Beyond the Comfort Zone — Bold Choices, Small Ripples, and Career Legacy

Hello Diana, happy Friday.

Friday Sabine, nice to see you.

Yeah, it is nice to see you too and looking good in your green jacket. Got some good colors going on. It's like spring is in the air, isn't it? I could hear the birds chirping this morning already. So I'm also ready for some springtime.

Sun is shining right in front of my desk so you see. The spring is here.

Yeah, beautiful. Well, Diana, we have known each other through so many years and it's interesting because our relationship has been via volunteering together. And I find that interesting because we haven't worked together as colleagues, but we volunteer together. And that builds, I think, a completely different kind of relationship in how we work and how we get to know each other.

And I feel very privileged that you agreed to be also in the book, Beyond the Ladder, that's gonna be coming out very soon, and shared stories and insights and vulnerabilities and talking about things that went well and don't go well in life. And as part of the series with the Beyond the Ladder, I'm asking some of the participants to answer three questions for me. So I look forward to that. But before we get started,

for the people that don't know you, tell us a bit about yourself.

Wonderful. Thank you, Sabine. Yeah. Who is Diana LaGalante? I've been... Yes, I am in my day job. I am a Senior Communication and Change Manager. I work for Roche. I've been working for Roche for about seven years. And currently I'm leading a very interesting project from a change of communication perspective, which is the digital patient experience strategy.

Ooh, question of the day!

It is something that I feel very passionate about, especially because when we say in our Roche tagline, we are doing now what patients need next, we are challenging that tagline saying, we are doing now what patients need now, because we need to change the status quo and we need to do and bring the patients in the middle of the decision making. So this is a very passionate project that I'm leading since a few years now.

Mmm.

True.

and I'm really looking forward to bringing this to the Executive Committee at some point and to make a real change within the entire organization. But I have been working for the pharmaceutical industry for more than 20 years. So I started in very different companies. At some point I was in a chemistry company, Ziba Specialty Chemicals, which doesn't exist anymore. Yes. Yeah. And you know what?

I didn't know that. That's interesting. know I didn't know that.

The peculiar thing is about this company. I was working in the paints and coatings department and we have created the Ferrari red pigment. Isn't that amazing? Yes. And I remember, you know, this was like more than, I don't know, 20, 20, 15 years ago or even more than that. I used to go to different trade shows in Europe,

That is interesting, yeah.

between Dusseldorf and Cologne and Paris and London. And we engaged with designers like Pininfarina and L'Oreal to talk about how to apply our effect coating pigments on their design furniture. So this was really a very interesting, exciting time that I really remember very well. But now since then, I've been always working in different change communication projects,

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

within different healthcare companies and pharmaceutical companies. And as I said, right now I'm at Roche and I really love the company.

Yeah, great. I know I can tell that you do, especially the huge level of engagement that you bring into the organization, especially around topics around development and growth and with the HBA where we've been volunteering for years. Yeah, Your impact there has been immense.

I love these conversations. know, again, That's the idea behind this podcast is you take a few minutes to talk to someone and you learn something new. I think that's fantastic. And thanks very much for sharing that. And we're going to dive into more some more personal pieces around you and your career and your life. And we're to start with the first question. and.

Can you tell us about when you have had to make a big decision and instead of playing it safe that you ask yourself, if I don't do this? And how will my life be impacted if I don't take this step or this path?

That's a very interesting question. And in fact, I was exactly in that situation 17 years ago. So I was telling you about this company, this chemistry company. This was like the life changing moment 17 years ago. I felt like I was not really fulfilled in my life. I did a typical corporate job and it was exciting because as I mentioned before,

Mm-hmm.

I had the opportunity to travel to different trade shows and to meet designers, to talk about our effect pigments. But at the same time, after being in this corporate job after 10 years, I said, there is something else that I would like to explore and to develop myself. So I took a sabbatical for about three months and I took the first ticket to Australia.

Well...

I was in Australia, in Perth, and this is where I have some family in Perth, so I could stay with them there. And then I traveled all around Australia. I went to the other East Coast, Sydney and Cairns, and then back and even went to Singapore. And it was really, really nice time for me to understand what do I want? Where do I want to go? What's next for me? And to...

to have that fulfillment again, right? And so I came back to Switzerland after my three months sabbatical and I met my husband. And together with my husband, we created and we founded a company together. And this company has survived 15 years. And I was really proud to have done this because this was.

