This blog series is introducing readers to the great people who make up the Luminex family. In this Q&A, we get to know Traci Beeby, Diagnostics Business Manager for the western region of the United States. Based in the San Francisco area, she joined Luminex in 2015 after spending more than 20 years at Abbott Laboratories.
Q: What’s involved in being the Diagnostics Business Manager?
A: I’m really the face of Luminex to the customer for the clinical side of the business. My job is not only to go out and talk about our products with potential new customers, but also to handle any needs for existing customers. It’s important that I understand their business so I can be a good ambassador for their labs. We work mostly with FDA-approved products, and also provide tools for the clinical labs to develop testing themselves.
Q: How did you get to know the inner workings of clinical labs?
A: I’ve worked in this space for about 25 years. Many of the customers that I call on today, I’ve had relationships with for 20 years. I’ve seen generations of how they do what they do.
Q: What drew you to Luminex?
A: I had taken a three-year break to be home with my kids, and I really intended to switch industries when I went back to work. But when the Luminex opportunity came to me through a recruiter, I realized it’s a place full of people that I want to be around and there’s lots of potential for growth. It also got me into areas that I hadn’t worked on before, like microbiology. It was a great fit and definitely the right decision.
Q: Did you always plan to have a career in science?
A: I never thought I’d find myself working in this space. In college, chemistry was my nemesis! I got my bachelor of science at Purdue University, where I worked in the placement office and realized that there were so many different things to do. I interviewed for everything I was qualified for and took a job at a steel company in downtown Chicago purely because I wanted to live there. Going down to the steel mills and walking around with a hardhat on toughened me up quick, but it gave me great experience in product management.
Q: What is something about you that no one at Luminex knows?
A: I’m a leap year baby, born on February 29th.
Q: If you weren’t at Luminex, where would you be?
A: I would be volunteering. That’s what I did for my three years of not working — I worked for free for other people! I’m very involved in my kids’ schools, as well as church and community organizations. I also serve on the board of directors for my regional chapter of the Clinical Laboratory Management Association. It fills me up, and I love it.
Q: If you could solve any clinical or genetic challenge, what would it be?
A: What I think would make the greatest impact for so many lives is to find a cure for cancer. It comes out of nowhere and leaves a bad trail.
Q: What is your favorite Bay Area thing to do on the weekend?
A: I never sit still. I’ll attend my kids’ sports events and if we’re not doing that, we’re usually volunteering together, going to a concert, or watching Giants baseball or Cal Berkeley football. We also enjoy escaping to the mountains of Lake Tahoe for some winter fun.
