Unspoken Rules of Conferences Every Woman in Med Device Needs to Know
What’s the cost of one bad decision at a professional meeting?
In this episode of Secrets in Medical Device Sales, Lisa and Cindy get real about what it takes to show up like a true high performer in male-dominated spaces. From avoiding after-hours pitfalls to mastering your presence at conferences, the Girls of Grit serve up hard truths, smart strategies, and high-impact advice. Whether you're a rising rep or seasoned pro, these stories and action steps will have you rethinking how you show up, speak up, and follow up. It’s time to take the high road—and leave with leads, not regrets.
Episode Chapter Markers
01:39 Challenges for Women in Medical Device Sales
02:44 Taking the High Road: Key Tips
04:24 Action Steps for High-Performing Women
11:18 Knowing Your Audience
18:02 Knowing Yourself
23:13 Knowing Your Purpose
Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments
The Bar Trap – Lisa breaks down how late-night networking can backfire and how to make a memorable impression without the next-day regret.
Dress Like a Leader – Cindy and Lisa dive into why wardrobe choices matter more than you think, especially when you're representing yourself and your company.
Know Your Audience – From dietary preferences to cultural norms, learn why thoughtful consideration of your customers sets you apart.
Respect Over Relatability – The hosts unpack why professionalism earns more trust than trying to "fit in" after hours.
Follow-Up Like a Pro – Cindy shares the underrated power of post-meeting communication to build momentum and maintain relationships.
Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode
“You don’t have to get drunk to make an impact.” – Anneliese Rhodes
“One bad night can become a career-long impression.” – Cynthia Ficara
“If you want to be seen as a leader, show up like one—even after 10pm.” – Anneliese Rhodes
“Knowing your audience is more than names and titles. It’s values, habits, and boundaries.” – Cynthia Ficara
“Leave with leads, not regrets.” – Cynthia Ficara
“Classy is memorable. Sloppy is forgettable.” – Anneliese Rhodes
“Your outfit speaks before you ever say a word.” – Cynthia Ficara
“Big brother is always watching—especially when you don’t think he is.” – Anneliese Rhodes
“We’re not here to blend in. We’re here to stand out—for the right reasons.” – Cynthia Ficara
“Take the high road. It always leads somewhere better.” – Anneliese Rhodes
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Even in life’s darkest moments, we have the power to create change. We’d love to hear from YOU — whether you’ve taken a leap of faith, overcome adversity, or found purpose through a challenge. Share your stories with us in the comments or send us a DM. Let’s keep the conversation going and continue lifting each other up.
A Team Dklutr production
Blog Transcript:
Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies
Anneliese Rhodes: Oh my gosh, Cindy, I am so glad that we are doing this episode today.
I literally just got back from a meeting with a ton of customers and girl, I still see these mistakes being made every single time I go to one of these meetings and I just wanna scream, ah, listen to us. Well, I'm
Cynthia Ficara: excited because as the girls of grit girls out there, we got your back. Oh, yes. Today we wanna make sure.
You go to meetings, leaving with leads, whether it be for your career or your business. You leave with leads and not regrets, so tune in. This is gonna be a very exciting episode.
Anneliese Rhodes: Hello everyone. Good morning. Welcome to another episode of Secrets and Medical Device Sales. We are so excited to bring you guys this episode today. I personally cannot wait to talk about it.
Cynthia Ficara: Oh, I love this. You know what's so fun is when Lisa and I started this podcast, gosh, it's we're going on two years.
I know. You know, it's crazy, isn't it? Right? But what's so fun is like, here we are, two women out there in a field of medical device feeling lonely sometimes, feeling like, gosh, there's no direction. Who can help me in this area? Who can help me in that area? Yeah. And I feel like today's topic is. Absolutely one that like, if everybody out there is listening, and this truly is a more female directed message and and conversation today, yet any men listening can kind of understand our pers our perspective and what it's really like to be a woman in the medical device industry.
That being said, women in any male dominated industry.
