S03-E07 Olga works at Tenaya Therapeutics

Olga works at Tenaya Therapeutics. Hear how Olga earned an associates degree from a community college biotechnology program to secure a well-paying job that impacts health and helps people. Olga talks about her work, the hardest part of community college, and has advice for folks just starting their careers. 

The Talking Technicians podcast is produced by MNT-EC, the Micro Nano Technology Education Center, through financial support from the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education grant program.

Opinions expressed on this podcast do not necessarily represent those of the National Science Foundation.

Join the conversation. If you are a working technician or know someone who is, reach out to us at info@talkingtechnicians.org.

Links from the show:

The Micro Nano Technology Education Center (MNT-EC): https://micronanoeducation.org/

City College of San Francisco Biotechnology Program: https://www.ccsf.edu/degrees-certificates/biotechnology

Tenaya Therapeutics: https://www.tenayatherapeutics.com/

Episode Web Page: https://micronanoeducation.org/students-parents/talking-technicians-podcast/

Transcript

Peter Kazarinoff  0:02  
From MNT-EC, the Micro Nano Technology Education Center, this is Talking Technicians. The podcast about technicians: who they are, what they do, and where they come from. I'm your host, Peter Kazarinoff. I teach technicians and engineers that Portland Community College. In each episode, you'll meet a working technician and hear their story. That means real interviews, with real technicians, about real jobs. At the end of each episode, you'll hear actions you can take if you want to be a technician too.

In this episode, you'll meet Olga. Olga works for Tenaya Therapeutics in South San Francisco. Olga, welcome to Talking Technicians.

Olga  0:52  
Thanks, Peter. It's great to be here.

Peter Kazarinoff  0:54  
Olga, tell me a little bit about yourself. Where do you live? And how long have you been there for?

Olga  1:00  
That I was born and raised in San Francisco. I'm a San Francisco native. I've lived here all my life. I don't know anything else other than San Francisco. I grew up more in like the outer Michigan area. So that was predominantly a lot of Latinos, African Americans, and some Asian students. So that's when I grew up with a lot of diversity growing up, and it was wonderful.

Peter Kazarinoff  1:26  
Is there anyone else in your household right now?

Olga  1:29  
Just my husband wishes me and my husband living in our cute apartment? At the moment. Yeah.

Peter Kazarinoff  1:37  
And are you in the same sort of area? Right? Where you grew up? Where you live? No,

Olga  1:42  
No. So after living in the outer mission, I moved out towards kind of the s state area. So you would think more like sunset taraval. If you're familiar with Tappan, Cisco, so it's still very much a family kind of neighborhood, which is really nice, because that's what I was used to growing up with.

Peter Kazarinoff  2:01  
So although I've got a good idea about where you live, and how long you've been there for, let's move into talking about your work. So what's your job title? And what do you do day to day at tonight therapeutics.

Olga  2:15  
So my job title at Tenaya is Research Assistant, being the fact that I only have my Associate's Degree, but I am working towards my Bachelor's currently. So hopefully that will change to research associate. And my day to day work here, it definitely varies. One day, I could be in the cell culture room for about five or six hours. I could also be in our biology lab working on RNA extraction, or simply running gels to verify plasmids that we have, it could also be preparing protein extraction for western blots. It could also be producing HIV virus, so it changes every single day. And that actually keeps it really excited because it avoids repetition at work. And it makes everything much more fun. Because you don't know what to expect, if you kind of do because you have a set schedule. But it keeps you on your toes and you're learning something new every single day.

Peter Kazarinoff  3:16  
Okay, you mentioned that you've got a set schedule, do you work in shifts? Or do you work a regular nine to five? What kind of working hours do you have?

Olga  3:26  
They are actually very flexible here at Tenaya, you are welcome to come in at eight at nine at 10. As long as your work is done, and it is all completed and you're updating your supervisor, in your director what's going on thing are totally fine. My schedule varies because I am a part time student. So I tend to come in around 9am. And once the work is done, typically around 530. That's my dance.

Peter Kazarinoff  3:58  
Olga, your work sounds exciting. What kind of people do you work with? Are there various types of jobs that you work with? Or do you work with mostly technicians, like you work as we all work together?

