Meet Stephen Guilfoyle, Sales and Marketing Manager here at Isotopx.
We recently caught up with Stephen and found out a little bit more about his life inside and outside of work.
Tell me about your role at Isotopx and how long you have been here.
I’ve been working for Isotopx for three and a half years. Prior to that I’ve worked in mass spectrometry for almost all of my working life, mostly in inorganic mass spec but I have also had a bit of time in the life sciences, notably in the biopharma sector. Outside of mass spec I did briefly work in the construction sector, but that’s a story for another time! At Isotopx I wear a marketing hat and a sales hat. My marketing role is mostly around maintaining the public presence of Isotopx – organising conference attendance, maintaining the website, creating new literature, that sort of thing. From a sales perspective I support the product managers (they are directly customer-facing at Isotopx) and I look after our prospecting and forecasting. It sounds like a cliché, but no two days are the same. I do a bit of travel and have been lucky enough to visit China and Japan a few times recently. I love both countries, so that’s a huge benefit for me.
Posing in front of the Pudong skyline in Shanghai, 2004,
Tell me about yourself and your hobbies
Outside of work, I’m married with two highly energetic kids. They are both in high school and currently deciding their own career paths. As both their mother and I are scientists, quite naturally neither child wants to pursue a career in science! When I’m not working, I love that very typical British middle-aged pastime of gardening, I get a huge sense of satisfaction when the garden looks “just so”. I’m also a keen runner, although I came to it late in life (starting at 47) meaning I’m not very fast. However, I can run long distances and usually do one or two ultra-marathons per year. Running those distances gives me a great chance to clear my head, and like any endurance sport gives you a good sense of satisfaction when you get to the finish line.
Steve finishing a 40 mile ultra-marathon in his home town of Warrington, ready for a good sit down.
What is your favourite food
Over the years I developed a keen taste for Asian food, whether it’s super fresh Japanese sushi, spicy and flavoursome chicken from China’s south west, or the tender, fatty meat in Korean bulgogi.
What is your top 5 movies of all time
Not sure I can think of five, but my absolute favourite is “Lost in Translation”, which for those who haven’t seen it, is about an American actor spending time in Japan, trying to acclimatise to the cultural differences as well as the jetlag. I first watched it on a plane to Asia, and it resonated with me so much I was in tears.
Singing at a Karaoke bar in China, 2004.
What is one thing on your bucket list
Last year I took a work trip to northern Japan, specifically to the mountainous Fukushima region. It was never a highly populated region but now it is quieter than ever. I would love to spend a month trekking around the area, staying in local B&Bs, and eating local food. I’d get to really explore and understand the area, whilst also putting something back into a local economy that has struggled with tourism since the tsunami there.