Anneliese Rhodes: Thank you. Absolutely, Cindy. It is. This is such I, I'm so glad we're talking about this today. 'cause it's like every single time I go to a meeting. I am like, Lord have mercy. I hope I didn't act like that when I was younger. You know, like I'm just blown away still to this day.
I'm like, what are you doing? You're not helping yourself. And so we're gonna talk about a couple things today, you guys that are gonna really be good, hard hitting tips for you to continually be mindful when you go to meetings, whether they are industry sponsored. Or their company sponsored or anything, any type of situation where you are around your colleagues or your customers or anybody for that matter.
I mean, you can even apply this to your personal life. When you go to a banquet or you go to another house party. There are things that as a high performing female and a male dominated industry, you have to be, and we are gonna talk about those things today. A couple of those things. And it's. Always taking the high road first and foremost, always making sure you are on the best road possible and in the best light possible.
And there's reasons behind that and we're gonna talk about that today.
Cynthia Ficara: Very exciting. And declutter. We're gonna hit pause for just a second. Oh, okay. Pause. And on that note, this is really fun. We're gonna switch things up today because we are so excited to talk about taking the high road that we just revealed our secret.
We are, oops, actually, so we can't help. You know, sometimes we sit here and think of how can we help everybody out there? And today's really about taking the high road. But don't, don't worry, we're gonna make this simple for you. We have. Three action steps. We wanna break down what we're talking about and, and really to set the stage for today.
How many of you out there have national meetings coming up? Have conference meetings coming up, even team. Meetings today, we're really focusing on women in male dominated meeting spaces, action steps you can take for taking the high road. And we're outlining them in three simple ways. I'm just gonna give it away.
Today's all about giving it away, and then we're gonna make it fun. So the three, the three ways were really. Going to outline. We're gonna talk about knowing your audience, knowing yourself, and knowing your purpose. But first, nobody does it better than good storytelling than Lisa. So kind of set the stage because this is a really important episode, although I gave away secrets, but it sounds simple, but is it really?
When the Meeting Ends, the Real Test Begins
Anneliese Rhodes: Yeah. No it's not. It's actually, it's a lot of self-discipline. So, alright, so picture this. Picture this. Right. You're at a meeting, you've got, it's an industry meeting, but it's also a um, uh, industry being in medicine. But there's companies there as well as your physicians or your nurses or your techs, just your customers in general, right?
Actually, even any male dominated industry, they're your customers at these meetings and. It's 10 o'clock at night and everybody's at the bar, right? And that's where everybody congregates. Cindy. It is unbelievable at any meeting I've ever been to, it doesn't matter how late dinners go, everybody still always goes back to the bar and some people will stay very late.
And you as a, you know, rap as a sales person, you want to be in front of your customers. And you know, this is the time to be there. But I'm just gonna tell all of you ladies. This is not the time to try and fall into the trap of let's stay out till one or two o'clock at night or in the morning just because my guy colleagues do it.
I'm gonna do it. Number one, do not ever do that. And number two, you don't have to get drunk in order to still make an impact. Okay? You can go up to the bar and order a sparkling water. I understand they may be bo popping bottles of Dom perion. That does not mean that you need to go and get drunk and start drinking this late in the evening.
It gives off a terrible vibe, but it's very hard to do that when all of your customers are out there and they're like, Hey, and they're buying you drinks and they're doing this and that. Or even your managers or colleagues are like, Hey, have another drink. Have another drink. I'm gonna tell you right now, ladies, it is not the place that you wanna be.
It is not hard. It just takes discipline to walk into that same situation where everybody's hugging and smiling and drinking and cheering, and you grab your sparkling water and you can do the same thing and you see them and you talk to them, and you make impactful conversations. And then you go to bed and you wake up at six in the morning or five in the morning and you are fresh faced, you look good, you feel good, your brain is on spot, right?
You're ready for a good meeting versus you're hungover, you have a headache, you don't wanna get outta bed, and you drag yourself through the ritual of the makeup and then this and then that. But it in the, you are not looking your best, nor are you feeling your best. So Lindy, I've probably had this happen to me.
You know, three, 400 times. And I, like I said, I hope that when I was younger I wasn't making these mistakes, but I know I was. Um, but now looking back, I'm like, what was I doing? This is not a good look. You have to take the high road.
