James E Willett

James E. Willett is a thirty-year veteran of the medical device industry who has spent his career doing the very thing this series is about: helping people find work that fits and build careers that last.

He most recently served as Executive Chairman of the Board and CEO of Tenacore, LLC, where he led all operations and positioned the clinical-equipment lifecycle firm for nationwide expansion. Earlier roles included Executive Vice President and Chief Product and Innovation Officer at Vyaire Medical, President of the healthcare technology service provider TRIMEDX, and Vice President and General Manager of Covidien's Respiratory Solutions business, which he helped revitalize and turn into a billion-dollar-plus division within Medtronic — completing two major acquisitions and returning it to a market-leading position in global respiratory care.

Throughout his career, Willett has held global leadership roles at Medtronic, Zimmer, Karl Storz Endoscopy, and Applied Medical, guiding the market introduction of novel technologies including the Medtronic StealthStation image-guided surgery platform, the Zimmer Torus external fixation system, and the LigaSure vessel-sealing system. A recurring thread runs through all of it: building high-performing teams and reigniting double-digit growth in flat or declining markets through recognition, reward, and clear direction.

That work meant hiring, mentoring, and developing people at every stage — from first-job hires figuring out who they were to seasoned leaders deciding what came next. He saw, again and again, how much of the conventional career advice young people receive is well-meaning but wrong, and how few honest, practical guides exist to counter it. The Career TRUTHS series is his answer: straight talk and real tools for the decisions that actually shape a working life.

Willett holds both a Bachelor of Arts and an MBA from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He is the founder of C2 Consulting, where he focuses on career development and coaching, and he writes the Career TRUTHS series to give students, parents, and counselors the honest guidance he wishes more people had.