Unlike many posts on cafepharma, this post is a little slice of nostalgia about Solvay. I started as a cns rep for Solvay in 1998, my first job in pharma. I was hired in December and was told a week later I'd be spending a week in Puerto Rico at the company's annual meeting in January (this was prior to me attending my first training). The second year we went back to PR again; I don't think any other company I've worked for threw a annual meeting like CEO David Dodd did (anyone remember the island just off the coast they ferried us to for the last evening's party?) I worked in California for a good boss and did ok until 1 year when I nearly went to president's club. I didn't make it but instead got to spend a couple months back in ATL at a home office preceptorship. 1) I learned a lot being "in house" vs. "the field" 2) I had a GREAT time on the weekends and 3) I found out you can only get vegetables cooked 2 ways in the south: soaked in butter or fried Solvay seemed to be a company on the rise when I started and I owe a lot to C. Townsend for giving me my first shot in the industry. After I got to know my district mates I liked them and we always had a good time at meetings. None of the backbiting like I've seen with other districts I've been a part of. I didn't know much about the industry at the time but it was disheartening to go from a company I thought was growing to being the equivalent of a contract sales company when we sold Remeron Sol-Tab with Organon for a year. Finally, all of our cns drugs went away and we kept our jobs by buying Unimed (Androgel and Marinol) which the cns team also sold. By this time I was looking to try something new and I moved on. More for my own desire to do something different than anything else. Looking back, I think it was probably the right decision and although I don't miss that ugly blue taurus I drove for 3 years I miss that team and time in my career.
Former CNS rep who also left over a year ago - the nice part we didn't have pod mates! Those days of being the only rep in the territory are over.
A National Business Meting in Puerto Rico? Who was this David Dodd character and where did he go? Sounds like a blast.
Yes, those were the days! I too was in cns and loved every minute of it. We were the envy of the company when BX was coming out but then it all crashed and burned. I do look upon my days at Solvay very fondly and know that I will never again be in a district as fun as mine was! And those POAs in Puerto Rico: PRICELESS!
I too was at the 2nd Puerto Rico National Sales Meeting in January 2000 when I first got into pharma sales and I have to say that I still look back at that meeting in amazement on how much fun that was. It took me a week to recover from that meeting. When they gave us that half day off, we had a blast hanging on the beach, at the pool and drinking. I am with another company now and there will never be another meeting like that one anymore.
I used to know a young lady by the name of Terry Garcia Gannon, who worked at Solvay. Is she still around? If not, do you know where she is?
And this is why your beloved Solvay ran out of money and got bought up. Poor management, reckless spending, cluelessness - kind of like politicians
Whatever... it was a tasty ride for a few years until Teveten crashed and burned. Then the brass from Brussels came to the next National POA and gave Dodd the boot and the sales force the "Come to Jesus" speach. Everyone of the next 10 years (except the rough 2004)the sales force delivered. Lets not forget Harold Schlevin was responsible for giving Solvay the family style culture we all knew, loved and remember so fondly. Harold was just a great guy who would reward the company with a voice mail on a Friday afternoon telling everyone to cut out at noon and enjoy your family for a job well done. I heard that Brussels hated this, but his employees loved him because he understood simple kind decent acts meant so much to us. This type of simple behavior is completely lost in Big Pharma.
I worked for them and enjoyed every minute of it. David Dodd was a genius,two meetings in PR , we had a blast!!
