Meet the Visionary Changing the Game for Medical Device Reps with Kendy Elmore
What happens when women stop waiting for a seat at the table and build their own?
In this episode, Lisa and Cindy sit down with Kendy Elmore, founder of The Lobby Network, to talk about what it really takes to build a movement that empowers reps in medical device sales.
From turning frustration into action to creating spaces where women feel seen, supported, and unstoppable, this conversation is real, raw, and full of bold truths.
Episode Chapter Markers
00:00 Introduction
01:22 Guest Introduction: Kendy Elmore
01:59 Kendy's Journey from Education to Medical Sales
02:54 Challenges and Breakthroughs in Medical Sales
03:50 Founding The Lobby: Vision and Growth
05:01 The Lobby's Community and Events
17:02 Upcoming Conference and Future Plans
26:51 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments
The Spark Behind The Lobby Network – How one man’s frustration with the status quo led to a nationwide community for reps in medical sales.
From Competition to Connection – Why collaboration not rivalry is the new power move in this industry.
Redefining Networking – How The Lobby is changing what “networking” looks like for reps with heart and hustle.
Mindset Shifts That Matter – Lisa, Cindy, and Kendy dive into how women can own their worth and advocate for themselves in every room.
The Courage to Create Change – The bold steps Kendy took to launch The Lobby while balancing her sales career.
Power in the Pivot – Lessons in resilience, adaptability, and staying true to your purpose even when it’s uncomfortable.
Community as Strategy – Why surrounding yourself with the right reps can be the smartest business decision you make.
The Future of representative in Medtech – A look ahead at how collective growth and grit are shaping what’s next.
Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode
“I didn’t build The Lobby to be another event, I built it to be a movement.” - Kendy Elmore
“Every representative deserves to feel like she belongs in the room she’s in.” - Kendy Elmore
“I realized I was waiting for someone else to do what I was capable of doing myself.” - Kendy Elmore
“Pursue things bigger than you, the universe will help you with that.” - Kendy Elmore
“The Lobby is proof that when representatives unite, we don’t just grow, we rise.” - Kendy Elmore
“Sometimes the boldest move isn’t climbing the ladder, it's building a new one.” - Anneliese Rhodes
“Grit doesn’t mean you go it alone. It means you keep showing up, even when it’s hard.” - Anneliese Rhodes
“When women connect with purpose, everything changes business, confidence, energy.” - Anneliese Rhodes
“The power of community isn’t just what it gives you; it’s who it reminds you to be.” - Anneliese Rhodes
“Success doesn’t come from waiting for someone to open the door, it's from knocking louder.” - Anneliese Rhodes
“The Lobby Network isn’t just a space, it's a statement.” - Cynthia Ficara
“We’ve all had those moments where we felt unseen. This is how we fix that.” - Cynthia Ficara
“You don’t need permission to show up as your full self in this industry.” - Cynthia Ficara
“If you want something to exist, stop asking and start creating.” - Cynthia Ficara
“When women stop competing and start connecting, that’s when the magic happens.” - Cynthia Ficara
About Kendy
Kendy Elmore is the founder of The Lobby Medical Sales Network and a Clemson University graduate with a degree in Biology. He began his career as a science teacher and coach before pivoting to medical sales, where his leadership and drive earned him multiple accolades, including the Rising Star Award and President’s Club recognition.
Motivated by a passion for mentorship and community, Kendy founded The Lobby, now the largest networking platform for medical sales professionals to connect, educate, and empower the next generation of industry leaders.
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A Team Dklutr production
Blog Transcript:
Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies
Anneliese Rhodes: Welcome everyone to another episode of Secrets and Medical Device Sales. We are so excited. We have another. Awesome and amazing spotlight series for you guys. And today I can't wait for y'all to hear everything that this man is bringing to us like now in the future. It's like super exciting. Oh, it's beyond super exciting.
It's 20 again, and like entering
Cynthia Ficara: into the medical device space, this truly is a. Spotlight series as today. We are spotlighting Ken Elmore. Yes. We cannot wait for all of you to hear from him about him and, oh, you better stay tuned because there is some really great things to come that you'll hear at the end.
Yeah. So without further ado, we would love to welcome Kendi to our episode of Secrets in Medical Device Sales.
