Michelle Poole, MBA, on making time for family, friends and wellbeing amidst a busy career

Editor's note: This is an automatically generated transcript of Season 2, episode 11 of the Healio/WIO Our View Video Blog series, which has been slightly edited for clarity. Please notify editor@healio.com if there are concerns regarding accuracy of the transcription.

Welcome to our Healio "Women in Ophthalmology" blog. We're excited to have Michelle Poole here with us today. Hi, Michelle.

Hello.

Can you share with all of our viewers the roles you have at EyePoint and elsewhere?

Yes. Thank you, guys, for having me. Just wanted to let you know I'm Michelle Poole, I'm the VP Chief of Staff with EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, I've been with EyePoint for about six years, I've held multiple positions within pharmaceuticals for the past 12 years... But I'm excited to be here today.

Thank you so much for being here with us, Michelle. So, can you share any lessons that you've learned in your journey or tips for busy people?

I think the biggest thing is you have to be extremely organized in this world. I've been at pharmaceuticals probably for the last 20 years and I've had multiple hats in multiple positions. I will say that the one thing that I have learned is that organization has aided me in becoming successful at these different positions, because you can get quickly caught up in trying to do more and more and more, but there has to be some point when you say, "I need to pull back a little bit and make sure I have time for myself." So, for me, the biggest thing that I've really tried to focus on is being organized, and organization comes in a lot of different ways. It could be as simple of you're doing a lot of traveling, making sure that you always are packed, you know? So, you're not starting from scratch, or, you know, making sure that you have a certain organization when it comes to your schedule, you know, making sure you have time for yourself within that schedule. So, I would say the biggest contributor and things that I've learned along the way is to try to stay as organized as possible.

I love that tip. I can't tell you how many journals and organizers I've bought to try to get more organized, and I am a work-in-progress, so thank you!

Yes, it's hard for some people, and I've had friends say that I'm probably too organized, but it works for me. And it's a simple... I like to compartmentalize different things, so, you know, that works for me, but I have friends that have three children, and it's very hard for them to keep everything balanced, so it's a work in progress for a lot.

Absolutely, absolutely. And you alluded to many different hats that you wear, and so many people wear different hats, especially when it comes to relationships, daughter, sister, friend, work relationships, etc.. Any tips or tricks up your sleeve on how to help manage the balance of that in our lives?

I am a very family-focused individual. So for me, my family means a lot to me, and making sure that I prioritize that, you know, is important, so I always make time for that first, and then things fall in place from there. You know, from a standpoint of work, I've met a lot of good people along the way. I think what's important is, some of the relationships that I've made with companies that I've worked with 15 years ago, I still have those relationships now. So, you build your network, you try to make sure that you... as you've gotten older, as I've gotten older, you try to prioritize those kinds of relationships that you have with people because you may need a different perspective, and people have different expertise and backgrounds. So, I try to focus on others in my career and staying in touch with people, and I do spend a lot of time trying to stay in touch with people. And then, it's become the balance. Because there's days where, you know, I have friends that are like, "Oh, Michelle, thanks for returning my call two days, three days later!” You get there, but it's hard because you want to give everybody the time that they need, but it's also important to make sure you keep those relationships going from a family first, then friendships, and then there's people along the way. And I kind of try to take that balance of family, friends, and then my work friends as well, so it's just... It's a balance, but I think it's has served me very well along my career path. I can reach out to physicians that I used to call on when I was a sales rep 20 years ago, and it's like I had never left their office. You don't get that in a lot of industries, and that makes a big difference. So, I appreciate it, and I... It's something that I try to make sure that I keep going, so hopefully that answers your question.

Great pearls of wisdom. Oh, my gosh, those are so wonderful. And I love your tip about being organized. That's a great one, Michelle, and about maintaining relationships: No matter what you are doing now, maintain the relationships. But we also know how busy we get at meetings: Traveling, deadlines, etc. What are some real-world pearls that you have tried — I know we don't always succeed, but we can at least try, right? —To implement in your life to maintain that balance that you are alluding to?

Yeah, so I wasn't the best person at this early in my career. I would not have fun at meetings. And people would say, like, you got to encourage fun, but you're so driven — "I have to get the work done, I have to make sure I do this next thing," — that I saw myself missing out on opportunities. So, what I've done now, probably... And I've adopted this probably within the last probably 10 years, is I try to have one fun thing. If I'm traveling for work, I try to incorporate something fun. If it's fun just meeting a friend for a cocktail or a coffee, that's fun. I also try to make sure... What's important to me is I take time to do some exercise. I had noticed that I am better when I have some exercise. Whether it be just hitting the Peloton for15, 20 minutes, or meditation, I didn't ever think that I would be a person that would be a big meditation person, but just 5 to 10 minutes of meditation calms me down. Because sometimes you get very stressed. So I will take time to make sure that, even if I'm in my room, you can easily do a chair yoga class in your room. So I have incorporated that into a lot of my meetings and that has helped with some of the stress. And then, I'm not one of these late-night people that can stay out to 12 to 2 o'clock in the morning, I can't do it, so I try to ensure that I have a balanced time from a standpoint of getting to bed. A lot of the people that reported to me when I had a sales team, they would laugh and say, "Oh, she's going to bed at 8:00, 8:30." It's okay. I have to make sure that I take care of me first. So, we have fun, but I do also have to take care of my body. So hopefully that helps you.

Those are great pearls. Thank you so much.

That was great. Thank you so much. You were so honest and shared so many real-world things, so we really appreciate you making the time and being here for our wellness series.

No problem, Dr. Matossian, you just make me make sure I look like a supermodel and then we’re good.

Absolutely!