Cynthia Ficara: And you know, there, there's time and place to let your hair down. And I think the environment in these meetings gives us a false pretense.
Like, oh, I'm with my college friends. These people are my friends. Oh yes. This is the fun time we've worked. You know, like in college, you study all day, you work hard, you go out to the bar on the weekend, you let your hair down, you're partying, you're laughing, you're blowing off steam. Mm-hmm. This is not, let your hair down, blow off steam.
Time and you know, something you said is so true, so easy to drink water. However, I, I am in tune to those who are not as comfortable holding water because I know there's this male colleagues, Ooh, why do you have that glass? And you know what, you're right. Sometimes it's not worth it. Yeah, you can hold a glass of alcohol and you can sip it.
You can enjoy. A glass of wine, a glass of champagne if you want. Just make it last hours. Nobody knows that you haven't refreshed that drink four times. That's a good point. You know, that's a good point,
Anneliese Rhodes: Cindy. You're
Cynthia Ficara: right. I've done that before too. Yeah, absolutely. Drink a glass of water in between. Yeah.
Have a glass of wine. Enjoy yourself. Yeah. But know yourself. Make sure you're eating food. Don't go dehydrated. Going into that. Yeah. You've probably drank coffee all day long. Sitting in a meeting. Wait, I never drank any water Today. We've gone five hours till we had our buffet. We're like in prison. We can't eat till later.
And you realize you've gone five, six. Eight hours, you're like, oh my God, I haven't eaten. Mm-hmm I've anything to drink. You pick up alcohol, take care of yourself and it totally, yeah, absolutely. You know, you have to be aware of that. Yeah. And that's just really, really important. It's just as a reminder, if you're about to go into a meeting, remember that.
Watch Out for Your Fellow Women
Anneliese Rhodes: Well, can I tell you too really quickly, um, and I totally forgot to like say this, the whole reason of my story is not that long ago, I was at a meeting and oh my gosh, there was the girl that is totally. Out of her mind, drunk all over a customer. And it's like, what are you doing? You're not helping us as women.
Give a good impression. And it's like, come on, come on. And I had to like get her out of her, out of the bar. And I'm like, Hey, come with me. And then I pulled her off to the side and I was like, it probably is time for us to go to bed. Aren't you tired? And I like talked her into going to bed and like the next morning she was like, oh my gosh, girl, thank you so much for saving me.
I don't know what I was thinking. I'm like, yeah, well you aren't helping our situation here either. So I didn't say that, but it's like, come on. Do us all a good favor. Do yourself a favor and just don't ever let that get outta control. You're right, there's a time and a place to let your hair down and it's never at a business meeting, it's never at a customer interfacing meeting at all whatsoever.
It's never, then it's about taking that high road.
Cynthia Ficara: And great girl code there. Way to look out for the others because, you know, um, I can, I can think of some women in this, um, field that are tiny women. Okay. Yeah. And one glass of alcohol is like mm-hmm. Four. And so sometimes when you see that, and I mean, we've all been guilty of not, like I just said, not even realizing you're not hydrated.
Yeah. You just forget because you're in a different place, you're traveling. So. Oh, that's I. Thank you. So girls out there message, watch out for your fellow girls. Okay. Step one. Yeah. Let's dive into knowing your audience. Yeah. You're going to a meeting. Mm-hmm. You are about to head downstairs and you're like, wait a minute.
Let's think for a second. Who do I need to speak to? All right. Let me use the example. It's always easier if we're in the right mindset. Maybe you're going to. Com. Um, not just a company meeting. Let's do like a industry meeting. Okay? Okay. So you're going to have your company there always, you're gonna have upper management, whether it's your direct leader, whether it's a coworker that's more tenured than you, whether it's your vp, your CEO, your COO.
Then you're gonna have. Other companies. Higher level. Higher level. These are meetings where you guys gotta remember this big brother is watching now. Yeah. You might be thinking, okay, I may go to speak to who's gonna be there, so know that, but also know who your customers are. Do you have doctors at this meeting?