Olga  4:15  
So you have a mix of people who are in the invivo team, who are usually in the MAS house. They also work in the biology lab, you have some of our validation team as well that we collaborate with. And then we have our process development team here as well that you also interact with. So there's various different departments that you are able to collaborate and interact with here. And yes, you do have your own work to do. For mine specifically, I work in biology discovery. So we're at the very beginning of everything. And it's really exciting to be able to be at the beginning but also hear opinions from everybody else downstream of everything on how to prove Everything at the very beginning. So everything comes out very seamlessly. And then we can create gene therapies. It's really exciting. So,

Peter Kazarinoff  5:08  
Olga, that sounds like a great position to be in and a wonderful company to work for. So let's talk a little bit about compensation and then future opportunities. Can you provide a rough ballpark salary for your job as a technician or current position?

Olga  5:25  
It definitely varies in California specifically. And more. So in South San Francisco, it's more correlated with your experience and your technical skills. So that could be anywhere from $50,000 to maybe to maybe $70 to $73,000 a year. Definitely, if you have published paperwork, maybe we have presented somewhere in a conference, but you just have extra experience that may boost your salary, but also it depends on the company. So I definitely say speak up for yourself. Know that you have worked hard and always fight for what you deserve in salary.

Peter Kazarinoff  6:10  
Olga, besides salary does the company provides you with any benefits? Things like retirement health insurance?

Olga  6:17  
Oh, yeah, definitely. They're they're great with health insurance is actually one of the best health insurance I've had thus far in my career. They have retirement as well. And then there's some in company perks that we get to use and it's yeah, it's really great here.

Peter Kazarinoff  6:33  
Are there any opportunities for professional growth?

Olga  6:37  
There is opportunities for professional growth, you are able to move up to research associate one, research associate two, there isn't a research associate three actually jumps to senior research associate. And if you were to jump to like associate scientists, you would need I believe, some sort of a masters or PhD at that level. But if you were able to have your bachelor's degree, you could certainly go up to a senior research associate.

Peter Kazarinoff  7:06  
Olga, what did it feel like your first day of work? Do you remember what it felt like going in for your first day?

Olga  7:14  
It was very nerve racking. Because I came from manufacturing before a transition to Tenaya. Before manufacturing, I was in academic research. So I was able to see the different options out there in the biotech field. So to come back to research, I was a little nervous, because it had been a long time since I've been in this kind of environment. And it's insured industry. And I've heard that it's very fast paced, so I did not know what to expect. But everybody on the first day was incredibly nice and very welcoming. And so I just thought, Okay, I'm in the right place, actually, to get over the first day and just start getting into the lab.

Peter Kazarinoff  7:59  
So Olga, I've got a good idea about what your work life is like and things involving compensation. Let's move on now to talking about your work in your education experience. You mentioned that you work in manufacturing, what was your work experience before your current role?

Olga  8:17  
So I worked in manufacturing for about a year and a half, I was part of a very great team, we recalled the plasma manufacturing team, we generated the plasma and in house that would eventually be used for gene therapy. So that work mainly involved making buffers for like two weeks, and then producing upstream and downstream runs to purify our plasmid in house. And before that, I did academic research at another company. And I was there for about two and a half years, I mainly worked in cell in cell culture. And I differentiated in induced pluripotent stem cells to simulate Alzheimer cells in in vitro. And so just having that two type of work led me back to wanting to come back to research because I love that discovery kind of work and figuring out what to do next, how can we improve such diseases to help other people out there.

Peter Kazarinoff  9:22  
Olga, you mentioned before that you have an Associate's Degree. So let's talk about your education experience. What was your education experience before your current role? And where did you earn that dis associate's degree and what was it in?

Olga  9:37  
So I earned my Associates Degree in biotechnology. I joined the biotech program at City College about 2014-2015 And I went through the hoard hire program, and they start you off with like, just basic math skills, basic presentation skills, basic biology skills, and then you're able to take the more than classes like Eliza, Western Blot, qPCR, and whatnot. And I just knew that after having interacted with all the professors in that program, and especially my chemistry teacher in that program, I knew that I did not want to stop my education, just by having the associates, they really did play some motivation in me that I wanted to keep going with my education. Not only that, but I wanted to keep working towards being in the tech field. And thanks to all the professors at the biotech program at City College, I was motivated to enroll at ASU, Arizona State University in their online biochemistry program. And so I started that journey about two years ago. And I have about a year left before finishing my bachelor's degree. So I, I really think that program in that community of teachers, for how much love they have for their students and how much love they have for ensuring that we are capable of learning all these things, and pinion all this knowledge to really set us up for success when we go into this field.

