Teaching, Tech & Trials: Disrupting Clinical Research with Dr. Tia Warrick

In this episode of The Healthy Enterprise, Dr. Tia Warrick, CEO of Lesous Consulting, shares her journey in clinical research and healthcare education. She discusses the industry gaps that inspired her to launch Lesous, a company focused on bridging those divides through training, mentorship, and innovative technology. Dr. Warrick highlights the importance of practical, accessible education, the growing role of AI in clinical efficiency, and the need for equitable participation in clinical trials. With a passion for teaching and empowerment, she offers valuable insights on leadership, career growth, and creating supportive pathways for the next generation of healthcare professionals.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Dr. Tia Warrick and Lesous Consulting
03:03 Dr. Warwick's Journey in Clinical Research
05:51 Identifying Gaps in Clinical Research
08:59 The Role of Education and Training
11:53 Leveraging AI in Clinical Research
14:51 Creating Equity in Clinical Trials
17:48 Innovative Training Solutions
20:56 The Importance of Practical Application in Training
24:11 Challenges and Rewards in Clinical Research
26:51 Bridging the Gap in Healthcare Education
27:16 The Journey to Teaching and Mentorship
29:34 The Impact of Clinical Research
30:54 Transforming Professional Development
34:39 Creating a Safe Learning Environment
36:37 Navigating Career Transitions
39:16 Finding Your True Path
43:00 Overcoming Industry Challenges
48:22 Connecting with Dr. Tia Warrick

Guest Information:

• Guest's Name:  Dr. Tia Warrick
• Guest's Title/Position:  Chief Executive Officer 
• Guest's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drwarrick/
• Company / Affiliation: Lesous Consulting https://lesousconsulting.com/
• Guest's Bio: Dr. Tia Warrick is the CEO of Lesous Consulting, a professional development, training, and technology solutions firm advancing excellence in clinical research and healthcare education. A Certified Global Project Manager with over seven years of experience in the industry, she brings expertise in strategic business analytics, AI software development, e-learning design, epidemiology (including RWE/HEOR), clinical data management, and public health consulting. An award-winning author of “Burst the Bubble: A Look into Careers in the Pharmaceutical Industry,” Dr. Warrick earned her Doctor of Health Science in Clinical Health Education from the University of Bridgeport. With a background in epidemiology and global clinical trials, she is dedicated to bridging gaps across healthcare, research, and education—mentoring the next generation of professionals and driving innovation that promotes equity, collaboration, and impact.

Takeaways

• Dr. Tia Warwick is the CEO of Lesous Consulting, focusing on bridging gaps in clinical research.
• 80% of clinical trials fail due to inefficiencies and administrative bottlenecks.
• Education and training are crucial for improving clinical research outcomes.
• AI can enhance efficiency in clinical research without replacing jobs.
• Creating equity in clinical trials is essential for patient access to treatments.
• Practical application in training is more valuable than theoretical knowledge.
• Burnout among clinical research professionals is a significant issue.
• Innovative training solutions can accelerate experience and reduce mistakes.
• Collaboration between institutions is key to successful clinical trials.
• The cost of clinical trials impacts the affordability of treatments for consumers. 
• Dr. Warrick emphasizes the need for equitable healthcare education.
• Teaching has always been a passion for Dr. Warrick.
• Clinical research plays a crucial role in patient care.
• Transforming professional development can lead to industry improvements.
• Creating a safe learning environment fosters growth.
• Career transitions require careful navigation and support.
• Finding one's true path is essential for fulfillment.
• Overcoming industry challenges involves positivity and resilience.
• A holistic approach to career coaching considers all aspects of life.
• Building connections and community is vital for professional success.

Creators and Guests

Host

Heath Fletcher

With over 30 years in creative marketing and visual storytelling, I’ve built a career on turning ideas into impact. From brand transformation to media production, podcast development, and outreach strategies, I craft compelling narratives that don’t just capture attention—they accelerate growth and drive measurable results.

Guest

Dr. Tia Warrick

Dr. Tia Warrick is the CEO of Lesous Consulting, a professional development, training, and technology solutions firm advancing excellence in clinical research and healthcare education. A Certified Global Project Manager with over seven years of experience in the industry, she brings expertise in strategic business analytics, AI software development, e-learning design, epidemiology (including RWE/HEOR), clinical data management, and public health consulting. An award-winning author of “Burst the Bubble: A Look into Careers in the Pharmaceutical Industry,” Dr. Warrick earned her Doctor of Health Science in Clinical Health Education from the University of Bridgeport. With a background in epidemiology and global clinical trials, she is dedicated to bridging gaps across healthcare, research, and education—mentoring the next generation of professionals and driving innovation that promotes equity, collaboration, and impact.

Producer

Meghna Deshraj

Meghna Deshraj is the CEO and Founder of Bullzeye Growth Partners, a strategic consultancy that helps businesses scale sustainably and profitably. With a background spanning corporate strategy, IT, finance, and process optimization, she combines analytical rigor with creative execution to drive measurable results. Under her leadership, Bullzeye has generated over $580M in annual growth and more than $1B in client revenue, guiding organizations through large-scale integrations, business transformations, and organizational change initiatives. A Certified Six Sigma Black Belt, Meghna’s superpower lies in strategic marketing and growth consulting, helping businesses grow through innovation, efficiency, and strong, trusted partnerships.

What is The Healthy Enterprise?

Join host Heath Fletcher on The Healthy Enterprise as he explores how healthcare leaders and innovators are transforming the industry from the inside out. Whether you’re a provider, tech entrepreneur, marketing strategist, or industry executive, these conversations deliver actionable strategies, innovative solutions, and human-centered insights to help you grow, lead, and make a lasting impact.

