Miguel Adao | Voler Systems | Business Development, Managing vs. Leading, & Having a ”North Star”

Miguel Adao is a passionate leader in the medical devices, internet of things and consumer wearable spaces, and serves as the Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Voler Systems. In this episode, he discusses how living in nine countries and traveling to over 65 has impacted his life, the difference between managing and leading people, and the importance of having a "North Star" to guide your decisions and actions.

Guest links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/migueladao/ | https://www.volersystems.com/

Charity supported: Save the Children

Interested in being a guest on the show or have feedback to share? Email us at [e-mail]. 

PRODUCTION CREDITS Host: Lindsey Dinneen Editor: Tim Oliphant Producer: Velentium

 

SHOW TRANSCRIPT

Episode 011 - Miguel Adao

Lindsey Dinneen: Hi, I'm Lindsey with Velentium and I'm talking with MedTech industry leaders on how they change lives for a better world.

Diane Bouis: The inventions and technologies are fascinating and so are the people who work with them.

Frank Jaskulke: There was a period of time where I realized, fundamentally, my job was to go hang out with really smart people that are saving lives and then do work that would help them save more lives.

Diane Bouis: I got into the business to save lives and it is incredibly motivating to work with people who are in that same business, saving or improving lives.

Duane Mancini: What better industry than where I get to wake up every day and just save people's lives.

Lindsey Dinneen: These are extraordinary people doing extraordinary work, and this is The Leading Difference.

Hello and welcome to The Leading Difference. I'm your host Lindsey, and I am excited to introduce you to my guest today, Miguel Adao. Miguel is a passionate leader in the medical devices, internet of things and consumer wearable spaces, and works for Voler Systems. Miguel, thank you so much for being here today. I'm so excited to chat with you.

Miguel Adao: Yeah, Lindsey, thanks for having me. I'm really looking forward to our chat as well.

Lindsey Dinneen: Absolutely. Well, I was wondering if you don't mind starting by just telling us a little bit about yourself and how you got into this industry.

Miguel Adao: Sure. Yeah. Oh my, where do I start? It's been an interesting ride. I've lived in nine countries. I was born and raised in Portugal, in Lisbon. Went to high school in Rome, Italy, and then I lived in Paris, France, in London, England, in Munich, Germany. Spent many years in Rio and Sao Paulo in Brazil. Lived in Buenos Airs in Argentina. I went to college in Florida and grad school in Ohio and doctorate school in New York. And I've worked for some fantastic companies. I worked for Proctor and Gamble and Pepsi, and Hewlett Packard and Petco, the retailer, and Cigna Healthcare. That was my first kind of exposure to the healthcare side in a way.

And now I live in San Diego. I'm married to Lindy. She's British and we have two teenagers. Olivia's 15 and Nico is 13. And I joined this company called Voler Systems almost a year ago in May of 2022 and we focus on medical devices. We help healthcare and medical and wearable and IOT companies develop and design their prototypes and their devices. And I just love where I am in my career at this point in my personal life with with my family and geographically. We love San Diego. So yeah it's been a very interesting journey, indeed.

To your second question,