Shedding the Title, Reclaiming the Spark
Jim Lefevere’s Post-Corporate Pivot
What was your role and industry before your "exit"?
I spent 24 years in the pharmaceutical and diagnostics industry, most recently in a senior commercial leadership role at Roche. My focus spans go-to-market strategy, marketing innovation, and chronic care solutions across global markets.
What were the earliest signs that your work was taking more than it was giving?
Really post-COVID, I started noticing a change in working style and culture through a series of “transformations” for the organization. Pre-COVID, I had control over my calendar, I could travel as needed to see colleagues, and in general, it was a busy, but mostly manageable schedule. That quickly shifted to 6 plus hours a day of Zoom meetings and very frequent 12-hour days. Secondly, two colleagues left to take different roles in the organization, and I was asked to pick up their responsibilities on an interim basis, which ended up stretching to almost two years. Third, a decision was taken to launch a new product on an aggressive timeline that required all hands on deck to be launched properly and on time. At first, I thought my perpetual crankiness was due to “Zoom” fatigue, stress from the workload, etc. I felt increasingly disconnected from my purpose. If you have worked in healthcare, there is a significant emphasis placed on driving better outcomes for patients. The joy, interest, and commitment to always giving a little extra that once fueled me were being replaced by a sense of disillusionment and depletion.
Looking back, what patterns or behaviors were normalized in your company that contributed to your burnout?
There was an unspoken expectation to constantly perform and deliver, without openly acknowledging the emotional toll of that pressure. It started to hit me when many colleagues from Europe began going out on extended medical leave to address their mental health. It made me realize that we were not in normal times. Culturally, success was equated with over-functioning—always being "on," navigating bureaucracy, and masking authenticity to fit a corporate mold. Having time for reflection, vulnerability, and boundary-setting was not available and not rewarded.
How did your values shift once you had space to reflect outside of that environment?
I realized that impact, autonomy, and alignment were more important to me than working for the logo or predictability. Flexibility, autonomy, and freedom to pursue work that I felt was more honest was where I wanted to put my time and effort.
What surprised you most about yourself once the pressure lifted?
I rediscovered a sustained joy and creative energy I had not felt in years. Diving into learning about new topics was exciting. I also found myself reconnecting with my instincts, trusting my intuition, and making decisions with clarity and conviction. The biggest surprise? That I could feel engaged, energized, and deeply fulfilled without the corporate title or structure.
How did your identity evolve after stepping away from such a specialized and high-pressure career path?
I firmly believe if you are in a company for a lengthy period of time and you leave, whether of your choosing or not, you need to take some time to grieve. I appreciate a friend who connected me with a company that took me through a process to reflect on where I had been and design where I wanted to go. That was a turning point for me to feel confident in a new direction. I no longer define myself by a job title or company affiliation. My identity now comes from my values, my experiences, and the problems I feel compelled to try to solve—whether that is helping a startup bring AI to commercial leaders in pharma and biotech or advising a start-up on commercial strategy. I have become more of an integrator: part strategist, part builder, part coach, which is proving to be much more fun.
What did healing from burnout look like day-to-day, mentally, and physically?
I am still dealing with this adjustment and admittedly have not carved out as much personal space as I should have, because I started by jumping into what I knew I wanted to do for the next phase of my career. I start my days closer to 8 or 8:30 am now and do not feel guilty if I stop at 4:30 pm on some days. I purposely keep much more of an open schedule, make sure I build in time to learn new things weekly, do more writing than I was previously able to do, and feel much less day-to-day anxiety.
What macro or systemic changes do you think need to happen in healthcare/pharma marketing to prevent burnout from becoming the norm?
Wow, what a big question! Stop pretending that it is a meritocracy would be a good start. Seriously, real change is built on culture, values, and psychologically safe teams, rethinking and putting more time into coaching, feedback, and incentive structures. At a macro level, the changes that have occurred in large enterprises have not been friendly to the employees, despite how the changes are spun. Doing away with annual reviews, mid-year check-ins, and removing the middle management layer that is responsible for coaching early career employees has been detrimental to the employee and the organization.
Where are you now in your professional journey?
I am now building and advising at the intersection of Digital Health/HealthTech, commercialization, and AI innovation. As the founder of Genevius Health Advisors and a strategic leader at Axonal.AI, I work with startups, private equity, and health systems to redesign how we bring life sciences innovations to the market.
What part of your marketing skill set do you still love, and how are you reimagining where and how you use it now?
I love the training and experience I have gotten over the years. I realize that being able to build a global strategy that is aligned and cascades over global countries and regions is a useful skill to have. My brain is trained to think about what is likely to work, where there may be challenges, and how to get people bought in. Secondly, having practical experience and skills in the innovation process and product commercialization is proving to be immensely helpful as well. Now, I apply those skills in more entrepreneurial, tech-enabled settings, where experimentation and speed replace red tape.
What advice would you give to someone who feels trapped in a “golden handcuffs” job that is quietly breaking them down?
Do not wait for the “perfect time”—there is not one. Start by carving out space to reflect without judgment. Ask yourself where you want to be in 3-5 years or more, not just what you want to do. And connect with others who have leaped. Your courage will expand the moment you stop trying to go it alone. And finally, I would say reach out to a wide network of people. The people most receptive to my LinkedIn messages were often the people I least expected, and of course, the people I thought would be the first to connect often did not respond at all. And that’s ok, too.
Want to follow Jim’s next chapter? Find him on LinkedIn or checkout his company.