Created and produced by Bullzeye Growth Partners — let’s make something great together.

Tia Warrick (00:14)
Hello again, welcome to the Healthy Enterprise podcast. If you're back for more, thank you for joining me. And if it's your first time, I hope you like this episode and you join us again. I'm joined today by Dr. Tia Warrick She's the CEO of Lesous Consulting. She's a trailblazer in clinical research, professional development and public health innovation. She's a certified global project manager and she has a deep expertise in everything from AI software to

epidemiology and global clinical trials. She's also an award winning author, believe it or not, of Burst the Bubble, a look into careers in the pharmaceutical industry. And she's a passionate mentor dedicated to breaking down silos between healthcare, research and education. So please welcome Dr. Tia Warrick

All right, Tia, thank you for joining me today. I'm looking forward to hearing about you and your company. So why don't you start by just doing an introduction of yourself and your business.

Heath Fletcher (01:21)
Thank you. My name is Dr. Tia Warrick. I am an epidemiologist by trade and I am the CEO, Chief Executive Officer of Lesous Consulting. Our tag name is Where Success is Inevitable because we're truly trying to bridge a lot of gaps in the clinical research industry. And when we mean by clinical research industry, we're talking about biotech, pharmaceutical companies.

and its relationships with working with academic centers and hospitals for the main goal of getting FDA approval and treatments to patients. And so our main goal for our company is to look at the educational piece as well as software ⁓ to ensure we're streamlining efficiencies so that we can increase the success of a clinical research out.

Tia Warrick (02:12)
Interesting. And Lesus is the name of the company, right? As you said, and explain what that word means.

Heath Fletcher (02:20)
Yeah, so Lasus is Greek. It just means a higher power. So it means that, you know, the options of how far we can go, how high we can go is limitless. And that's what we're really trying to do. We're trying to break those barriers, ⁓ remove those silos and create a collaborative environment where we can achieve all the goals that we want and to provide treatments to patients who really need it.

Tia Warrick (02:44)
I love that. It's good. There's no limit. I think that's really great. you're, mean, you've had a long career in biology, epidemiology and health sciences and clinical health. so what brought you to this stage? What, what, what motivated you to start a LASUS?

Heath Fletcher (03:03)
Absolutely. So yeah, I have been working in clinical research for a long time. I started from literally the most entry level position you can get in clinical research, which is clinical research coordinators. And I loved it because I learned so much. I got to work right alongside the medical doctors. I got to, you know, speak with patients, have that interaction. It was an amazing experience where I was kind of thrown into the deep end and was just told, this is research. Here you go. Figure it out.

and it was fantastic. You either sink or swim and I was surfing. I loved it. It came natural to me. And I just had such a passion about figuring out different puzzles and helping people. And ⁓ I know there's a really bad connotation when we think about pharmaceutical companies, ⁓ mad scientist in a coat or some...

Tia Warrick (03:38)
something back.

Heath Fletcher (03:57)
unethical aspects, but there's a lot of amazing people in the industry who are working to bring safe treatments to people who otherwise would have never had any option for treatment for their particular disease. And so there's a lot of good, you know, with everything there's good and bad. And as long as there's more good than I think that it's worth being a part of. And so I really started in the industry almost 10 years ago and I then worked

almost every job. So I climbed the corporate ladder, so to speak. I was then a clinical research associate, which are monitors that travel to different hospitals across the United States and internationally to make sure that what the doctor's telling us is true. Not that they would not tell the truth, but we have to make sure that if the doctor said that this lab result is this amount, that what they're telling us is true because again, because of HIPAA compliance, can't.

often do not have access to the patient's records. So we would have to go in person and actually verify that. And so I did that for a while. Yeah. And then I worked my way up to being a clinical trial leader who basically oversees people who travel to the site. Then I worked my way up to being a project manager who then oversees them and every other department. So about 800 plus people. And then over 2000 on a global level, then the director.

And then I just, got a really good hold on the industry enough for me to stop wanting to be a part of the complaining of the problems that are there and the gaps that are there. And, you know, I stopped preaching to the choir and said, you know what, I'm going to do something about this. There's gaps in training. There are gaps in accessibility. There are gaps in efficiencies. And I want to build a business that addresses that.

can see all of the different pieces and put them together and let people know that yes, this is what your department does, but it fits into an overall picture and an overall story. And that's so important. So I wanted to build a company that really stresses professional development and efficiencies through education and technology software solutions.

Tia Warrick (06:13)
Wow. So I mean, that's, and you identified these gaps along your way and every step of the way. But, ⁓ interesting that you finally saw this point where it's like, well, I want to be, I want to be a fixer and not, you know, a part of the problem. So what, are you finding now? Like what solutions are you helping with now? Like where do you find that most value is for you and your company in, in the, in the scheme of things?

Heath Fletcher (06:41)
Yeah, so I mean, right now there's a lot. mean, every day I feel like there's a new company popping up, a new investor for this new gene therapy trial or a new treatment coming up. Yeah, it's so competitive. There are a lot of now also private research centers that are starting. ⁓ lot of the academic hospitals that you know, you know, the big ticket names. ⁓

Tia Warrick (06:52)
So many, yeah.