And then you have to kind of think about that because. In an environment, we're just on this topic of alcohol. There's many cultures, many religions, many. Like if you're talking doctors who do not incorporate alcohol into their own, you know, morals, their own, gosh, existence. Like some, some, some cannot drink due to their religion.
Some don't. Maybe some are recovering alcoholics. Maybe some just, maybe some have a speech in the morning. Yeah. And they're gonna go talk and they don't want to have alcohol. So it is it. It does, you such a good advantage to know your audience and think of these things ahead of time.
Know Your Audience—Even Before the First Course
Anneliese Rhodes: Yeah. Can I give you a great, uh, oh my gosh.
I have like a great example of this. Sure. So I have a, a number of physicians that have different religions, but I have one in particular who I really just, you know, I, I love taking 'em out. It's such a good person. Um. But he doesn't drink at all. Okay. Number one. But also in their religion, they can't even have it in their food.
It's very specific on how food has to be prepared. And so, you know, I am very mindful of that. And for example, um, it wasn't that long ago we went to a dinner and he was at the meeting. At our dinner meeting and I specifically made sure that the waitress went over to him to tell him exactly what's in certain things and it's prepared a certain way.
And you know, now that I'm thinking about it, I've also done it where when we have like a preset menu, you know, Cindy, when you have a certain amount that you can't go over. I've made specific arrangements to where everything that's prepared is not prepared with any alcohol, no pork. You know, I mean, all the things that they're not allowed to do, and that's just a nice thing to do, right?
But when you go above and beyond for your customers and you're just thinking about them in a nice, kind way. How appreciative, how appreciative are they to you in terms of you showing just a little bit of extra care and concern about them? Because they're an individual, you know, they're not just all one big normal per, you know, all one big group of the same people.
Everybody's an individual and they're an individual as well. And what's really nice is when you don't even. Make a deal out of it, like nobody knows it. Their plate is set in front of them and nobody knows that they have it specially prepared for them because then that singles them out. So I think it's really important when you are talking about knowing your audience, what you were just saying is so key.
When you're walking down those stairs, let's just say you're at a meeting and you're walking down the stairs or down the elevator, in the hallway, going to meet your physicians for your dinner meeting. Run through your mind who they all are. Who their wives are, or husbands are their kids, their interests, but also, you know, dinner restrictions or drinking restrictions or things like that.
Did you do the right things? And then of course, what are your goals that you wanna accomplish at this dinner? But the, the thing is that Cindy really mentioned is knowing your audience. And that's gonna change depending on where you're at, right? It's gonna change from evening to morning. It's gonna change from, you know, customer to customer.
So I think that's so key that you just said that Cindy.
Know Your Audience Like a Pro
Cynthia Ficara: That's extreme consideration that you said, and I love that because, you know, what made me think about is appetizers. Oh my gosh. You know, if you're, you're, you're like, okay, we're in a group. Let's order appetizers. So now I'm gonna take this step further.
Talk about women always taking the high road and being on top of things. Say you're standing at one end of the bar and you're speaking to somebody, okay? Mm-hmm. Now. Somebody else walks up or the conversation changes, or you're at the other end of the bar. Okay? So what happened on the left side of the bar may be totally different than the middle or the right, and if you are drinking alcohol, I.
Or too much alcohol. Are you able to think fast enough? Oh, this is one physician that maybe I shouldn't be eating in his face. This piece of pork shoving it in my mouth. Now, I'm not saying those doctors who don't eat pork don't wanna watch somebody else eat pork. But look, I have an allergy and if I see somebody eating.
Things in front of me. After a while, you kind of get numb to it, but sometimes you're like, it might turn some people off. Like, ooh, they're shoving pork in their face. I, that is something so simple. And when you're intoxicated, you don't think about things at a time, oh, don't eat this in front of this person.
Speak nicely about this. Do this. We're like chameleons. Okay? Knowing your audience, you are a chameleon. It's out of respect to them. They are your customers. They are not your college best friends. They, you're throwing beers back at 1:00 AM on Saturday morning. That is such a good point. And if you miss that and you, you feel constrained, call your good friends.
