Female Disruptors: Emily Barry of AbbVie On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, we had the pleasure to interview Emily Barry.

Emily Barry, MBA, is the Vice President, Portfolio Performance & Business Excellence at AbbVie. Emily oversees business excellence across all of AbbVie’s therapeutic areas within pipeline commercialization. Her responsibilities include portfolio governance, R&D business development and integrations, enterprise transformation initiatives, and portfolio planning and analytics. In this role, she drives performance insights and continuous improvement to support executive decision-making and execution. Prior to her current role, Emily led strategy for AbbVie’s therapeutic toxins portfolio and held senior leadership positions across the neuroscience organization, overseeing portfolio development and commercialization.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

My path into this industry was somewhat nontraditional.

As a child, my father worked for the federal government, so our family moved every few years. We lived in Florida, Oklahoma, and eventually a small town outside Anchorage, Alaska. Cable TV wasn’t available where we lived, yet C-SPAN would reliably come through. I would watch it for hours and became fascinated by congressional hearings, which sparked my interest in government, policy, and law.

I earned a degree in political science and planned to end up in Congress. After college, I became a lobbyist for a nonprofit organization, advocating for its legislative priorities while also running its political action committee. That led to broader roles in politics, including political consulting and managing a gubernatorial campaign.

After a few years, though, I realized it wasn’t the long-term path for me. So, after accepting a project management role at Amgen, I moved to California thinking it would be a temporary stop. However, I quickly realized the skills I’d built in politics — setting strategy, mobilizing people, navigating complexity, and driving change — translated naturally to the biopharmaceutical industry.

That move also allowed me to earn my MBA, build a family with my husband and our two daughters, and contribute to work that has a meaningful impact on patients. More than 23 years later, I would make the same decision again.

The leap of faith taught me that growth often comes when you’re willing to leave the path you expected for the one where you can make the greatest impact.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

My work is grounded in curiosity, continuous improvement, and a willingness to challenge assumptions.

With the emergence of AI and other rapid advances, the world is changing faster than many traditional corporate processes were designed to handle. That creates both pressure and opportunity. For me, disruption starts with asking whether the way we work today will still be relevant five years from now, or even two years from now. Are we solving tomorrow’s problems with today’s tools? Are we making decisions at the speed and quality our business requires? Are we willing to rethink long-standing processes before they become barriers to progress?

I don’t do complacency well. I’ve always been solution-oriented and looking for the next problem to solve. The phrase that challenges me most is “This is the way we have always done it.” That mindset can keep organizations anchored to practices that may no longer serve patients, employees, or the business.

To me, disruption isn’t about change for the sake of change. It’s about questioning what exists and finding better, more purposeful ways to work that empower teams to think differently, move faster, and create stronger outcomes for the people we serve.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I love this question because finding humor in setbacks is an important skill!

Whenever I make mistakes, I try to share them with my colleagues, because some of the best growth comes when things don’t go as planned. If you’re never failing, you may not be stretching yourself enough. Failure is part of innovation.

During my time in politics, I was helping run a fundraising dinner for a candidate when the person scheduled to give the big fundraising speech — the most important part of the event — backed out at the last minute.

As the campaign team scrambled behind the scenes, it became clear that someone needed to step in. That someone was me.

I remember standing backstage, looking out at a room full of strangers, with only a general idea of what I wanted to say. And when a senior campaign worker suggested I adjust my delivery just moments before I went on stage, I froze. My mind went completely blank.

To this day, I’m not entirely sure what I said, although I’m fairly confident a “y’all” made its way in there somewhere. (The best way I can describe it is the scene in Elf when Will Ferrell’s character improvises a singing telegram. That was me, except with a fundraising pitch.)

I survived the moment, and I learned three lessons that have stayed with me:

First, authenticity matters. If you’re trying to perform like someone else, people will feel it.

Second, preparation reduces stress and creates flexibility. I try to enter high-pressure situations with a few pivot plans in mind because something almost always changes.

And third, you’re often your own toughest critic. The moment usually feels far worse to you than it looks to everyone else. Give yourself grace, learn from it, and keep going.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

I would not be where I am today without the people who believed in my potential, took a chance on me, and encouraged me to see more in myself. I’ve also been shaped by the people who inspired me long before I entered the workplace.

One of the most important influences in my life was my grandmother. She grew up during the Great Depression and helped support her family by working in a factory as a young child. Her stories of hardship, resilience, and sacrifice shaped how I view opportunity. They gave me a deep appreciation for the doors that were opened for me and a sense of responsibility to make the most of them.

Professionally, I’ve been fortunate to work with leaders who saw my potential before I fully saw it in myself. They trusted me, pushed me outside my comfort zone, and gave me opportunities to grow. One of the greatest gifts a mentor can give is confidence before certainty. Sometimes you need someone else to say, “You’re ready,” before you believe it yourself.

I’ve also been lucky to have a strong network of peer mentors. They’re the people I rely on for honest feedback, perspective, and support. They remind me that leadership doesn’t have to be isolating, and that you can be ambitious while still asking for help.

As I’ve moved from being mentored to mentoring others, I try to pay that forward by seeing potential in people, creating opportunities for them to grow, and offering the same kind of encouragement that helped shape my own journey.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

Three of the best pieces of advice I have received are:

1. Be curious

Your ability to influence others is much stronger when you enter a conversation seeking to understand rather than trying to prove a point. A strongly held opinion can shut a conversation down, while a thoughtful question can open it up. I’ve seen this play out in complex business discussions where teams bring different priorities and perspectives. When conversations begin with conclusions, people defend their positions. When they begin with curiosity, people are more willing to share what they’re seeing and what they need. That’s often where the best solutions emerge.

