Pizza, Pivots, and Professional Reinvention: Charting Your Own Path with Dr. Valerie Silfee

In this episode, we explore career pivots, real-world behavior change, and navigating life’s curveballs with Val Silfee: exercise physiologist, behavioral scientist, and principal consultant helping digital health teams build interventions that actually work. Val shares how a single keynote at SBM cracked open her sense of what was possible beyond academia, the culture shock of moving to industry,  and the six-month ramp it took to feel fluent. We also go deep on resilience: buying a house, getting laid off days later, a toddler ER visit, and a year-long mystery illness, plus how therapy, medication, and mantras helped her rebuild. Finally, we talk about Evolve Consulting, co-leading the IGNITE Bootcamp with Dr. Christine May, and why behavior change happens outside the app.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn

• The “lightbulb” moment that sparked Val’s academia→industry jump
• Why six months of imposter feelings is normal (and what speeds up the ramp)
• How to survive (and grow from) layoffs, health uncertainty, and caregiving overload
• Practical scripts for asking “basic” questions in corporate settings
• Why behavior change doesn’t live in your product—and how to design for real life
• A simple mantra for decision-making under uncertainty
• Consulting mindsets: scoping to constraints, selling value, staying flexible
• What academics consistently undervalue (and how to translate it for industry)

Featured Guest: Valerie Silfee

Val is a behavioral scientist and exercise physiologist with experience across health systems (UPMC), consumer weight management (WW), and digital therapeutics. Today she consults with digital health orgs on evidence-based interventions and co-leads IGNITE Bootcamp to help academics/clinicians navigate industry transitions. 

Highlights & Takeaways

• Normalize the ramp: Expect ~6 months to feel fluent in a new org’s language and priorities—ask “What does that acronym mean?” early and often.
• Design beyond the app: The decisive moments (what to eat, when to move, how to cope) happen in kitchens, commutes, and grocery aisles—build supports that meet people there.
• Translate your edge: Your superpower is synthesizing complex evidence into clear, actionable narratives for design, product, and leadership. Own it.
• Work the uncertainty: “I can only work with the information I have today.” Pair therapy/skills practice with tools (meds, movement, meditation) to lower cognitive noise.
• Consulting muscle: Start with constraints (time/budget), propose right-sized options, and stay flexible as priorities shift.

Resources & Mentions

• Evolve Consulting with Christine May
• Workshops for Academics 

Connect with Val on LinkedIn