly two decades of real world experience in medical device sales and leadership, including senior roles at Boston Scientific and Saluda Medical, Kat brings a rare blend of commercial rigor, strategic insight, and credibility earned in the field based in Arizona. Kat is a speaker, advisor and coach who believes that when sales reps and leaders learn to own their voice, their business and their influence, the ripple effects extend far beyond individual success, shaping teams, cultures, and the future of the industry itself. Kat, welcome. Thank you so much for being here today. I'm super excited to speak with you. [00:01:45] Kat Hurd: Thank you so much for having me, Lindsey. It is an honor. I always love these conversations. [00:01:49] Lindsey Dinneen: Excellent. Well, if you don't mind just starting off by sharing a little bit about who you are, your background, and what led you to medtech. [00:01:58] Kat Hurd: Yeah, absolutely. Well, medtech, I like to say it's always, I was kind of born into it. So my mom is a nurse and she ran a medical clinic when I was in middle school and high school. So truly I would go to the clinic after school and, if, if actually we didn't have school, I remember one of the days sitting in a pharmaceutical rep lunch presentation, so I really got exposed before I even knew what it was. Even in that moment, I wish I'd understood more of what that rep was doing and really dug deep. You know, I thought I was gonna go to school and be a doctor, and then I quickly realized I didn't like freshman bio. And I wanted something where I could have an impact but still have some flexibility. So I actually, my to, to take you back to like how this all started, my background, sports medicine and so my undergrad and graduate degrees are in exercise science. I used to be taping ankles and rehabbing knee injuries and doing all of those things. And then I got exposure through that of being in the operating room when our athletes would have, you know, the injuries that were being surgically repaired, and that was really where I got that secondary introduction into medical device and started having conversations with other people who'd made the transition from athletic training where you have a ton of, you know, in insight into the human body and understanding of the medical world. And moving that into the sales arena. And so I met with someone in Iowa City. I'm a University of Iowa grad, and he was running the western half of the US for Boston Scientific at the time. And one thing led to another, led to me flying to Arizona and interviewing and then moving their site unseen really. I was there for, you know, max of 24 hours total in my interview process. And I just packed two suitcases and said "I wanna break into medical device." And that was in 2010. And I just fell in love with the industry and the therapy. So I was in neuromodulation working directly with spinal cord stimulator patients and started as a clinical specialist, and then I really quickly realized the way to have very clear impact on patients and providers was really actually to be in that sales role and be the one directing the support, directing the resources. And in neuromodulation, because you're in the OR and actually programming the stimulator, you're also kind of supporting the patient's care, which for me was right in my wheelhouse. And then I moved into leadership. And you know what you really wanna know is probably how did I land where I am now? And so I spent 10 years or 11 actually at Boston Scientific. And then moved to Saluda Medical, so to commercialize a small Australian based startup here in the US, which was such a fun and unique opportunity. And I always knew that was gonna be more of a three to five year play, and I just had it on my heart that I wanted to build a business to help reps be better reps, because I believe that the quality of care and the quality of outcomes is also directly tied to the partnerships and the caliber of the industry that supports the therapies. [00:05:00] Lindsey Dinneen: Okay. I love that. And I have so many questions as a result, but okay, let's start a little bit with what you're doing now and then maybe, we'll, we'll get to some of the other stuff as well, but, so you're supporting reps, and I think you said something really impactful about a lot of the patient outcomes kind of goes back to how, how the reps can be the best they can be. So I'm curious what all goes into that for you and what kind of training or coaching do you provide? [00:05:31] Kat Hurd: Absolutely. You know, I really, I saw that squarely and believed it when I was a sales rep myself. So I spent the first six years of my career on the sales side of things, and then moved into being a sales leader. And as a sales leader and then an area Vice President Saluda, it was the thing that I saw of like our teams and our people that excelled the most, weren't just the best salespeople, but they were the people that understood how to, for lack of a better word, leverage that clinical and patient experience into the entirety of the sales process and sales cycle. So good clinical care and driving good sales conversations, levels up the partnership and really creating this layer of, not just being a partner, but being a trusted advisor with the providers that you work with. So how that translates into my business now, 'cause oftentimes, you know, I get the