Heath Fletcher (07:05)
They are inundated with so many different trials and all this different competition for patients that they're not actually enrolling or they don't have enough people to actually enroll in those trials. And the people that actually need it are not in these really famous metropolitan areas that are really expensive. They're in the rural areas. They're in the areas that we forget about. So those are the pieces where we are focusing on.

helping Shining Light on creating those partnerships. And it's those hospitals or those academic centers or private research centers that may not have the training or even the experience with working with research because historically we've gone to these larger institutions. And so they need educational courses, ⁓ courses such as, you know, what's a good way of getting informed consent, ⁓ a day in the life of a clinical research coordinator. What should you be doing? It's more than just going online and reading

the FDA regulations or good clinical practice guidelines, because anybody can do that. But there's actual logistical pieces of doing the job that is not necessarily a uniform across all institutions. And not everybody will know all those nuances and you need to wait years to obtain that experience. But what if we can accelerate experience through skills-based competency training and have really granular focused training?

on how to actually do your job. ⁓ And it's really important. And the reason why it's so important is because 80 % of clinical trials fail. 80 % is a trillions of dollar industry and 80 % of clinical trials fail. when we look at the reasons why, right? Isn't it terrible?

Tia Warrick (08:42)
80 %

Terrible batting average.

Heath Fletcher (08:58)
It's so bad. It makes you think what is the reason and not the entire 80 % is not because the treatment of itself didn't work. Yes, that accounts for a percentage, but a large percent of that is inefficiencies, administrative bottlenecks, and then of course money. Time is money. Every time you do something, it costs money. It's just the way the world is. When you have all these inefficiencies,

you're costing yourself more money. If you run out of money, you can't go through all the phases of the trials to get approved by the FDA or your regulatory authority if it's in another country. ⁓ And so with that being said, I thought, okay, if 30 % accounts for this administrative bottlenecks, what is that? Like what are those administrative bottlenecks? And there are two pieces, not enough training or staffing. And so people who are working in the industry are burning out.

because they didn't get enough training or resilience to be efficient in their role. Not enough people know about it to actually then replace ⁓ people who are burning out at these high rates. So it's kind of like a revolving door and it's like a sink and the sink is not retaining. It's just going down the drain. So it's not replacing fast enough. ⁓ And then the other aspect is, you know, the amount of paperwork that needs to get done. ⁓

And a controversial thing I used to say when I do my talks and I travel, I start with people are dying due to paperwork, right? It's very, very controversial, but it is true. And so I wanted to really tackle the two really big things, things that I know that I have experience in, the things that I know I 100 % can help others in, and that is through education. And then my background in epidemiology and big data analytics, technology software solutions. So we know AI is a big thing that is

impacting every industry. ⁓ It's a tsunami. It's a wave that's taking over everything. ⁓ And so I want us to get ahead of this wave ⁓ because the clinical research industry is a dinosaur. It's very closed door. You got to know somebody to get in. It's very competitive, very stressful, but it's very rewarding. Right. And so for me, ⁓ where I see my company really helping is these academic institutions, providing them these courses for their

Tia Warrick (10:56)
Tsunami, yep.

Heath Fletcher (11:23)
⁓ staff and personnel that allows them to get these trainings that's highly specified for their role. Exactly how they should go about logistically thinking, creating those ⁓ hard and soft skills that you get only by working a job. But we don't have time, right? We have too many studies coming in and we can't wait five years for somebody to get the hang of it. So how can we accelerate what it means to be experienced? And so that is what my courses are doing. ⁓

Then of course, if we're accelerating experience and people are getting the hang of it quicker, we need to also make sure they have tools that allows them to be efficient, as efficient as their minds are. I don't know if you've ever tried writing and your brain thinks too quick before your hand can catch up. need something to help. Tools are really, really important. So the way I look at AI in our industry is not to replace jobs, even though it will replace some in most industries.

It's more so to be used as a tool like any other. ⁓ And so the way we would use the tool for the AI software I'm creating is to look at efficiencies when it comes to like budgeting, it comes to contracting, feasibility, how to find sites. Like ⁓ all those things are really difficult and takes a long time. A really good example is budgeting. ⁓ When we need to budget between a sponsor, which is a pharmaceutical company,

and academic center, could take up to seven months to a year to agree on a budget, on one budget. And all that time, you still have all these people working on the study. You still have all this money, millions you're paying. And throughout all that, you still can get to a point where they both walk away and they just can't agree to the terms. And so now you have to do it all over again with another site. And so it's really important to kind of think about what are those things that's taking a long time?

Tia Warrick (12:56)
budget.

Heath Fletcher (13:18)
coverage analysis is huge. have to check every single procedure or assessment we're going to do on a patient against Medicaid, against CPT codes, and then they have to get hospital pricing, and then they have to go back and agree with the pharmaceutical company. It takes such a long time and so much work. So my AI software, ASUS, does all of that. You upload the protocol, it creates the entire budget.

pulls information from different sources and databases. It pulls publications. It builds the entire budget, essentially. It also can streamline contracting. It can do feasibility. So it looks at epidemiological distribution. if, let's say, a big ticket name of a university, I don't want to say just any name because I don't want to spout it over anything. Let's say it's large. don't want to XYZ Large University. Let's say they're, you know,

Tia Warrick (14:05)
Just use XYZ. ⁓

Heath Fletcher (14:11)
they're doing a clinical trial and they're known, they're prestigious, have all these, know, they want a big, you know, a pharmaceutical company wants a big academic institution to say, yeah, we worked with this prestigious hospital for our children.

Tia Warrick (14:23)
For sure, that gives them credibility, yeah.

Heath Fletcher (14:25)
Exactly.

But let's say they only give them one patient and they need 50 patients to get good data so the FDA can see that you gave this drug to 50 patients and it looks like it was safe. And so yes, we're going to approve this to the next stage or something like that. You need good safety data. You can't do it with just one patient, even though you have this big ticket university on your trial.

