The Pioneer: Conversations with Dr. Charlotte Hughes Huntley, MPH, PhD, Public Health Entrepreneur and Podcast Trailblazer

“Some people have this calling. When you are an entrepreneur and you have any bit of that in your body, you are always curious, always wanting to explore.”

Dr. Charlotte Hughes Huntley, MPH, PhD, CEO and Principal Consultant of DRHuntley, LLC

INTRODUCTION

A public health career is often not straightforward, with multiple education pathways, career twists, and unique opportunities to jump on. Dr. Charlotte Hughes Huntley, CEO and Principal Consultant at DRCHHuntley, LLC, a recognized leader and voice in the public health arena, has carved an inspiring path through clinical settings, government health departments, private organizations, academia, and into consulting and podcasting.

In the three-part series, “The Pioneer,” the Public Health Insight team speaks with Dr. Huntley, about her journey into public health and her rich experience across a cross-section of public health sectors.  Dr. Huntley details how this diverse background led her to initiate the Public Health Epidemiology Conversations podcast (originally Public Health Epidemiology Careers), one of the first independent public health podcasts globally, which has been releasing consistent content since 2017. Through this podcast and other activities, Dr. Huntley supports up-and-coming public health entrepreneurs, answering key questions and sharing her valuable experience.

In this article, we share some highlights from conversations with Dr. Huntley from:

• Episode 217: Navigating the Field of Epidemiology & Discovering Public Health
• Episode 218: Starting a Podcast & Finding a Niche
• Episode 219: Public Health Consulting and Entrepreneurship

Navigating the Field of Epidemiology & Discovering Public Health 

Like many aspiring public health professionals, Dr. Huntley had an early interest in health, initially engaging in a biology and pre-med education track. Early in her education, she shifted gears towards the microbiology laboratory and a path that allowed her to focus on and support her growing young family.

Jumping on an opportunity to relocate for work saw Dr. Huntley move to a wider role in the microbiology lab and to completing her undergraduate degrees. With the support of and advice from mentors, she continued to expand her education and professional experience. This led to work in the public sector at a state health department and to discovering public health – a field where practitioners work on keeping populations safe, address “big picture” problems, and utilize a proactive approach to treat entire groups of people. This field of study resonated with Dr. Huntley, and she went on to complete her PhD in Epidemiology. In the public sector, public health work and epidemiology focused predominantly on communicable disease detection and control.

 Shifting into the private sector, specifically the pharmaceutical industry, opened up a new side of epidemiology, with a strong emphasis on non-communicable diseases. As Dr. Huntley explains, pharma sits at the cross section of public health and business. Investing effectively in treatments and interventions relies on accurate population modelling and forecasting – relying on advanced techniques to understand global trends and determine what the health needs are of given populations now and in the future. 

Throughout the advances in Dr. Huntley’s career, she has kept herself in the academic space and well connected with the wider public health professional community. She is an adjunct professor as well as the Chair of Epidemiology Communications for the American Public Health Association (APHA).  

The above overview only scratches the surface of Dr. Huntley’s amazing public health career – check out the full episode here:

Starting a Public Health Podcast and Finding a Niche

Dr. Huntley, host of the Public Health Epidemiology Conversations and Public Health Entrepreneurs podcasts, has been using podcasting as a medium to share insights to the public health community since 2017 – long before podcasting was a recognized tool for delivering professional health information.  

In her conversations with the Public Health Insight team, Dr. Huntley details her key motivations for initiating her podcast:

Creative “itch”

Dr. Huntley describes her work in pharma as a fantastic and rewarding challenge where she had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects and present findings through a public health lens. However, as in many jobs, there were limitations to what she could pursue. “I had more to give,” Dr. Huntley explains while detailing how podcasting provided a crucial creative outlet to explore more topics where she could focus on passions and impact in public health.   

Social networking and LinkedIn

Dr. Huntley noted that her advice and insights were frequently sought after through networks such as Linked In. The same questions would come up, particularly around career progression.

Podcasting was an outlet, allowing Dr. Huntley to reach a wider audience. Through the podcast, she has responded to common questions and provided career coaching.

Curiosity

Can I start a podcast? Would it be successful?  Dr. Huntley’s curious nature and the desire to find out what is possible was a key component in the decision to start and commit to a podcast.

After more than 400 episodes of uninterrupted, engaging content, the answer is clearly: yes!

Over time, Dr. Huntley’s initial podcast has evolved, originally titled Public Health Epidemiology Careers, the podcast is now Public Health Epidemiology Conversations – bringing a more open feel to the discussions.

Last year, Dr. Huntley released a new, additional podcast series: Public Health Entrepreneurs. This podcast is aimed specifically at those who are interested in entrepreneurship to help them get started and find the resources they need to become successful.   

As Dr. Huntley demonstrates, podcasting can be an invaluable tool for public health professionals to reach a wide audience across the globe. Asked what advice she has for budding podcasters, Dr. Huntley is extraordinarily encouraging, stressing the importance of strategy, specifically the need to be clear on: the what, why, and to whom.

The full episode below delves into more of Dr. Huntley’s podcasting insights:

Public Health Consulting and Entrepreneurship

The original intent behind the Public Health Epidemiology Conversations podcast was to provide a platform for Dr. Huntley to respond to the career questions and struggles of budding public health professionals, with a focus on coaching and teaching. Through this foray into podcasting, Dr. Huntley has built a business around her extraordinary public health experience.  Dr.CHHuntley, LLC 1) provides communications and epidemiology consulting services, primarily serving large non-profit and government organizations focused on BIPOC support and 2) produces Dr. Huntley’s signature podcast, Public Health Epidemiology Conversations.

As a consultant, Dr. Huntley and her team draw upon their wealth of expertise to support large organizations with communications including translating information into plain language, supporting an organization’s owned media, and other projects.

Dr. Huntley comments that with each project, new lessons are learned that can be applied to a wide range of public health challenges. Sharing this new knowledge gained is a highlight of entrepreneurship. Some of these lessons feed into the podcast and she has invited representatives of the organizations she works with to be guests.

Dr. Huntley continues to support new entrepreneurs through her podcast and has recently announced a forthcoming book which will focus on:

1. Viewing Public Health through a business lens – teaching people to identify gaps, unmet needs, and opportunities in public health and
2. Supporting entrepreneurs, both those who are just contemplating breaking into public health entrepreneurship and those who are a bit lost or stuck in their journey

Check out the full episode and more advice for public health entrepreneurs here:

Final thoughts

Dr. Charlotte Hughes Huntley’s incredible journey through public health and into podcasting and public health consulting is truly inspiring, particularly for anyone who has had a non-linear career path. Dr. Huntley continues to inspire the next generation of public health practitioners and budding entrepreneurs through her weekly Public Health Epidemiology Conversations podcast, with new content released every Tuesday and Public Health Entrepreneurs every Thursday.