Peter Kazarinoff  11:21  
Olga, you mentioned the City College of San Francisco and the biotech program, how did you find that program or get interested in biotechnology? That's not a career that a lot of people know exists.

Olga  11:34  
I always wanted to be in fields where I was working towards helping people be it so it can be something so little as just like working in a restaurant hoping people get fed or, or just helping somehow in science, helping that one person who was ill and has like, the rarest illness, and they don't, they don't have any cure for I just wanted to do something to kind of give back and help people in the world. And I remember talking to my counselor at City College, and I said, Look, this is what I want to do. I don't know how to get into it. And he asked me, Well, do you like lab work, and I'm like, I love lab work. This is fun. And he said, Well, this might be the program for you. And he talked to me about the biotechnology program. And that's how it all started.

Peter Kazarinoff  12:22  
Olga from that biotech program. Were there any specific skills, either technical skills or professional skills that you know use day to day in your work?

Olga  12:32  
Definitely, I would never run so many shell election for races in my life, as I haven't done at this job before. As well as western blots. That's another one, too. The biggest one is cell culture. A lot of the cell culture skills have transferred over to here and they've helped me so much with having really good aseptic technique and sterility and, and avoiding contamination and all my cultures. A lot of the things that the teachers taught us in the program, as far as like making sure everything's playable, making sure you're organized, making sure you're on top of everything that has carried over in my entire five year career in the biotech field, you might not think that that's important. But it really is. And just like the small skills to that you learn in the class of like, communicating with your fellow classmates, and being respectful toward each other, being respectful of each other space, being respectful of each other's materials, that also carries over to your career. Because you do have to be respectful, you will encounter multiple personalities out there, some might not be great, and some while you kind of have to figure out a middle ground because you have to be, you know, kind to each other. And so all of those skills that you learn in the classroom, definitely transferred over to when you go into your job. So never ignore those little small skills with your teachers, like be kind to each other because it doesn't matter.

Peter Kazarinoff  14:05  
Olga, what was the toughest part of school for you? What were some challenges that you overcame when you went to community college?

Olga  14:14  
I think the the smallest challenge, and I say the smallest was because this class would go on in the afternoon with Dr. Lee is when we would have to meet and talk about our internship and practice what we are learning. That was the hardest part for me was just making sure that I was explaining the science correctly, both in terms that people who are not familiar with the science can understand but also in terms of explain it so that people that do understand the science know that I am presenting it correctly. So the hardest part really was presenting. I still to this day, get butterflies. I get really nervous, and not gonna lie, my palms get sweaty. I do stutter a little bit, and that's natural. We're all human. But that definitely was the challenging part of the whole course, to be quite honest.

Peter Kazarinoff  15:15  
So Olga, after you graduated from community college, what was something unexpected about working in the biotech industry that you only learned after you started?

Olga  15:27  
The unexpected thing that I learned was, people really did not tell me enough on how really crazy the industry is compared to academia. With academia, you can take things slow, you are in like a discovery mode, but you don't move as fast pace your project could take months before you move on to anything new. Whereas industry, it's very, we're doing one thing on Monday, and then we're changing things up on Tuesday, oh, Wednesday, sorry, but we changed our minds back, we're gonna do something completely different. But scrap, whatever we're doing the first two days of the week, he started a project and then it's, wait a minute, we have this other great project here. Can you fit this in? So I had to learn a lot about time management. In this industry, that's something that I was not prepared for. And also being able to speak up and being comfortable to speak up and say, No, I can't do this, my capacities a little bit heavy. Tell me please move this project a week or two out. And that is another thing that I learned was just to say no, because you want to complete your work at 100% as best as possible. You want to produce good work. But also taking on a lot of work will limit your capacity to be able to do things at 100%. And you don't really want to perform one thing at 20% 30% 40%. Because that just drains you out. So that was a big thing that I had to learn and really practice every day of just saying, you know, I can't do it today. Can I do it tomorrow? Can I do it next week, so I'm okay with you. And most of the time people are so understanding, especially here, when you see those things, they actually appreciate that you speak up. So that was one thing that I learned unexpectedly after coming into this field. And I'm really thankful for that as well. Because you don't use that skill just at work. You use it in life as well. So if people are like, Hey, let's go hang out, let's go do things. It's okay to be like, I'm a little tired. Can we do it?