Maybe that big ticket university is really shiny, but maybe the true patients demographics for that is not at that big ticket university. It's in a rural area. Maybe it's in Montana. Maybe it's somewhere in Pennsylvania, right? Where there's a large population of these patients, but there isn't necessarily a hospital that has the experience to carry that trial out. But that's where that education gap is needed because you're going to wait years and years and years, run out of money.

Never make it to the next stage, but at least you got the big shiny institution. ⁓ And so for me, I want to make sure that everybody has equal and equitable access to clinical research. There are some lifesaving ⁓ treatments that are not approved by the FDA that has helped so many patients investigationally. And it's only those patients who have access, who are in areas that provide that. And so if you're in the love of the draw and you decided to live in this very, you know,

Tia Warrick (15:23)
Exactly right.

Heath Fletcher (15:48)
extensive area. ⁓ Or if you're not from that area, you're not going to have those opportunities. And so I'm just trying to create equity and ensure that ⁓ people have the choice. They can still say no, they can still not trust it, but the choice is still there. And we're going to the populations that need it, that actually has it. we can, we can

train these hospitals who are also very open to doing research. ⁓ We can provide technology solutions and efficiency so that if they don't have as much personnel as a large institution, they have these tools that can make their job efficient and not burdensome. can create resilience and prevent burnout. ⁓ And we can create opportunity as well. And so that's really what my company does. And I'm so passionate about. ⁓

Tia Warrick (16:35)
Yeah, you are.

Heath Fletcher (16:37)
I love it because it's such a gap. have a lot of companies out there that do training and try to fill a gap, they didn't start as a coordinator. They didn't go through all of the different pieces. They didn't learn the industry. They weren't in the gutter and then from going up. It doesn't mean you necessarily have to start there at all, to be able to truly understand the needs of the industry, have to kind of be in it. You have to work.

in those aspects to truly understand it. And so I got a really good grasp of what is needed. And I'm just trying to fill that gap. And I think I'm doing a pretty good job of it. ⁓

Tia Warrick (17:18)
That's amazing. mean, I there's so many there's so many layers to this too. There was part where you were talking about, you know, training people and the lack of people, which isn't a problem that's going away anytime soon. So it's but the lack of people is a result, you know, as a result of a lot of different reasons. But burnout, like you said, is one of them. But I like how you're what the thing that you can alleviate is training people to fill

roles, but also keep the ⁓ flow of moving on in your career, right? Where you keep moving on and you go from this position, now you're going to go to this position. So that perhaps that would also maybe ⁓ dilute burnout too. People are moving on and doing new things and career advancing continuously. in places where you don't have to move,

to a major center in order to be able to do that. You can stay in your more rural location in a smaller community, but still be able to get this kind of training and advance your careers and provide this ⁓ very important clinical research to the larger centers, but from a more rural area. Exactly. Did I get the picture?

Cool. ⁓ Cause you know, mean, I know some people will be listening who understand what clinical research is and where it's utilized and the various levels and positions that are involved. But what's great is that you've been there, done that, and now you can come to the table and say, look, I know how to fill these gaps. And I think it's cool that you've identified that education is the number one.

⁓ value that isn't being leveraged and you've got now you're providing that ⁓ link.

Heath Fletcher (19:16)
Absolutely. And there's so many courses on my website from

Tia Warrick (19:20)
Yeah, let's talk about that. What kind of courses are you actually teaching? And are you online? Is it all online? Is there some in person? Yeah, fill us in on that part.

Heath Fletcher (19:30)
I have done some really cool stuff. So I guess that I am on the AI train, but I am not for AI replacing people's jobs. I'm for enhancing us. Before we had computers, we were writing on notebooks and sure people were terrified to type, right? At some point we advanced. This is just the next thing in the evolutionary process of technology, right? And it's just how we decide to use it. And so I decided to use it as a powerful tool to make me more efficient ⁓ or make the people around me more efficient.

And so for the courses that I have, I have courses anywhere from pharmacopendidemiology, which is a big word. It just means epidemiologists looking at adverse event data to make sure, to look at trends or detect how safe a treatment actually is in larger populations. And so there's that, there's all these different types of jobs in the industry to start off with that. So that's just one example. If you want to be your clinical research coordinator,

I did a talk at the ⁓ Association of Clinical Research Professionals Conference ⁓ back in New Orleans in April, and my talk was talking about site management for clinical research coordinators, and I introduced something called the SAS framework, and people loved it. They did hashtag, let's get sassy, and I absolutely loved that. I was like, this is awesome. And it was just basically to show how they can use tools to make their jobs more efficient.

And so they really, you know, there was a lot, there was about almost 400 attendees. Most of them were coordinators and they really enjoyed hearing those tools. So it was definitely a gap. Being able to see that is one thing to know that, right? ⁓ But to be able to be in the room with people who live it every day, was definitely, it had a different energy to it and energized me even more to kind of solidify that I am doing the right thing and I'm going in the right direction.

And so I have courses for that. So how to be more efficient in site management, how to essentially a day in a life of a coordinator, you what are some logistical aspects you need to learn? And there are a lot of clinical research courses out there and they mostly focus on discussing regulations. What is the clinical practices? So important, they should do all of those, you know, like you need to the foundation, but I'm more about application, right?

they don't need another foundation theory course out there. They need an application course. How do I do my job? How do do it well? And so my courses are very specific. are notes and toolkits and ways to go through different segments of learning, logistical aspects. And these courses, they depend on what the course is. They have different modules. Some can be done in one hour, one, some are 80 hours. It really depends on

the course and the topic and how much is needed to make sure you have everything you need for the topic, right? Every topic is going to be different. What I built in was ⁓ live feedback. So it is all online and you do get certification. So after you complete it, there is a certification that you will receive. And also throughout all of it, if there's a question, I built agents that are live feedback tools that I've

that have trained that can answer these questions. So you would be getting scenarios. You're a coordinator, you have a clinical research monitor, you have the doctor, you have a nurse, you have the patient. They have this question about this protocol. How would you handle the situation? They would literally have to put that in and kind of just kind of go through it and say, okay, well, I'll handle the situation like this. And there will be feedback aspects based off of their responses. So it's very interactive. Yeah. That's incredible.

