Meet Pierre Simon | Vice President, Head of Global Marketing & Author

We had the good fortune of connecting with Pierre Simon and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Pierre, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Risk, like fear, can either be our greatest motivator or our largest hurdle. In either case, when addressing risk, whether you see it as “Impossible” or “I’m-Possible”, you are correct. It was 2008, and I held a contract entry level position at a surgical ophthalmic company, which also had a major pharmaceutical division. I was 22 years old, had recently graduated from college, and living back at home with my parents in Texas. I’d worked the contract entry level position for about a year, and then two permanent positions opened up within the company. My manager at the time, came to me and presented the two options. He said, “You can take the position in Florida, and you will make a ton of money, win all of the portfolio awards, and have a great work life balance, but your career will go nowhere because it’s too easy to sell in Florida.” This ease he mentioned was the case, because Florida’s demographics of retirees, taxes were great, and insurances often covered all the products to which I sold. My manger continued, “Or you can take the position in California. You will be poor, make little to no money, never win portfolio awards due to the difficulty of selling in California, taxes will kill your bank account, yet your career will excel beyond belief, because of the risk and enriching experiences you will gain. I chose California. Either hubris or pride, that’s still up for debate, but I chose California, and he was exactly correct. I struggled, I won very few awards, I missed home, friends and family, but I learned a ton. I learned how to sell, but more importantly, how to build relationships which would lead to immediate sales, but also fruitful and mutually beneficial lasting relationships. Because of that risk, I am now the youngest Vice President, Head of Global Marketing for a surgical ophthalmic company, and my then manager, and current mentor works with me still. The risk of California fueled my drive, my passion, and my ability to apply the learnings, and turn them into a fruitful career.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My name is Harry Pierre Simon Jr., and I am Vice President, Head of Global Marketing for Sight Sciences, a company that focuses on Delivering the Power of Sight to the world through early intervention of chronic eye disease. I have worked in ophthalmology my entire career. When I started out, I was just happy to have a career out of college, but the more I learned about the power of vision, and the beauty of the world that we get to preserve or restore, I became more in love with my industry, and my purpose. Outside of climbing the “corporate ladder”, I am a world traveler, a TEDx speaker, a two time published author, and a father. When I began my career, I was so focused on the idea of becoming the youngest CEO of my company, that it drove and fueled my passions, my work ethic, but it also blinded me to my purpose. As I continued to mature within the industry, I learned that there was more to ophthalmology than climbing the ladder. I found joy in mentoring others, teaching on the power of diversity & inclusion, began traveling the world and finding ways to influence vision outside of the United States, and ultimately found my purpose within the industry. Though my aspirations to be a CEO haven’t changed, my “Why” has become more developed. My why is to deliver the beauty that exist within the world to as many people as possible. Over the years, I’ve seen my beloved grandmother’s vision deteriorate, and I hope to continue on my quest to CEO, because it will allow me to continue to influence technologies which persevere vision, and even one day fully restore vision.

In my role I have a lot of influence in my company, but getting here as the company’s youngest Vice President was not easy. There were several sacrifices. I moved ten times, lived in two countries, worked in 16 states, and worked weekends and holidays in an effort to gain as much experience as possible. The truth is, there were also sacrifices made at home. If you ask any executive member, what would they have done differently…most of them say they would have spent more time at home or more time traveling. I’m glad that I learned this lesson early from my mentors, and I see work completely different now. I love what I do, and I work hard, but I also travel, spend time with family, and try to keep a healthy balance of what is truly important in life. If you break marketing down to its core, its foundation includes price, promotion, people, place, and product. These are known as the 5 Ps of Marketing, but what people really buy into is “The Why”. Regardless of the 5Ps, if consumers don’t believe in “The Why” behind the product, longevity of consumption is at risk, and marketing has essentially failed. So though my daily career involves marrying “The Why” to the 5Ps, my personal journey includes always knowing my WHY!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
When my friends visit, I usually take them to some of my favorite restaurants; Felix Culpa, The Henry, Yardbirds or Reatta’s in downtown Fort Worth. Deep Ellum is always a good time for a good Sunday Funday, and Bishop Arts would be my choice for all of my hippie/eclectic friends! Bishop arts is full of amazing places including my favorite plant shop, Oasis. The staff there is awesome and they do a great job at educating “non-green thumb” humans such as myself. Other than that, we would definitely catch a Mavs game, (when the rockets were in town, as I’m originally from Houston), and spend the week exploring all of DFW.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to dedicate my success to my very first hero and mentor, Harry Bernard Simon Sr, my father. We grew up from very humble beginnings, but I watched my father work constantly to support his family to ensure we had everything we needed and at least some things we wanted. I will never forget the morning when I was in sixth grade, watching my dad in the early morning, return home from one blue collar job, warm up some “leftovers”, eat a quick meal, and then rush out of the house before anyone was awake, to go to another blue collar job. My father always taught us the value of hard work, and that work paying off. He didn’t graduate college, but always taught us the value of studying, and how we could become whatever we decided to focus on and put energy towards. He is truly my first mentor and hero.

I want to also dedicate my story to my stepmother, Cynthia Simon. Often the unsung hero, she came into my life when I was six years old, and though she had children of her own, from day one she treated me like one of her own. She worked in the medical field for all my childhood, and I believe this is why I always had an affinity to medicine, surgery, and changing lives via technological innovation. Outside of her tireless work ethic, she was always a mother. Ever present, always supportive of my father, even when she didn’t agree with the decision, she always presented a united front. I thank both of them for helping me become who I am today; a father, a world traveler, a Vice President, a two-time published author, a mentor to the next generation, and someone that loves life. Thank you both!

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