question of like, why did you leave a burgeoning career? I had one physician who was like, "You were gonna be a CEO. Like, why'd you leave medtech?" I'm like, "I didn't leave. I'm just doing it differently," because I saw so strongly and so clearly that having the right resources as a sales rep and at the right time as a sales rep changes your career. I was lucky to have great mentors, but there's things that if I had had the right support and resources at the right time, I could have been even, you know, faster or more impactful in my results. And so that's what I do now. What my business looks like now is really, you know, threefold. So I work directly with sales reps who, not through their companies, but they'll come to me directly and we do sales and leadership coaching. So working on the strategies in their business, how they're, you know, clinically supporting. But, you know, I, I leave the clinical nuts and bolts to the organization because I'm not an expert, and that, unless it's spinal cord stimulation, then we can talk that for days. But you know, really how they're leveraging their clinical prowess into their sales process and building systems for success. And then I work directly with companies helping train and elevate their talent, both on the sales and leadership level. Then I also have an arm of my business where I do, and that's kind of more of the consulting arm of my business. I also help with sales strategy and go to market strategy. And then I also do more of like corporate speaking. So keynotes and workshops and seminars really focused on both how do you build and grow your career in medtech, particularly as a woman, because we know there's just not a lot of us. And you know, part of what I'm so passionate about is helping everyone and raising the caliber of talent everywhere, but also making sure that women have the structure, the resources, and the idea of the systems that they need to create so they can go as far as they want to. Doesn't mean they have to go all the way to the C-suite level if that's not what they want, but to ensure that they have the representation and the pathway in front of them to understand how to get there. [00:08:27] Lindsey Dinneen: Excellent. Okay, so let's dive into that a little bit because I know, I know you're super passionate about helping, you know, in general the industry succeed and, and move forward. But yeah, you have a particular passion for helping women. And I'm curious what's, what are some of the challenges or differences you see in a woman as she's trying to build her career in this versus say, a man who might just have a, a different experience? [00:08:52] Kat Hurd: Yeah, very different lived experiences and a lot of the tools and tactics and strategies that I work with my clients on are pretty universal. But what isn't universal and what we really work on for my female sales leaders and sales executives is that mindset and approach. Because you both have to you, well, you have to understand one thing, how to navigate rooms where you're the only or the lonely. Because most often in medtech, you will find yourself, at some point in your career, and if you haven't, please call me. I wanna know who you are and talk to 'cause that would be amazing if you've never been in a room where you haven't been the only woman. But it, it requires nuance. It requires an understanding of how to position yourself and your insights in a way that they land. And land effectively with the decision makers that you build the right connections. So you have access and visibility, and that's really the internal corporate side of things. And then you have the customer facing where there's of course nuance of, I mean, I had, when I was a sales rep, I had three female physicians as customers over the duration of my career. So I needed to understand how to work closely and collaborate with male physicians and do it in a way that there was a clear and fast line of what that relationship and rapport was. And I was able to do that so successfully that not only did I win a bunch of awards, but many of those individuals have become friends and mentors and sponsors of mine as well. [00:10:22] Lindsey Dinneen: Wow, that's incredible. Yeah. I actually wonder if you could speak a little bit to what you just said, because this is something-- so recently I had an opportunity to host a leadership summit, and one of the things that came up in the keynote was about how there different types of mentorship available. So, so you need, you need people who are kind of in your corner coaching you, but then you also need that kind of next tier, which is that sponsor like you were saying. So I wonder if you could speak a little bit to that. [00:10:54] Kat Hurd: Absolutely. Mentorship and sponsorship is, is some of the best lighter fluid that you can add to your career growth, truly. And I'm so passionate about it, I, some of what I do from a consulting work standpoint is actually help organizations build mentorship programs. That was my very first consulting contract when I started my business. So I, I'm actually very proud of that and I, I don't ever share that, so thank you for asking that question. 