Unleashing Excellence: Insights from the Best in the Business with Patricia Choquette
How can you stand out in a male-dominated industry?
With over 16 years in sales and a remarkable track record in the medical device industry, Patricia Choquette’s story is one of grit, resilience, and determination.
From selling cars to becoming a four-time Rep of the Year in medical devices, Patricia’s journey is a testament to the power of persistence.
In this episode of Secrets in Medical Device Sales, Patricia shares how she grew her annual sales from $100,000 to $6.5 million in just four years. She highlights the importance of delivering real value and consistently outworking the competition. For Patricia, success is the result of daily excellence and dedication.
She also offers candid advice on navigating a male-dominated industry: be more prepared, more knowledgeable, and more focused than anyone else. Her philosophy? “Be better, do better, and you’ll win.”
This episode is packed with actionable insights for anyone aiming to elevate their sales game, especially women in medical device sales. Patricia’s story proves that with the right mindset and hard work, anything is possible.
Episode Chapter Markers
00:00 Introduction and Special Guest Announcement
02:01 Patricia’s Impressive Background
04:51 Early Career Challenges and Lessons
09:06 Breaking into Medical Device Sales
20:41 The Journey to Medical Device Sales
22:20 Overcoming Roadblocks and Self-Doubt
27:25 Balancing Personal and Professional Life
30:18 Books and Quotes for Inspiration
Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments
Persistence and Hard Work Lead to Success – Patricia shares how her journey from selling cars to becoming a top medical device sales rep is a direct result of her commitment to outworking the competition and never giving up.
Importance of Providing Value – True success in sales comes from consistently delivering value, not just focusing on making a sale. Patricia stresses the importance of building trust and offering meaningful solutions to clients.
Navigating a Male-Dominated Industry – She emphasizes the importance of being more prepared, knowledgeable, and focused than competitors.
Outwork the Competition – One of her core beliefs is that hard work and resilience will set you apart in any field, as people respect a strong work ethic.
Success is a Byproduct of Dedication – Success is a byproduct of daily dedication, preparation, and doing your best every single day, Patricia highlights. It’s about showing up fully and consistently.
Balancing Personal and Professional Life – Patricia highlights the importance of quality over quantity when managing both professional and personal life.
Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode
“If I do my best every day and outwork everybody to the best of my ability, then I'm going to end up at the top.” — Patricia Choquette
“Part of our job is to help them discover what their problem is, and then customize a solution for them.” — Patricia Choquette
“People buy from people they trust.” — Patricia Choquette
“Be the hardest working person in the room.” — Patricia Choquette
“Always got to find a way of providing value.” — Patricia Choquette
“If you want something, you just need to make it happen.” — Patricia Choquette
“Be better, do better, be more, and then you win.” — Patricia Choquette
“When you put your mind to something and then you implement it, anything is possible.”— Cynthia Ficara
“It's not about where you come from. it's where you're going.” — Cynthia Ficara
“If you're not always your best everywhere, that doesn't mean that you can't switch the pendulum and be the best somewhere else.” — Cynthia Ficara
“Look at every situation as an opportunity to be better.” — Anneliese Rhodes
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Blog Transcript:
Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies
Who is Patricia Choquette?
Anneliese Rhodes: Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening to all of our listeners out there. Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of Secrets in Medical Device Sales brought to you by the Girls of Grit. And tonight we are so excited, you guys because we have a really special guest joining us tonight.
And I think all of you who are tuning in, are in for a real treat. We're going to learn a lot of pearls of wisdom tonight from a top performer, and she happens to be a fantastic female friend of ours as well.
Cynthia Ficara: Oh, Lisa said it's spot on. You guys are in for a real treat. I'm so excited. So this evening we are introducing our spotlight series of highlighting a wonderful high performer, both personally and professionally.
And today we have Patricia Choquette, and actually, you know what? Let's go ahead and just read her bio because I feel that a lot of times when we read what we know is fact, I won't mess anything up.
So I think the best way to introduce Patricia is to just give a little background. So, I will be ready because his background is amazing. I think I need drum bells.