The triggering point, what do I want to do? What else is there? So I dared to get out of my comfort zone and to create something on my own, well, together with my husband. And I'm really proud that I realized that dream because it was always a little bit a dream in my drawer that I never really dared to do because I wanted to feel safe in my corporate job. And I...

felt like, I cannot do this, but then I did it. And I was really proud that we did it together. So, yeah.

That's interesting because that actually shows how long we know each other because I know that as you were telling that story is like, remember when you set up that business. My goodness. We've known each other for a very long time. Yeah. And did that lead you ultimately to Roche, right? Because somehow you worked for them, somehow via that.

That's quite a long time, yes.

I co-founded the company at the end of the day. My husband was fully dedicated to the company and I went back to my next corporate job. So I was doing both at the same time. But yeah, that led me to many different positions before Roche and now currently at Roche. But it was kind of a shortcut because

Mm. Right.

it was just the understanding how do you do things outside of your comfort zone? And I received so many inputs and so many learnings. Just the old bureaucratic and administration part, which is the boring part, it was a learning for its own. But then how do you interact also with other type of customers, right? Which have nothing to do with your corporate day-to-day

Hmm.

work environment. So these are mid-sized companies that might need a new website, that might need a new social media plan, that might need a new marketing plan. So how do you interact with a totally different set of customers? And this brought me to totally a different way of working, of mindset and new perspectives. And yeah, it was

The first two or three years was quite stressful to juggle between the two, the corporate job and the self-employed company. But luckily with the help of my husband we managed to do that. And then at some point we also engaged employees with a dedicated office. So it grew with the years and I was very proud of that experience.

Yeah, you're right. The learnings, I think, are incredible and what you can bring into your corporate life and maybe to bring in the shortcuts and the agility and that mindset to try to bring that into sometimes what can feel like a very heavy corporate environment.

Yeah, something that.

We keep saying entrepreneurial mindset is important in a corporate environment, right? But I keep seeing people that don't have that mindset. It's important to think outside of the box, right? And come up with new innovative idea. And I believe, you know, to have this different perspective from your own experience, from having a company, this has some sort of an advantage to be always three steps ahead,

Absolutely.

because nowadays, in the age of the fourth industrial revolution, you need to be ahead with everything, at least three steps ahead, right? And so I think it's important. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yes, so true. you're right. So many companies, if you read their job descriptions or you hear what's important for them in the corporate roles is that they want someone with an entrepreneurial mindset. How do you get that if you haven't worked as an entrepreneur so that those insights are very, valuable? Nice, nice story. Well.

Again, As you reflect on your career, I'm sure you've had numerous individuals that have impacted you. And if you could pick one or two, some people have picked two because they struggle to pick just one, but if you have one or two individuals that you would want to thank, what would you say to them right now if they were here with us?

is one particular person that I want to thank and this was my first line manager again in this chemistry company because it was my first employer. So her name is Carla Sorato and she was my first line manager and she taught me how to present and stand in for myself in front of an audience. So I remember I had this first keynote presentation in front of an Asian audience and

Mm-hmm.

I had to, you know, it was very interesting because I didn't know how to present myself. So she gave me some tips, you know, also body language, the way how to present. You know, At that time we still had the projector, didn't have, you know. Exactly. Exactly. So it was really interesting. then, you know,

right yeah those those plastic slides that you put on the projector I remember those. too yeah

What I take out of that is, and if I would have this person, if I would have Carla today in this interview, I would say thank you Carla for having taught me to own my voice and to stand in it. Because she didn't teach me only how to speak and how to present, but implicitly how to lead. And so that is a lesson that I take every day in my pocket.

And how do you give that forward? Or do you, I'm assuming that you do.

I do, I do. So you mentioned the HBA before. I've been volunteering with you for the HBA for about 15 years again, right? And so when I started my new role at Roche seven years ago, I founded a community, the HBA community at Roche. And this is a powerful community. Right now it has 120 members and 20 active volunteers,

throughout EMEA specifically. It's a European version of the HBA community. And this is for me the ripple effect. So this is where I was able to ripple my learnings to other people. And I believe, you know, as the community is growing and it's getting more powerful,

Mm-hmm.

