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In this episode of the Science of Selling STEM, I’ll be talking to Kristin Shunk, the Senior Director of Sales at Hyperfine, a company whose mission is to make MRI accessible to every patient, regardless of income or resources. Their Swoop® Portable MR Imaging System™ addresses the limitations of current imaging technologies. Swoop wheels directly to a patient’s bedside, where it plugs into a standard electrical outlet and uses an Apple iPad® for control. Images display within minutes, enabling critical decision-making capabilities across various clinical settings such as neurointensive care units, emergency departments, pediatrics, and more. 

Kristin is a transformative leader whose career spans startup, midsized, and large medical device businesses that specialize in general neurosurgery, neurology, epilepsy, neuro-oncology, functional neurosurgery, spine, and neurocritical care management. She specializes in building high-performance teams and developing effective commercial strategies. She’s passionately committed to improving patients’ lives by offering game-changing, disruptive medical technologies. Kristin believes that transformative medical devices in the hands of physicians can change the lives of many and she certainly makes that happen in a big way. Stay tuned as she shares how she has built such an incredible sales career and the tips and strategies we can use to achieve the same.

And if you need help with any sales or leadership issue don't hesitate to book a complimentary clarity session with me HERE

On Today’s Episode of the Science of Selling STEM:

• Her leadership experiences working for startup, midsized, and large corporations (02:24)
• The core competencies to keep in place as a leader no matter the dynamic environment you’re working in (04:55)
• Finding the WHY: Making sure sales is about serving and helping people (08:28)
• Getting into medical device sales even before it was even a thing (09:48)
• Transitioning from the operating room into companies doing cutting-edge work (13:42)
• Challenges associated with learning new technologies and building sales teams around them (16:57)
• Why hiring salespeople who have grit and authenticity is important (18:22)
• Coaching salespeople to be the best according to their specific skill sets (21:41)
• Building a team of excellence and the excitement of scaling their business (25:02)
• Being proud of her accomplishments as a leader in the medical device industry (28:34)

Connect with Wesleyne Greer:

• Wesleyne’s Website
• Wesleyne on LinkedIn
• Wesleyne on Facebook
• Wesleyne on Twitter
• Email Her at wesleyne@transformedsales.com

Connect with Kristin Shunk:

• Kristin on LinkedIn
• Hyperfine

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Thanks for tuning into The Science of Selling STEM! If you enjoyed this episode and want to learn even more about what it takes to transform your sales, don’t forget to tune into our other episodes and share your favorite episodes on social media!

Join The Science of Selling STEM community on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and visit my website for even more content, information, and resources.

As a sales manager, you are judged by the

performance of your team, and you're praised when they do

well. But one thing that you've not been able to figure out is

how to get everyone on your team consistently hitting quota every

single month. On the Snack size sales podcast, we discuss the

science of selling stem sales leadership in the science,

technology, engineering and manufacturing fields is

difficult. You will learn from sales managers just like you

that will give you actionable insights and tips on how to

develop as a leader and achieve your revenue targets every

single month. So pop your headphones in and get ready to

listen to my guest today. They will give you information and

inspiration to ensure that you have actionable insights that

you can put into place today. Hello, and welcome to another

episode of the science of selling stem. Today I have the

great pleasure of having Kristin. Skunk with me that I

say it right, not skunk Shunk sorry, chunk. There we go.

Kristen sharp names are important. How are you today,

Kristen?

I'm doing great Wesleyne Thanks for having me.

Awesome. So let me tell you guys a little bit

more about Kristin. She's the senior director of sales for

hyper fine, where she's supporting the commercialization

of the world's first portable MRI hyper find swoop brings MRI

imaging to the patient's bedside. Kristen is a

transformative leader whose career spans across startup,

midsize and large medical device businesses. She specializes in

building high performance teams and developing effective

commercial strategy. She's passionately committed to

improving patients lives by offering game changing

disruptive medical technologies. She likes to say a

transformative medical device is the EU This is a big word. How

do you say that our matricaria

in the hands basically, it's an armamentarium

of a physician

armlets harian? Oh, a few clinicians can change

the lives of so many. So I'm gonna have to start at the end.