So Patricia was an army brat quote unquote, but spent high school in Kansas City, Missouri. After two years at a military service Academy, she graduated with a bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri, Kansas City, and she worked in South Korea before starting her sales career over 16 years ago.
She spent several years in software sales before breaking into medical device sales. Now, everybody pays attention to this part. Since entering the medical device industry, she's been rep of the year four times, with two different companies and top-notch sales. Five ranked reps every year. She has won President's Club every year since she entered into the medical device field as well as numerous other awards.
So can we just highlight that again? Like, yeah, she's never been below number five. So I just think that's amazing. So in her current role, she grew her annual sales from 100, 000 in sales to 6.5 million in four years.
She is active in supporting the Marfan Foundation. Patricia is married and gets this. She has two active boys, ages 9 and 11. So I am so excited to welcome our featured guest this evening, Patricia Choquette, welcome.
Patricia Choquette: Lisa and Cindy, thank you so much. This is a complete highlight of my career, to even be asked on your podcast.
So thank you. I also feel like we peaked and everything I say now is just going to go downhill. That was a lot. So thank you. Thank you for making me feel very warm.
Cynthia Ficara: Oh my gosh. You stand out. To know that you came into medical devices and have excelled is why we wanted our audience to hear your story and your success.
There are people out there driving in their cars, wishing they had a bio like yours. What are the little things they can do to start on that path and get where they want to go? We believe that when you put your mind to something and take action, anything is possible. And you’ve proven that.
From Selling Cars to Medical Device Success
Patricia Choquette: I should start by saying the goal was never the accolades, and it might sound cliché, but that was never my focus. It’s always been a side effect of the work.
When I think about things like quotas and the tasks we manage in medical device sales—or any sales—I’ve always approached it by doing my best every day and outworking everyone to the best of my ability. If I do my best, I’ll end up at the top.
I can’t do better than my best, so I max out. Luck and timing play a role, but if you’re not prepared and haven’t done the work, you won’t be able to take advantage of opportunities. I’ve been fortunate that things have aligned for me.
Anneliese Rhodes: You’re very humble, Patricia. You work incredibly hard, and your accolades and awards reflect that. But I know you have an amazing story about how you got started. It speaks volumes about your persistence.
Patricia Choquette: I appreciate that, Lisa. It goes back a bit further. My background is unusual, you know. It’s kind of a strange story.
Anneliese Rhodes: We want to hear it!
Patricia Choquette: Sure. At this point in my career, when I meet folks who are 26 or 28 years old and already in medical device sales, whether as associates, clinical specialists, or full-line reps, I’m blown away. I feel old because I didn’t start in this space until I was 32 or 33. I’m so impressed by how focused and driven they are to figure it out at that age. When I was 26 or 28, I wasn’t going in a straight line—lots of sideways turns.
It goes back to college for me. I attended the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, which is the smallest of the federal service academies. When you graduate, you can be commissioned as an officer in any of the armed services or go into the shipping industry. At 18 or 19, I thought I’d be on a container ship, signing up for a life at sea for eight months.
Anneliese Rhodes: Oh my gosh! I didn’t know that! Are you serious?
Patricia Choquette: It’s crazy, right? I still have friends who chose that career path, and it blows my mind that’s what they do every day. But at 20, I realized that wasn’t the life for me. No ships for me. So, I pivoted. Like a lot of kids, after two years at one university, I returned to my hometown—Kansas City. By that point, I had racked up credits in really odd subjects like celestial navigation and shipboard firefighting.
Anneliese Rhodes: I don’t even know what that means.
Patricia Choquette: It’s not exactly applicable to what I do now! So, I enrolled at the University of Missouri in Kansas City and worked hard to graduate on time. It was important for me to graduate within four years, so I took 12 to 15 credits in summer school and 24 credits per semester. I was proud to earn my bachelor’s on schedule.
After that, I moved to South Korea for a year to teach English. When I returned in 2008, the job market was tough, and I didn’t have much work experience. My first job back in the States was selling cars at a Honda dealership.
Anneliese Rhodes: Wow. No way.
Patricia Choquette: Yep, that was me. It’s such a random background, I know.
Anneliese Rhodes: It’s different but impressive.
Cynthia Ficara: It’s not about where you come from—it’s about where you’re going.
