Founder & CEO Has a Recipe for a Meaningful Career

Name: Kyle Todd (he/him)

PhD: Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia, 2020

What was your main area of research?

I worked to discover a cell culture system to propagate human norovirus in a lab setting, towards enabling the development of prophylactic vaccines.

What is your current job?

I am the Founder and CEO of Zeal Oncology based in Carlsbad, California.

I provide scientific consulting services to venture capital firms interested in better understanding the cancer therapeutics space.

What is your favorite thing about your job?

The flexibility. I'm able to create the conditions best suited for me to achieve my goals on a daily basis, which compounds in pursuit of my life-long journey to never stop learning.

What is the most important skill you developed or experience you had during your PhD that now helps you in your current position?

The discipline to keep learning and growing.

How did you build the skills necessary for your current role?

A lot of what has gotten me to where I am is understanding what I like to do, why I'm doing it, and remaining curious. My advice for others is to be introspective and deeply understand the "Why" of what you're doing (and hope to do). If it's not aligned with where you want to be then pivot.

Couple this with doing work that feels like play, and you've got a recipe for a meaningful career.

How did you find this position? What were the career steps you took to get to where you are now?

I created it!

PhD graduate ➡️ Consultant ➡️ Industry Scientist ➡️ Founder of a consultancy

If someone is interested in a similar role, what would you recommend they start doing now to prepare?

Identify how and where you can add value then put in the hard work to keep doing that for a very long time.

Why did you decide to not pursue a career in academia?

I never considered a career in academia. I knew right away that I wanted to work in industry. I had very little interest in lecturing and grant writing. I'd rather focus my energy on individualized mentorship and doing the work rather than continually asking permission to do the work.

What advice do you have for someone getting their PhD and looking to pursue a career outside of academia?

You need to be the driving force behind exploring other opportunities. Don't rely on your PhD program to do this work for you. Be curious about what others are doing outside of academia and talk with people who have careers you find interesting.

Continually hone your understanding of the career you want then go out and build it!