Tell me about your career journey and how you got to where you are today.

I've been at 3Shape for almost four years – my first job after my master's. I joined the graduate programme, which was new to me as they're uncommon in the US. I studied public health in the US and spent a year abroad in Denmark. I was drawn to their welfare system and extensive registry data. That experience inspired me to return for a master's in Lund. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, so a graduate programme helped me explore options.

I joined 3Shape’s first-ever graduate programme, which was a learning experience for everyone. It was a very unique programme compared to most. We were smaller than others in the sense that we weren't allocated to a specific department. We were one of two tracks, business or commercial. Because of my skill set, I was called a hybrid graduate, and I explored both.

I started out doing project management for our customer care. I got close to seeing what the customers were saying about our products. Then, I went into product management, after that I started in our regulatory department on a specific project they designed for me, where I looked into dental insurance and reimbursement. I had a background in public health and health systems, so I understood that landscape more. That was a unique one because I sat entirely on my own. There was nobody in the company who knew dental insurance. It was my project to drive. They gave me a lot of autonomy and exposure.

I enjoyed our regulatory department, so I started my permanent position there two years ago with the same, great manager I had for the dental insurance rotation.

Right now, I’m spending half of my time on clinical trials. I manage a lot of our data, systems, products, and equipment because I understand them from product management. The other half is the scientific evidence of the products, making sure what we're saying about our products is true and supported by literature. I work with our marketing department on the wording and review a lot of their materials.

From a project standpoint, we don’t have a process today for the claims we make about our products. I do project management to establish a more formal process. I do a lot of bits and pieces, and that’s also what I like about my current role, which is Scientific Manager. My boss and I built this role based on my interests. It didn’t exist before.  

What attracted you to the field/industry you're working in?

3Shape is a medical device company – it's a regulated field. After studying public health, I wanted to do something public health-related. I think the big decision for many people in public health is whether to go private or public, working for an NGO or a governmental organisation.  

Med tech create amazing things that help people, but they're not always attainable for everybody. That’s where I like sitting in the private sector, especially in regulatory, evaluating safety and performance. I see myself as contributing to accessibility and market access, which has always been something I’ve been interested in because it’s about the accessibility of products that are very important for people. In a regulated field, my skills and interests overlap.

What’s something you wish more people knew about working in med tech?

When we're talking about medical devices in general, I was surprised by how much trial and error there is. I assumed that with brilliant people in R&D, things would be more direct, but I appreciate that our company allows them to explore ideas. When we talk about regulatory, we have some incredibly interesting discussions that I didn’t expect.

From a regulatory standpoint, people expect you're sitting down, reading regulations, and writing them up all the time. That’s not what we do – we work with R&D from the beginning to shape the products. I thought regulatory was back-end and quiet, but it’s fun, creative, and collaborative, even with all the reading and detailed work.

Can you share some key milestones or achievements in your career so far?

My very first project was as a project manager in customer care. I was tasked with creating a knowledge base because we didn’t have any external-facing materials. If you had a problem with our devices, you had to call support – there was no online article to guide you. That’s a bad experience. When I have a problem with my phone, I Google it, I don’t call Apple, I appreciate having the autonomy to fix things myself.

I had support from great managers, but it was my project. Nobody was tasking me with what to do. They said: it’s your project, we’ll help if you have questions, but you’re driving. Our rotations were eight months, and during that time, I set up the process. I reviewed articles. I didn’t have much product knowledge then, so I made sure the content was user-friendly, and someone like me could understand it.  

The knowledge base was finally implemented, which was incredibly satisfying. Years later, even though teams have changed, someone reached out to me recently who has taken it over. It’s satisfying to see that it was worthwhile and is still going. I even use it sometimes when I need help with our products.  

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What are the most important skills you've developed throughout your career?

Stakeholder management is a big one. As I mentioned in regulatory, I didn't expect it to be such a useful skill, but it is, especially in clinical trials. That requires collaboration between a lot of teams across the company. I'm the only former graduate there, because I've seen so many parts of the business, it's valuable. My team often asks who to go to for things, and I have an idea of where to start.

Networking in general has also been incredibly valuable. Our company has about 2,000–3,000 employees, and around 500 at HQ. I feel like I know quite a lot of people, and that makes a big difference.