Patricia Choquette: Exactly. When I interviewed for medical device jobs, I intentionally kept that experience on my resume because it always raised eyebrows—“You sold cars?” It’s about maximizing every experience and learning from it. Selling cars taught me to accept a hard “no” and develop a thick skin. Most importantly, I learned that customers don’t always know what they want. Part of our job is to help them identify the real problem and then customize a solution.
Cynthia Ficara: And you learned that from selling cars?
Patricia Choquette: Absolutely! People would come in saying, “I need an SUV because I’ve got four kids,” and leave with a convertible. They didn’t even know they wanted that! It’s about recognizing their real needs. My next job, selling life insurance at 26, was the worst sales job I ever had. I was terrible at it, and I’ll tell you why...
Cynthia Ficara: Why was it hard? What made it so bad?
How Passion Drives Success in Sales
Patricia Choquette: Because, truly, at 26, I didn’t think I was ever going to die. I didn’t feel like I was in a place where I could talk to someone about a product that would help them or their family.
Anneliese Rhodes: That's the reality, but it's so real.
Patricia Choquette: So real. I don’t think I realized I was going to die until I hit 40. Then I thought, "Maybe I should start thinking about this." Funny enough, I recently adjusted my life insurance for the first time.
The lesson here is, that if you’re not passionate about your product and don’t believe in what you’re selling, you’re not going to do well. Customers can sense authenticity. If you're not authentic, they won’t trust you, and people buy from those they trust.
Anneliese Rhodes: We just talked about this last night! You’re so spot-on, Patricia. I want to keep hearing your story, but I also want to point out to our listeners that you're so real about everything you’ve gone through and everything you’ve done.
You take lessons from every situation, and that’s why you’re such a top performer. You look at every opportunity as a chance to improve, and I don’t think most of us do that. I have to commend you because, even though your background is different from many others, you’ve taken so much from every experience. I’m sitting here in awe. Keep going—this is super cool. You’ve got such a winning attitude.
Cynthia Ficara: Excellent life lessons along the way. So, where are we? You’re 28 now, right? Let’s skip ahead.
Patricia Choquette: Well, selling software was pretty boring. It paid the bills, though.
Finding Resilience and Confidence in Sales
Cynthia Ficara: What got you into software?
Patricia Choquette: I was failing at selling life insurance, and they were hiring! But that’s where things started to align with a more typical sales career. I moved over to selling payroll for ADP, which is a common starting point for a lot of medical device reps. I was walking door-to-door to small businesses in Tucson, Arizona, trying to sell payroll services. These were businesses barely keeping their lights on. I walked into a sandwich shop, sold them payroll, and two months later, they went out of business! Selling payroll in 105-degree heat was rough, but it taught me resilience.
If you can hack that, medical device sales are probably for you. The resilience you need is intense.
Cynthia Ficara: Everything you’ve done has required resilience. What stands out to me is that you always do the work. Nowhere in your story have you said, “I didn’t like it, so I quit.” You put your head down, caught up on school, sold cars, took the lessons, and then, at a young age, recognized the need for self-reflection.
You realized life insurance wasn’t for you, so you moved on. A lot of people move into jobs because it's a job. They wonder, “Do I like this? Do I have to stay here?” You’re such a great example of someone who pivoted and found a path that aligns with what you believe in.
Patricia Choquette: I appreciate that, Cindy. Around that time, I learned about medical device sales and thought, “I could never do that.” I thought people in medical device sales were so much smarter and more capable than me. If I could talk to my younger self, I’d tell her, “You can do anything you want, especially in your 20s when your whole career is ahead of you.”
I wish I’d had that confidence back then, but I also needed to learn some lessons before I got into medical device sales.
When I finally decided to try to break into medical device sales, it took me six months. I still have a Google Drive folder with dozens of custom cover letters. As Lisa said, I was applying on Monster.com, Medreps. com—you name it. I was finding and stalking recruiters, emailing them, and calling them. Most of the time, I’d hear, “You don’t have the right experience.”