Thank you. So it's like it allows them to not just put the theory into practice or application, but they're truly applying.

Tia Warrick (23:27)
Yeah, and they're engaged. yeah, that's a great way to learn. mean, we all learn in various ways, but engagement, audio, video, like all those ways, you'll get something into them.

Heath Fletcher (23:41)
Exactly. there's full flip cards, there's some videos, links that they can read, some articles, there are quizzes built throughout. And then there's also those case scenarios where they will have to respond and then kind of, and it gives them an opportunity to make those scenario mistakes in their minds because all too often, if you make a mistake in clinical research, it's really detrimental in one way. It's either going to cost money to the client, which is a pharmaceutical company.

is either going to maybe violate compliance, which is a deviation, or it's going to cause an audit. And especially at a site, if a medical doctor is trusting a clinical research coordinator with collecting this information and we're dealing with investigational drugs not approved by the FDA just yet, so it's highly monitored and not documenting things correctly, or maybe they didn't know, right, or didn't receive proper training. now that entire...

doctor is at risk of getting written up by the FDA. They're at risk of getting debarred from the FDA. Yeah, it's very serious. they actually could pause the entire study until they look into this. it's very

Tia Warrick (24:46)
That's serious.

which could probably take another 8 to 12 months.

Heath Fletcher (24:56)
Who knows? So like who? So that all of those things. it make making a mistake is expensive in clinical research and we're human and we're going to make them. But what are we doing to mitigate that? What are we doing to reduce it as much as we can so that we don't have 80 percent of trials failing? Right. So that's really what I saw. And so many amazing people working in the industry. They work so hard on the study.

Tia Warrick (25:02)
Yeah.

Heath Fletcher (25:25)
Hundreds of people have to work together to make this work from data management to safety to clinical operations. So many people, manufacturing who has to ship the treatment to this. Everybody has to work together and know that all these hundreds of people are working together and they want to achieve this goal. it's a really hard industry to be in because you used to see failure all around you. It can be bit discouraging. You can definitely burn out fast, but it is so rewarding when it works.

If you manage to make it over to that 20%, it's the best feeling in the world knowing that you'll help get a treatment to market that really actually helps people. that's another thing. It's more so when treatment actually gets to market, I know there's a lot of these connotations. Well, it doesn't matter because it's going to be so expensive and the pharma company is just going to charge a bunch. And it's not true. It's just thinking about before it even got to humans, they did 10 years of preclinical data on animals and that cost

millions if not billions of dollars and they finally made it to humans, which cost another millions of dollars. And if there's all these bottlenecks and the trial went on way longer than it to, how are they recouping all of that? So unfortunately, it does fall on the consumer. by having this education, by having these efficiencies, by creating a more efficient process, it takes less time. Thus, it will take less money. Thus, when it finally makes it to market, it can be more affordable for the consumer. ⁓

these kind of upstream effects have downstream detrimental aspects on the people who need it the most. so I think that, you know, my company being that kind of gap filler is really important, knowing that how our population is aging and people are just getting sicker and there is a demand. And so I just want to make sure that demand is going to be equitable for everybody.

Tia Warrick (27:16)
What was the moment when you knew that this is what you wanted to do? Was there something, were you doing some training on the job at one point and you were like, I really like teaching people stuff. What was the tipping point for you that you decided to do this?

Heath Fletcher (27:34)
Well,

I, funnily enough, I'm also a professor.

Tia Warrick (27:37)
really? Just add that to the list. yeah. I'm a professor, by the way.

Heath Fletcher (27:42)
By the way, I teach courses in epidemiology, biostatistics in the master's public health program. I actually created the program at Juniata College. I love teaching. I always loved teaching. I was a kid. I got this chalkboard for Christmas and would play school with my little siblings. I would write on the chalkboard. I always loved teaching. I always knew I wanted to teach. I didn't think that I could somehow

Tia Warrick (28:07)
Right.

Heath Fletcher (28:10)
create an environment in which I can teach and like make a difference professionally in the industry. And it's such a hard balance because people usually think they have to choose between their passions and I say absolutely not. I don't like choosing. ⁓ I like doing whatever I want. So I like, you know, I like the sky's the limit. That's my mindset, right? That's I'm a at the core. Exactly. And so ⁓ I always love teaching is always something I wanted to do.

It just didn't click to me until ⁓ I was a global project manager and I met this one client. We took a plane, we went to a site, an academic institution, and they were really green. The institution itself had experience with trials, but that particular doctor who was going to be the head person for that ⁓ location, they never did any research before. So they didn't know, they don't teach you research in medical school. They teach you a lot of other important stuff, right? ⁓

having to sit there, explain all the things, go through the process of logistics. I don't know, there was a moment that just clicked and it's just like, love this. I like, I could do this. ⁓ And just seeing it click in their minds and seeing how motivated and excited they are to make it work and to deliver something really quality to patients and to be a part of something. ⁓

Tia Warrick (29:15)
I'm really

All day long.

Heath Fletcher (29:34)
you know, all the treatments that may have saved so many lives out there, it started with clinical research. It started with a doctor who decided to participate. It started with a patient who decided to take a chance on an investigational product. It started somewhere. And so I just love being a part of that or just being a small part of that. ⁓ And so that's where it just clicked for me.