Kendy Elmore: Awesome. Thank you so much. I mean, what an incredible intro. I hope I live, live up to the hype, uh, and, and can deliver some great content. I'm just so honored to be here, honored to be on the podcast and get to share our story, uh, at the lobby and kind of what we do.
So thank you so much for having me.
Room That Didn’t Exist :How The Lobby Began
Cynthia Ficara: Yeah. Well, Kendi, if you will just begin with your story of your, your background, how you got to where you are, and just give us a, a, a good. Lay the land. Yeah,
Kendy Elmore: yeah, yeah. So, um, you know, I actually started my career in education. I was a high school science teacher and athletic coach, and spent five years there in the education industry.
Um, and I loved that experience. I, I, I so grateful for it, but I knew it about year three that. I was looking for something different. My gears turn a little differently. You know, in, in the, in that world, you're kind of in, uh, on an Excel spreadsheet and your comp is kind of set for the year before you, uh, start.
And it doesn't matter how well you perform, you get that number regardless. And I knew I really wanted to push myself. I wanted to be an industry where I could. The harder I worked and, and the more I put in, the more I could get back. And so I stumbled upon the medical sales industry, you know, uh, around four years, uh, into teaching and had a friend that was in the space and, and at that time really just started to try and learn as much as I could, uh, about the industry and went through that, you know.
Process. Our, our industry's hard enough to get into, but as a teacher, it, it can be very, very challenging. And so I wish I could say I had a stack of rejection letters, but I didn't even have those, I just got no responses. Right. I applied as ghosts.
Anneliese Rhodes: Yeah. The ghosting of, of. Back then.
Kendy Elmore: Yeah. Yeah. It was, it was so defeating, but I, I just continued to network as much as I could.
Anybody I could think of that was in healthcare or in the industry, I would, you know, shadow with people on my days off and I'd go ride with 'em and I'd meet 'em at FedEx and help 'em ship boxes. It was like whatever I could do to start to learn that world. Um. I did. And so I eventually ended up landing an associate sales rep position in the capital equipment world.
And just from there had two of the best mentors of my life, uh, you know, teach me the world of medical sales and gave me, you know, so much opportunity to grow as an individual. Um, spent a couple years in capital equipment, then moved into orthopedics. Did foot and ankle right, medical upper extremity when we bought Tonier, and then eventually ended my career at Stryker.
So I spent about 14 years in the industry as a sales rep. And throughout, you know, that time from that, that stage of getting into the industry to, you know, a couple different career moves I made all the way to, at the end of my career, there was things that I personally thought was missing from our industry.
And for me, you know, I was in Charleston, South Carolina, and I had friends in other professions that were, um, real estate agents. Right. Or physicians, or, uh, lawyers. And they. The one thing I noticed about each of those professions is they all had a community, right? They all had an association, some sort of an organization they could go to for resources, for networking events, for educational opportunities, professional development speakers, you know, whatever it may be.
And so I, I always thought our industry was just. It was wild that we had this incredibly social driven, you know, community, but at the end of the day, there was nowhere to go for the, to get more resources, get more, um, education, those types of things. You know, I always went to Academy, which is the orthopedic convention, um, and we went as vendors, right?
We were in the vendor room and we were hoping to, our physician would come by and see our shiny new products, but end of the day. Oh yeah. Those breakout sessions and that, that conference was built for physicians. Right. And so, you know, we, we do a lot today and, and certainly I, I think we'll get into that.
But that's really where I'm at today, which is I started a company called The Lobby, which is a medical sales networking organization, uh, that provides resources for our community and brings our community together so that. You're not j and j Stryker, Medtronic, we're all part of the lobby now. And so it's, it's been an incredible ride, uh, to kind of see our community grow and come together.
And it's been three years now. Uh, and so grateful for everything we've accomplished and, and certainly, uh, some of the new and exciting projects on, on in the future.
Anneliese Rhodes: I love this. I, I cannot agree with you more. You know how many times I say to people, I'm like, I feel like I live on an island. Mm-hmm. Like, I feel like I'm always alone.
