Episode 29: The Courage to Start Again, with Kiran Kang

Kiran’s journey into regulatory leadership isn’t a straight line. It’s shaped by curiosity, resilience, and one particularly defining period where everything slowed down.She didn’t grow up around science or the industry. Her interest came from wanting to understand how things work, from the human body to the medicines her grandmother relied on. That curiosity led her into biomedical science, then into lab-based roles, and eventually into positions where she began to overlap with quality and problem solving.

But the moment that really changed things came years later.

During COVID, Kiran stepped away from her career to raise her two young children. At the same time, she was dealing with depression and a genuine loss of identity. Work had been a big part of how she saw herself, and without it, she had to confront that shift head-on.

What stands out is how openly she talks about that period. The counselling, the self-reflection, and the ongoing effort to understand herself better. Not as a one-off fix, but as something she continues to invest in. It’s an honest reminder that these moments aren’t always visible from the outside, but they shape how people show up afterwards.

Instead of rushing back, she used that time to rebuild. She studied, developed her understanding of quality, and slowly put the foundations in place for what came next.

Then an opportunity came through someone she had worked with before. A startup role in Quality & Regulatory. A clear step up, and one that came with uncertainty.She took it anyway.That decision became the inflection point. It accelerated her learning, gave her the space to grow, and ultimately set the direction for her career.

Today, she’s operating at a senior level, drawn to environments where she can have real impact, whether that’s building in startups, improving patient pathways, or contributing to how regulation evolves.

Looking back, it’s not just the career moves that matter. It’s the willingness to face difficult periods honestly, and then still choose to move forward.

If you’re going through a period where things feel uncertain, whether that’s in your career or personally, you’re not the only one. And if you’re waiting until everything feels clear before making your next move, that moment might not come.

Sometimes the next step comes while you’re still figuring things out.