I'm Shannon Rountos, and I am the Head of Newsroom within Corporate Affairs. I've been with Boehringer Ingelheim just under 10 years, 9 of those 10 years, I spent in the United States working with the US communications team. In that time, I was in numerous roles across the communications spectrum, including internal communications, external communications, and PR, digital communications, as well as leadership comms, leading our senior leaders through all of their communications challenges.

One of the things that gets me up every morning and out of bed and into work in the Ingelheim campus where I now am located is the absolute guarantee that we will have something new and challenging to conquer that day. One of the things I always tell people when they ask me if they should apply for a role at Boehringer Ingelheim is, yes, because you will never experience a culture like this.

I mean that, of course, totally, positively. It is a culture that is completely people-focused. It is unique and that the people here at this company, no matter where you're operating across the globe, are 100% driven by purpose, and there is a kindness that lives under all of the types of relationships that you're able to foster. People deeply care about one another and they deeply care about the work that they're doing.

Just knowing that, knowing that all of the colleagues that you brush elbows with are in that same headspace, gives you this real sense of camaraderie. It's really been a treat to get to know the hundreds of colleagues that I've been able to meet over the last 10 years. Every day, I wake up looking forward to meeting new people, and that's really something special.

I guess if I had to sum up what a career at Boehringer Ingelheim is, I would say it's whatever you want it to be. I have found that no one has ever closed a door on my face when I've expressed any aspiration as it relates to my career. Anything that I'm interested or curious in doing, there's always been at least one person who's there to champion for me, and that's, I think, a real gift.

If you are interested in an area that's outside of your core strength set, no one's going to tell you no, and it's really up to you to push the envelope and to come out of your own comfort zone if that's something you want to do. I think that's really something special.