Janssen Pharmaceuticals’ Chumi Khurana On How To Develop More Grit
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Take matters into your own hands: You own your future and career — do not rely on others to get you where you want to go.
As a part of my series about “Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success” I had the pleasure of interviewing Chumi Khurana.
Chumi Khurana is a pharmaceutical executive with a successful track record of 25 years’ experience in marketing, sales and product management, commercializing a wide spectrum of innovative treatments across oncology and diabetes. She is currently the Global Marketing Head of the Prostate Franchise with Janssen Pharmaceuticals (a division of J&J). After growing up in Germany, Chumi came to the US to study international business, and currently resides in Philadelphia with her family.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what events have drawn you to this specific career path
From a very early age I was determined to follow in my father’s footsteps as a physician. I grew up in Germany and went through much of the training that was required to apply to medical school. However, around this time I also began to get interested in a business career that would allow me to work across a variety of markets. My family’s from India, and given that I have a multicultural background (German upbringing, Indian heritage) I found this pivot to be intriguing. I opted to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in International Business, and was fortunate that the first job I landed was in Pharma where I could marry my passion for international business and healthcare. As the Global Marketing Lead of an oncology franchise, I truly have my dream job.
Can you share your story about “Grit and Success”? First can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?
I moved to the US for my MBA during the epic 1996 blizzard, when the snow on the ground was knee-deep from January through the beginning of March. I was pursuing my studies in Philadelphia and didn’t know a soul — I spent my first day alone in the US on my birthday. I remember feeling overwhelmed and hopeful at the same time. I have always had the ability to adapt to challenging situations which is where a lot of my grit comes from — within my first two years in the US I met and married my husband, completed my MBA and landed my first job at a Pharma company! The journey was marked by many obstacles as I had to navigate through the situation without a Green Card, wasn’t familiar with the culture and had absolutely no network to speak of. But I kept asking questions, meeting people and seeking advice, and in the end, it all paid off!
Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
As a daughter of immigrant parents, working hard and not giving up was part of my DNA. At first, I wanted to do well to make my parents proud, but soon I realized that achieving what you set out to do can be addictive as well as fulfilling. To me, it’s not a status thing — pursuing the fancy office and big title — it’s about being successful at something you love to do. I wake up every morning and look forward to going to work — which definitely gives me the drive when things are hard. Most important, however, is that I have always worked to live not lived to work — my professional life is part of a larger personal mosaic that is not only gratifying, but also allows me to conserve my energy and continue forward when things get tough.
So how did Grit lead to your eventual success? How did Grit turn things around?
A lot of my grit comes from self-reflection; I am highly critical of myself and seek to improve constantly — how could I be doing things better? While this has helped my performance, especially when I take on stretch assignments, it does lead me through the imposter syndrome at times (do I really deserve this job?). However, as opposed to my natural tendency to keep my head down and plow through, I’ve learned to ask for feedback and help when problem-solving — and this has really changed things for me. I will never forget when I was in a more junior position and a senior exec said to me: “Don’t tell us what you think we want to hear. Please share what you have to say- because we know you have valuable things to contribute. I took that to heart, started speaking up — and it changed my career trajectory.
Based on your experience, can you share 3 pieces of advice about how one can develop Grit?
1 . Take matters into your own hands: You own your future and career — do not rely on others to get you where you want to go.
Early on I thought — just do a good job and you will get rewarded — your work will speak for itself. But I learned quickly that you have to be proactive in your life and career and seek the opportunities you want — even if it requires leaving a company you love or putting yourself in a completely unfamiliar situation like moving to a new country where you do not know anyone. No one is going to hand you anything, but by going after and achieving on your terms, you have complete ownership of your success.
2. How you do anything — is how you do everything: To develop grit you have to try to balance your life, but at the same time — wherever and whenever you do, you must show up 100%.
This does not mean you shouldn’t relax or practice self-care, but it means that your attitude should be the same towards the many things you pursue in life. For example- I love to exercise and even on the days when my body feels like it won’t play along, I give it a 100% of what I am capable of at that moment. This attitude applies to how I engage with my family as well as work.
3. Helping others find their superpower is my superpower: Why does this help with Grit?
Because nothing gives me more energy than helping others. When work is especially hard or I feel my energy waning — I seek out situations where I can coach or help others — even just have a positive conversation. Mentoring is extremely important to me — it helps to create a personal network that may have significant payoffs in the long run. The upfront effort is also extremely gratifying, watching people grow into their potential.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped you when things were tough?
I am fortunate to have an incredibly supportive family — particularly my parents and husband! My father was a dedicated physician and coming to practice in Germany from India presented many significant challenges, for both him and my mother. They modeled grit and determination and basically made me feel that I could do anything I set my mind to do. My husband is my partner in all areas of our lives — family, work, play, and community! His steadfast support, along with my children, has made it possible for me to fulfill my dreams — he is my rock and my sage!
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
In addition to focusing on delivering badly needed solutions to cancer patients, I am currently the Chairperson of the Board of the Eastern Pennsylvania chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We are the nation’s largest nonprofit dedicated to creating a world without blood cancers by supporting awareness and the development of new and innovative therapies. Our fund-raising and education initiatives are part of the nearly $1.3 billion invested in groundbreaking research, pioneering many of today’s most innovative approaches. It has become a family affair as my husband and children are deeply committed the work of the LLS.
I have also spent over four years on the Board of Junior Achievement, a national organization that provides economic empowerment through education. While I strongly believe in the importance of mentoring at work, I also feel that by working with young people during their formative years, we can have even greater impact. I have seen many of our young high-potential become successful business leaders, while making a significant impact in their respective communities.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I work in Oncology — so, I might be biased, but I feel that everything I work on is exciting and has the goal of changing the trajectory of cancer treatment. Our hope as a team is to prevent and or/cure cancers our medicines treat. There is so much innovation in the field and the goal seems achievable, especially when you look at our pipeline and clinical trials. For me, it’s a pleasure to wake up every morning and be able to work with a team of incredibly talented people focused on this goal. We have the capacity to help so many people, and the ability to directly connect our efforts to better health is extremely motivating.
What advice would you give to other executives or founders to help their employees to thrive?
It’s critical to meet your company associates where they are as you create/reinforce a culture that ensures they can bring their true selves to work. The beauty of a high functioning team is capitalizing on their different backgrounds and perspectives. This is not just about race, religion, gender or background, but also spending time to understand what makes an employee tick — where they’re coming from, what challenges they face as well as what motivates them. Early on, I spent too long in the shadows, not bringing my true self to work. Only when I felt free to evolve to a more genuine place did my career trajectory take off!
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I strongly believe in the importance of helping young women find their purpose in life when they are making critical choices. My fantasy job is to develop and run a non-profit consulting company, helping young women find their purpose and the strength to pursue it when they’re making critical choices. We would provide a safe and honest space for women to discuss things like career and balancing your family, making choices to align careers and personal goals, discussions around body image issues and the importance of self-care — how to seek help and learn how to say no. I know progress has been made, but there is still so much to do here — not just having discussions but actually finding solutions and creating a true movement.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
As I mentioned above: To inspire people, don’t show them your superpowers. Show them theirs. It aligns with this saying, “Teach someone to fish and they’ll never go hungry.” While I have worked very hard to experience the success I have achieved, I’ve also benefitted from the experience of those who came before me. I stand on the shoulders of some extraordinary people who understood the importance and value of “paying it forward.” I continue to forge the chain of empowerment by doing the same.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
Janssen Pharmaceuticals’ Chumi Khurana: Five Ways To Develop More Grit was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
