Brian Hagopian, Water Purity and Rapid Bacteria Detection

The Future of Pharma

My guest today is Brian Hagopian who's known as or at least I call him "the Kevin Bacon of the Boston life sciences industry", either you know him or you know someone who knows him. He is currently the President of Clear Water Consulting, Inc.,and received his chemistry degree from Colgate University. He has over 35 years of design, manufacturing, and operational experience and is currently a highly sought after high purity water subject matter expert. Brian is an instructor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and is also a Massachusetts certified instructor offering licensing courses for industrial wastewater operators. Brian is the Past President of the ISPE Boston Area Chapter where he helped to lay the foundation for the Boston Chapter’s highly successful Product Show at Gillette Stadium. Not surprisingly, Brian is one of six people to have received the Hank Moes Lifetime Achievement Award for significant contributions to the Boston chapter and the life sciences industry.

Some key takeaways from the interview. - Brian's dad was an entrepreneur - You have to be in the game to win it - We underestimate how much time and money everything’s going to take - When you're an entrepreneur, say goodbye to the 40 hours per week schedule - No matter your industry, it'll continue to evolve. You must try to keep up. - Being "thrifty business owner" got him to develop a new wastewater training course - Advice to Young Professional - avoid debt, plan for big expense in advance, use credit card only for emergencies, learn to negotiate, set goals and make plans to achieve them - His potential Ted talk - General water safety - Role models - Bill Russell (ex-Celtics player) - true team player, one of the greatest basketball players of all time - Books recommend to others - Outliers and Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, Dale Carnegie public speaking course - it helps with a lot more than just public speaking, Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman - Quote he lives by - The harder I work, the luckier I get (the world is full of brilliant but lazy underachievers)

For me, he's been a friend and a mentor. In this interview, we talk about his beginning as an entrepreneur and all the excitement and challenges that come with that, how the industry has changed over the years and where it's headed. You'll also hear some nuggets about how to build your professional career, develop new skills and why hard work will outperform everything else every time. Hope you enjoy this talk from a very generous individual who's always given more than he has received. Here's Brian Hagopian.