Take some PTO, go to a girl's weekend. Yeah. Take a weekend off. Mm-hmm. Go somewhere far where nobody sees you have fun, blow off steam and come back. Polished. Using our secret of taking the high road, because you know what's really fun when you do this and you do this appropriately, look at how you can move your business.
Look at how you can advance in your career when you're at this meeting and it's, it's your career. It feels good to know you can have. Have a conversation at the left hand at the bar, maybe sipping a drink, speaking with a physician. Then you can go to the other end of the bar and maybe just have an appetizer of cheese and speak nicely in a totally other conversation.
Absolutely. Leave that meeting Monday morning with two great follow-ups, because that's what's so invigorating and exciting about these meetings. They are business meetings that we can enjoy socially. Take your doctors out of the stress of seeing a patient in a minute, but it's not a social party, but it's a social gathering and to really know your audience can really advance your business.
Style Is a Strategy
Anneliese Rhodes: Oh my gosh. Absolutely. All right. Number two. We touched on this a little bit already, but knowing yourself, I think knowing yourself, um, you know, all these things, strengths and weaknesses, right? If your weakness is, I don't know, you love to wear a lot of makeup, right? You love makeup or you love clothes, or you love like.
Sexy clothes. Um, that's great. That's awesome. Don't wear that to a business meeting. Don't wear that to any type of industry funded event. Uh, and I know we've talked about this before, Cindy, but it never fails. It never fails. Somebody always has the high boots on. It's like my thing. I'm like, Ugh. Kneehigh boots.
Why would you wear Nehi boots to an industry sponsored meeting or customer facing meeting? Like why, what does that do for you? Big red X. So, you know, it's, let's just be mindful. I mean, guys, everybody loves a classy woman. You know? Everyone loves to see somebody that is. Well put together, well taken care of.
I'm not saying you have to dress in some Chanel suit, blah, blah, blah. No, but what I am saying is just be mindful. Your customers are there. You are. You are potentially making first impressions with all of them, or they've only maybe ever seen you in scrubs. Now all of a sudden, they see you out and you're in some swanky low cut dress.
That's not the way you need to be perceived either. And hello, thanks for giving all of us a bad reputation. So take the high road dress appropriately. I'm not saying you need to be buttoned up with, you know, the collar up to your up, up to your ear lobes, but. Let's be mindful of what we're wearing. No short skirts, no kneehigh boots, you know, no look low cut.
It's just, it doesn't help the overall impression of you. And don't forget that big brother, like you mentioned before, is always watching. I mean, listen, these, these places that we're going to, these meetings, the hotel stays, the dinners, the drinks, that's all covered by your company. If you all of a sudden are showing that you can't respect that.
That's not gonna look good on you and ultimately on your future with the company. So you really need to be thinking about that. I know it's a lot, but it's like, it's so important. And you know, one small little mistake can have big ramification ramifications if you're not careful.
Cynthia Ficara: Exactly. And you know, we've, we've really focused a lot of this around the bar, but you and I have talked about this before.
How many of us, um, are maybe at a meeting or heading to a dinner Many times you can either get an Uber or maybe you're driving. That's a good point. So, I know this sounds silly women. But how short is your skirt when you sit down? Are you climbing in the back of an Uber in a short skirt? Are you driving where you have heels on and your skirt's gonna roll up also?
Never, ever have drinks if you're gonna be the driver, especially driving your dogs. Oh yeah. Always plan ahead. Know yourself, know where you're gonna be in this meeting. Know what you're gonna do. Um, there's such great business wear out there. Maybe it is a little bit just above the knee. You can still be a short outfit, but when you sit down, you're not showing your whole leg again, plan a trip with your college friends and wear that out there.
It's so. Silly, but as women sometimes, we have so many great ideas. We're very smart. We have so many great things we can do to partner with physicians, but when we show up in the wrong outfit, we've already said the wrong thing without ever opening our mouth. Men. It doesn't work that way for them. They can wear the shortest pants, no socks.