'cause I don't think I would've even called that out. But it's so inherently valuable and I, I'll just take us on a quick sidebar of why it's so important especially for women, because women, when it comes to career growth, will wait until they have 100% of the qualifications to apply for a role. When left to our own devices, we oftentimes will look at it and say, "I either don't wanna be rejected, I don't wanna waste anyone else's time or my time, or, well, I don't have all of those qualifications, so I'm not going to apply. I'll wait." Now, our male counterparts are far more brazen and they need three out of five of those qualifications, and they are convinced they are the top candidate, and there's something to be said for that, right? You know, I, I aspire to that level of, of confidence and conviction and I, I, you know, really both, you know, encourage and in some ways push and, and motivate my clients to do, to take that mindset and approach and not just the unbridled confidence. We do need that. But to understand that you don't have to have every single checkbox because when you're looking at career growth, if you're fully qualified and can do everything of the entire job scope on day one, you've actually already entered a role that you're already overqualified for. [00:12:37] Lindsey Dinneen: Ooh. [00:12:39] Kat Hurd: Because where do you grow? [00:12:41] Lindsey Dinneen: Mm-hmm. [00:12:42] Kat Hurd: So, so that's, that's the importance of mentorship and sponsorship is to have others see maybe what you don't, and help you identify where your talents and where your strengths are. Because really career growth, the best thing you can do is lean into those talents and then explore the edges that you need to grow into, and mentorship can help you do that. Now, the difference between mentorship and sponsorship: a mentor is someone who's likely walked the same path or similar, has done much of what you've done or has insight into it, and can provide insight, guidance, resources, and be a sounding board. What you don't want is a mentor that just commiserates or tells you that everything you're doing is right, yeah, because we all have areas to grow. So that's, mentorship is so important to have those people that it's kind of your lifeline, right? Can you, what's your phone a friends? You gotta have some of those phone a friends. And then sponsorship, those are people that can help you open doors. And sometimes a mentor will also be a sponsor. They're not mutually exclusive, but those sponsors are individuals who have influence and access to rooms that you aren't in, as do your mentors oftentimes, but can help open doors create introductions and open pathways that you didn't even know existed. The mentors and sponsors alike will be those people to encourage you to apply for roles when you think, "Oh, I don't know, I'm, I'm not sure if I'm ready." I mean, that actually, as I said, that took me right back to, I was in Atlanta, Georgia when there was an area vice president role that opened up. I was a regional director at Boston Scientific at the time. And I went to my area vice president, who I worked for, and he's like, I was like, I don't know if I'm qualified. He's like, absolutely, you're applying. [00:14:28] Lindsey Dinneen: I love that and "I'm gonna follow up with you." [00:14:32] Kat Hurd: Yeah, yeah, exactly. And I didn't get the role, but that isn't the point. It's the conversations and the growth that even comes from it too. So, so sponsorship is so important because it really is what can create some of the access and avenues and opportunities that you didn't know were possible. I'll share kind of a quick illustration of that 'cause it's very relevant. Dr. Mike Dorsey, he has a, a society called Sierra Spine Society. Not sure if you're familiar it. [00:14:59] Lindsey Dinneen: Little bit. Yeah. [00:15:00] Kat Hurd: It's one of the best conferences out there. I'll just say that. Like you get to ski while you're there and it is wonderful. But when you talk about sponsorships, so I've known Mike through my career, especially as I moved to Saluda Medical, you know, expanded my sales leadership influence and the geographies that I supported. But when I went out and started my own business, he was the first one to come to me and say, Hey, I wanna partner with you. I want you to come to Sierra Spine and run an industry panel. [00:15:30] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah. [00:15:31] Kat Hurd: And there's no conversation like that that exists now. And we were texting about it this morning. It's why it's such a timely example, because now these conversations are, are popping up at other society meetings about the partnership, the collaboration, what is the role of industry and outcomes, all of those important things. And so his sponsorship has led to me now having other opportunities and conversations with different societies and different physician partners about the importance of those collaborations, about the accelerant that they can be in care and in, in outcomes. And so without someone like Mike, like Dr. Dorsey, I wouldn't have had that opportunity. I wouldn't have even had necessarily the proof of concept to go have these conversations. So that's where sponsorship can be so inherently valuable in your growth and creating movements and motions that you just truly didn't know were gonna be possible. [00:16:26] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, and I think you said something that I wanted to touch base about. So, you know, you were talking about how oftentimes women don't apply for positions because they don't