From C-Suite to Therapy: Why I Left Biotech to Help High-Achieving Professionals in Newport Beach
- Jun 12, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 27
“Could you sound more enthusiastic about our [fourth‑in‑class] product?”
-Marketing VP during an ad‑board rehearsal.
That kind of pressure, to ‘perform enthusiasm’ even when your gut says otherwise, is exactly what many of my professional clients face at work.
A 30‑second backstory
I became a clinical psychologist because I love helping people solve real human problems. I also love the problem solving that comes from doing testing and assessments.
Twenty years of leading medical‑affairs teams inside global biotechs taught me what high pressure-environments demand. The same skills that helped me thrive in corporate life are what my clients appreciate in therapy.
When values & KPIs collide
Biotech companies spend a lot of time helping leaders connect to their official values. Those values tend to feel strong, accepting, and meaningful. However, the work often deviates from those values, gradually at first.
The patient comes first, except when they don't. Public messaging says “patients first.” The intranet says "payients first." Yet hallway conversations often prioritize conflicting matters, like operational budgets.
Slow‑walking unfavorable data. Companies go out of their way to be transparent. At the same time significant regulatory studies can sit idle because budgets are diverted to more profitable activities.
Keeping experts engaged. Companies need expert advice. At the same time, companies look for every possible way to keep experts engaged. The result? Unnecessary advisory boards, expert panels, workgroups, and task-forces.
Living with the tension that came from balancing integrity with business pressures became a huge strain. I see the same pressures mirrored in the lawyers, physicians, founders, and product managers who come to therapy.
What still energizes me
Un‑burying potential. Designing trials that helped patients improve also taught me to look for hidden opportunuties in people that can lead to change.
Radical candor with experts. Decades of briefing C‑suite leaders helps me be comfortable naming the elephant in the room. I'm more likely to call out core issues than in my early days.
Global collaboration. Working across cultures sharpened my respect for diverse work styles and identities. I am far less likely to apply clinical labels to people as a result.
My pivot back to a purpose
The pandemic brought me home to California, and a 2022 corporate implosion reminded me why I entered psychology in the first place. Direct reports kept saying, “I’ve never had a manager who cared so much about my well‑being.” So I reactivated my license and built a practice for high achievers, carrying some lived experience under my belt.
Three self‑checks for stressed professionals
It can be hard to know when you are in a toxic culture or culturally mismatched with where you work. When you see this happening to you, consider these approaches:
Integrity ledger. Write down where your own values clash with work demands.
Protected deep‑work blocks. Block time that no one can override from you.
External reality check. Find a fresh perspective beyond your immediate circle. Talk about work with the people whom you don't usually share it with and see what they have to say.
Bringing career success into balance
For leaders who are navigating private pressures, I offer confidential therapy for executives and founders who need space to think without reputational risk. Burnout and overthinking often sit underneath high performance.
Written by Jason Olin, PhD, Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Neuropsychologist.
Dr. Olin provides psychological and neuropsychological evaluations for high-stakes testing and licensing decisions, including FAA-related evaluations. He sees clients onsite in Newport Beach, California, and by telehealth across 43 PSYPACT states and New York.
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