You know, they can have the Jonas Brothers style. They can look like they, they, they have the right to walk in, like the NFL draft, wear anything, sneakers, flashy, green. I mean, I love watching the football players in the NFL draft 'cause it's like a fashion show for me. I love their character. Men can wear that to meetings.
Yeah, it doesn't matter. Women cannot. No, no. And I, and I know that sounds wrong, but it is what it is. And if you're looking at your advancing in your career and partnering. Just stay within a mold yet. Be yourself. You always have to authentically be you knowing yourself. We did a great episode in our power play number 10, but when you're wearing something that you feel good in and you're not so worried about, you relaxed, you know you relaxed, you are you.
You can have conversations that really come from the heart, come from. You know your mind when you're thinking of your career and, and you can run with it, and you can have a really, really great meeting when you're wearing the appropriate things, acting appropriately and speaking appropriately. That's how you know yourself for number two.
Yeah,
Purpose-Driven Presence
Anneliese Rhodes: I love that. I loved all of that. That was perfectly said. I was trying to think of that, that, um, saying hate the player, not the game, but it's like, don't even hate the players. You know, if they're men, they're men. You chose to work in the male dominated industry, so. Just outsmart 'em, you know? So what if they can wear something and you can't wear it?
It is what it is. We're high-performing women, we really don't care. Right. So, um, good point. Alright. Number Yeah. Number three is, and we've kind of touched on this as well, but really know your purpose, right? Know your higher purpose. What is your ultimate vision? I'm just gonna say it, if we're, if you're in this industry.
You want to be, or you are a high performer, you've already chosen to take that high road. It has to show up in everything that you do, and we just talked about all of it. The way you dress, the way you hold yourself, the way you act, the way you manage alcohol, the way you manage any type of situation, you must always be mindful of what your higher purpose is.
Because I will tell you this, ladies, when you forget and you make a mistake. Sometimes those mistakes can follow you for the rest of your lives and in your careers. You have to be so careful. Now, that doesn't mean that we don't all make mistakes. We all do and people can be forgiven. But if you make a really poor choice on something that potentially will follow you, it for sure will be in the back of your customers minds, and that's just something that you want to have.
Following you around as this cloud over you at all times. Now you're having to prove that you're not that person, right? So if you know your purpose or your vision and you keep that in your foremost mind at all times, it will dictate the way you dress, the clothes that you pack for that meaning the way you dress, the way that you act.
How much you drink or you don't drink, what you say and what you get done in that meeting or that interaction with that customer. If you continually keep that purpose in the back of your mind and remind yourself, you will be able to ultimately be super successful with every customer interaction as long as you keep it on the high road.
Cynthia Ficara: And you know what? So what? It might take a slight bit of effort to be on top of your game. And maybe men don't have to think about this, but hey, you have tuned into the girls of Grit, right? That's who we are. That's right. And we know you. High performers out there have grit within you to do this too.
You're listening to us because we've been there. We're here to help you. And she's right. Knowing your purpose. Have a goal. Do men think like that? No. But guess what? This is a slight edge for us. And if it's what makes you become even better every day, that's great. And when you know your purpose, you have a successful meeting and you get to enjoy yourself.
I've come back from meetings really excited and advancing more in my business. So now here's the bonus in knowing your purpose, okay? We love to give this light edge for our all of you girls of grit out there because that's who you are. And this is this be. Somebody that stands out after this meeting.
Now it's up to you to follow up. Maybe you send a great email, maybe, maybe the old fashioned thank you note. And you know what? Many of your doctors still follow text messages, but say everybody's lying home on a Sunday. A very simple professional, thank you, enjoyed such and such conversation. Highlight something good and thank them, and maybe something they shared.
Family, something personal, whatever. But that is the icing on the cake, showing up as taking the high road, do something that somebody who came there to party would not, and that my friends helps you stand out. Knowing your audience, yourself, your purpose, taking the high road as a high performer, you'll lead these meetings with confidence, professionalism, and ultimately having stronger relationships and greater success.
So the call to action for today is quite simple. Share this with any female in a male dominated space out there today. That may appreciate it. Cheers to all. Cheers.