Because that was such a big word. Where did that come from?

Tell me about that word.

So an armamentarium is really, you

know, the tools, the devices, all of the things that these

physicians have at their disposal in order to help

patients. It's kind of what they have in their bag to get their

business done. And to help those patients.

I love it. So your career has spanned across

startups all the way to large corporations tell us the

differences between each one a startup, a midsize and a large

corporation?

Yeah, so you know, a startup really is. It's

really incredible environment where it's a very fast paced,

incredible environment where, you know, you bring a lot of

people together in order to create this synergistic kind of,

you know, foundation of what we're going to create, how are

we going to do it, and it's this incubator of sorts, you know,

whatever, you're creating a business and the product, the

midsize company is probably a player in the space that I think

personally, you know, for me was where I learned a lot where the

stomping grounds, kind of, you know, I kind of got my place in

the world around medical device, it's where I learned a lot,

because, you know, there weren't a lot of processes in place.

And, you know, in contrast to those larger companies, that

they have all the resources, they have all their processes in

place, and they tell you how it's done. And so I think, you

know, for me in my career, each one has served such an impactful

purpose in who I am not only as a representative medical

devices, but as a leader.

So when you think about your leadership

throughout the different types of companies, how does it

change?

Well, I don't know if it changes necessarily,

I think that I'm one of those leaders that I'm fairly

consistent along among all the companies. And the difference

between the small, the medium, and the large. I feel like

leadership is you have to change your style based on what type of

environment you're working in. But a lot of those core

competencies as a leader that you have, I think that those

stay in place throughout whatever dynamic environment

that you're in.

So you mentioned core competencies, what are some

of the core competencies that are important to you and your

leadership style?

Well, number one, it's really the center of why we

do what we're doing. that is the core of what I always lead with.

It's not what we're selling. It's not what we're doing every

day. It's why we're doing it. And I think that that is the key

motivator for me. And it should be within the team that I lead,

why are we doing it? Why are we creating this process? Why are

we creating this product? Those types of questions are really

the core of what I do every single day.

So typically, as a leader, it's easy for you to

understand or figure out the why, right? Because you have

you're the bridge between the company and the salespeople. But

how do you translate that out to the team? Like, how do you help

them develop their why?

Well, I think that, you know, when you ask

people why they're doing what they're doing, everybody's story

is different. I've come across people who maybe have had a

family member that has a particular disability, or maybe

they've had a medical challenge, and it's why they're doing what

they're doing. Some people feel that, you know, it's incumbent

upon them to make a very good living, because they have, you

know, children, and they want to make sure that, you know, those

kids are taken care of. So the y is always a little different for

people. But I think as a leader, I think what I do is, although

your why's are different, there has to be a core why we do in

our company as to why we do it. So for example, you know, here

at hyper fine, where I'm leading a team, why we're doing what we

are doing is very clear, MRI imaging is a challenge, it is a

challenge to get access to, and not everyone has it. So not even

just thinking about the US but thinking about the world over,

it's a very small part of the population that actually has the

chance to, if they have an ailment to have their brain

imaged, why we are doing what we are doing and stating that

purpose to your team, so that everybody is moving in that same

direction is important. And for me, as a leader, why we are

doing this is because we want to give access to MRI imaging to

everyone, to anyone, anywhere. And that is you know, stating

that purpose, and really leading a team around following that

purpose. And that why is critical.

Wow, that I mean that to me that that's so heavy

and so deep, right? Really understanding that what you're

doing is impacting lives, not just the lives that you can see,

but those lives, the people that you will never meet or

encounter. And I was actually asked the question recently,

like, how do you get people over, like the negative

connotation in sales, right? Like, it's sleazy, it's pushy,

all of these things. And I use exactly what you say it is, what

we're doing is we are helping someone solve a problem, right?