Like, that's where Cindy and I actually figured out that we needed to create a podcast because we're like, why isn't there anything out here supporting us? Why, why don't we have more support? Like, sure, you can call people in your own company, but sometimes you, you actually enjoy meeting people from different companies like you were talking about at the meeting.
So I just think. What a brilliant idea, Kendi, to really create a community where everyone, all comers can come in at any level, right? Like, I'm assuming any level here, right? Like maybe beginners all the way up to seniors, or is it like, is it a specific community? Tell us about that a little bit.
Kendy Elmore: You know, we spent a lot of time talking about that early on and, and thinking about that and that, that question kept me up a lot at night was where do you.
Shut the door, right? Where do you kind of build the fence of who's in and who's out and that sort of thing. The, the community was built for sales reps, right? That's, that was our focus is how do we bring sales reps together, uh, to network, to learn to have speakers, you know, to provide resources. But going back to kindie as a teacher, I, I didn't wanna shut him out of the door, right?
So we, we left the door open, and so all of our events you'll see. Uh, we kind of brand them as anyone in the healthcare sales industry or those interested in learning more. So, you know, we'll get teachers, nurses, B2B people that are like, Hey, I wanna come learn about this. We'll get college students that come and we've created some really cool partnerships with universities across the country.
Um, and those students come and I, and I just think what an incredible opportunity for a high, a college senior or a teacher, a nurse to come talk to somebody or just start to learn the language of, of this industry and start to get some guidance. Um, and, and the beautiful thing is the community that comes together is always willing to kind of help those people out.
But I'd say the majority of our community, 80% or so, are current reps. Uh, and, and anybody above that as well. So managers, leadership, and really where we. Uh, see them coming in as kind of more on the speaker level, right. Or wanting to partner with some of our reps or even looking to hire, right? Maybe they're like, Hey, I, we've got, you know, 10 people we need to hire in the next, uh, 12 months.
You know, how can we market these opportunities to the, to that level? So we really work with the entire community, uh, you know, of the medical sales industry, whether it's entry level reps. Uh, executives, recruiters, marketing, and so it's, it's been the lobby community has really grown to kinda encompass the entire industry.
Cynthia Ficara: I just think it's fabulous. You know, you, you take all the teaching elements that you have and you probably will be a forever teacher and just, and just in a different way. So I, I have to comment. You painted a really good picture of, you said you go to the academy, so whatever specialty you're in, almost all of them have, you know, yearly.
You know, conferences or local conferences where that specialty gets together, and you're right, all of the different representatives that call on those physicians had their little booth set up. But you had such a vision that you took all those people outside and put 'em into the classroom, and I just find that fascinating because you really just stepped aside and decided.
We don't have a community and started it. So I wanna thank you for doing that and I think all of those that have become part of the lobby will agree.
From a 26-Person Meetup to a National Movement
So do tell us, how did you come up with the name, the lobby?
Kendy Elmore: You know, it was, um. Kind of when, when I thought about what this was gonna be like, it was community.
Right? Right. And, and it was community of reps. So one of the ideas was like, well, where do reps typically kind of end up hanging out, meeting each other naturally. A lot of times it's in the lobby of a physician's office or Exactly.
Cynthia Ficara: That. So true. Or the lobby of a hotel or, yes.
Kendy Elmore: Yeah. Or a hospital or, or a
Cynthia Ficara: hospital.
Or a hospital.
Kendy Elmore: So it, it kind of had on, it had this like, you know, gathering place idea that like we would meet in the lobby and, and so there was ties to reps and where they kind of interacted. The second piece of that was when you think about like, lobbyist, right? And, and so really what we want to be is we wanna lobby for the medical sales community.
And so as we grow and we have this community. Numbers behind us, like we wanna be an advocate for our community. Um, and so we're, we're starting to build and, and have some great conversations around what we can do with that as our community's, you know, grown to over a hundred thousand now. Like we really have a voice and can represent that voice and advocate for change.
And so lobbying for our community is kind of a second piece of, uh, of the name as well. I
Anneliese Rhodes: love that. Okay, so I have a question. So when I first was looking into the lobby, and I, I wanna say, I mean, I knew about you guys a while back, um, but, and really what I saw, and I saw it on LinkedIn, um, but really what I saw was like the meetings, right, that you guys have in different big cities like Tampa, um, you know, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas.