Peter Kazarinoff  17:51  
Olga, how did your life change after you graduated from community college? What's different now compared to when you were a student?

Olga  18:00  
You feel like my life has been a nonstop riding roller coaster. After finishing my degree and becoming a technician. It's been a long ride of learning every day, a long ride of being able to not only learn, but be able to communicate all of your knowledge to other people and ensuring that you understand the science behind it all. You can be great at performing a technical skill in the lab. But if you can't explain what you're actually doing, and the why behind it, and the concept of it, that's where you're gonna have to work on it a little bit. So that took a lot of learning to do for me as well, just being able to explain the science behind everything, making sure I understand it, because otherwise, if I explain it back to someone, they're not going to understand what else Hey. And so yeah, since then, it's been a roller coaster ride. I love it, I hope and I stopped and now being a research assistant here, but also been a students. I think it's been a nonstop ride and can't wait to see what happens in the end. And we can't wait to see what the next step will be. Like, who knows where I'll be next. Maybe I'll still be here. Maybe I'll be in another company and another venture. But I'm very thankful that my journey started with the biotech program, the waves it and it's led me all the way up to here.

Peter Kazarinoff  19:37  
Olga, what advice would you give current students or people who want to transition careers and work in the biotech industry like you do?

Olga  19:47  
Well, so this is something I have actually encountered when we would visit students as alumni ins in the biotech program. Some of them would tell me that they don't see a lot of themselves in the industry. And this could be Asian or this could be Latino, this could be African American, any rates? And they feel like, well, if I don't see myself there, how can I be in there. And that is a sad thing. But I hope that by, for me, specifically, if Latino seed is male and females, that they realize they're capable of being in the industry to, and to not let any kind of limitations they might face, in school or in their community, whatever resources they think that might not be there are really there. And to seek them out. That's what I had to do. And it got me to where I am. And yes, I don't see a lot of us in this industry. But it's just the beginning. And we can easily change that. So I think, don't base these careers on just hey, I don't see myself there. Because I don't see people like you there, you could be the first person to represent that for the younger generation who might feel like, I don't see my type of person there. You can be that example. So that's my advice for all the folks trying to transition to this careers, because you don't realize it but you become an inspiration for the younger generation. So let's keep that up. Let's improve that.

Peter Kazarinoff  21:30  
Olga, to finish up - Do you have a final call to action? What do you think people should do? First, if they want to transition their career and start a new life working in biotechnology? What would be your first step?

Olga  21:44  
First, I would say talk to your counselor. See if there's any resources within your school, if not, then see if it within your community. If anybody knows about these resources for you to get in this career, you could talk to anybody in your church or the local market. I mean, remember, anybody you know me work at a hospital, who knows. I would also say, if you're currently in college or in community college, I think that they're the same way, by the way, university community, same college, same experience, but you should definitely look up internships. And those are the start because an internship is a beautiful thing is you go in there, you'd have no knowledge of what you're doing, but you're going to gain knowledge at the end. And that actually puts you one step closer to where you want to be. So I would say talk to your counselors, talk to your teacher, talk to your communities look up these resources because they are out there. Take advantage of them. We want people to be in this industry, especially people are so motivated and passionate to do something. So please, please look up those resources. They are out there do not feel like they're not available to you because they are.

Peter Kazarinoff  22:55  
Olga, thank you for sharing that call to action and your passion for working in biotechnology. And thank you so much for being on Talking Technicians.

Olga  23:06  
Thank you so much for having me. It was fun.

Please keep in touch.

Thanks, will do.

Peter Kazarinoff  23:17  
Talking Technicians is produced by MNT-EC, the Micro Nano Technology Education Center through financial support from the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education grant program. Opinions expressed on this podcast do not necessarily represent those of the National Science Foundation. Join the conversation. If you are a working technician, or know someone who is, reach out to us at info@talkingtechnicians.org. We're always looking out for great guests to share more stories with you.