Whether you're selling a pen, and you're helping them to write

better, because your ink is better, or you're selling a

medical device, and you're helping their quality of life,

you're helping them be diagnosed with something that is what you

should think about. That's what sales is all about. It's about

helping, it's about serving, it's not about you're not

selling somebody, something they don't want. And if you're doing

that you're doing the wrong thing, right, whatever we're

doing is we are doing it to serve and to really help.

Exactly, that's exactly and that's why I

actually came to selling medical devices is that I, you know,

always had a really strong sense of self. And I wanted to impact

the world in a bigger way. And I knew that I could do that by

offering things, widgets, whatever, I could change people,

I had done some sales before, you know, in my early years,

working for my mother's business, and realize that you

could really sell something to someone and it really impact

their lives in a very positive way. And when I had the chance

to sell a medical device that inherently changed the

trajectory of a patient's care, it really resonated with me. And

I do say that as well. I tell people, you know, you can sell a

pen, you can sell a car, but selling that car is gonna help

that family, maybe it helps that family maybe it helps that

person get from point A to point B, you know, get from home to

work every day. But you're you're supporting their

lifestyle. It's not just about how fast it goes or the wheels

on the biggest engine. It's about, you know, really what it

means for that person in their life.

Hmm. So you said you this, you decided to get

into medical sales. What did you do before you dipped your toe

into this world?

Yeah, so I'm a product of an engineer who was

very science motivated. And an artist. My mother is an artist

and so as my stepfather So I decided to go the logical route

in college and decided to get a business degree. But I had

really been exposed through my parents art, that you know what

the impact of, you know, art can do for people in the world over

and really grew up in this very creative environment. And I

remember right before I finished college, I drove by this dentist

office, and there were devices that I knew could be sold to

this dentist office. And at the time medical device wasn't a

thing, you know, selling medical devices wasn't a thing,

pharmaceuticals was more mainstream. And I thought to

myself, you know, somebody has to sell them all those little

devices in their dentist office, and I started researching

device, you know, selling products, all those different

things. And I, I came across this ad for, you know, Johnson

and Johnson, and they were looking for this medical device

sales. And I just started contacting big companies. And I

contacted Johnson and Johnson, I asked them, if I could contact

the rep. And when I contacted that rep, that rep actually gave

me the opportunity to go into the operating room and be with

him and the surgeon. And in that environment, I realized that it

is exactly who I was. It was the engineering of the device, it

was the selling opportunity. And it was, you know, this really

great way that you could impact patients. And I realized very

quickly that that's who I was, I was meant to go into medical

device, and selling that medical device really resonated with me,

because I could impact a patient's lives, I could serve a

surgeon serve the nurses serve the clinicians, and sell

something that really was a true benefit to the hospital.

Hmm, I love that this was. So for any of our

younger audience that's out there. This was before the days

of LinkedIn. Right? So you can go on LinkedIn and say, Okay,

I'm going to find a medical device rep, or I'm going to find

the CEO or VP of sales at a company, you have tenacity,

right? You're like, I'm gonna find this person, can I talk to

them? What do I need to do? And they must have seen something in

you. Because for somebody to say, Come to work with me,

right? Come see my world. And really, that opens your eyes up

into what this is. And I think that, really, when I heard their

story, and I'm thinking about your background of that creative

versus that engineering, it's really what a medical device is,

right? It's an engineered solution, but you have to be

creative in the way that you use it. Because no two providers, no

two doctors are going to use the medical device in the same exact

way. Right. And it's up to you as a salesperson to think

outside the box and get into their world.

Exactly. And I also think there's an artistry

to what surgeons do, and nurses and clinicians are, there's a

real artistry to it. You know, one anatomy, anatomy is not the

exact same as the other anatomy, one patient is not the exact to

the other patient. And there is a bit of an artistry in that.

And I really respect that I respect what they do. And all I

want to do is provide some type of solution, some type of

something that can make that artistry better, and those

patient outcomes better.

That's good. I love it. I love it. So it seems

like you started in the operating room. And now you've

transitioned to a company doing really cutting edge work. What

was that transition like through your career?

