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It’s no surprise that Nicole Leon, BS, HTL(ASCP), ended up becoming the Senior Coordinator of the Histology Research Laboratory at the Versiti Blood Research Institute. Although when she was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay, she was unsure about what career path she wanted to pursue, she always loved being in the lab. When her advisor mentioned histotechnology as a possible career, Nicole knew it was the right choice for her because she could sit behind a microscope and multitask other job duties. Since starting out as a bench histotechnologist in 1998, Nicole has gone on to move into managerial roles and now is able to combine the leadership skills she’s gained with her love of histotechnology research. 

We caught up with Nicole to learn more about her career, why she loves histology so much, and what NSH membership means to her.

What do you find most rewarding about being a histologist and why?

I absolutely love that I’m the middleman. I take pride in knowing that without me and my expertise, you really don’t have a result. It’s very gratifying to know that you’re playing a crucial role, especially in the clinical world. I’m in research now, but when I worked all those years on the clinical side, my work was crucial to a patient’s diagnosis.

Has there been anything about your career that’s surprised you?

I guess the one thing would be that I would love and grow into this profession as much as I have. I never saw myself doing all of this. I thought I was just going to go to work every day 7 to 3:30, and that was going to be the end of it. I can't believe how much I love this profession. They always say when you do something you love, it’s not work, and this doesn’t feel like work.

What advice would you give to up and coming histologists?

I think what’s really important is to ask the questions. Be curious. Just because you may have learned a certain technique, a particular way in a lab or a training program, doesn’t necessarily mean it's the only way to do things. I think being curious is very, very important.

What does winning the Histotechnologist of the Year award mean to you?

I’m speechless, to be honest. It really has shown my work and dedication to the field of histology. I tell people all the time I have the coolest job in the world, and they have no clue what a histotechnologist is. I’ve been taking pictures through the scope of some of the research I’ve been doing and showing it to family members and they’re just in awe. So this award is the culmination of all of the hard work and dedication that I’ve put in over the past almost 30 years, and it’s very special to me.

Why do you feel NSH membership is important? 

I think it’s really important, not just from an educational standpoint. NSH has grown their resource base so much. The website is full of valuable information for the histotechs. Having that connection as a member of NSH, you have connections to all of the other members and the opportunity to reach out and ask them questions. I’ve made some wonderful, dear friends from all over the United States. I’m actually co-presenting with one in Long Beach. She lives in California, and we met through NSH and consider each other best friends now. It’s just a wonderful community. And the NSH leaders and board of directors are so involved and so wanting to push this field forward and keep us going. I think that’s really important.

What do you hope to accomplish in your career in the future?

I’ve definitely got about ten years left, if not a few more. Right now, I’m really enjoying my role in research and taking this opportunity to continue to learn and grow. Any information that I can learn along the way that I can share with other people is very important to me. I see myself continuing to work with NSH presenting. I’m also a preceptor for the Histotechnology Training Program; I’m the lab operations chair. I love my involvement with NSH, and I just see myself really dedicating a lot of my time to them. 

Congratulations, Nicole!