This is where other people are helping each other to become this aspired leaders that they want to become within the company. So I'm very proud that I was able to found this company seven years ago and to see, you know, all this attention and all this desire to move the needle and to do something about it. So we have lots of different events, you know, that we accomplished. We have lunch with leaders.

We have the Gender Health Summit that we did two times in a row, probably also this year, hopefully. You never know. And these are impactful events that really move the needle in an organization like Roche. So, yeah.

Yeah, true, you never know.

Yeah, Nice story. It's interesting, Yesterday I was speaking to Sean and Caroline. They're going to be representing the HBA at the Reuters event this year and we were talking about how to try to engage the audience and about, so often people think we have to have these grandiose, huge, big, impactful things that we do that are ginormous.

But we forget sometimes that these small things that Carla gave to you and that has impacted your career and steps that you've taken and then the steps that you've taken to create this organization within Roche and the HBA.

Also share your learnings and to help other individuals improve their skills when they present and when they lead that these are so impactful and I think that that's just such a strong message to send out. What are perceived as small things can have such a big impact.

That's absolutely right. And I can see that this is also very rewarding because you can see how you were able to impact, for instance, an intern that just started their career in a big organization and they don't know where to, because they only have a short amount of time, six months until they can find the next assignment. So with small actions, you know, to just

Right.

guide them in the right direction with the right people. These are the small ripple effects that can have a huge impact on the individual.

Yeah, for sure. Really nice. That's a big, big thing for, I think, for individuals to remember. And that leads us then to the final question, Diana, and that's about your legacy. So we all, think that we're all living our legacies and we're doing things and that actually is the legacy is how we live, how we engage with people. But If there's one thing that you wanted to be remembered by now and when someday we're all not going to be here anymore.

what would that be?

I would like to be remembered because of the bold and fearless approach. That I was able to roll up my sleeves and to work hard to achieve the purpose that we are working for. And that I was able to instill with small actions, little ripples to many aspiring leaders, right? So if somebody, you know,

would like to remember me, would like them to say Diana helped me believe it was okay to wanting more and to be brave enough to go and get it. So this would be the ripple effect that I would like to instill with people because at the end of the day what is the real ripple? It is not what we achieve as individuals.

mind.

but It is what we can awake in other people. yeah, I believe this is, you know, this is what I would like to see as how I would like to be remembered.

Mm.

Yeah, That's beautiful. Awakening in another's. And I love this idea of you can be nervous and you can be afraid, but be bold and take the steps even if you are feeling that. And I think that that's also such a valuable lesson is that we're not talking about or you're not talking about pushing away fear because that's...

that's part of life and people say don't be afraid well it's actually okay but it's what you do with that fear and it's the step you take over that fear to continue on in your career so be bold yeah

That's interesting because I recently had a similar discussion with an intern and she was asking me, but Diana, I see you presenting in front of an audience without fear. How did you learn that from somewhere? Did somebody coach you? How did you manage to do that? She was really curious to know what are the ingredients, how to present in front of an audience. And I said, look, when I started,

I was so nervous that I had all these scribbles in my stomach, you know. And, you know, At some point you have to shift that energy into something else. You need to shift that nervousness, that fear into speaking out loud to the audience. So that was the small insight that I could give to her.

Mm-hmm.

and I'm still nervous and I'm still with fear when I speak in front of the audience. But this is the ability how to change that energy into something more positive.

Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. That is also you remember Mary Morrison, the coach that came in and did a couple of sessions for us. She really talks about that. And I've really learned that from her. She's this idea that we have to push down or not have those feelings. And that's not the case. They're there and they're probably always going to be there. But it's again, to your point, what you what you do with that and how you channel that. And I'm nervous every time I'm not wasn't nervous today talking to you.

Exactly.

But when I get on a stage I am nervous or I do something new but you still do it because it helps you improve and get better and better at it as well.

And practice, right? Practice is also important. The more you do it, the more you feel more confident.

Yeah.

Yeah, Well that's a beautiful legacy. Well thank you Diana. As always, I love our conversations. I always learn something new and what a great way to end the week on a very positive note with you. So thank you very much.

Yes.

Thank You so much for doing this Sabine, this has been a great experience.

Great. Have a good weekend.

Thank you, bye!