I’ll never forget the eighth recruiter I reached out to—her name was Tamra Star. I’ve never worked with her or even met her, but I’ll never forget her. She told me, “Patricia, you’re underqualified for this job, but let me give you some feedback on your resume.” She said, “Use numbers, be objective with your bullet points, and title your previous jobs from a sales perspective.” That feedback made all the difference. The next week, I got my first interview. I didn’t get the job, but at least I knew I was on the right track.
Anneliese Rhodes: That’s awesome! So, now that you’ve had all this success in medical devices, do you have any secrets to share with our audience? What does it take to not only be in medical devices but to thrive, especially as a woman in a male-dominated industry?
We talk about this a lot—our customers are mostly men, though we're starting to see more female surgeons. What’s one of your secrets as a woman in this field?
Thriving in Medical Device Sales as a Woman
Patricia Choquette: Well, I think that I’ll start with the medical device space in general and what I have kind of lived and died by. There are three principal things that I think are important and have never steered me wrong.
Number one, it’s to be the hardest-working person in the room. Every time. You’ve got to outwork your competitors. If you outwork them, you’re going to beat 90 percent of them in the first year. And eventually, you’re going to win the deal and you’re going to win the relationship. It might take you 10 years. But you’re going to win it because people respect work ethic.
Number two, you’ve always got to find a way of providing value. Whether that’s providing value to your customer, to the hospital staff, to the administration—whoever it is. And find value, however it is you need to. There are a million ways you're going to have to get creative to figure that out, but you’ve got to do that to set yourself apart from your competitors and to continue getting the business.
In medical device sales, we live in a world where we are constantly battling being commoditized. Hospitals are trying to push the reps out. They’re trying to make us less of a consultant and more of, you know, a box opener.
And I actively fight that every day. For a couple of reasons. One, to keep my business with that surgeon. But two, if my value falls as a medical device rep, my ASPs fall. That affects everybody.
I guess the third thing is if you’re going to do something or if you say you’re going to do something, follow through on it. And I know it sounds like the simplest thing in the world, but it is the most controllable thing, probably out of all three that I just mentioned.
And it is the thing that you will find that sets you apart the most. You will be blown away. Once I got past this imposter syndrome of like, “Oh, these medical device reps are such amazing salespeople,” I’m in a place now where sometimes—and it’s not very often—but sometimes I’ll meet a device rep and I’ll be like, “How do you have this job? How are you still doing this? Like, you don’t show up, you don’t do what you say you’re going to do.” And ultimately, they end up leaving because nobody’s going to buy from them.
Cynthia Ficara: That is incredible. Those three things that you just said are so true—to be the hardest-working person in the room, to provide value, and then follow through. So, I just want to take us back for a second.
About 10 minutes ago, you mentioned when you first heard about medical devices, you said, “Oh, I could never do that.” And here you stand at the top. What did you apply to have that “anything is possible” attitude? Is that something you’re born with? Is it something that—how you set a goal and commit? Could you just walk us through how you went from, “I could never do this,” to being so committed that you’re now seeing other people wondering, “How the heck are they doing this job?”
From Doubt to Determination in Medical Device Sales
Patricia Choquette: You know, I think I was really fortunate in that being an army brat, I was forced to move every two years. And if I wanted to find friends and have friends, I was going to have to actively go out and make them.
And so that was kind of ingrained in me from a very early age—if you want something, you just need to make it happen. I think the other thing is, and something that my dad really helped me with—my dad is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, and he has never been afraid to challenge thinking.
Which is funny because he was a military officer for 22 years. It probably did not do him well in his career, but he’s the last guy to fall for the “emperor has no clothes.” And if something doesn’t make sense, and he’s thought it through, he’s going to say something about it.
And I’ve tried to, you know, adopt that mentality, and I think it’s served me well in medical device sales.
You know, if you’ve thought through a scenario and you’re like, “You know what, I can do this,” and I’m pretty good at selling. Software sales—I sucked at life insurance sales, but software sales, I can do. I’m pretty sure I can do this. And I think at that point in my life, I was ready to do it. To drive forward with that.
Anneliese Rhodes: I love that. You know, one of the things that I was thinking about—you’re so strong-minded, you’re so persistent—I’m sure that at some point in your career, you’ve hit some roadblocks.