So I know, and I'm sure most of our listeners know maybe that you do these meetings and I want you to talk about these meetings a little bit, but like. What is the lobby like? What is the network like? Tell us what the platform offers. Somebody that's either new to the medical device world, maybe wants to enter into the demi, uh, medical device world, or is a senior, like Cindy and I who've been doing it for years.
Right. What, why do we wanna know about the lobby?
Kendy Elmore: So I think it goes back to like how it started, right? Which was like, all right, you're a 14 year rep. I'm, I've, I've got a great job. I, it was loving what I do. I didn't need to change, but I had this idea and this desire to kind of build something to, to make an impact on our industry.
And so it was like, well, where do you start? So it started in Charleston, which was, I booked a venue, I got a speaker and sent out some invites, and so it was like, let's see if other reps actually want to come, right? Let's see if anybody else is interested in this idea and just see if it works, and I am forever grateful.
To 26 people that showed up to that first event.
Cynthia Ficara: 26. That's Wow. Penny. I was, dang. I'll just say six. I know, dude. I'll do something. I'll be like, I hope five people come.
Kendy Elmore: Yeah, I was. I was extremely fortunate. We had 26 people there. It's still my background LinkedIn picture, because without those 26 people, none of this exist.
If nobody would've shown up, it would've been dead. And I'd still be doing, you know, my, my job as before, but there was 26 people that, that believed in the idea and wanted to come. And so, you know, the, the conversation at the end of that meeting was, when are we doing another one? Right? And so we did another one.
And that community continued to grow. And, you know, by the end of the year we had 50 or 60 people, uh, coming to, to events. And you know, at that point I was like, great, maybe this is something like we're gonna do for Charleston. I'll build this community in Charleston and it's, it's gonna be fun for our industry.
What I didn't expect is the number of reps in other cities that you mentioned, right. Tampa, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas. Now in, I think we're in 35 cities across the country, but reps would reach out and say, I see what you're doing in Charleston. I've always wanted to be a part of something like this. How do we get it to Dallas?
How do we get it to Atlanta? Are you coming? Are you expanding? So at that point, we quickly build out kind of a chapter leader model that we would, uh, empower reps to do the same thing under our umbrella, uh, but do it in their city. So they could be that chapter leader, they could be the one that, that launches in Atlanta and builds their community.
And, and we certainly give them guidance. And now we've got out a social team that helps 'em promote their events. And we've got newsletters and all the resources that we can support that person with that wants to lead it, uh, in that city. Um. And so that's really kind of grassroots how we grew across the, the country and started to build our community and bring people together the, at the local level.
And now certainly leading into some, some bigger picture ideas. And certainly we've got like a three, five, and 10 year roadmap of some goals that I have, uh, for the company. But that's kind of how it started and how we've grown.
Cynthia Ficara: That's amazing. I love that. Yeah. So let's pretend I am just graduating from college and I've heard of medical device and I am just interested and I wanna get in.
If I went to the lobbies there, anything you could help me with as a brand new graduate in the lobby, like on your, on your website to get into medical device? Is there On your website. On your website. Yeah. Any resources.
Kendy Elmore: Yeah, absolutely. And so. You know, as we grew, I, I wanted to think about really myself at all those different stages, right?
Me as a teacher, me as a first year rep, me as a 14 year rep, right? And, and how do we provide resources and build a community that supports each of those individuals at each of those different stages, right? And, and now we've also built out programs for leaderships and recruiters and, you know, all the, all the different players of, uh, kind of our ethos that we're in.
But yes, and so. For an aspiring rep, as we kinda refer to 'em as you come into our platform, we've actually built a user interface on the platform that's specifically for you, right? So when a user joins our community and they put in that they're an aspiring rep, uh, there's tons of resources, uh, from people that are building programs to help those individuals, right?
So those break into medical sales courses coaches, um. Media content podcast. Right? So there's, it is just a plethora of information that when someone, again, going back to me as a teacher who had that desire to absorb and learn as much about this industry as they can, it's all there, right? It's just a matter of how much time you have to consume it.
So I think. Giving them those resource resources online, as well as giving them the opportunity to connect with people in their city locally and build their network, which is, I know both of you ladies know, like it's all about kind of who you know and building your network in this industry. And that's led to so many opportunities for those people in our industry, as well as building the industry's largest job board now.