meet all the qualifications. And I, I know that's a very common thing and something that I've heard from people that I've helped mentor are sometimes when they're young in their career or they're wanting to break into, say, medical device sales, sometimes they have all of these incredible skill sets, but because they're not already part of the industry, they feel that they're not always sure how to connect the dots and get seen. And I'm curious, what are some of the things that you recommend for young professionals who are in this spot trying to break in or trying to keep growing? [00:17:10] Kat Hurd: Yeah. Yeah. It's getting, gaining a clear understanding of your talents, your experiences, and how they translate to the person that's hiring is one of the most challenging and also most transformative things that you can do when you're searching to break into the industry. And so it's really, you know, having conversations with hiring managers before you're in an interview process. The job interview starts, the job application, the job opening, and you know, recruiting starts far before the opening is posted. So, step one, and I know that folks out there know this, but it's really, it's getting clearer on what facet of industry you wanna get into, understanding what those pieces are that you, that are, are critical in that role. Like what does that hiring manager really need? What are the problems they're looking to solve with that hire? And then translating your experience into the solutions that they're ultimately looking for. So what that like in said and simpler language, you have to be able to speak their language and understand their needs so you can position yourself as the solution to those needs. [00:18:31] Lindsey Dinneen: Do you think also there are some good resources out there that you would recommend in terms of, part of what I know the barrier can feel like, and, and it, it can be really daunting when you first get in the medtech industry because, for many reasons, but somebody might say an entire sentence where you're like, I have no clue what you're talking about, based on all of the industry jargon um, and acronyms and things like that. And so I'm wondering, are there resources available that, you know, people that are looking to break into the industry could access? [00:19:04] Kat Hurd: There are a ton of resources out there. The challenge is knowing the right resources. There's also a ton of programs that will support you in your breaking in. This is gonna be an unpopular opinion. I don't think you need big, expensive programs to create results. What you need is a strong belief in your candidacy and an understanding of what your gaps are. [00:19:29] Lindsey Dinneen: Mm-hmm. [00:19:31] Kat Hurd: And then the solutions and strategies of how to fill them. Now you can get there faster with the resources and framework. I mean, I don't have a formal program, but I still help people on a, you know, one-off basis break into the industry. But at a broader level, I think what you're really asking is how does someone, it's kinda like eating an elephant. Like where do you, where do you take the first bite? You have to get started in knowing what you don't know. And so truly, I would encourage people if you're looking to break into the industry, to sit down and make a list of all the things that you don't know about the medical device industry. And that might be what are the different, you know, verticals of the industry? What are even the, you know, the specialties or the therapies and then, okay, so "I don't know even what space I would want to get into." That's, you know, bullet number one to identify. Then, "I don't know the language or terminology." That's an easy one to fix. I used to always tell candidates that go take an online medical terminology class. Learn to speak the language. I feel like they're out there for like 20 bucks or something. You can find really easy ones. I'm sure you could do free ones. You could probably ask chatGBT to create you, you know, a laundry list of acronyms and medical terminology and an understanding. Because when you understand the environment, that's when you can translate your experience into something that's relevant. But when you don't understand the environment the customers work in, what the needs are of the hiring manager and what the positioning is of the company, it becomes really hard to position yourself as the right candidate. So to go back to like, what are those resources? Absolutely. There's, there are folks that do some free programs. I mean, honestly, TikTok, there's a ton of people dropping knowledge on TikTok. There's some YouTube channels out there. I'm actually recording kind of a mini podcast series this week with Jay Pendleton, who's another. You know, big name in the medical device space, but adjacent to medical device from an industry standpoint, where we're gonna be talking about a lot of this because there is such a need, and the most important thing is first you identify the gaps and then you go find those resources. Of course, AI is a great place to go, but also have those human connections, make that outreach because that actually will help you then in your job search as well. [00:21:47] Lindsey Dinneen: Right, exactly. And then making those connections. I always say you never know where that'll lead. You just, you don't, you might think it's just a quick intro