Fostering Relationships and Leadership Within the Trade Sector

In a video interview with Pharma Commerce, Amanda Salindong, associate director of channel & distribution at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, explains how she participated in two key sessions: “Trade 101” and “Women in Trade.” The former, which she presented at both this year and last, is designed for those new to the trade function in biotech and pharma. It offers a high-level overview of the trade function, explaining its role in connecting various business areas such as revenue, contracting, pricing, supply chain, and finance. The session is beneficial for individuals from different backgrounds, including those transitioning into trade from other roles. Salindong enjoys the opportunity to meet attendees, engage in discussions, and help newcomers better understand the trade function. Audience feedback indicated that attendees found the session helpful in building foundational knowledge and sparking further questions.

The “Women in Trade” session, which Salindong co-hosted with colleagues from both the manufacturing and vendor sides, focused on career development, networking, and leadership. The session was intimate and inclusive, featuring both women and men from diverse experience levels. It allowed for open discussions on topics like allyship, career growth, and leadership development. Participants appreciated the chance to engage in meaningful conversations in a more personal setting, unlike larger networking events where deeper discussions can be difficult. Feedback from attendees was positive, as they valued the opportunity to share experiences, exchange best practices, and foster connections with others in the trade industry.

Overall, both sessions were well-received, offering valuable insights, networking opportunities, and practical takeaways for individuals at various stages of their careers in trade. She emphasized the importance of fostering relationships and creating spaces for open dialogue within the trade community.

Salindong also speaks on her day-to-day workflow of that involves supporting her organization’s channel strategy, the factors she believes that manufacturers should consider when selecting a third-party logistics provider, and much more.

A transcript of his conversation with PC can be found below.

PC: You participated in various capacities at last month’s Trade & Channel Strategies conference, including a session regarding “Trade 101,” and as member of the “Women in Trade” roundtable. What was the premise of those sessions, along with some of the audience feedback that you received?

Salindong: I look forward to the Trade & Channel strategies conference every year. I mean, I've only been a couple times. I attended last year and this year, and I think it's just a really great conference to go to. It's a bit of a smaller conference, so it's a little more personal, where you get to interact and meet and network with other folks within trade and outside of trade. People attend for learning, development. Others attend to network. Others attend to link up with, or further forge relationships they already have. I look forward to it every year.

Another thing that I look forward to is when I get the opportunity to speak at this conference. This year, I was able to speak at the “Trade 101” session, and the “Women in Trade” session, along with a few other esteemed female colleagues. The “Trade 101” session I presented at last year and this year as well. That's tailored, but it's not limited to typically, folks who are new into their career, new into the industry, new into an organization, or even within trade. There's a vast array of attendees that sit in on that session. I've had folks who used to be in a more payer type role that are new to trade, that want to attend the session, some folks that are new to their career. It's a very helpful session, and I'm glad that Trade & Channel Strategies has offered this session—last year, this year, and hopefully in consecutive years—because what it does is give a high-level overview of the trade function within the biotech and pharma industry, and it gives people an understanding of what the trade function is, how it’s the nexus of many different business functions within an organization. Trade is involved with revenue, involved with contracting and pricing, so people who are new to the function start to understand what trade is, and how you collaborate with stakeholders. You're constantly working with not only internal folks—like people in supply chain and finance—but also with channel partners, external partners.

How you foster those relationships is one of the things that we talked about in that session. We also talked about—at a high level—some of the hot topics that are going on currently within the industry, but then, at the same time, also learning, and maybe providing a refresher of what the trade function is. I really enjoy presenting at that session and meeting other people. I think it's been positive feedback, because a lot of people are new. The best way to learn is sometimes talking with other people and attending these types of sessions, and then leaving and even having more questions about it. That's the first session that I've actually presented at Trade & Channel Strategies for that session, and I think it was a really good one.

The second session is “Women in Trade,” which I collaborated with, as I mentioned, a few esteemed colleagues within the industry. Some of them were from the manufacturing side. Some of them were from the vendor side. This was actually the first session within the Trade & Channel Strategies conference this year, and it was a collective group of not only females, but also males who attended. It was a more personal session with a little bit of a smaller group, but the attendance was well received, actually. What we did was, there were a few areas that we focus on: career development, networking, and best practices. This consisted of a lot of free discussion that was guided by the facilitators, talking anywhere from allyship to how you develop in your career, to how you can become more of a leader.

I think because there were so many different types of people with many different experiences, we did take a poll of what type of people were in the room. There are people from anywhere from under a year or two of experience, to 15 plus-years of experience, so it was a great time for us to discuss best practices and what our experiences have been. Some of the feedback we got from that was that they really appreciated the time they got to talk to other females or males within the trade function and network. Sometimes, certain networking sessions are very large and not as personal. You can't really have a good discussion on these things, so I think they really found this opportunity as a good one to be able to talk to others and relate.