Um, so not only can you, you know, connect with people, learn about the industry, but actually find those jobs as well, all in one place.
The Go-To Job Hub for Medical Sales
Cynthia Ficara: So I want you to dig into that. And I think if everybody's listening to hear, because you know, I remember way back when, I mean this is like 20 years ago, there was the old med reps or monster.com monster, right?
Right. That too, right. And you know, so, but that would give you, like if you wanna be a freight builder, if you wanna be in real estate, if you wanted whatever. So. Tell us a little bit about the lobby, um, how it works on your platform if you're looking for a medical device job.
Kendy Elmore: Yeah. I'd say when you think about those two different jobs, right?
There's, there's big job boards, the indeeds, the LinkedIns, the monsters, right? Which are just filled with any and every job in the world, right? It, it's, so for especially an entry-level person, it can be tough to filter through those jobs and figure out what the right jobs are. And so what we've done is curated that list for our community, right?
Me. 15 years into the industry now, I, I kind of know which companies. And so we went out and partnered with those companies and brought them in and bring their jobs in. So every night, uh, on their career sites, it, it uploads, uh, onto our platform. And so that we've got like a curated list of, you know, specifically for medical, pharma, dental, healthcare, sales industry.
So it's created that. The second piece is when you think about some of the, the medical cell specific platforms that are out there and have been around for years. Um, there's a cost associated with both sides, right? So their model is, 'cause that's their only business, is we're gonna charge users to see the jobs and we're gonna charge companies to post the jobs.
So at the end of the day, that platform's very limited to only people willing to pay. To see jobs and only companies willing to pay to post jobs on there. So it's only a very small fragment of the jobs that are actually out there. And it's a very small fragment of the users and reps that are out there.
Um, 'cause if you're not actively searching, you know, you're probably not paying to be on that platform. Mm-hmm. Um, and so what we've done is create a. Opportunity for companies to access our community, which is active and passive job seekers that may be, uh, coming across those jobs. That may be not the, the sole reason why they went into the platform.
So, and also ours is free, right? So we're not charging. Oh
Anneliese Rhodes: wow. That's amazing.
Kendy Elmore: To access those jobs. It's a pre free of platform that we've built, um, for our community.
The Lobby Is Revolutionizing Medical Sales
Anneliese Rhodes: That's amazing. And so, okay, so I know we have a couple other things that we wanna talk about. One of them I think that's really important that I was, uh, thinking about that we should highlight is you have a really exciting event coming up very soon, and so will you tell all of our listeners a little bit about that event when it is, is it still open to people that could potentially come?
Um, so talk to us about that because I think this event is awesome and it's a fantastic idea.
Kendy Elmore: Well, thank you. Thank you. You're all
Anneliese Rhodes: great ideas. Yeah, we look all your ideas by the way.
Kendy Elmore: We'll see. I'll, I'll, I'll let you know after the conference. Uh, but yes, the, the, the vision, uh, for the, for the, the lobby and what we want to grow into, and certainly we've got other ideas and, and where we wanna take this.
But the next step for us is, you know, at this stage we've hosted over 200 networking events in, you know, over 30 cities across the country. Crazy. And those are really. Designed to be two hour happy hour style events, but always having some sort of speaker there to deliver value to our community and everybody that's in the room.
Whether you're a 15 year rep or a college student looking to get an industry, they're delivering value. The goal has always been to grow into more of a conference style event. When you think about those industry events we mentioned earlier where you go and as reps, you know, really the content, the breakout sessions are for the physicians.
Um, so it's really gonna be a merge of, if you've ever been to a national sales meeting, right? That, that community gathering where you meet reps from all over the country and you have a chance to pick their brain and like, Hey, how are you dealing with this challenge? Or, you know, how'd you grow your business?
A million dollars this year? What are you doing? What are you implementing? What new planner do you have? You know, what new resources do you have? Uh, that I don't know about. Along with the breakout sessions. And so we're gonna do a one day conference in Dallas, Texas. This, uh, November 7th, it's on a Friday.