and, and that's fine, but then your, your name will come to mind from if somebody's hiring or needs something. It's just, yeah, that, that's great advice. So, one of the things I wanted to ask about is you do a lot outside of, you know, your full-time job, which I'm sure feels more, even more full-time now, uh, running your own business. But tell us a little bit about some of the things that you're passionate about outside of full-time work that you volunteer for. [00:22:25] Kat Hurd: Yeah. It, it's funny you say that, you know, the, the, the full-time job now is definitely like an all-time job, not just a full-time job, but I love it. So I hate to be that person that's like, it doesn't feel like work when you love what you do, but I loved what I did before, you know, this is a new way of me doing it. But I also firmly believe that the, and I've seen it in my business, the best years I had as a sales rep and as a sales leader were the years where I wasn't just giving to my team and to my organization but was also connected and giving to my community as well. So right now, that looks like me spending a ton of time at Ballet Arizona. I'm the Vice Chair of the board of directors, so I have, I committed to a four year leadership, yeah, leadership journey with them. So I have two years as vice chair and then I'll be Board Chair for two years. And it's just really, you know, I've been dancing since I was itty bitty. I had a short stint on the Phoenix Suns for a hot minute, and you know, it's been something that has been creatively my kind of happy place since I was little. And it's been really fun to take my business acumen and my strategic mind and get to apply it to the art form that I love. So that's where, you know, these days where I'm spending a lot of my time, but I also do rescue work and work at our local animal shelter, walking dogs, giving them treats, you know. There's something to be said for walking in after a long day or a long week to, and yes, people often are like, it's so sad. How can you do that? Those dogs are so happy to see you, there is no way, truly no way that you can leave pissed off. Like, it just, it takes the, the weight of the week or whatever the situation is, and shifts your mind and shifts your perspective because truly I think when we, you know, come from a head space of gratitude, because we are all so lucky to be in the medtech world, the opportunities that we have, the, you know, just uncharted territory really that our career can take. That's the best part. I'm sure you didn't imagine that you would have a podcast and you would have, you know, the influence that you do with MD&M and all these other opportunities that are afforded to you. And so, it's good to be reminded of how much we do have, and it never hurts to get some puppy kisses too. [00:24:42] Lindsey Dinneen: Exactly. Well, you're speaking my language on both of them. [00:24:46] Kat Hurd: Love that. [00:24:46] Lindsey Dinneen: When we were, when my husband and I were paused for a little while in Oregon, we would go and do and go walk dogs and, and yeah, it is, it is hard because you kind of fall in love instantly all the time, but it is such a, it's so, it's such a gift. It's a gift for you. [00:25:02] Kat Hurd: Yeah. It, it really is. And we foster failed twice, so, yeah. You know, so we probably just should admit that we aren't good fosters we're good, you know, pet parents, but it is, and even you can't take all of them home with you. So just, you know, having those moments with them is really fun. [00:25:21] Lindsey Dinneen: So you mentioned your business acumen being wonderfully applied to the arts world, which is a, which is so great. I'm also wondering how it's worked on the opposite side of things. Like what do you think dance taught you growing up that you apply? [00:25:37] Kat Hurd: I love this question, and I was just saying this last week. I sat down at dinner with a mentor and sponsor of mine, and I was telling him that I am convinced --you cannot convince me otherwise-- that my dance background-- 'cause I actually, I went as far as to get a degree in dance. So like I live and breathe it for for a long time. And that is what made me such a successful sales rep especially in the OR environment because what do you do as a dancer? You observe patterns of movement and you, you are, you can predict what's going to happen physically before it happens because you can read those cues and so that is exceptionally valuable in the OR when as a sales rep, your job is to be like bright and present when they need you, and blend into the background when they don't. And it is like a dance in the OR, it's absolutely choreographed. And then when that goes into sales conversations, it's reading the nonverbals and understanding what someone's body positioning and posture is telling you without their words. And you really do, especially I, I did a lot of modern dance in college, you learn that improvisation, you have to be able to read someone's movement before it happens. So yes, it's a great question and I, I, you know, strongly believe, I know that athletes often get hired as medical device reps, but I think dancers are just an untapped and really under leveraged subset of talent because their skills can translate so strongly. [00:27:09] Lindsey Dinneen: I love that. Well, shout out to dance is I think many of the listeners know I'm also a