Well, I was really, I guess, Lucky. You

know, I always people always tell you know, you know how

lucky you are right? But it really you have to invest in

yourself. And whenever I was with a midsize company called at

the time it was a mid sized company, it's a much larger

company now called Integra. There are all these devices that

you know, a neurosurgeon used. And Integra probably had one of

those in their bag. And it really gave me the opportunity

to really get some really good experience with all types of

devices in neurosurgery and be at the bedside and work with

neurosurgeons both in the operating room in the ICU. I did

really well at that company and was very proud of what I was

able to accomplish. But my mother has a saying she says, If

Kristen isn't challenged, she's not happy. And so I had a really

unique opportunity to take a leap of faith and take a lot of

risk and go into startup. And that's where I feel that I got

my stride. Being in a really disruptive technology. The next

company that I was part of was visual lace. It was a device

that inherently offered patients a minimally invasive option.

There was nothing in between there was an open craniotomy and

then there was medical management and visualize offer

patients and minimally invasive options. So we really changed

the complete continuum of care for the patient. And that's

where I got a taste of what disruptive technology can do for

the patient continuum of care, not only from the device aspect,

but from the business aspect, in developing a business around

that, the processes, the procedures, the, you know,

building a team, building marketing material, and really

the engine that fuels a startup. And sure enough, they did, in

fact, they were acquired visually, it was acquired by

Medtronic, I was part of the integration, supporting that

integration, and then ultimately ended up the US sales manager of

that business unit. But Medtronic was a wonderful

company, tons of resources, I am so grateful for my time there.

But just like my mom says, I needed another challenge. And

that's when I came to hyper fine. Being part of, you know,

another truly disruptive technology that's going to

change the patient continuum of care is really remarkable. And

now, you know, we're developing an entire organization around a

portable MRI, which is very different than the other, you

know, widgets or technologies that are out there. And scaling

that organization is very important to us right now. And

getting the word out that to physicians and hospitals that

this is available.

So you have taken leaps of faith and started

teams from scratch. And you know, now you're in this

position with hyper fine. So thinking about when you said,

Hey, okay, pretty much on board, it's time for me to try

something else. What are some of the the challenges that you

experience is taking over a learning new technology building

a team? What are some of those challenges?

I think that the core focus of it is, is that

whenever you're taking on a new technology, you have to get to

the root of again, that why right? What is that need? What

does that need? When you're selling something your customers

know? What is their need? What exactly is that niche, what

drives them to need that device. And I think that once you get a

better understanding of that of where it fits, and how the

customer is going to use it, and the value that it brings, you

can really craft an organization around that, and develop an

organization around that. And, you know, build a team with

inherent skill sets and relationships. And around that,

why and around that value that the product brings. And I find

that that is, you know, the most, you know, successful teams

that I've seen is that when you can bring people with two skill

sets that are focused around that why and around that

product, it becomes an environment that is set for

greatness.

So when you're building your team, this is

something that so many sales managers, sales leaders have

this question, okay, I'm either building a team from scratch, or

we're in growth mode, and you said you get a balance of skill

set. How do you figure out how many industry outside versus

industry insiders versus senior and junior? What is your Do you

have a magic formula for that? Or what are you looking for?

So what I think you're looking for is a grit. To

be honest, I think that grit is so important. It's not

necessarily that, you know, I need people with relationships,

you know, I don't know, relationships are definitely a

plus. But it's the person that's going to go out there every

single day, and not only be gritty, to be able to be

motivated to get something done. But also, I think that you know,

somebody who's willing to challenge the norm, and say, you

know, I know that you might be doing this, but I have this to

offer. And really finding that person that is gritty can

challenge people to think differently. And the third thing

is authenticity. I think that the authenticity piece is really

important to customers, customers don't want someone to

come in and say, This is the best device. And you know, you

should buy it now and buy it now and walk away. The authenticity

part really creates the connection with the customer.

