Topaz Joy Kirlew, DBA, MBA, MT(ASCP)

Integra LifeSciences

1. Name of your organization and your current role/title:

2. How long have you been engaged as an Alliance member? 
Although I have been in industry for the past 35+years, I have been engaged as an Alliance member for most of my tenure with Integra, over the past three and a half years.

3. What is an example of when the Alliance added value to the wound care space or to your business specifically?
The Alliance has been invaluable in providing advocacy for the wound care space. It is great to have an organization that keeps on top of emerging issues/trends within the wound care industry and moves quickly to get industry feedback and facilitate communication with regulators.  This happened when the FDA released the Antimicrobial Proposed Rule.  The Alliance gathered stakeholder feedback, even met with the FDA, prepared and submitted a response that outlined the concerns with the proposed rule and why it should be withdrawn.  The value add was that each organization did not have to do this alone – the advocacy was much more effective with the collective effort led by the Alliance. 

4. What career advice do you live by? 

Do not underestimate the transformative nature of a positive mindset in shaping one’s perspective.  A positive outlook:

• Fosters gratitude, helping us appreciate our current resources and experiences rather than focusing on what we lack.
• Leads to optimism, opens our eyes to see potential in our circumstances and helps us believe that we can improve our situation.
• Encourages resilience, allowing us to embrace challenges as opportunities for growth, which enhances one’s overall satisfaction with life.
• Opens the mind to creative solutions, which enables one to make the most of our resources and find new ways to utilize what we have.
• Attracts others, leading to stronger relationships which enhances one’s sense of abundance.

Overall, career advice is to continually foster a positive mindset that shifts your focus from scarcity to abundance, enriching the perception of what you have.

5. If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be and why?
I would collaborate with individuals and organizations devoted to making the world a better place such as The Red Cross (ironically, my first job out of college), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and more importantly, local charities and community service leaders and organizations in underserved areas.

6. What does an ideal day off look like to you?
An ideal day is being on a Caribbean beach (or Florida west coast beach) and when not floating on the calm waters, being under the shade of a coconut tree/umbrella with a cool breeze enjoying the birds, sky, sand, surf, sea, and sun with my ‘better half’ of 39 years.