Adaira Landry MD

Thank you so much, Vince, for having me. I'm very excited to be here and to have a fruitful conversation with you today.

Thank you so much, Vince, for having me. I'm very excited to be here and to have a fruitful conversation with you today.

Thank you for that question. And I'm happy to share sort of the key highlights. And it really actually does start when I was young. I grew up in a city called Rialto, California, which is an under-resourced area. I was not surrounded by doctors and lawyers and architects in my family or in my neighborhood. And education was something that my parents chose to invest in for us.

Thank you for that question. And I'm happy to share sort of the key highlights. And it really actually does start when I was young. I grew up in a city called Rialto, California, which is an under-resourced area. I was not surrounded by doctors and lawyers and architects in my family or in my neighborhood. And education was something that my parents chose to invest in for us.

I was not very athletic or popular, but I loved books. I studied often and ended up actually getting accepted to Berkeley when I was 15 and matriculated when I was 16. So it was a young process for me. And when I got there, I didn't understand anything actually about navigating the educational arena or even like the workplace. Didn't even really understand the concept of a mentor.

I was not very athletic or popular, but I loved books. I studied often and ended up actually getting accepted to Berkeley when I was 15 and matriculated when I was 16. So it was a young process for me. And when I got there, I didn't understand anything actually about navigating the educational arena or even like the workplace. Didn't even really understand the concept of a mentor.

That wasn't a word that was used in my house growing up. My parents never asked me about my relationships with my high school teachers and like how I'm networking and meeting people and building relationships. So when I got to college, I really just focused on academics.

That wasn't a word that was used in my house growing up. My parents never asked me about my relationships with my high school teachers and like how I'm networking and meeting people and building relationships. So when I got to college, I really just focused on academics.

And I think that hurt me a bit because by the time I was in medical school, a lot of my peers were already networking and understanding how to build relationships with other professionals. And I didn't really understand how to do that.

And I think that hurt me a bit because by the time I was in medical school, a lot of my peers were already networking and understanding how to build relationships with other professionals. And I didn't really understand how to do that.

It wasn't until probably the end of medical school residency that I really understood how to nourish relationships with mentors or coaches or sponsors, how to meet people, how to use those relationships to help others and to also help myself. That bi-directional aspect of it was something that took me some time to learn.

It wasn't until probably the end of medical school residency that I really understood how to nourish relationships with mentors or coaches or sponsors, how to meet people, how to use those relationships to help others and to also help myself. That bi-directional aspect of it was something that took me some time to learn.

And when I got to residency, I met a wonderful faculty member who just offered to mentor me. And it was just a really great experience to understand the value of someone supporting me. And I think I carried that relationship with me for the rest of my career because it inspired me to help other people. So that's why I understand what it's like to mentor.

And when I got to residency, I met a wonderful faculty member who just offered to mentor me. And it was just a really great experience to understand the value of someone supporting me. And I think I carried that relationship with me for the rest of my career because it inspired me to help other people. So that's why I understand what it's like to mentor.

to not know how to navigate either an educational arena or a workplace and to feel like I have the potential to succeed, but I don't have the strategy. I don't know how to leverage the resources around me. And so I think that's what really motivated me was that transition from being unsupported to supported and knowing what it feels like on both sides.

to not know how to navigate either an educational arena or a workplace and to feel like I have the potential to succeed, but I don't have the strategy. I don't know how to leverage the resources around me. And so I think that's what really motivated me was that transition from being unsupported to supported and knowing what it feels like on both sides.

And so I've spent the majority of my career as a faculty member at Harvard dedicating time to help early career professionals who were in the same scenario that I was in, where I was like, how do I find people to help me? How do I send an email? How do I deal with conflict? And a lot of that is inspired by my own personal struggle to figure those things out.

And so I've spent the majority of my career as a faculty member at Harvard dedicating time to help early career professionals who were in the same scenario that I was in, where I was like, how do I find people to help me? How do I send an email? How do I deal with conflict? And a lot of that is inspired by my own personal struggle to figure those things out.

My mom was initially a tech at a psychiatric hospital. So there was some early exposure to health care. She really invested in me and my siblings in regards to education. She worked two jobs to put us into private school. And she always aspired to have me as a doctor.

My mom was initially a tech at a psychiatric hospital. So there was some early exposure to health care. She really invested in me and my siblings in regards to education. She worked two jobs to put us into private school. And she always aspired to have me as a doctor.