Mirrors: Frankie Foltz, Associate Scientist
The AdaMarie Mirrors reflect back to us the many roads (often winding, never smooth) to success! Real stories of real women to see yourself reflected in. At first, you’ll see Frankie in this mirror, but eventually, we hope you’ll see yourself.
Welcome, Frankie Foltz!
Important words of wisdom from Associate Scientist Frankie Foltz: “The idea of following an abstract calling no longer appeals to me. Instead, as the master of my own fate, I’m trying my best to make whatever I do my calling instead.”
Getting to Know You:
Field of Work: Biotech, Medical Devices
Expertise In: Molecular Diagnostics
Current Company: Autonomous Medical Devices, Inc
Job Title: Associate Scientist
Currently geeking out over: Anything and everything discussed on "The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week" podcast!
STEM Hero: Rosalind Franklin
Tell us about your professional journey – how did you get where you are now?
Like many folks who majored in Biology, I started out by thinking I wanted to be a medical professional. I floated around the idea of being a PA, NP, DO, MD, and any other acronym that I came across. After a lot of consideration, I decided I wanted to go to medical school, and I oriented myself to that goal. With the hope of augmenting my resume, I joined the avian biology lab of one of my favorite professors and began my research journey. I spent a summer learning the basics of the research process, starting with a question, then literature review, establishing basic protocols, optimizing and finalizing those protocols, gathering data, analyzing it, and then repeating the cycle. As this went on, I received texts from a former TA who was in veterinary school, and my childhood dream of being a veterinarian resurfaced. I pivoted to a DVM track, worked in a vet clinic for a summer, and decided that while I enjoyed it, I didn't love it enough to go to another four years of school and then spend the rest of my life doing it. My final semester of college hit, and I was lost.
Two things occurred throughout all of this potential career turmoil: my research and the pandemic. In my junior year, I went home for spring break and did not step back into the lab until a year later. Remote learning made school feel all-consuming in a tumultuous world, but I got to continue my research, connect with others in my field online, and virtually attend conferences. By the time my final semester came around, I was burnt out on school, but wanted to continue researching and working in a lab.
When I graduated, I applied to industry jobs like a madwoman. Applications were reductive, ghosting from recruiters was confusing, and rejections were discouraging. Industry felt cold and harsh, and I spent a lot of time wondering if I was on the right path. When I stepped into the office to interview with a hiring manager who was a woman only a few years older than me (a Mirror!), I was at ease. As she told me about her cat, who was currently in her office, and we talked about enzyme immunoassays, I felt a nudge that I was in the right place. I accepted the job, and my life as a researcher in the diagnostic space began.
Industry felt cold and harsh, and I spent a lot of time wondering if I was on the right path. Then I stepped into the office to interview with a hiring manager who was a woman only a few years older than me—a Mirror!—and I felt at ease.
I threw myself into learning everything I could about this field. Whether it was organizing a freezer of a thousand plasma samples, packing and moving the lab twice, or watching microfluidics experiments, I felt mentally stimulated and eager to know more. After a few months, I was moved to the team I'm on, which included incredible and inspiring women (more Mirrors!) with years of experience as scientists in this industry. This team took me under their wings and taught me everything I know, from building complex formulations to designing and running my own experiments from start to finish. I just had my third anniversary at this job, and it amazes me to think of how much I have learned thanks to everyone I work with. All this is to say that it was a winding path, filled with a lot of doubt and confusion, but I'm happily walking it with confidence today.
We’re also curious to know your personal story and upbringing. What has made you “you”?
As someone who grew up with three brothers, I am a competitive spirit who has always strived to be the best. Anything that my brothers did, I wanted to do better. By the time I reached my junior year of high school, I was a straight-A honors student who competed in horseback riding, played clarinet in orchestra, and played as goalie on varsity lacrosse. I stretched myself thin in the name of overachieving, so when I contracted Lyme disease while spending time training mustangs in Utah, my body succumbed completely. Almost overnight, I was unrecognizable. Fatigue and pain kept me sedentary while my mom shuttled me to countless doctor appointments and treatment sessions. By the time I was diagnosed with Lyme, I was told the window for treatment had passed, and antibiotics would be ineffective. We got second, third, fourth, nth opinions, and zero answers with minimal recovery progress. All the while, my moments of relief from mind-numbing brain fog were spent on searching alternative treatments, diagnostics, and answers. Those moments were few and far between and left me with an inability to consistently attend school, so I went from star student student-on-indefinite-medical-leave. Oops.
Two years passed, and I saw my former classmates getting accepted to college and ready to begin their lives away from home. I wanted that. Desperate to not get left behind, I took the GED test to receive my high school diploma equivalent and enrolled at a local college in the fall. It was incredibly difficult to show up to class every day when I felt like I had weights on my limbs, cotton balls in my head, and ice picks digging all around my body, but I was determined. I received good enough grades to transfer to a school where I could get my bachelor’s degree, and the next fall, I moved out from my family’s endlessly supportive home and into a dorm. My studies in biology began, and I had a knack for physiology and microbiology due to my extensive history with both.
Eight years later, and I’m writing this now. I still deal with much more fatigue and pain than the average person, but it doesn’t define me like it used to. Instead, I find meaning in gratitude for all the people who have supported me through my journey–family, friends, mentors, and everyone who does their best to understand life with a chronic illness.
We know that real life isn’t a smooth and linear journey. What was your initiating moment that led you to your calling - can you tell us about that moment, what helped you move forward, what you learned/discovered?
Prior to starting my current job, my career aspirations had been primarily shaped by external factors–thoughts of what I should or should not do, based on what others perceived about me. This led to feelings of confusion as I wandered from career path to career path. Even once I started down my current path, it took a while for me to feel secure in where I am in my career.
Twice after starting my job, I returned to my alma mater to see friends and met with a few of my former professors who asked what I was going to do after my “gap year”--apparently, working hard to move my way up in the company and climbing the corporate ladder over the next decade was not the correct answer. The first time I heard it, I was shaken and panic-searched for graduate programs. The second time, I laughed it off, and didn’t think twice. I had let others dictate my path before, and all it brought was stress and unhappiness. Thus, the idea of following an abstract calling no longer appeals to me. Instead, as the master of my own fate, I’m trying my best to make whatever I do my calling instead.
I don’t have life all figured out, but I love my work, I’m happy, and I’m where I’m supposed to be right now. I love conceptualizing, planning, and running experiments with my team and working with them to build a device that will drastically increase healthcare accessibility. Other career paths are not closed to me; I’m just not walking them right now, and that’s okay!
Thus, the idea of following an abstract calling no longer appeals to me. Instead, as the master of my own fate, I’m trying my best to make whatever I do my calling instead.
You’re a working woman in a performance-driven industry. Where do you find balance?
At the end of the day, work is work. I can only control what I can control, and when I go home, I leave work behind entirely. My 9-5 belongs to my company, but my 5-9 belongs entirely to me (most days). I play games with friends, work out, cook, spend time with family, and generally do my best to find and do what makes me happy. Life will not always be like this, so I am doing my best to enjoy and appreciate it while it is.
If you were a scientific process or phenomenon, what would you be?
I am a big fan of the protein PGP (P-glycoprotein): it pumps foreign and potentially harmful substances out of the cell. Or, if you’re like my best friend and I, sitting on the floor of your dorm studying it at midnight, it’s the “yeet and delete” protein. I do my best to be like PGP and only let in the good stuff, while enthusiastically rejecting the not-so-good stuff :)
We’d love to feature your work! How can we spread the word about what you’re doing? Some examples you might want to share:
Follow me and Autonomous Medical Devices, Inc. on LinkedIn!