Tia Warrick (29:54)
I like that. That's great. That's a great way to start that career trajectory for you. ⁓ And plus you identified already that there were these bottlenecks. were these major administrative or clunky and heavy processes that were in the system, which I mean, I'm sure people who work in the system just love hearing that because they didn't create the system, but they end up working in it and trying to do their best with ⁓

process that is outdated. And so I think what we're hearing a lot of is that with technology, AI plus the ability to ⁓ teach people how to do things differently, it's opening doors up and there may be a future where you might be able to clean some of this up because it's just been going on for far too long, right? And this is a way that people who are already in the industry can actually make a change from within.

by taking a course or several courses like this and making not only a change for themselves personally, but also a change for the institution they work for or the research center they work for or whatever. But they're actually making a difference on the inside, right? Yeah, that's really cool. so now, so when somebody says, oh, I'm going to take a course, who's going to pay for it? Are their employers going to pay for it or is this on them?

Heath Fletcher (31:11)
Exactly.

Tia Warrick (31:23)
for their own personal professional development.

Heath Fletcher (31:26)
for a long time. And before I was just selling directly to organizations because that's where they hire and there's a training process anyways. so there is a group aspects with organizations that they can purchase access and for a certain amount of users, they'll have access to all the course or a certain amount. But then I thought to myself, there were some people reaching out to me at conferences and just like, I'm

professional developing it. I want to be able to put this certificate on my resume. I want to be able to say that I'm doing the work. Kind of like, you know, people get their Sigma, you know, black belt, yellow belt. They want to be able to show that even though I am not employed right now, they want to use it as an opportunity to say that I did take this course. I do have a strong understanding. I do have the skill set. I am confident that if you were to hire me, I would be able to carry this out and carry this out confidently. ⁓

And that's where that skills development ⁓ and experience is accelerated because every company wants five years plus experience, but no one wants to give somebody a chance to be experienced. So how does that work? How do we fix that? ⁓ I can't fix that for every industry, but I can fix it for this one. And so ⁓ I then ended up doing both. So people can either ⁓ pay monthly access to have all the courses or they can have an option of just purchasing one course outright.

but then organizations can buy it in bulk as well. So I do have it open to both individuals and organizations.

Tia Warrick (32:56)
Yeah, that's great. That's really good. ⁓ Is it something that is an extension of ⁓ larger universities or colleges? Is it goal to go there? ⁓

Heath Fletcher (33:11)
My

own personal LMS that I created, I was on Moodle for a while and then I moved to my own personal LMS. It'll take you straight on my website. As soon as you go to the homepage, it says join a course. When you click on that, it takes you straight into the LMS where you can sign up and you'll be able to access those courses. Within the LMS, there is amazing, like I said, there's communities. So if you're a project manager,

It's not like necessarily the LinkedIn where like, everybody's connecting and try to, it's more so I'm a project manager and without judgment, without the performance of I have to like be so professional, like on LinkedIn, I feel like sometimes a little bit performative. I'm a part of that, you know, everybody posts when they get an achievement, posts when they get, you know, this and that. And it's like, you know, it's like this constant performance thing. the LMS courses that people will take, they can join these communities if they're a project manager community.

they're literally all already set up. can click, join the project manager community, and they can ask questions that they're maybe not sure of, maybe they're embarrassed of, they don't wanna be judged at work. And it's just this community of people to help ⁓ make them stronger and confident in their roles. not only can you take the courses, but you can go along for the ride with other people in those courses too. So I just wanted to create a safe learning environment and space where people can commune, discuss without.

judgment and learn, accelerate their skills and develop. So, yeah.

Tia Warrick (34:39)
Amazing. So let's talk a little bit about you. How do you market yourself? How do people find you? And what did you do? What was the first thing you did to promote Lesuse and the program?

Heath Fletcher (34:55)
Um, so I just working in the industry for a long time. just, had a huge industry. Um, it's not one those industries where you can literally just place an ad. is such a secretive industry because everything's a CDA. Everything's an end. Right. Everything's done for proprietary information. So it felt like I could just put an ad on LinkedIn or something. That would have been much easier, but you really have to be in the industry and you had to work on those networking. You had to know someone you have to remember.

Tia Warrick (35:00)
You knew everybody.

Heath Fletcher (35:24)
the research manager at this organization you worked on a study and you reach out and say, Hey, this is a need going to a conference and really talking. And I met so many amazing people at conferences who are in partnership with businesses and academic centers alike. So I think my best marketing is speaking to people. I really am able to connect with them. And yes, I can send a really good professional email, but like, it's just, it's so cold, you know, that's old outreach, right? Yeah.

Tia Warrick (35:51)
It's not the same,

And you're a great speaker. So I think people kind of are really drawn to hear you and listen to you. So I can tell, you know, that would be a great way for you to build rapport with people for sure. And you do other things too. Like you also do, you help people with career planning. You do things like help them with their own personal or professional branding and how to prepare themselves for their.

⁓ for their career advancements. so, yeah, tell me what made you get, you got into that kind of side of things too. So not only you like educating them and helping them kind of ⁓ make their way in their role, but now you're also like, hey, let's rebrand you and let's help you find your next dream career.

Heath Fletcher (36:37)
That one I kind of fell into. People heard my story and I personally go my whole life without like bragging about that. I'm just passionate about the work and but for me I skipped a grade in high school, graduated with my bachelor's early, graduated with my master's and then I was first person ever in my doctor program to finish it in one year. like it was like I graduated with my doctorate at like 23 turning 24.