Um, it's open to the medical sales industry, but we've really curated the event to be for reps and we've also carved out a limited number of tickets for aspiring reps. Um, so 200 people there. 175 of 'em will be, you know, current reps, 25 aspiring reps. And then we'll have breakout sessions, right? So we'll have panel discussions during the day talking about industry trends from executive leaders.
We'll have top reps and successful reps that have won President's clubs and what they do to get there. What is their secret sauce? Um, we'll do personal branding and kind of how you brand yourself as a rep and how do you build your brand and promote your company at the same time. In the afternoon, we'll really focus on, for the sales reps, we'll focus on sales training.
So they'll have two sales training sessions, um, along with a company, MEDC Scout, who aggregates data for sales reps and they have a platform they're gonna give reps access to their platform. So you'll be able to go in and, uh, search your specific call points, your physicians, your territory. Gosh. And it's gonna give you a ton of data about your physicians, where they're doing procedures, how many they're doing, what days, what times, you know, what the average cost is, who they're using.
So it's just gonna be huge data access for reps. Um, and then again, the aspiring reps in the afternoon, they'll break off and really focus with coaches, recruiters, uh, resume writers, LinkedIn coaches, and really teach them the process and get all of their documents really ready to get into the industry.
Cynthia Ficara: Well, I, I feel like that's great. I summed that all up as comprehensive. Maybe that's your middle name. I mean, you've thought of everything. Yeah. You know, just as you were naming things, I'm like, oh, that's great. That'd be great. And then you say More and more. I'm like, it's getting better and better and better.
November 7th, you said? November 7th,
Kendy Elmore: Dallas. Yeah. So
Cynthia Ficara: can people, are there still? Yeah. Can you still My tickets.
Kendy Elmore: Yeah, so if you go to the lobby network.com, our, our main site, uh, registration's still open. Um, there are a few tickets still available at this time. Um, but, uh, but yeah, we, we, you know, if you're in the industry, if you're in the area, we've got people where they're already registered from other cities, other states that are flying in for it.
Uh, a lot of our lobby chapter leaders are coming in for it. The, the panel, uh, discussions are just gonna be incredible, the, the people that we have lined up. And in addition to that, we're also gonna have the vendor room. Um, so there's gonna be a separate room where we'll do breakfast and registration.
We'll do lunch, and we're gonna have a happy hour, uh, event in the afternoon. And there you'll be able to connect with all of our vendors. So our corporate partners that are gonna be there, uh, different company platforms that are gonna be there. Uh, it's opportunity to kind of network and, and meet those companies.
So if you're just looking to explore and meet with, you know, build your network, or if you are one of those aspiring reps, it's gonna be opportunity to meet directly with companies and hiring managers as well.
Anneliese Rhodes: Something. Something for all the sales reps. Finally,
Cynthia Ficara: we don't have to be in the vendor room with vendors.
Yeah, that lobby, let's get in the big lobby. I'm stoked. I'm stoked. That is amazing. But, but we also, you know, again, you've had this vision from the very beginning when you just had one meeting that 26 people showed up for. But I think it's really exciting that you tell our listeners. Of this next vision that you have coming, because this is extremely exciting.
Gosh, and I would love for you to share that with everybody because it's just, it's exciting. Yeah. I
Kendy Elmore: mean, you hit the nail on the head when you said, we're the customers. Right? We have finally have something for us, and that is my vision. That is the lobby. You are the customer. If you're a rep, if you're an aspiring rep, you know you're our customer.
And for the first time, I mean, I, I hear your excitement. It's like, finally, somebody sell to me.
Anneliese Rhodes: Yes,
Kendy Elmore: giving me resources we're so used to giving and doing and, and, you know, providing support and selling. And it's finally like we flip that dynamic, right? And you all are a customer. And so everything we build and do is built for you.
Right. And so whether it's our networking events, whether it's our conference, whether it's the platform, everything is built for you. And what we're trying to do is solve as many challenges as we can for you, right? So whether it's job searching, whether it's networking, whether it's professional education, we're building those resources and providing to you.
The other thing is we don't necessarily have to build all of it ourselves either. So when you go into the lobby. It's not all built by me. I'm not a jack of all trades, right? There's a lot of people like yourselves that are doing really great things for reps, and so the lobby is now, I take it upon myself to go find those resources and bring them in.