dancer, so I of course, feel very strongly about the connection and the power that the arts can provide for any career really. [00:27:23] Kat Hurd: Truly. I'm curious for you, what do you feel like your, if of your background, right, of your maybe it's dance or some of the volunteer work or the travel that you do, how has that positioned you in your current career for success? [00:27:36] Lindsey Dinneen: Oh, that's, that's a fun one. I think so I think all of the skills that I learned as a dancer have been instrumental. Things like learning how to take correction with grace and apply, apply it quickly, apply the feedback quickly, permanently to make a big difference. I think learning teamwork and how you fit into the broader picture as a whole, you're not always gonna be the soloist or kind of the leader in charge necessarily. So sometimes you have to know when you're gonna be to put in dance terms, the corps de ballet. You have to know when to be the main group of dances. But again, not feeling like any role is insignificant. We all work together to success. I also think that resilience is a huge component of it. The grit that is required for dancing translates so well into anything else because this industry can be difficult and like you said, depending on where you're navigating, and what you wanna do, sometimes it takes a lot of sort of persistence and, and resilience and grit. Yeah, I could go on and on, but those are things that come immediately to mind. [00:28:48] Kat Hurd: Yeah, absolutely. It's that resilience. I mean, when you take it back to the conversation about breaking into the industry, you have to be willing to-- and same as in arts or in athletics-- like be willing to let yourself fail, to push yourself to your edges, to understand your limitations, and then blow past them. Because if you just stay at what your limitations are, you're never really gonna get where you wanna go. And as a dancer, you have to live that life all the time. And it is, it's absolutely, those are the hallmarks to breaking in. You have to be agile. You have to be very comfortable with rejection. You have to be very gritty in trying and trying and trying again, and it doesn't matter how many times you don't get a response, you're still gonna send out those messages. You're still gonna ask people for coffee chats. You're still gonna send one question to one person and ask for three minutes of their time. [00:29:39] Lindsey Dinneen: Yep. Yep. I love it. All right, so I'm curious, as you've had a really cool career in this industry, what are, what is a moment maybe that stands out as really solidifying that, "Hey, I'm, I'm in the right place at the right time." [00:29:54] Kat Hurd: Oh man, that's a hard question. I love that because I feel like I've had so many of those moments, and interestingly, it's not the moment that have been, you know, me standing on stage accepting an award. I think it's been in the little moments, like those quiet whispers of like, " Yes, this is it." You know, the, the times where my customers, you know, as a sales rep would come to me and say, "Here's the challenge I'm having. What are your thoughts?" Not about spinal cord stimulation, but because we built this trusted partnership and, you know, and I became an advisor in their world and not just another rep, right? So like those moments as a sales rep really were the moments that were were those kind of inflection points for me. And then I look as a sales leader of seeing my team win as a coach. You know, I, I get the question of like, well, you know, how did you prepare for what you're doing now? I'm like, "Guys, I'm coaching. I was coaching people for the last 10 years as a sales leader. Now I just do it for my own company instead of others." You know, but, and I will say this. The moment I knew that I was on the right path in my, my current role in starting my own company was starting to see the impact that it would have on the reps that I was working with. The sales leader who came to me as she first got promoted and then now is currently ranked first in her company, you know, like the, the reps-- even just this last weekend I got a text message from a rep I hired a few years back and who's at a different company doing big things and they just won a massive onstage award as Rookie of the Year. You know, really cool moments that getting to be a part of their success and their journey because not only is it incredibly fulfilling do you get to make a, a massive impact, but it also financially sets you and your family up for massive opportunity ahead. You know, I just had a client where we negotiated an additional 25K on her offer. Like that's a big deal, right? [00:31:58] Lindsey Dinneen: Wow. Yeah. Yeah. That's huge. [00:31:59] Kat Hurd: So, so I apologize because I didn't give you just one moment because, for me, it's, it's the invisible thread that runs through and that, because that thread has always been present in a different form or fashion, it's given me this in some ways insane courage to do things that people think are, are delusional and know that it's the right thing because of the impact that it's gonna have. [00:32:24] Lindsey Dinneen: Love it. Absolutely love it. Okay, so pivoting the conversation just for fun, imagine that you were to be offered a million dollars to teach a masterclass on anything you want. It could be within the industry or what you're doing