When Rebecca Shanahan was interviewing for her first general counsel position in health care, she was asked about her ability to transition from consumer electronics to such a highly regulated industry.

“I know all about charged-couple devices in a television, and I'm not an engineer, but I know how to sit down with the engineer and really understand [the subject matter] in a way that allows me to apply it to the law,” Shanahan recalled telling the interviewer, speaking of her then-job as an in-house lawyer at RCA. “If I can do that, I think I can figure out health care.”

For someone who enjoys challenges and problem-solving as much as Shanahan does, the move to health care was an opportunity to hone her “rapid-fire” legal skills while learning to become a strategic partner with the business.