Whether it’s with customers or it’s, you know, even you yourself becoming a roadblock, as in, “I can’t do this,” or “I’m not going to be able to hit my number,” or “I just can’t hit, or I can’t get to that customer and win them over.” What do you tell yourself?
And what do you—do you have a certain mantra that maybe you say? Are there things that you do to get yourself back in the game, back in the right mindset to go back in there and say, “Never mind, I can do this”? Because, you know, we hear a lot of times, especially since doing this podcast, that women struggle with that. A lot, in terms of, “Well, my counterpart is better at this than I am because he’s got the better relationships, or he can do this and that, and I can’t do that.” So I’m curious, what do you do? And what do you tell yourself when those obstacles come up?
Overcoming Obstacles and Building Confidence in Sales
Patricia Choquette: No, I think that's interesting. I think, first off, it's worth pointing out that for as many awards as have been given to me, I think I need—
Cynthia Ficara: —to correct you, for as many awards as you have earned.
Patricia Choquette: There we go. Thank you. Continue. I'm sorry to interrupt.
Cynthia Ficara: Thank you, Cindy.
Patricia Choquette: You know what? You're right. I appreciate that. That is very unapologetic, and generally, I am too. I'm just trying to be very polite right now because I'm with my two close friends.
Anneliese Rhodes: Those awards—what you've earned.
Patricia Choquette: All right, all right. For as many awards as I’ve earned, I think I got ghosted seven times last week by customers. I ended up sitting in one surgeon's office for four hours. You guys, four hours after I texted him once, he invited me to come to his office. Only to be met with a text message at the end that said, “Yeah, today got away from me. Not a good day.” You know? So, I think it's important to point out quickly with time management, that if he had been a very low-volume target, that would have been a poor use of my time.
But with where I’m at now and what I know I need to do to grow my territory, that was, unfortunately, just one of those bumps in the road. And guess what? I'm coming back next week.
Anneliese Rhodes: But you showed up. I love it. You didn’t leave.
Patricia Choquette: No, no. I mean, well, he kept telling me he was going to make time, so that’s really why I didn’t leave. But, I’m going to keep showing up because that’s just what you do. I hate to say it, but it's one of those controllables. At some point, whether I win his business next week—not likely—or next year, maybe 10 years from now, at some point, I’m going to win his business. I know that’s going to be the case.
The question is how I prioritize that volume, my time around it, and my other customers in my life.
Cynthia Ficara: I love your confidence.
Patricia Choquette: Thank you.
Cynthia Ficara: Yeah, because your confidence is intentional. And I think that is something you're building on—the intention. You have a plan. You're not just sitting in any old office, thinking, “Oh, I’ll sit here and see if he shows up.”
You specifically know this is a high-volume position, this is where you need to put your time. It’s very commendable that you say, “This is who I pay attention to because, in the grand scheme of things, this is where I can get an ROI on my time and build my business.” I love it. You’re just so confident, like, “I will win his business.”
So, tell me, do you have a type of roadmap plan when you commit? Are you someone who writes things down? How do you stay accountable to yourself in making these things happen? Because clearly, you’ve done this time after time after time.
Strategic Sales and Building Confidence Through Preparation
Patricia Choquette: Well, I think, you know, a couple of things. Back to being kicked in the teeth constantly and how you get up.
I give myself a lot of pep talks. I swear to God, I will sit in a car, look at myself in the mirror, and say, “Patricia, you’re going to have a great day. You’re good at this. You’re prepared.” You don’t get to say that to yourself unless you’re prepared, right? That’s where the confidence comes from—the preparation.
When it comes to time management, I know some people listening are thinking, “Four hours? You wasted four hours of your time.” As a salesperson, I’m paid to sell, right? I’m paid to generate revenue.
So, I make sure that during work hours—and remember, I’ve got two boys and an amazing husband—during those work hours, I’m very intentional about making sure every hour is spent on a revenue-generating activity.
That said, as I grow more mature in my sales career, it’s more important to me not just to be an individual contributor but someone who takes.
So, if I’m taking breaks from revenue-generating activities, it’s time spent mentoring new hires, training, or working on an advisory board, or whatever it is to help better the mission of the team.