2. Focus on getting it right, not being right

This is advice I heard from Brené Brown, and it has stayed with me. Earlier in my career, I believed I needed to be confident and firm in my position, especially as a driven female leader in rooms that were often primarily male. Over time, I realized that needing to be right can limit your effectiveness. The stronger leadership approach is to focus on getting it right. That means asking better questions, inviting different perspectives, and being willing to change your mind when new information emerges. Confidence matters, but humility makes it more impactful.

3. Don’t borrow someone else’s bad behavior

Leadership is often tested in challenging moments. When someone becomes defensive or frustrated, it can be tempting to respond in kind. But when both sides escalate, the conversation rarely moves forward. As leaders, we set the tone. Sometimes that means creating space, allowing silence, or simply pausing until people are ready to engage more constructively. Staying grounded doesn’t mean being passive. It means choosing the response that gives the conversation the best chance to move forward.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

I recently moved into a new role, and I’m excited to dig into what we often call the “art of the possible” at AbbVie.

For me, that means exploring how new technologies and new ways of working can create greater value across the organization. I’m especially focused on strengthening portfolio-level capabilities so we can make better decisions, move with discipline, and continue advancing our pipeline — with patient impact in mind. The latter is especially important to me given my experience living with Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). I’ve participated in clinical trials for years as an NF1 patient — alongside my daughters — so I know firsthand what it’s like to be a patient and how critical the patient perspective is in clinical development. The most incredible innovation doesn’t mean anything if it’s not developed with the patient in mind.

I’m also a big believer in crowdsourcing ideas. We have an incredible depth of expertise across the organization, and one of the biggest opportunities I see is creating better ways to tap into that collective intelligence. Innovation rarely comes from one function, one team, or one leader. It comes from creating an environment where the best ideas can surface and scale.

As I think about what’s next, I want to keep connecting strategy, technology, people, and purpose in ways that move important work forward. Patients deserve no less.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

One of the biggest challenges women disruptors can face is the fine line between what needs to be said and how it is received.

In my experience, women are often judged more closely for style, tone, and delivery. A woman who challenges a decision, pushes for a different approach, or speaks with conviction may be described as too assertive, too ambitious, or even aggressive. Similar behaviors in male counterparts are often viewed as confidence, decisiveness, or strong leadership.

That creates an added layer of mental effort, because women may feel they have to constantly calibrate how they communicate while still trying to drive meaningful change.

Disruption requires candor. It requires the willingness to challenge assumptions and question the status quo. When women have to spend extra energy managing how their message may be perceived, it makes that work even harder.

I also think many women face added pressures outside the workplace that aren’t always visible. For those in the sandwich generation, that can mean balancing the responsibilities of parenting while caring for aging family members. Those demands create additional complexity, especially when disruption requires time and space to think differently and push new ideas forward.

This isn’t unique to women. Single parents, caregivers, and many others face similar pressures. But for many women, these dynamics remain underrecognized. That’s why it’s so important for organizations to create environments where different voices, leadership styles, and life circumstances are supported without lowering expectations for impact.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

I really enjoy The Jefferson Fisher Podcast. He’s a trial lawyer and communication expert who shares practical advice on handling conflict, communicating more effectively, and setting healthy boundaries. I also highly recommend his book, The Next Conversation: Argue Less, Talk More.

He’s an incredibly gracious person, and I appreciate his practicality. Leadership requires difficult conversations. You have to give feedback, challenge assumptions, manage tension, and make decisions when people don’t always agree. His approach is a great reminder that the words we choose, the tone we bring, and the space we create can change the outcome.

One lesson that has stayed with me is the importance of staying grounded during conflict. You don’t have to match someone else’s emotion or intensity to be direct. In fact, the calmest response is often the most effective. That idea has influenced how I approach leadership communication, especially in high-pressure situations where people are looking to you to set the tone.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

It’s simple, but I would inspire a movement to “be kind.”

Kindness is sometimes mistaken for softness, but it’s a strength. It requires discipline, self-awareness, and empathy, especially when engaging with people who see the world differently than you do. In many spaces today, it feels easier to react quickly, assume the worst, or respond with judgment. Kindness asks us to pause and choose a better response.

I believe many challenges become harder when people stop giving one another grace. My ask would be for everyone to do one kind thing for someone else every day. Hold the door. Pay for someone’s coffee. Send a colleague a note recognizing their work. Check in on someone who may be struggling. Or simply pause before jumping to a conclusion.

If more people practiced kindness with intention, we’d create more trust, stronger connections, and more room for constructive dialogue.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My favorite life lesson quote is, “Power through it.”

It’s a mantra I’ve repeated to myself for years during stressful or challenging times. For me, it is not about ignoring difficulty or pretending something is easy. It’s about reminding myself that I can keep moving forward, even when the path feels uncertain or uncomfortable.

I didn’t realize how often I used the phrase until one day I heard my mother-in-law repeat it while she was fighting severe ulcerative colitis. On her hardest days, she would say, “I have to think like Emily, and I am going to power through it.”

She ultimately passed away from her disease about 13 years ago. Since then, the phrase has carried even more meaning for me. It reminds me not only of her strength and resilience, but also of the impact we can have on others without even realizing it.

Now, when I say, “power through it,” I think of her. I think of perseverance, grace, courage, and the strength to keep moving forward, even when the path is difficult.

How can our readers follow you online?

I don’t have a YouTube channel, or anything like that, so you won’t hear me say “follow, like, and subscribe” anytime soon. But I am active on LinkedIn and would be glad to connect with readers there.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!