41: She Did It! Real Retirement Stories with Diane Blumenthal

<p class="p1">Today<span class="s1">’</span>s guest is Diane Blumenthal, who has been incredibly generous in sharing her own retirement story.</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p1">She took the leap into becoming a self-employed consultant after a long and very illustrious career in pharma and biotechnology.</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p1">Diane has helped build and transition companies from the startup and research and development phase into a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company with approved commercial, manufacturing, operations, and products.</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p1">She also has extensive experience in the transfer and scale-up of processes from the laboratory bench to commercial-scale manufacturing.</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p1">Listen in as Diane shares her journey as a female leader in a male dominated industry, how she planned for retirement and to continue working as a self-employed consultant afterwards, and why she firmly believes that success comes down to <em>being comfortable with being uncomfortable</em>.</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p1"><strong>Key Topics:</strong></p> <ul class="ul1"> <li class="li1">Being a female leader in chemical engineering in the 1980s (8:12)</li> <li class="li1">Being comfortable with being uncomfortable (15:45)</li> <li class="li1">How Diane planned for her retirement (20:51)</li> <li class="li1">About stock options (24:58)</li> <li class="li1">What factors Diane considered when it came to retirement (29:44)</li> <li class="li1">Diane<span class="s1">’</span>s first day in retirement (32:00)</li> <li class="li1">Why Diane decided to continue doing consulting work in retirement (35:05)</li> <li class="li1">The biggest challenge and the best part of being self-employed (37:30)</li> <li class="li1">Diane<span class="s1">’</span>s three criteria for choosing work today (41:00)</li> <li class="li1">Knowing how to price your services (44:00)</li> <li class="li1">Diane<span class="s1">’</span>s advice to woman considering retirement and how