Duane Newton 0:07

Hi, welcome to Navigating Your Path. My name's Duane Newton, and I'm your host for this new podcast. There are several motivations for me and why I decided to start this. I'm a clinical microbiologist by training. I've got about twenty-five years of experience in the diagnostic field, and while my technical and clinical and scientific training was excellent, as I went along the way, I realized that most of what I needed to be a leader in my roles in the laboratory, it was never really taught. I had to figure it out along the way. Because of that, my journey was really windy and really bumpy. As I've talked to colleagues over the years, lots of people have experienced the same thing, and I think having a space to talk about those experiences, uh, the ups and downs, the challenges, the opportunities, I think is a great way to learn and pass on that knowledge I'd love to have the opportunity to share my experiences and my perspectives, as well as talk to other leaders in our field whose names you would probably recognize, and learn about the decisions that they made and, and how they navigated the bumps along the way, and the experiences and the people that really shaped the direction that they took and, and how they got to where they are. The format of the podcast is really gonna be longer conversations, you know, somewhere around an hour or maybe more. I feel like I enjoy the opportunity to sit and talk and, and share without feeling constrained, uh, and to maybe take the conversation in directions that we didn't really expect. There's so much content out there that's sanitized and AI-generated, but what you're gonna get here is really unfiltered, unedited, authentic conversations. Lots of ums, lots of pauses, maybe even some technical snafus. But we're keeping it real, and that's the way I like it. And there's gonna be a combination of solo ep- episodes where I'm sharing my perspectives, but a lot of the, uh, episodes are gonna be conversations with these folks that I feel like have a, an interesting take and an interesting perspective, and I'd like to have conversations with them and, and share those with you. You're gonna learn about their background, their journeys, and their challenges. I'd also like to have some practical discussions on tools to use and skills to develop that will help us as we navigate our own paths, you know, whether it's being a leader and managing a team, uh, figuring out how to advocate for yourself or your, your group within your organization, you know, to the larger organization. Maybe it's even, you know, trying to figure out how to navigate that career ladder within, within your organization. I think those kinds of conversations would be really helpful no matter where you are in your career. Why did I decide to call this Navigating Your Path? Well, the main reason is that everybody's journey is unique. It's uniquely your own, and so it's really your path that I, I want you to be able to find. But I think, you know, my perspectives and the perspectives of others can help inform you and, and influence you and educate you on, on some things to think about, the questions that you should maybe ask yourself, and, um, maybe some options and ways to look at things. But ultimately, it's your own path. The truth is there really isn't a protocol or a roadmap for most of what we're going to encounter. I think we can all benefit from hearing about the approaches that others have taken, the influences and challenges that they've experienced along the way, and how that has shaped each of our own directions. I hope by having these conversations and creating this, this space, it'll educate, maybe inspire you to identify and navigate your own unique path that will help you discover and cultivate and strengthen the authentic leader that's inside of you. I-importantly, I wanna create a sense of community. By having these conversations, you'll, you'll see that you're not alone in the challenges or the questions or the concerns that you have as, as you go along. And maybe the people that we talk to, you're gonna develop a little bit of a, a understanding and a relationship with them through this medium that you-- when you get a chance to see them out in the community, at conferences, in your professional environment, maybe you feel more of a connection and they are more approachable, and you might be willing to go up and have a conversation now that you've gotten to learn a little more about them, where maybe you wouldn't have done that before. I hope you enjoy the podcast. I'm really excited to put the content out and, and get your feedback. If, if you'd like to give me feedback, you can reach out to me via my, um, podcast email, which is duane@navigatingyourpath.site. You can check out the new episodes at the podcast website, www.navigatingyourpath.site, or on the YouTu-- or on my YouTube channel, uh, at Navigating Your Path. You can also find the content, uh, wherever you get your podcast, uh, through whatever streaming service. It's, it's gonna be on all the normal ones. Feel free to like or subscribe, uh, through any of those. But I'd love to hear from you. I'd love to hear your feedback on the content, uh, the things that you like, maybe some suggestions on changes to make or even people that you'd like me to talk to. Or feel free to reach out, even if you'd like me to interview you on the podcast. Thanks so much for your interest. I really look forward to having you join me and en-- and am very excited to, uh, put this out and hear what you have to think about it. Thanks so much. Take care.