MEET THE PROFESSIONAL
May 2019
Raed “Rody” Rafeh
Mr. Rody Rafeh is a Marketing Manager at Amgen Inc, a multinational biopharmaceutical company. As a Marketing Manager, he is tasked with managing a $1.5 billion dollar brand.
We are very excited to feature him this month in our “Meet the Professional” series.
Below are a few questions to help facilitate this interactive connection. At the end of the page you will have an opportunity to post your own questions for Mr. Rody Rafeh.
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Describe your current Occupation & Degree/s and Universities.
- Master of Business Administration (MBA), Pepperdine University
- Bachelor of Science in Biology from California Lutheran University
Awards/recognitions:
- Chairman’s circle winner while in sales
- Marketing Rookie of the Year
Discuss a moment or turning point in your life that led you to your career path:
Early on in my career, I always looked for roles with job security thinking I could simply work my way up the ladder, be given new challenges, and eventually lead an organization. What actually happened was that I never really stayed in any role more than 3-5 years before leaving. That was not enough time to really move up the ladder so, understandably, this led to some frustrating moments.
My turning point came in my early 30’s when I realized that I value learning and being challenged with new responsibilities more than moving up an organization, hence my short durations in each role. Once I came to that realization I embraced the uncertainty of starting new roles and being out of my comfort zone. What I also found was that each role gave me a skill set and experience that was directly applied to my next role. The result was a zig-zag, but, overall, an upward career trajectory.
Discuss a role model or mentor who influenced your career choice:
2 people motivated me the most by challenging me in different ways:
- My brother, Mark. He held a mirror up to me (metaphorically, otherwise that would be weird) so I could really see the gap in my behavior and intentions.
- My sales manager at Amgen: He put me in many difficult and challenging situations with colleagues and customers with the sole purpose of showing me that failure and feedback are one in the same.
Do you recall any specific challenges you encountered and overcame?
I was able to overcome few major challenges, but only after learning from the failures of previous efforts. As someone with no sales experience, getting hired as a sales representative in an industry that values very specific knowhow was very difficult. I failed my first two attempts at getting a sales job before finally changing my approach and getting it on the third try. It took me nearly 19 months from my first try to actually being hired.
Once in the field, I came into a territory that was severely underperforming. I put together a business plan and executed on it. There were numerous times where I had to alter the plan in order to better suit the realities of the market. There were many moments where I wasn’t sure if what I was doing was going to work. Ultimately, things started to work: doctors wanted to see/hear more from me, sales ticked upwards, and I won the Chairman’s Circle- a prize for the top performers in the country. It took me four and a half years after being hired to win this prize.
Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years?
I have no idea, and that’s ok. I’ll likely continue to zig zag my way up my organization or venture out and do my own thing.
What advice would you give to someone starting out in your field?
I recommend addressing the basics. Ask yourself:
- Why do I think this job/company/industry suits me?
- What do you currently know versus what do you still need to learn?
- What exactly do I want to know about this job/company/industry?
- What are some ways I can learn more about this job/company/industry?
This seems basic, but very few people actually follow through on this.
Tell us a little bit about your hobbies outside of your field:
When I’m not chasing my kids around and trying to win father/husband of the year awards, I like to play soccer, ice hockey, & read/listen to podcasts on entrepreneurship, healthcare, and self-development.
A Q&A form will be uploaded shortly. In the meantime feel free to send any questions you would like to ask Mr. Rody Rafeh to admin@network1017.com
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