International Women’s Day: A day in the life of…Kim Haynes
Kim Haynes
Principal Product Marketing Manager: Bioanalysis
Chemistry Technology Center, Waters (MA, USA)
1My alarm goes off…
At 4:30 a.m.! I usually spend 35–40 minutes on the treadmill, then shower and dress. Next, I wake my 10 year old daughter up so she can begin to get ready for school. Then, I pass the task off to my husband, who finishes the morning ritual and gets her on the school bus. Plus, he makes great coffee which I take on my commute to work. I drive from the hills near Mt. Wachussett in Central Massachusetts (MA, USA) to my office at Waters Corporation in Milford (MA, USA). It takes me about 1 hour, but traffic is usually not too bad. I like living out in the country, away from the craziness of the city. Before I head off to work, I have a bowl of plain greek yogurt and an english muffin with honey. I love coffee and I sip from a thermos flask all morning.
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2I’m responsible for…
I am part of the Chemistry Technologies Center Product Marketing Team. I am responsible for the Bioanalysis business, specifically – the chemistry components such as sample preparation, columns, sample vials, standard and reagents. Our team works to understand the challenges facing scientists across a wide range of disciplines; bioanalysis is only one of them but my primary focus. We collect this information to guide the development of new products and solutions to meet these needs, with the end goal of simplifying workflows and improving the quality of data gathered during analyses. In addition, we steer and support the development of new applications and technical content with existing technologies to keep pushing the boundaries of performance. I am also a member of the Customer Advocacy Council and a Judge for this year’s Bioanalysis Zone Rising Star Award.
3My typical day…
It starts with a quick review of my calendar for the day and squeezing in as many email responses as possible before my first meeting. Just like everyone else, my email inbox seems to grow immensely overnight! I typically have many meetings during a day to review the progress of several different projects and make sure we have everything in place to reach our goals. If not, I look for help to get it done! I meet with people from all areas of the company including Application Scientists, Marketing Communications Teams, Research and Development Scientists, Engineers and Manufacturing. I also try to make some time to be present at my desk everyday to work on my own contributions to these projects. I am never bored! I am fortunate that part of my work responsibility includes worldwide travel to visit with customers and colleagues in different areas of our business. I enjoy seeing different parts of the world. It would be hard to pick a favorite place but I really love China and Japan. Wonderful people, fascinating history and fabulous food! I also love Barcelona, Spain and the architecture!
In recent years, I have spent a great deal of time looking at the sample preparation process and working with our scientists to simplify solid phase extraction (SPE) with the goal of fewer steps and better sample matrix removal. This in turn reduces variability from sample to sample due to matrix effects or column/system contamination, leading to more robust methods and higher confidence in analytical results.
4The strangest thing that has happened…
At work is that I have been able to appear in several fun videos for our ‘Behind the Science’ video series. The goal of these shows is to help educate scientists about new technologies and applications. However, one of them required me to have a cup of water thrown right in my face! To be honest, I volunteered for that one…
5The best part of my job…
Is having the opportunity to educate scientists about real solutions to their problems. I love it when I can make someone’s life at work just a little bit easier. If I wasn’t doing this, I’d likely be a high school chemistry teacher.
6The worst part of my job…
Sometimes I need to travel a lot and I miss my family.
7After work…
I usually head straight home to make dinner, help my daughter with her homework and take her to her Tang Soo Do class twice a week. The other nights, we relax together for a bit before bed. I’m usually asleep by 10:00 p.m. I have no time for hobbies besides cooking, but I do love doing that. If I had to pick my favorite activities, they would be movies and great restaurants… I also love football (the Cleveland Browns) and hockey (Boston Bruins).
8I always wanted to be…
I always knew I would be in science. I spent a lot of time mixing things together in my house as a child to see if I could make something interesting happen. I wanted to be a researcher and cure cancer one day. I am happy that in my career, I have the opportunity to work with scientists who have this as their goal.
Who is your inspirational hero?
I have two women heroes. First, my mother. She was amazing and strong while raising me and I keep the lessons she taught me about achievement and compromise in my mind always. Second, Harriet Tubman. She led so many people to freedom on repeated trips though the Underground Railroad. In addition, she was a union spy and also gave many speeches fighting for women’s right to vote. She was incredible!