So your programs, your. Podcast will be accessible on the platform. Those coaches that are building programs and sales training for reps that's in the program, right? So the lobby is a, is a space where you can find all those resources, not necessarily that we're building, but we're kind of aggregating and putting 'em all in the lobby for you.
Um, when I think about my time as a rep. And certainly something I hear from job seekers in our industry is that challenge of, you know, finding the right opportunities, right? It's a very, you know, there's hundreds of companies in our space, there's hundreds of recruiters that represent those companies in our space.
Um, and so it can be challenging to find the right opportunities. And one of the things I'm really passionate about is as reps not just finding a job. Right is, but finding the right job for you. Because what I enjoy and what each of you enjoy doing could be different and likely is right. And so what we've.
What we're building is kind of taking a basic job board, uh, and kind of take it to the next level. Right now with AI integrations now with a filtering process, so you can go in and say, Hey, I wanna be in pharma sales, or dental or surgical, and then you can pick the specialty and then you can set your location and your comp needs and all those things.
And we've got this huge aggregated database of a curated list of companies that are in there. So it's gonna search that. Thousands of jobs on this side. It's gonna look at your resume, it's gonna look at the job descriptions and the qualifications, and it's gonna match you, right? And say, Hey, based on what you're looking for and the locations you're looking for and, and the things you're looking for in your career, here's a list of the top matches, right?
And maybe there's not something open in your area, but you can set an alert so that when something does open up in your city, you're the first to know about it. So it's gonna really help find that next step for you. And then even as an experienced rep, you may say, Hey. I'm happy where I'm at, but if something opens up in my area and cardiology and it's over $300,000, I'd like to know about it, right?
So I can at least look at it and see if it's something that might be makes sense for me. So really building out a more robust platform specifically for our industry. Uh, again, to help reps. That's our whole.
Cynthia Ficara: I love this. It's like better than a dating God. You know? I mean, it's better than dating. You're not gonna swiping whatever it's left or right to.
Yeah, I love all the criteria, what you want, your specialty, your city, the salary. I mean, talk about taking legwork and time back in. Yeah, yeah. Back to
Anneliese Rhodes: that's so value. That's so much value. Like value, impact. I mean, all the things that we bring our customers, and you just said it like, I love your quote of us now becoming us as the reps.
Becoming the customers. And I think that is so important because. We work really hard and we, we, you know, we, we give a lot to our jobs. We give a lot to our customers, to our patients, but it's nice to be appreciated, right? It's nice to know that. Or if you're searching for something, like maybe you just wanna extend your knowledge in a certain area or you wanna tune into the girls of grit now you could just go to the website of the lobby network and there we are.
And it's kind of like a one-stop shopping and I love that. And you're doing it in a way that is impactful. It's bringing value kendi as well as it's easy, like you're not making it hard. I just love it. You know,
Cynthia Ficara: you said at the very beginning that there were 26 people that came and they're like, when can we do this again?
That I, I hope you realize that what you're building, you're actually elevating this entire industry. So what do I mean by that? When you make all of us better or better at our jobs and look at how much more ROI that is for the entire industry, the hospitals, our customers, and I think that your, your one vision has, has so many layers to give back.
But I, I think that those of us in the lobby, those of us that can utilize the resources the lobby have, can make ourselves better as well as. The industry and the job in which we work. So thank you for that. I'm, yeah, really grateful
Kendy Elmore: to do that. Welcome. You're so welcome. And, and thank you for being a part of it.
I, I mean, I, I could not do this alone, right? The lobbies, uh, without our partners, without all of our chapter leaders across the country. I mean, we have so many volunteers on our team that it's not just me. There's a whole community and a whole team of people behind me that I couldn't do it without. So, uh, thank you for everything you're doing, and.
Creating that content, the, the conversations you're having that's helping us lift. And that's a, I think it's really a team approach that as we come together, we can all help each other and lift each other. And so it's, it's so great. And thank you for being a part of it.
How Kendy Elmore Built The Lobby and Trusted the Universe
Anneliese Rhodes: Oh my gosh, yes. And we're so excited because we are now partnering with the lobby.