Tia Warrick (37:03)
Holy, wow, that's amazing.

Heath Fletcher (37:05)
Thank you. And then I kind of like skyrocketed in the industry so fast and I caught on to things like it was so easy. so people, you know, tend to I kept getting reached out by a lot of people like, hey, how do you do this? Can you be my mentor? And then it kind of just became a thing. And so like I honestly did I was winging. didn't have like everybody who falls into that. They create this beautiful branding package like I just did this. And if you follow these steps, no, everybody's different.

Everybody's path is different. ⁓ Just because I did that does not mean that I'm somewhat better than you at all. No, that's just the path that I took. I'm an absolute nerd. I have an eidetic memory. I just catch on to information fast. That doesn't mean anything, right? they're smart and they don't do anything with that. And so it was more so, I think, when people have an idea of what they want, ⁓ it's helping them match their ideas to reality.

then after we align it with reality is it still something that they want because you can think that this is what you want but then when you actually understand what you think you want do you still want it and if you do fantastic i can help

Tia Warrick (38:12)
That's

a very good point. That's a very good point because we, know, I mean, I don't know how many kids, you know, come out of high school, go to university, they spend one year, maybe two years and they go, I don't want to do this. You know, and then they feel, you know, this sort of sense of, well, I just, I don't know, waste the last two years, but I don't really want to go any further. You know, like I find a lot of people hit that block, you know, at some point in their life and maybe not always when you're right out of high school.

at somewhere along your trajectory of your career, you do hit those kind of roadblocks, don't you? ⁓

Heath Fletcher (38:47)
Even 30 years in, there's people that says, I've been doing this 30 years. They wake up one day and they're like, I just can't do this for another day. Like, I'm sick of it. And that's perfectly normal. That's perfectly fine. it's more so whenever your reality hits and you're ready to kind of think about what are those steps that you can take, ⁓ I can help with that. So when people reach out and say, well, how did you do this and how did you do that? I'm not a gatekeeper. more than happy to share the information, more than Maria, but it's more so

not try to replicate what I've done, but try to think about what you actually want. And once you know that, once you find your niche in your pocket and you know that this is what you want, everything falls into place so beautifully because all the steps after that, helping you visualize what needs to get done. I'm just an organizational machine. So it's like, okay, this is where you are. This is what you need to get to where you want to go. And you know for a fact, this is what you want. Some people, they talk with me and then throughout discussing the process, they're like,

actually, this is not what I really want. I'll say, well, it is okay. But once you figure that out, let me know because once you know, it'll happen. I think when people have that goal set in the minds, that's it. It happens. have to manifest and envision what you actually want. If you don't really know where you're going, you're never going to get there.

Tia Warrick (40:09)
You find some people tend to do it the opposite where they know what they don't want, but they don't necessarily know what they do want.

Heath Fletcher (40:18)
Absolutely, and I love that part. It's like the process of elimination. I feel like I'm being a teacher in that moment. I'm just like, okay, so let's think about the things. What are the careers you've wanted? We listed out. Some of them are all over the place. Some say, well, I wanted to go to nail school and I also want to be a lawyer. was like, well, those are opposite effects, but let's keep going. Whatever it is, no judgment. Just give me all the things you wanted to be in life. And you'd be surprised. People want to be so many things that has literally nothing to do with each other, but they each...

is because they had either an interest or passion or they just have skills that just fit and make sense. And once we align with those things, we go through, all right, do you want to pay for school? Do you want to go back to school? Right. We ask these questions like how much years are you willing to put into this? How much money are you willing to put into this? How much time are you willing to put into this?

Tia Warrick (41:04)
Put into this, yeah.

Heath Fletcher (41:09)
is do you want to just work a really good job where you're passionate about it, but your passion is not your career, your passion is living life and funding your life with your family, making memories. And that's a lot of people now. And there's nothing wrong with that, but it's finding the balance. And out of that list, if you're passionate about all, what can actually fulfill you enough on the inside, but then not just about the work, about throughout your entire life. So it's going through that and really talking to them, learning them.

It's way deeper than just, okay, this is what you want to do. Here you go. ⁓ It's really a process. And so when people ask me, what did I do? I say, just, it depends on the person because I did what I did because I, A, didn't want to pay for a lot of tuition. So I really had to finish school fast. ⁓ I was working four jobs in undergrad. ⁓ And I just, that was my biggest motivator. ⁓ Two,

I honestly need to be challenged to do well. work exceptionally well under pressure and I get bored very fast. If I'm not doing a lot of work, I will get distracted. I will get bored. I need to be challenged and motivated to do well. So I took on a lot. ⁓ That's just my personality. So it's not just because I did this, you will be successful too. If you're not person like that, it's not going to work for you. And so it had nothing to do with more so anything other than...

you can be successful too. mean, the founder of KFC wasn't successful until he was like 83. So it really doesn't matter where you are in your timeline or what anybody else is doing. It's more so what do you want out of life? And it can be, it's okay if it's more than just a job. Most people want more than just a career. ⁓ How do we find that balance? So I help people as like a little, I like to call myself a holistic life architect.

⁓ Not just you know your career, but yeah.

Tia Warrick (43:03)
architect your life, I like that, nice. Name one of your biggest challenges in your career and what you tied into to overcome that. Let's come to one of your biggest obstacles.

