Chief Change Officer
#321 Adaira Landry MD: From Mentorship to Micro Skills—Tools for Thriving at Work — Part One
Fri, 25 Apr 2025
Dr. Adaira Landry grew up in an under-resourced city, entered Berkeley at 16, and faced early career confusion without access to mentors or professional networks. In Part 1, she shares the formative life moments that led her into emergency medicine—from stepping in to help save a man’s life on campus to surviving a painful burn injury alone. She also reflects on how mentorship found her late, how her master’s in education shaped her communication style, and why she chose to build a practical, inclusive language around career growth in MicroSkills.Key Highlights of Our Interview:The First Time It Got Real“He collapsed outside my classroom. I had no medical training, but I stepped in—and that changed everything.”Burned and Alone“I lay on the floor in pain for hours. No phone. No help. That moment never left me.”Why Mentorship Felt Foreign“My parents never used the word mentor. It wasn’t part of our world. I had to figure it out late.”Building Her Own Playbook“I didn’t know how to navigate the system. Once I learned, I wanted to help others do it faster.”Education by Design“I didn’t want to be the kind of teacher who talks to themselves at the front of the room.”How Micro Skills Got Its Name“We wanted to go deep on the small things—those overlooked moments that make the biggest difference.”_____________________Connect with us:Host: Vince Chan | Guest: Adaira Landry MD --Chief Change Officer--Change Ambitiously. Outgrow Yourself.Open a World of Expansive Human Intelligencefor Transformation Gurus, Black Sheep,Unsung Visionaries & Bold Hearts.EdTech Leadership Awards 2025 Finalist.15 Million+ All-Time Downloads.80+ Countries Reached Daily.Global Top 3% Podcast.Top 10 US Business.Top 1 US Careers.>>>150,000+ are outgrowing. Act Today.<<<
Chapter 1: Who is Dr. Adaira Landry and what is her background?
Can you walk us through a bit of your personal story? some key highlights of your career and life journey. Before we dive into the book and its key messages,
Chapter 2: How did Dr. Landry’s early life influence her career path?
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.
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.
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.
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.
Before we get into the book, I'd love to hear about your passion for medicine. What drew you to this area in the first place? You studied science, but at some point you made the decision to become a doctor. Why? And why emergency medicine specifically?
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Chapter 3: What inspired Dr. Landry to pursue emergency medicine?
I will never forget that. And I was so shocked because I don't even feel like I did anything. I was just there. But I think that really was a moment that I wanted to have again. Like I just it was something that I want to offer that to more people. And I guess selfishly, I want to feel good about myself as I do it. Right. And so I think that was really what inspired me.
When it came to emergency medicine, I was actually still in college a few years later and I was cooking something. I think it was like asparagus. And I had I didn't know how to cook, but I was I had hot oil burning or like boiling. And when I lifted up a towel, the hot oil splattered all over my arms and my chest. I ended up having first and second degree burns all over my body.
And it was incredibly painful. And I remember laying on the floor crying. for hours because I didn't have a phone to call anyone. I was in too much pain to move. And just thinking, oh my God, I'm literally here all by myself and I have no one here to help ease the pain. And I think when it comes to emergency medicine, you really are there when someone is in the most pain.
They're having severe infections. They're having strokes. They're having heart attacks. It's like the worst moment. And I really liked the variety that it brings as we're taking care of people and what they feel like is their worst possible moment. Using my own personal experiences of being there for someone and not having someone there for me, it just really inspired me to take on that task.
Your co-author, Dr. Reza Lewis, is also in ER. Is that how you two first connected? Through practicing, teaching, or working together before you teamed up for the book project?
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Chapter 4: What were the pivotal real-life moments that shaped Dr. Landry’s medical career?
Yes. And this relationship is a perfect example of the most successful people I know are the most connected people I know. And when I was looking for jobs in Boston, someone I asked a mentor of mine at the time, I'm looking for jobs in Boston. Do you know anyone who's worked at these institutions? And so she was a name on that list.
And so I spoke with other people, just like simple conversations that were helpful. And I spoke to Risa, and she gave me some guidance about navigating life in Boston as an academic physician. We had a conversation that sort of ended, and then we had another conversation overseas, actually. We just happened to be at the same conference for emergency medicine.
And then a third conversation was when actually things started to change a bit, where we talked about my journey with mentorship and how I wanted to build a brand around mentorship. And she gave me some strategic advice. And at the end of the conversation, she said, Adair, if you ever want to write together, let me know.
And I think, Vince, I'm sure you have had this before where you have offered your services to people and they didn't follow up. They didn't take you up on it. And someone might have offered you services or support and you didn't take them up, too.
