I was looking for Kristin Jones.
Not the Kristin Jones I eventually found, but another Kristin Jones altogether.
At the time, I was exploring new career opportunities and receiving what seemed like an endless stream of emails from job boards and recruiting services. I read them faithfully, hoping one might lead to something promising.
As best I can remember, I clicked a link in one of those emails and landed on a website where I encountered the name Kristin Jones.
She seemed like someone who might help with my job search, so I decided to contact her.
I searched Google and, I believe, LinkedIn for her contact information. Instead, I discovered another Kristin Jones.
This Kristin wasn’t a recruiter. She was the CEO of the Indiana Health Industry Forum, an organization representing companies and professionals in Indiana’s growing life sciences industry.
Now, this was interesting.
I knew about the major players, of course. Eli Lilly, Cook Medical, and Roche Diagnostics were familiar names. But I hadn’t given much thought to the smaller biotechnology companies scattered throughout Indiana, many of them developing innovative products and technologies.
As I learned more about the organization, I realized I might have stumbled onto something far more promising than the opportunity I’d originally been pursuing.
What a find!
I had been exploring opportunities to work as an independent sales representative. Perhaps some of these smaller companies could benefit from someone with my background in pharmacy and biomedical sales.
So I wrote to the other Kristin Jones.
And that email opened a door I hadn’t even known existed.
Rather than dismissing my inquiry, Kristin welcomed me into the Indiana Health Industry Forum and offered me a complimentary membership.
I was exceedingly pleased. But I also wanted to contribute something in return.
I sent her a follow-up email, thanking her for the membership and asking how I might become involved. Was there something I could do to help her or the organization?
Her reply surprised me. She told me that my message was one of the nicest emails she had ever received.
Then she invited me to lunch.
We met at Harry & Izzy’s, an upscale restaurant in downtown Indianapolis, where we had an opportunity to get to know each other.
Kristin explained her philosophy. Major corporations and professional firms, including Eli Lilly, Cook Medical, and Barnes & Thornburg, provided much of the financial support that sustained the organization. But one of her priorities was helping smaller life sciences companies, particularly those trying to establish themselves and grow.
That philosophy resonated with me. I wasn’t representing a major corporation. I was an independent professional looking for opportunities where my experience might be useful.
Kristin began suggesting individuals I should meet. At the organization’s monthly life sciences events, she regularly introduced me to biotechnology executives and other industry leaders.
What began as a search for a recruiter became an introduction to an entire professional community.
Eventually, my ambitions changed.
I moved away from pursuing independent sales opportunities and began developing my career as a medical writer. Kristin didn’t lose interest simply because my professional direction had shifted. She encouraged me, updated my biography in the organization’s membership directory, and introduced me to individuals who might benefit from my writing services.
One day, she asked whether I wrote pitch decks.
I told her I did.
For those unfamiliar with the term, a pitch deck is a presentation entrepreneurs use to explain their business ideas to potential investors. Particularly in biotechnology, communicating complex science clearly can be as important as the underlying technology.
That March, Kristin invited me to participate in a panel discussion at Barnes & Thornburg in downtown Indianapolis. Joining me were an attorney specializing in intellectual property and a professional who helps startups secure venture capital funding.
And there I was, the writer.
I enjoyed joining a discussion about how promising ideas become viable businesses, and how communication plays a role in that process.
Our professional relationship continued.
Later, through my work with the Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA), I introduced Kristin to its president and CEO, Rick Lofgren. With April being National Donate Life Month, I thought the two organizations might have an opportunity to collaborate. I left it to Kristin and Rick to explore the possibilities.
Today, my career is changing again.
I’m moving away from grant writing and medical writing to concentrate on books, essays, and professional speaking. My involvement with the organization, now known as the Indiana Life Sciences Association, may become less frequent as I follow this new direction.
But I haven’t forgotten Kristin’s kindness or the opportunities that followed our unexpected introduction.
I’ve thought about that original Google search many times. I can’t reconstruct exactly why I couldn’t find the recruiter I was seeking. Nor can I explain why another individual with the same name appeared at precisely that moment.
Carl Jung used the term synchronicity to describe meaningful coincidences—events that seem connected by significance rather than an obvious causal relationship.
Others might call my experience serendipity, an unexpected and fortunate discovery.
I’ve always believed that things happen for a reason. To me, the encounter was providential.
Of course, finding Kristin was only the beginning. I still had to write that first email, and she had to be willing to respond. The relationship developed because one individual reached out and another extended a welcoming hand.
Perhaps that’s part of the lesson. Sometimes the opportunities that shape our lives aren’t the ones we deliberately seek. They appear unexpectedly, and we have to recognize them.
I set out looking for a recruiter named Kristin Jones.
I never expected to discover a professional community, a generous advocate, and a relationship that would influence several chapters of my career.
I was looking for one Kristin Jones.
I’m very glad I found the other.
