Beth Marsh of Apellis on preserving wellness while traveling for work

Editor's note: This is an automatically generated transcript of Season 2, episode 16 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.

Hello everyone, I'd like to welcome you all to our Healio Woman in Ophthalmology vlog. And thank you Beth for joining us today and being here with us. Can you introduce yourself to our viewers, Beth?

Absolutely, thank you so much for having me. Hi everyone, my name is Beth Marsh, I am Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Apellis Pharmaceuticals. Apellis Pharmaceuticals is a relatively new company in the ophthalmic space, and we have the first product for geographic atrophy named Syfovre. And so, my role at Apellis is really to lead the commercial organization, calling on retina specialists and the ophthalmic community in the United States. Previous to that, I've worked in ophthalmology my entire career, mostly in the commercial side of the business. I've also had the opportunity to be very involved in OWL, serving as past president.

That's awesome, thank you so much Beth, for being here with us. So, can you share with our listeners your key tips for juggling all this, juggling all your work with industry, your family, and, of course, all your work with volunteer organizations such as OWL?

Absolutely. So, it's not always easy, I'll be the first to admit that. And for those of us in this space, we know that we also have a lot of meetings. So, in addition to our work schedules, our family schedules, conferences take up a lot of weekends, and so it is really critical that we find ways to balance everything. I learned early on, I've been traveling for business almost my entire career and I used to try to, for example, work all day, and then take the late night flight, or the very, very early flight in the morning. And then I watched some of my colleagues who were further up and more senior than me, actually taking, you know, flights at normal business hour times. And I have to say, that made a huge difference in creating some work-life balance, so I could get, for example, the kids off to school and then get on the plane and go to that next space. The work is always still there, but just making sure that I gave myself a little bit of time versus trying to do everything in one day, was absolutely a huge change for me in trying to establish some of that work-life balance.

Yeah, that's a great tip.

Wow, I'll need to work on that one. So, do you have like a favorite saying or a quote, or a mantra that kind of gets you through a hard day?

So, I'm not sure I have actually a favorite quote or a mantra. Maybe a little bit of, "This too shall pass," or "Don't let the turkeys get you down," might be a little bit, and just, the hard times don't always last or what may seem overwhelming doesn't last. And I really do find that I kind of approach each day fresh and new: Let whatever happened in the past go. It really does help me kind of center in on the day. I started practicing yoga about 10 years ago and it made a big difference because you just kind of stop, center yourself and then move on, and it really has changed how I approach things.

Love it.

Beth, those are really wonderful pearls already you've shared with us. The yoga part, which you've been doing for about a decade, and also, don't harbor things that happened in the past. Move on, because otherwise it becomes a burden, and it keeps adding more weight and more stress. So, my question for you, Beth, is something that I'm sure you're very good at. Can you share with us and our audience, some real-world pearls that you do for yourself to reset? Yoga is one and letting go is one. What are some other things to kind of help you get through a tough day and find time for you?

Yeah, it's a great question. I think sometimes, we have to really remind ourselves. I find especially, we're talking today while I'm on business travels, talking to you from a hotel. And there's that instinct that I've worked all day, but now I'm back in a hotel, and because I'm not with my family, and I'm not with my husband, that I'm just going to continue to work, and that's just not healthy, right? And quite frankly, since COVID, the fact that a lot of our workout apps are now on our phone, it does give us an opportunity — For example, the yoga that I was talking about, the studio I belong to also has the ability to join classes virtually. So, even in business travel, I can find a way to kind of let go and keep with my routine, and I think that makes a huge difference, and to your point about those pearls is how do I keep a routine? So as much as I'd like to say that I probably get to yoga twice a week, it probably is 6 times a month. But that's okay, we'll give ourselves a break. The other that I found is simply getting out and walking. And whether that's coming home from work and getting a walk in, or you know, even in a hotel, making sure that I go down and get on the treadmill if I don't know the area, or especially getting outside. And then most importantly, I find on the weekends, the more I get outside, just get that fresh air, even in Boston where it's not been the best spring, just a little bit of outdoor air is really healthy for all of us.

Those are really great, great observations and tips that you've shared. Being outside, I think is key. Right now, I'm in Pennsylvania, things are blooming. The smell is great, I went for a walk with my husband yesterday, and we heard the birds, and the leaves, and flowers are blooming and blossoming, all shades of green. It was just beautiful, it's very calming actually, and that doesn't really cost anything, you just have to have a good pair of walking shoes, so.

That's a good point, yes.

But, of course, in an unknown city, you have to be careful, and especially as a woman by herself, you have to be cautious. But with that said, I think just going out and appreciating nature goes a long way, so thank you so much for being on this program and sharing your wonderful wisdom with all of us and our listeners.

Oh, thank you for having me, it's just a joy to be with you all.

Thank you so much.