Honoree took a job in different industry, finds inspiration and reward in change

The tenth annual Young Professional Initiative (YPI) of Northwest Louisiana 40 Under 40 Gala was held at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 3 at the Shreveport Convention Center. Proudly presented by The Forum, this long-anticipated gala proved to be a night of honor for the 40 successful individuals who continually strive to make a difference in their community and beyond.

The gala began with a cocktail reception and was immediately followed by a formal dinner, awards ceremony and after-party celebration.

Emerie Eck Gentry, YPI president since 2014, loves her job and the opportunity to participate in awards like the 40 Under 40. “Every year, I look forward to showcasing the talents and hard work of 40 deserving young professionals who are in the trenches making a difference,” Gentry said. “These awards bring people together and bring awareness to what all is being done in the community and who is doing it.”

“Since this is our 10th anniversary, I hope all the 40 Under 40 honorees, past and present, will continue to contribute to the community and to the Young Professional Initiative, in order to make Shreveport-Bossier the best place to live, work, play and stay,” Gentry said.

This year, the 2016 overall winner of the 40 Under 40 Awards was John H. Chidlow Jr., Ph.D. Chidlow, a Shreveport native and the cofounder and CEO of Innolyzer Labs, LLC, received his B.A. in biology at Baylor University and his M.S. and Ph.D. from LSUH- SC-Shreveport. He later did a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Pharmacology at Yale University School of Medicine (2012) and received the Dean’s Award for excellence in graduate studies and a Ruth Kirschstien post-doctoral research award.

Chidlow’s advice to other young professionals is simple yet profound. “Do what you love,” he advised. “I spent almost 12 years in a laboratory doing basic research. I was good at it and I had success, but I hated it. It was tedious and confining. So I decided to take a chance – I made a change and took a job in a totally different industry.”

Upon leaving academia, Chidlow became the operations manager at Syn Maxx II, LLC, where he was involved in business planning, sales, directing research and development efforts and financial management. During this time, Dr. Chidlow also created and managed his first company, J. Chidlow Consulting, LLC.

During that time, Chidlow learned a lot about himself. “During my time in a new environment, I was able to figure out what I wanted to do and combine my training with skills I learned there. It led to what I do now. I can’t predict the future with any of this, I’m not making a ton of money doing it … yet,” Chidlow said. “If it fails, I’ll have to start over from scratch. But, I’m happy doing it. My advice is if you’re unhappy in what you do, don’t let fear of the unknown and outside influences affect your decisions – make a change and see what happens. As long as you put your full effort into whatever you do, you will eventually find success and happiness.”

Becoming an entrepreneur is what Chidlow deems one of his greatest professional achievements. “I would say my greatest professional achievement is creating something from the ground up, both company “It was building something in Shreveport that will have worldwide reach, a product that is universally relevant and a company that will foster the development of a new sector in our area.”

While his career is important to him, Chidlow isn’t all about just work. He also enjoys skydiving, bungie jumping, cliff diving and scuba diving.

Chidlow knows what it’s like to overcome obstacles. “My father had a long battle with Parkinson’s disease, and it created obstacles for me that I didn’t expect,” Chidlow said. “As he became more ill, it affected the level of interaction we could have, and I lost many aspects of him over time, even before the disease took him two years ago.”

While doing his postdoc in Connecticut, Chidlow was 2,000 miles away and unable to be of help to his father. “This had a profound effect on me that I tried to compensate for by pouring myself into work at a burnout rate that led to depression,” Chidlow said. “I overcame this in time by addressing it internally and balancing what I could do with accepting what I could not. Getting through the first three months after my father’s death was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.”

For more information on the YPI, visit www.shreveportchamber.org/young-professionals-initiative. and product simultaneously,” Chidlow said.

– Betsy St. Amant