And if you're not authentic about what you're doing, and how

you're doing it, and what you're providing to them, it's not

going to go well for anyone. So it's those three things. It's

the grit, the challenge, you know, people who are willing to

challenge others, not only customers but themselves and

their peers. And then thirdly, it's that authenticity that I

find really important.

I love that and what I love the most about what

you said is you didn't say they must have this experience. They

have to have been doing this they have to have this book of

business book Because so often I think that's what happens when

we're so tunnel vision focused on they have to come from the

industry, you know, my favorite work term that I love to say is,

you know, your, your competitors reject. So, and when you don't

have to think about those competitors rejects. And you're

like, our technology is good. Our scientists are good. Our

engineers are good. We know our product, we can teach it to you,

what we need is for you to come in and buck the status quo,

right. And I think that when somebody especially when you're

selling to doctors, or engineers, or any of these

really smart people, you have to have that tenacity when they

say, leave me alone, to keep going, you have to have the

tenacity when it's hard, or you know, you have to push a little

bit harder, or think about a different way of getting in, you

have to keep going. And that's really what that grip boils down

to.

Exactly, exactly. And I'm gritty, I'll admit it.

I'm very gritty. I came out of school. And you know, I figured

out okay, I want to do this and I was gritty, I reached out to,

you know, companies, I contacted reps that said, No, you know, go

find somebody else to talk to you got to be gritty, you got to

be gritty in the beginning of your career

and throughout, like, No, it doesn't mean No, it

just means not right now, right? And so they say, Okay, I'll put

you on the shelf. Maybe for a month or two months, or maybe

even three months, I've had people that out of the woodworks

six months later, I come back, and they say, okay, so yeah, now

I'm ready. But again, it's not to be that annoying salesperson,

right? And so as a leader, how do you coach each person to

their specific skill set to what makes them tick?

Well, I think culture is important. I think

culture is important within an organization. And I think that

coachability is important. And not everyone is coachable. But I

think that you know, my, my suggestion to everyone is that

you should always be coachable. We're always learning we're on

this planet, not as people who know everything we learn every

single day, and I tell the people that I coach, and that I

lead, and that I mentor that is that you should have a keen

curiosity about life, about what you're doing, about, you know,

being a parent, whatever that is, and learn every single day,

learn something new every single day. So when I'm coaching

others, and whenever I'm mentoring others, and leading

others, I come from that place. And as long as they know that

I'm coming from that place, and that they should be coming from

that place, we're learning every single day, it makes that

inherent coachability a little bit easier. Because all I want

is I want them to be, you know, the best that they can be at

whatever they're doing. And if they're under the idea that they

want to be the best that they can be with, you know, what

they're doing every day, and they're leading based on

curiosity, and willingness to learn. I think that when you

come from that foundation, and when you work with others who

understand that you're approaching it that way, they

are, in fact more coachable and more willing to learn that we

both agree that we don't know everything, and that we are

going to learn together, you're going to teach me I'm going to

teach you and we're going to be our best selves.

Do you know, as a salesperson, I think sometimes

it's hard to admit that I don't know everything, right? Like, I

need help, too. And even as a leader, a lot of times, I think

that that's one of the challenges that we have, we

don't stop and say, I need help, too. Right? So I think that

really say, Hey, as long as you're coachable, we can work

together. And a lot of times I say, what is the key that you're

looking for when you're working with people, and I'm like, one

thing doesn't matter what your industry is, or what you do, the

propensity to change, if you have the propensity to change,

then you can grow, we can grow

together. Exactly. And you know, it's a

hard conversation. Sometimes when you're selling something,

and as a salesperson, your measure is by the revenue, the

quota, the target, and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to

hit those things, which we should, that's our job. Our job

is to do a lot of those things. That's part of our job. And I

feel like sometimes whenever sales, people are feeling that

pressure, they're unwilling to try new things. Let's try new

things. Let's try something like something isn't working, let's

try something else. And you know, rather than stay in the

same place that we're at, and I think I've always been open and

receptive to that, you know, it Kristin, if this isn't working

even as a leader, if this isn't working, this is what could

work. And I think that if salespeople are open to that, I

think that they'll see that they're able to hit those

targets, hit those quotas, learn from each other, and really meet

those goals and those KPIs.