We are so excited. Um, so, but on that note, like I'm thinking, how can we come become more like kendi? How can we become more brilliant, more smart, more visionary, right? So we always ask. At the end of all of our Spotlight Series episodes, a couple of questions. Um, first, do you have any books that you're reading now or do you just have that one special book that you read over and over and over again?
We'd love to know because Cindy and I love to read, and most of our listeners love to read too. And it could be an honor audible. You'll be lot fun because we drive all the time.
Kendy Elmore: Yeah. Unfortunately a lot of the books I'm listening to now, you're probably not gonna enjoy it 'cause they're all about, uh, platforms and how you build a platform and how you grow platforms and how you build communities.
Right. So, you know, I am a, a lifelong learner. I think anybody in our industry is like, you have to be. Yes. Consistently learning about these things. But the, the unique thing for me is as the lobby's grown, I've hit different, like that first event, I had to figure out how to host one event, right? And then I had to figure out how to run a community that hosted events in 30 cities, right?
And then I had to figure out how to run a conference, and then I had to build. Build a, a platform and work with development teams. And so at each stage it's pushed me to kind of a different level. And what I'm researching and learning about at that level is really focused on our goals at that time or what our goals that are coming.
So, uh, as far as the books now, they'd probably be boring to you and, and not al one of my favorites is The Alchemist. Oh,
Cynthia Ficara: yes, yes. I just, I'm a big
Kendy Elmore: believer in, you know. The universe giving you signs and you know, when you start to follow your dreams and, and pursue things bigger than you, the universe will help you with that.
And I had a lot of conversations with the universe before I left my job. I mean, it was really hard to walk away from a 14 year sales career and where I was at that stage and, and really to. Start building something that was only gonna cost me money. Um, and that was a scary moment. And so a lot of conversations with the universe and asked to keep showing me signs that were going in the right direction.
I'll keep pushing. Um, so that's one of my favorites.
Cynthia Ficara: It's a great book. So for all of you listening that are just very excited, I have two questions for you. Number one, I'm driving in the city going, they had those local, do they have them in my city? So can you tell everybody how they can go to the lobby, where to find you, where to find where local and the lobby national so they can jump on all these great resources you've provided with us today.
Kendy Elmore: I'd say two places. One, our website, the lobby network.com. From there you're gonna find everything right from, uh, our chapters to the job board platform to the conference information. Everything's gonna be on that site. The other places, uh, I think where you said you first saw us, which is LinkedIn, you know, early on we looked at a number of different social platforms and try to, uh, you know, a lot of different places, but really found our audience.
Uh, and our community was mostly on LinkedIn, so. We have a, a page there, the Lobby Medical Sales Network on LinkedIn. Uh, you also find me on LinkedIn, you know, so constantly sharing about our events and, and promoting those things. So, um, there you can kinda see any and everything that's going on. You can sign up for our monthly newsletter that goes out, which has job openings and events and conference information.
We also provide a lot of content to give reps, you know, sales, education and advice and tips and motivation and those types of things. So wherever
Anneliese Rhodes: the teacher, wherever
Kendy Elmore: right,
Anneliese Rhodes: wherever the teacher, wherever the teacher. I love it. Yeah. Yeah. Well, this has been awesome, Kendi. I, we are so excited. No, we are so excited to partner with you.
We're so excited for your vision, um, what you're bringing to the medical community, medical device, sales community, I should say. Um, thank you for making us important, honestly, because it's, you know, like I said, I mean, it's always like. What about me? I'm here, I'm serving you. Can you help me? Um, so thank you for doing that and having the vision, the patience, the courage to take that leap and really what you've brought out has just been tremendous.
And I am excited for your next chapter. I think it's fantastic.
Kendy Elmore: Thank you so much. I mean, without, um, you know, this opportunity to be able to spread our message and, and get out there. I mean, we wouldn't be where we are today. So thank you for helping us spread that message. Anybody listening, we'd love to have you in the lobby.
You know, no matter where you are, whether you're, you know, early in your career or later in your career, maybe looking to start a chapter, right? Maybe we're not in your city. And reach out to us and we'd love to work with you. But, uh, so, you know, thank you so much for having me and, and helping spread our message.
Cynthia Ficara: We love it. We'd love to have you. Thank you. Thank you.