now, but it doesn't have to be. What would you choose to teach? [00:32:42] Kat Hurd: Anything I want? Oh my gosh. Can I give two answers? Good. Because the first thing I would absolutely just want to teach one on this industry, and that's the power of influence in building your net, your web, I call it your, your web of, of influence. That changes your career. It's who you, who knows you, what they know of you, and that is what opens doors. So I feel like I would, I would do that. Right. And I, I have to do that because that's really what I'm so passionate about. But if it was like any off the wall topic, it would be traveling to Europe on a budget. I have it on lock. And particularly how to do the long haul flights without jet lag. [00:33:35] Lindsey Dinneen: Oh, excellent. [00:33:37] Kat Hurd: Yeah. [00:33:38] Lindsey Dinneen: Might need to talk more about this offline. [00:33:41] Kat Hurd: I feel like I have such a system and one of my my last boss used to always say, he's like, "You can go," 'cause I international travel is my, like, my passion outside of dance. And he's always like, "You can go, you just have to promise me that you'll come back." He used to joke. He's like, "I'm afraid that one day you just won't come back." So I made good on my word. I always came back, but I did learn a lot of tips and tricks along the way. [00:34:07] Lindsey Dinneen: Awesome. Excellent. Great masterclass topics. How do you wish to be remembered after you leave this world? [00:34:15] Kat Hurd: Oh, I love that. And what it unique question to ask in a podcast about medtech. I, I think we get so stuck in talking about who we are as professionals, that we don't always talk about the bigger pieces. So I wanna be remembered as someone who cared deeply and made an impact on others. Yeah. [00:34:35] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah. I love that. And you're well on your way, so there you go. [00:34:41] Kat Hurd: I like to think so. It's all a work in progress and it's truly a testament to, you know, to take it back to some of the start of our conversation to the mentors and sponsors I've had along the way who have given me-- you know, I, I talk about borrowed belief a lot because there's gonna be times in your career where you don't think you have what it takes. And that's where mentors and sponsors come in. And having people that will loan you their belief in you, so you can believe in yourself, even just for a moment to go do the thing that feels really scary. And because I've had those people, you know, I've I've felt brave enough to take those risks and moments. [00:35:17] Lindsey Dinneen: Love it. Yeah. Excellent. All right. And then final question. What is one thing that makes you smile every time you see or think about it? [00:35:26] Kat Hurd: Oh my gosh. Well, at the risk of sounding like that dog lady, it's a hundred percent our pups. We have, we have two now, and our current foster slash foster fail has this unbridled energy that I always look at her and think, "Gosh, if I could bottle that." Yes. So yeah, it's my family, right? My partner, Matt. I think that those, it's those moments. At the end of the day, I couldn't do what I do without my family, without Matt and yeah, so I'm very lucky to have them. [00:35:55] Lindsey Dinneen: Love that. Excellent. Well, this has been an amazing conversation, Kat, and we are so honored to be making a donation on your behalf as a thank you for your time today to Save the Children, which works to end the cycle of poverty by ensuring communities have the resources to provide children with a healthy, educational, and safe environment. So thank you so much for choosing that charity to support, and also thank you for continuing to work to change lives for a better world. We're grateful, and I wish you the most amazing continued success. [00:36:30] Kat Hurd: Well, Lindsey, thank you for all that you're doing as well. Even hosting these conversations, it's such an important, you know, distinction to talk about how do you make a difference in this space and change things for the better. So thank you for your kind words and the opportunity to have this conversation, get to hang out with you for a little bit. And yeah, I look forward to our next conversation. [00:36:50] Lindsey Dinneen: Awesome. All right. Thank you. [00:36:53] Dan Purvis: The Leading Difference is brought to you by Velentium Medical. Velentium Medical is a full service CDMO, serving medtech clients worldwide to securely design, manufacture, and test class two and class three medical devices. Velentium Medical's four units include research and development-- pairing electronic and mechanical design, embedded firmware, mobile app development, and cloud systems with the human factor studies and systems engineering necessary to streamline medical device regulatory approval; contract manufacturing-- building medical products at the prototype, clinical, and commercial levels in the US, as well as in low cost regions in 1345 certified and FDA registered Class VII clean rooms; cybersecurity-- generating the 12 cybersecurity design artifacts required for FDA submission; and automated test systems, assuring that every device produced is exactly the same as the device that was approved. Visit VelentiumMedical.com to explore how we can work together to change lives for a better world.
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