Introducing Steve Guilfoyle, our new Sales and Marketing Manager. Steve joined the team in September after more than 20 years in a variety of analytical instrument companies. We caught up with him to find out more about his new role and what interesting hobbies he enjoys taking part in outside of work.
Tell us a little bit about your role and what a typical day might look like?
At the moment every day is different! Isotopx is a company that is growing rapidly, and a lot of what I do is to help facilitate that growth.
I’m spending a lot of time working virtually with our sales partners in other regions, especially Asia and the Far East. This is something I thoroughly enjoy doing, I’ve always had a great respect for the hard work ethic that prevails in that part of the world. Ten years ago, I would have trained those sales teams face-to-face, and now I’m doing it via Zoom, which is definitely a challenge.
I’ve also been visiting some key UK Earth Science labs to find out what their analytical challenges are. The goal of this is to ensure that what we plan to develop over the next few years is aligned with what our customers really need. It’s been a few years since I visited customer labs and I’m always humbled by the insights that Earth Science academics can gain into geological processes, and it makes me proud that our solutions play a small part in that.
What at this early stage, are you enjoying the most about your job?
I’ve spent the last 8 years working in the life sciences, mostly related to analytical instruments for biotherapeutic drug discovery and development. Returning to a role serving the Earth Sciences has really been a reminder of how warm the community is, and how welcoming they are, both from the perspective of Isotopx but also the users themselves. That’s been the aspect that I am enjoying most.
Another positive aspect has been to see how the science and technology has progressed in the intervening years. Isotopx has some technologies, such as ATONA, that I would hardly have believed possible some years ago. Better still, our users are embracing that technology and already using it to help their research. You can’t help feel a bit of pride about that, even though I wasn’t involved in the development of that technology.
Tell us about yourself and your hobbies? What would we most likely find you doing on the weekend?
I have two children who are actively engaged in their sports and have lots of friends. Any parent will agree that this is the biggest time commitment! Juggling football, swimming, parties and school events takes up most of the weekend, but for what is left, my hobby is running.
I didn’t start running until my mid-forties. Like many people this age I became more aware of potential age-related health issues and historically had not looked after myself. The running started slowly, just a few kilometres at first, but three years ago I built up to a half marathon. I thought that would be the end of running, but some part of me can’t leave it alone!
I’ve done a few marathons now, including Manchester – which was a wonderful experience to have so many people in the audience cheering me on. I’ve signed up to do an ultra-marathon later this year. Maybe that will be the end of it, who knows? It definitely takes a certain mentality to set out for a five hour run on a cold wet morning, but I love it.
Do you have any goals you would like to achieve for the year ahead?
Absolutely! I wrote a 30 day, 90 day and 365 day plan before I started the job. I figured that mentally preparing myself for the challenges of the year ahead would lay good foundations. The list of goals is fairly large, not least of which include: having an entirely new, fresh and modern company website, building a full network of sales partners in all key regions, and bringing at least one new product to market. Another very different goal, and one that I am enjoying already, is building stronger connections to the other companies in the Techcomp group. They are already making me feel that we’re part of a family, and I’m working with them on a daily basis.
A work goal of a more personal nature is to fully re-acquaint myself with the community of people that use isotope ratio instruments such as the ones we produce. I’ll achieve this via telephone, video link, in-person meetings where possible, and (fingers crossed) attendance at conferences once they return. It’s a very exciting time and I feel hugely positive about the future.
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