And so this was an example of how I said to myself, Risa is a well-known, established writer, and she's much more senior than I am as far as just understanding the workplace. This is a great collaboration to start with. And I did take her up with it and I drafted articles together. And that's really how the relationship started was that initial door opening and also me seizing the opportunity.
Both of those things have to happen.
I've published two books myself, both in Chinese. So I know firsthand how tough the writing process can be. And honestly, co-authoring a book seems just as intense as co-founding a startup. You're building something from scratch together with all the passion, but also the potential for tension when visions don't align.
Writing yourself is already hard, but adding in two authors with daily jobs, deadlines, editing, publishing, etc. That's a marathon. So first, I really admire how you and Risa pull it off. But tell me honestly, now that the book is out, when you look back, how was the process? How long did it take? Were there any tough moments that makes you wonder if it would come together?
And how did you two navigate those?
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Chapter 5: How did Dr. Landry and Dr. Risa Lewis connect and collaborate on MicroSkills?
The actual process of writing is challenging, too, because as you mentioned, we have different schedules and we're like volleying the manuscript back and forth where I might send it to her late at night because I have three children and I'm putting them to bed. I'm waking up very early in the morning, but I can't write early in the morning because I have kids to get ready for school.
So Risa did a lot of her writing in the morning. I just couldn't do it then. And so I think that back and forth actually played to our advantage so that we had different times to see the manuscript. We also have different perspectives because Risa is 15 years older than I am. And so she has had much more experience working closely with baby boomers and Gen X.
In my position, I have a lot of experience working with millennials and Gen Z. So I think that really helped because we had a different degree of depth with those different generations. So I think the differences and the learning was helpful for us to get through this process. Now we're in this stage where we're learning like, okay, we're almost at a year. How do we continue to market this book?
She and I entered this process knowing that there were many other books that we were going to write. She had her own list of books that she wants to write. I have my own list of books that I've always wanted to write. And some of them are like novels. And so I'll be doing those alone. But I think no matter what, we have this foundation together. We wrote our first book together.
I want her to continue on as a writer, and I support all of her journey going forward, and I think she feels the same way. And even though we might not write a book again together, I don't know, maybe, I want the best for her as she continues on through her writing.
When I prepped for Reese's interview, I sent her a couple of questions. I just reread that email before this call, and one thing I wrote stood out. I see both of you as career doctors. You are medical doctors, yes, but now you're writing a business book open to all generations and industries. You mentor, guide, and help people create and build better careers. That's why I call you career doctors.
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Chapter 6: What challenges and insights did Dr. Landry experience while co-authoring MicroSkills?
Before we dive into the book content, I want to touch on something unique in your background, your degree from Harvard School of Education. I actually almost went there myself. We could have been classmates. For me, learning has always been a big theme in my life. I love books. I write books. I'm driven by intellectual curiosity.
And I've worked with education technology companies because of that. So I'm curious, what motivated you to pursue that education degree? What did you take away from it? And how has that helped shape your work? Maybe even this book?
I am someone who wants to get as much schooling as possible for the rest of my life. Like I'm certain I'm going to get one more degree before I die, at least. And so I love the classroom environment. In fact, after this call, I have a class. I just love taking classes. I like the group learning. I like sharing ideas. I like critique.
And so I am probably addicted to just that classroom environment. And I actually miss it when I'm not actively taking some type of a class. I got a general master's of education. So there's an alternative that I could have received, which is a master's of medical education.
I have this mindset of go bigger so that it's more applicable, more generalized when it comes to this sort of a degree, because I knew that eventually there's a chance that I leave medicine altogether or I leave academia altogether And a master's of general education would be more widely understood than a master's of medical education.
And so when I was getting the degree, I actually focused on technology, innovation and education. I remember taking classes at the business school and just learning a lot about startups. And I'm thinking again about ed tech. And I was just like, I'm so glad I got this degree. I don't want to. downplay the value of medical education because there's certainly value.
But I think for me, thinking bigger, broader, deeper, and trying to just have a wider audience, a general degree made more sense for me. I wanted to learn about education because I just think I love teaching. I love learning and I love teaching. And I think those things come naturally to me.
So it was just an easier first step as far as another degree than trying to go get a master's in computer science. I was at that time, I was working clinically. I was getting a fellowship in ultrasound. So the technology that we use to look at your heart or the baby. And I was getting a master's in education and also a new mom during that time as well.
Sometimes you just have to say, what makes sense? What won't be causing too much stress to my life? And I think that was a degree that brought a lot of value while not also taking away from my mental health. And that was really important for me. So I have no regrets. After I finished the degree, I actually went into tech for a bit.
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