Hmm. I love that. So hyper fine is going

through a transition right now. Tell us about what the trends

mission is and your role in it. Yeah, so

I'm actually building a team. So hyper fine

was FDA approved in 2020. So the first part of our year here in

2021, was really about commercializing the technology.

There was a lot of research and development over a number of

years that was be developed. And now the decision has been made

that we are in fact commercializing. So we have been

building a team of excellence as what we have, and we were

developing processes and procedures in order to meet the

market need. We actually announced in July that we are

going public as a double stack with a technology called

liminal. And these technologies previously existed within a

incubator company called the Four catalyzer. And, you know,

right now, what we're doing is we're scaling, we're scaling, it

is so much fun, we are in a really exciting time. And we're

scaling. So we are developing a team, I am hiring on the West

Coast. And we're developing a team around offering a portable

MRI to hospitals. It's very, very exciting.

Wow. So talk about excitement. You just got

FDA approved, you are going public, and you are building a

team. I mean, this sounds like a lot of excitement. And I know

this is what keeps you on your toes. So when you think about

all of the different balls that you have up in the air, which is

the one that excites you the most.

Hmm, I have to be really frank, what excites me

the most is that patients that are seemingly difficult to

transport from the ICU, if you can kind of imagine that, you

know, this patient, we've all known people heard of people

heard of stories that you know, this patient is in the ICU and

may have, you know, lines and all types of things. And getting

that patient to an MRI is really challenging. And it's

challenging for the nurses and all involved, and being able to

bring a portable MRI to that bedside in the ICU, that really

excites me. So it's one thing to have an idea, it's one thing to

create a product, but to actually scale that product so

that it's accessible to everyone throughout the US worldwide.

That's what excites me the most is going to be that access to

imaging, I will say that I really looking forward to

leading this team, because we are building an incredibly

motivated team around that idea of the why. And the team that

we're putting together and our leaders that are leading us,

even at the executive level are all focused on that. So really

the team aspect and the synergy that we're going to create is

something that I am also excited about.

And that my friends is how you bring it all

back to your why Kristen started our conversation talking about

why and when I asked her what excited her the most she brought

it right back to her why which she has embodied as a company

why and really her passion around developing people and

getting people to help her see this way. And this vision. I

love it. And so usually I asked people, what is the thing that

you're most excited about have accomplishing or have done in

your life thus far. But you've given us so much golden nuggets,

I don't know if there's anything else that you want to share with

us?

Well, I think outside of my my business, I

will say that I'm a mother, and I'm a woman. And when I started

in this, in this world of medical device, there weren't a

lot of women involved. And so outside of you know, hyper fine,

these dynamic companies, the why of the technologies and things

like that I am most proud of what I've been able to

accomplish as a female in the medical device industry and a

leader of females as well. I speak at women's leadership

events and things of that nature. But also being a mother,

my child is going to see be able to say that his mom was

courageous. She was a leader, and she impacted the lives of

many. And for that I am most proud of showing him what that

looks like. Ah,

that gave me chills. I mean, guys, I'm a mom

of boys too. And it is amazing for them to see us walk in our

passion, and really do the things that we love. Oh man,

this has been a jam packed episode. Thank you so much for

sharing your time, talent, expertise and inspiration with

us. If people want to get in contact with you want to chat

with you a bit more. What is the one best way for them to do

that?

The best way for them to connect with me is on

LinkedIn. You can just look up Kristen shank. My last name is S

h u n k connect with me online Then messaged me. Follow me on

LinkedIn.

Awesome. Well, thank you so much again for

joining us. I have thoroughly enjoyed and you've taught me so

much about really focusing on your why. Thank you again. Thank

you, Leslie. And that was another episode of the science

of selling stem. If you enjoyed this episode, click below leave

us a review, drop a comment or like and remember in everything

that you do transform your sales. Until next time.

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