Biotech Beat: Starting a Biotech Career later in life made all the difference in this Single Parent's Life

Tune in to the August 1, 2025 episode of Biotech Beat where you can hear Lashanda describe how her career has helped to improve her quality of life as a single parent.

Lashanda went back to get her high school diploma at a later point in life. One of her instructors at Johnston Community College encouraged her to work towards a career, not just a job. A field trip to a biotech facility sparked her interest because the work in biomanufacturing was similar to a job she already held in baby food manufacturing.  She applied and was accepted into the 8-week BioWork summer program at JCC at Novo Nordisk in Clayton, North Carolina, landed the job at Novo Nordisk, and and "everything just fell into place".  After starting her job, she went back to JCC and is earning a Biotechnology degree!

Lashanda has two kids who keep her busy, and her flexible job schedule helps her keep up with them. She is currently a Manufacturing Associate I, and she loves it! She does a lot of sampling and quality checks, and a process called Delta V, which was first intimidating, but she picked up quickly and is quite comfortable with it now.  

Lashanda said the 401K and health benefits are wonderful--and it makes it easier to go to work when she loves what she does. She works the 12 hour night shift, and her numerous days off are predictable which is really helpful. The salary increase at Novo Nordisk has made a huge difference in her life as well, with the financial pressures of single parent life now lessened. 

Lashanda had been in quality assurance before with the baby food manufacturing, and before that in poultry packing facility. She hopes to move to QA at Novo Nordisk when she has had more time at her current position.  She says that Novo Nordisk equipment is similar to her previous workplace's equipment, but bigger, and the similarities were helpful. 

Lashanda calls biotech a "life-changing career" and says "sometimes its ok to ask questions", just learn, practice, and keep going--its a great career!

Tune in on Spotify, iHeart Radio, or Apple Podcasts to hear Lashanda tell her story.