But back to spending four hours with that surgeon—I have taken the time, and I do this pretty regularly—I have a spreadsheet with every doctor in my territory, what their volume is, where they go, and who they use currently.
I look at my competitors and where they spend their time. There’s a strategy: if you can develop a strategy around going after the highest-volume targets that are the lowest-hanging fruit that’s ideal, right?
But you may want to go after a number five, six, or seven volume surgeon because those top four are getting hammered by your competitors. Now you’re looking at the mid-volume guys and thinking, “Where can I make the biggest impact the fastest?” Then you get to a point where you can scale so that you can send your clinical help or someone else to help support some of those cases.
Then you can go back to building relationships and partnerships elsewhere. That’s a very individual strategy that people have to figure out based on their territories, but I spend a lot of time on it.
Anneliese Rhodes: You have. I mean, this is amazing. So, as I’m sitting here, I’m thinking, “Okay, you’re amazing. I’m not even close to being as awesome as you.” But how do you manage to have a personal life? I mean, you’ve got two young boys and a husband, and they need you too. A lot of mothers out there doing this job constantly ask, “What do I do with the kids? How do I manage this? Can I have it all? Can I do this job and still be a great mother?” What’s your perspective on that? What’s your mantra on that?
Winning Strategies for Career and Personal Life
Patricia Choquette: I believe it comes down to finding the right partner. My husband, Brent, is phenomenal, and he's very understanding. But more than that, I subscribe to the idea that it’s not necessarily the hours you spend with your family, which is hugely important, but it’s the quality of that time and how engaged you are.
We live in a world where there are so many distractions. Unfortunately for us three, we’re on call all the time. My ringer is always on, which can be a massive distraction. So, I focus on being wholly engaged with my family when I can be.
I also take full advantage of the fact that, because I’m on call, I work a lot outside regular business hours. We could get called in at 2:00 a.m. and then have to go into a case at 7:30 a.m. So, when I have the opportunity to take my kids to school or pick them up, I do that, even if it’s 8:00 in the morning and the workday has already started, or it’s 2:30 in the afternoon.
I know I’m working outside of those hours anyway. And maybe the most beautiful part of sales is that, ultimately, nobody cares as long as you’re generating the revenue that you need to.
I think that has been huge for me, but I also think as a mother and a female, the harsh reality is—you can’t have it all. You’re going to suck at something at any given time. So, I look at it as being a wife, being a mother, or doing my job. At any given time, I’m not doing a great job at one of those three. It’s a fact. We do our best every day.
Cynthia Ficara: That is so well said. Just because you're not always your best in every area doesn’t mean you can’t shift the pendulum and be the best somewhere else.
I think as women, we need to forgive ourselves, and guilt isn’t going to get you anywhere. You have such a great way of approaching both your personal life and work life. A part of that is being organized and intentional.
And honestly, Patricia, something I’ve noticed as long as I’ve known you is—you don’t make excuses. If things get hard, you find a way to fix it. You’re not sitting back moaning, “Well, I can’t be with my kids today, I can’t do this, and my numbers are just going down.”
That mindset doesn’t get you where you want to go. You have a tremendous ability to keep going. I love that.
So honestly, we could sit here for a million hours talking. Tell us, what do you recommend? What do you read or find inspirational as you continue to excel and be intentional in your growth? What are some things you believe in?
Anneliese Rhodes: Basically, how can we be just like you?
Cynthia Ficara: Yes! We need mini-Patricia's everywhere.
The Mindset of a Top Performer
Patricia Choquette: Oh, thank you, guys. You know, there have been a few books that have made a big impact on my life. I’m a big reader. In what little free time I have, when I’m not doing those three things—trying to be a better wife and mother—I’m reading.
Whether it’s a clinical article about something I know my customers are interested in, so I need to learn about it, or just books.
One of the more impactful books I’ve read is Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. That book dives into how people like Bill Gates became Bill Gates—the set of circumstances that led to that, like his access to early computers at the University of Washington because his parents could afford it, and building from there.
What I learned from that book is when you find something you’re good at—or at least not bad at—and it gives you a sense of purpose, dive deep and go hard at it.