Heath Fletcher (43:19)
personalities. There are a lot of egos and a lot of rooms. And I am such a warm, I like to bring a warm energy to whatever room that I go into. like to bring positivity. I truly think how you emit, what you emit into the world is what you get emitted back. ⁓ Even if they're trying to emit something different, it will literally, you can change the entire tone of a room just by how you decide.

to respond in an environment. You can't control that environment. You can control how you respond. so for me, there's a lot of people in the industry who have been doing things a long time. It's the dinosaur industry. old. And it's okay. So people are set in their ways. Even though the system is not perfect, it's a system they know. So why would they... They know it. humans, it's just our behavior. We do not like change. And that's fine. And also people who have been doing the job 20, 30 years, here's this...

Tia Warrick (44:06)
Yeah, very familiar. Yeah.

Heath Fletcher (44:17)
young 27 year old coming in in a VP exec position saying, hey, let's do all of this. Like, who are you? I've done this job longer than you were alive. Like, why are you even in this room right now?

Tia Warrick (44:28)
That's

a tough spot to be in.

Heath Fletcher (44:31)
And that is perfectly understandable. They have been doing the job for 30 years and I can learn so much from what they have to say, but they should count us out. We can help with perspectives. And I think that a lot of people who are up and coming early career, they may feel discouraged, but I would say just be positive, just know that there are egos people just most of the time wants to feel like they're heard and listened to. ⁓

even if you're met with negativity, still admit positivity. You can't control how they react. But usually it turns around. And so for me, the hardest things when I first started in the industry, I took it to heart because I have such a big heart and like, I wish I'd be so positive and just like, my gosh, well, I didn't mean to offend this person and I would go home stressing about it. And my husband's like, don't take this serious. Like this is not something to worry about. like, but I can't.

Tia Warrick (45:23)
It's them, not you. ⁓

Heath Fletcher (45:25)
Yeah,

it was really hard because when you're such a passionate person and you care, ⁓ you can take things to heart. But I had to realize people are just going to be how they are. Right. And so it's learning to navigate those personalities and growing that thick skin, which I happily have done. And it's been fantastic. I've been in rooms where people won't even acknowledge me. I've been in rooms where ⁓ people have acknowledged me, but only for the mere fact of testing my knowledge.

So, and I see rooms where people are just fascinated by me. So it's not just one thing, right? You never know what you're going to walk into, but always walk into it with a smile and it'll make a big difference. And so, you know, when I deal with difficult personalities or egos, I make sure that they feel like they're heard and let them know that, you know, it's not on me to make them feel comfortable, but it is on me to make my environment comfortable and that's what I need to do.

then that's what I'll do because I am a survivor. I learned how to adapt in situations and I- ⁓

Tia Warrick (46:25)
mean,

those situations that you were in, were you were actually pulling them out of their comfort zones, right? You know, and then that's, that's how they're reacting. They're reacting to their discomfort. They're not necessarily looking at, you know, the people they might be looking at the person going, well, you're making me feel this way. But you know, in actuality, we're just, you know, they're, they're feeling very uncomfortable and very unfamiliar. And you're and you're the catalyst for that. But

Heath Fletcher (46:36)
Exactly.

Tia Warrick (46:54)
We don't grow or evolve unless we're learning something new. sometimes it requires someone has to push us a little.

Heath Fletcher (47:07)
Exactly. I make sure like in those situations, I mostly ask them about like, I make sure like, if I know who I'm going into a room with ahead of time, I do learn about them. You have to always be prepared. And I do think about, hey, what is one thing about what they do? I really don't know anything about. I make note of that. And if they, know, once I meet with them, ⁓ I ask whether I feel like they have an ego or not, I still ask and it changes the entire dynamic when somebody feels like they can help someone.

Because I know what it feels like to help others. This is why I do my business. Obviously, a business is a business, but if you can do a business and help people, that's phenomenal. But yeah, so I know the feeling, what it feels like to be able to help someone or be able to think that you can contribute in some way. And so I want everybody around me to feel that way. So if they do feel threatened, I do make sure that they have the opportunity to let them know that, you can teach me something too. This is not a one way street. This is a collaborative environment.

Tia Warrick (48:05)
What a great approach. Awesome. Tia, thank you so much for sharing all this with me and to our listeners. And ⁓ I'm sure there's people going to be out there going, ⁓ need to learn more from this woman. I need to find her. So how would they find you? How will they find your courses?

Heath Fletcher (48:22)
Yeah, so they can find my courses on lesousconsulting.com directly on my website. I am also on LinkedIn. I have ⁓ Dr. Tia Warrick is where you can find me. I have my ⁓ company on LinkedIn as well. And right on my ⁓ website, you can click the join of course button and it'll take you straight to the website. There's also a contact us form. Feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn. Feel free to email me. My email is also available.

online. I'm very open and collaborative ⁓ to all walks of life, no matter where you are. meet you where you are. So ⁓ that is where you can find me.

Tia Warrick (48:59)
Amazing. Thank you so much for your time today. I've really enjoyed getting to know you and learning about you and your company and I wish you the best ⁓ in the days ahead.

Heath Fletcher (49:10)
Thank you so much. It was great to be here.

Tia Warrick (49:17)
Okay. Another great conversation there with Dr. Warrick of Lesous Consulting. I was particularly struck by her journey, starting at that entry level position and working her way up to a director role, which gave her such a deep understanding of the industry's gaps. And she's really leveraging that knowledge and pouring her passion into fixing that 80 % clinical trial failure rate. Wow. What a number.

Not just by addressing a lack of training but also tackling administrative bottlenecks with AI I mean she's inspiring for people in her industry They would be very impressed. I think and I also loved her holistic approach to career coaching ⁓ Not just about the job, but about it architecting your entire life ⁓ I like this episode. I hope you liked this episode

Please don't forget to subscribe share it with a friend and be sure to go visit the lasers consulting website if ⁓ There's some training there that you'd be interested Until next time. Thanks for listening and stay healthy