Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer & Corporate Secretary, Artivion
Search every verified Jean Holloway interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In a September 2020 podcast interview, Jean Holloway, then Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer at CryoLife (now Artivion), discussed her career and leadership philosophy. Holloway described her career history, which included roles at McKinsey & Company, Medtronic, Boston Scientific, and Bard, as well as early work as a trial lawyer and teaching law at the university level. She stated that she holds a JD and an MBA from the University of Chicago and undergraduate degrees in engineering and political science from Yale University. Holloway offered advice on career development and leadership. She said she believes mentors are "essential" and that new leaders should practice "patience and standing back to learn and gather more information before you start to take action." Regarding working with boards, she stated that "credibility is almost everything" and stressed the importance of "impeccable work." She also recommended having a "1, 3, and 5 year plan professionally and personally" and advised against taking a job where one is "miserable," saying, "you should not only be advancing your career but you should be having fun while you're doing it."
“I think the advice that I would give her is to be willing to explore and to take on risk more in their career. Every single one of those opportunities was better than the next and I enjoyed every single one of them and learned something from them.”
“Mentors in my estimation are essential. I've had very close working relationships with individuals who are more senior than I am, who have given me very candid feedback on how certain things have gone well or not so well, and they've been just essential to me at every point in my career.”
“The most essential piece of advice for new leaders is patience and standing back to learn and gather more information before you start to take action. It's important to understand the culture you're working in and have a healthy appreciation for those before making big changes.”
“When working with boards, your credibility is almost everything. It's important to do impeccable work so that what you present is well thought out, correct, and buttoned up, even down to typographical errors, because that affects how your presentation is received.”
“My obligation principally as the general counsel is to the company, but my CEO is going to be a lot more receptive to my advice if he or she feels that I also care about them as a person and their success as a leader of the organization.”
“Timing is really important when giving advice to leaders. You want to make sure you're having the conversation when they're not frazzled or dealing with other stressful interactions, and using an inquisitive style helps leaders get to the same spot in understanding.”
“I think it's really important to have a 1, 3, and 5 year plan professionally and personally. Things rarely work out exactly as intended, but having an idea of where you want to go and bouncing your plans off your boss, mentor, or significant other is really important.”
“I'm a big believer in exercise to relieve stress. I try to make time almost every day to get some exercise, and I also think it's important to walk away from things for a little bit to give your mind rest and engage in hobbies you like.”
“Don't take a job where you're miserable or hate your boss. There are plenty of really good jobs in the marketplace, so you should not only be advancing your career but also having fun while you're doing it.”
In this episode, we interview Jean Holloway. Jean is an SVP, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, and Corporate ...
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