Unlike many surgeons we work with who’ve known they wanted to be doctors since they were five, I had no idea what I wanted to be until I got into it. That’s why I think finding something that gives you purpose and meaning is key to success.
Another book that impacted me is The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook or reading it. I’ve gifted it to several people.
It’s a great reminder that there’s no way around obstacles—if you have a difficult decision, 100% of the time, the right decision is the harder one.
It taught me that you can’t avoid the challenge; you have to go through it. Embrace the suck. Know it’s going to be tough, but just do it. Applying that in my daily life has never led me astray.
The third book is also by Ryan Holiday—Ego is the Enemy. It talks about how your ego, your sense of self, is your greatest enemy. Every time you’ve felt bad or defeated, that was an emotional reaction from your ego being hurt. That book spoke to me about taking accountability and moving forward.
Anneliese Rhodes: I’m going to pick up those books. I’ve read Outliers, but I’ll check out the other two for sure.
What about any quotes or sayings you love to repeat or that recently sparked something for you?
Patricia Choquette: So I just learned this yesterday. Did you guys know that great white sharks drown if they're not swimming forward?
Anneliese Rhodes: Wait, wait, that's crazy. What do you mean?
Patricia Choquette: Sharks drown if they stop swimming forward.
Anneliese Rhodes: Oh my gosh, really?
Patricia Choquette: Yes, yes, and then I Googled it, and not all sharks are like this, but great white sharks, tiger sharks, and mako sharks all are. They drown if they stop moving forward. Wow. And I think that's just a really good way to look at life.
Anneliese Rhodes: You're right. It parallels life because you're a predator, not the prey. I love that. I mean, who doesn’t want to be the great white shark? We all want to be the great white shark, and you are one of them, Patricia.
Your awards just support the fact that you're a phenomenal person. You’re a top performer, and I love your tenacity, persistence, and the fact that you never give up and believe in yourself. I think all of those things together, and more, have made you a top performer and a winner.
I just love watching you perform over and over again, year after year, being up on stage. She’s beautiful, ladies and gentlemen. I mean, she’s drop-dead gorgeous, but that’s just the sideshow—it’s what’s inside. I’m thoroughly impressed with everything we’ve talked about tonight. So thank you.
How Women Can Succeed by Doing More
Patricia Choquette: Thank you, Lisa. Thank you so, so much. If you have one more minute, I want to go back to something I realized I started rambling on and didn’t come back to. I wanted to talk about being a female in the medical device space specifically, and some of the harsh realities.
The reality is you're going to have to work harder than your male counterparts. And that’s not a bad thing. Nobody should feel sad about it or say, "Oh, that’s not fair." It’s a ridiculous thing to say—it’s like the sky is blue. It’s a fact.
You’re going to have to be more prepared, more schooled, more educated, and more attention to detail walking into any meeting with a doctor than your male counterparts.
The reason is, in this male-dominated space, if you go into a meeting with a doctor, your male counterparts are going to say, "Oh, you only got the meeting because you're a female," or "the doctor accepted the meeting because you're a cute rep," or whatever. But you know what? Honestly, if that’s why they accepted the meeting, great! That’s not my problem. I had nothing to do with that. What I can control is how prepared I am.
If I go into that first meeting and sound dumb, do you know what I am from that point forward? A dumb girl. I've lost my credibility, and I've made a negative first impression as a female.
And it's almost impossible to recover from that as a woman. So if there’s any advice I could give, it’s to control what you can—be better, do better, and be more. Then you win.
Cynthia Ficara: Well, you heard it, everybody—be better, do more, and you'll be better. That’s such great advice for everyone out there. Patricia is a living example of putting your head down and doing the work. Nobody handed you anything. You thought you’d be working on a shipping container your whole life, and I’m so glad you came out of that box.
We're all better for it. Our customers, our doctors, and the value and impact you bring are just outstanding. We hope that all our listeners can take one or twenty tips from Patricia today to get on a path to being even greater than they already are. Anything is possible when you commit and put your mind to it.
Thank you so much, Patricia, for spending this time with us. It’s been a privilege.
Anneliese Rhodes: Yes, it has. Thank you so much, guys.