I also have a background in statistics. I studied public health and statistics. I do a lot of data analysis and understand statistical concepts like sample sizes. We tend to outsource some of that work, but I can at least read and understand it. For literature appraisals, I can go into the details of what the papers are saying. My team is grateful that I have that analytical skill set.

Also, just having good relationships with the team is so important. In these collaborative ways of working, knowing how to get along with people is incredibly helpful.

What have been some challenges you faced in your career, and how did you overcome them?

Graduate programmes attract a certain type of high-achieving person. For me, that comes with a lot of pressure I put on myself. People want me to achieve things, but I don’t think it’s the same type of pressure. I think there was more room for failure than I anticipated, which I appreciated.

Early on, I felt impostor syndrome and a lot of stress when things didn’t go well. I wondered if I wasn’t cut out for it and worried about getting fired. But now that I’ve been here for a while, I’ve gained both skills and confidence.

One of the biggest challenges was building confidence. Being new in a career, learning that making mistakes is OK, not feeling that same impulse. I’ve had to make peace with the idea that mistakes will happen. I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by people who treat those as learning opportunities, not personal failures. I used to take things very personally. Of course, I made mistakes, but there were also things outside of my control.

That’s been a big challenge – overcoming impostor syndrome, building confidence, seeing that I can do the things I want to do. People think more favourably about my work than I do. As women, we can be very critical of what we do.  

How hard was it for you as a recent graduate to navigate recruitment and the interviews?

It was brutal. Looking for your first job is stressful. I had the benefit that in the US, internships and work experience are very common, so I'd been doing those. My CV and resume were probably a bit more built out. In Denmark, they might do student assistant positions and internships, but not to the same extent. That was very beneficial for me and helped me stand out, I could leverage those experiences.

I encourage internships and strong work experience – they're valuable to have on your CV before you apply, but it’s not easy. That ties into the impostor syndrome too. You face silent rejections and must learn not to take them personally. Especially with entry-level positions, it’s incredibly competitive.

I'm grateful that I applied for graduate programmes. In the process, it was clear I was genuinely interested in what the programme offered. It wasn't about status – I wanted to learn different things. That was important to communicate, and I’ve gotten the most out of the programme that way.

I’ve chatted with people applying to jobs, they reach out to me about graduate programmes. My advice is: if it's the right fit, it will happen. Apply to things you're genuinely interested in, the company, the job. That comes through when you present yourself. I’ve been involved in recruitment myself, looking for someone to hire. Companies can tell when you're applying just for the sake of applying versus when you really care. Of course, there's a balance – how many applications you're sending versus the quality of those applications. I encourage focusing on the quality. If you put in effort and show you're interested, you'll have a more favourable outcome. If you're not hired for something, it's not necessarily that you're not right for the job. It could be that the job or company just isn’t the right fit for you, and that’s for the best.

How has networking and connecting with other professionals shaped your career?

Working with our clinical trials, there's a huge network of clinical research organisations (CROs), which host seminars and events. The world is small, but Denmark is tiny, people tend to know everyone. That was a big difference for me compared to the US.

Networking has been great. I’ve learned from experienced professionals and didn’t realise how many free learning opportunities are out there. I get LinkedIn messages inviting me to events or seminars.

It’s the same for market access and reimbursement. It's a niche area, and everyone tends to know each other. After my graduate rotation on the reimbursement and dental insurance project, the company decided to formalise it. We hired a market access expert, and I learnt a lot from her and her network.  

We have networking groups that meet every couple of months to talk about challenges we’re facing. You realise that even if your company’s processes aren’t perfect, everyone is facing similar issues, it’s great for sparring. In areas where we excel, others ask us questions, and we share what we’ve learned. Networking built skills and inspired my career. Sitting in those groups, you build your network, and you get invited to interesting things over time.

What's one piece of advice you've received that has stuck with you, and that you'd like to pass along to others?

People have different working styles – I like to move quickly. I have an image of always delivering, always going and doing things. One of the best pieces of advice I got was: things can wait.

It helped with prioritisation and work-life balance. I think it's a very American mindset – to be on call 24/7 in case someone needs something. That’s not how it works in Europe.

Being told that things can wait allowed me to step back, focus on quality, and make sure I was putting my energy into the right things, the ones that deliver value. Coming from a graduate programme, doing different things, having different ideas, I bounce between tasks a lot. It’s important to take care of yourself as a person, not just as an employee.