At age 15, Chris Schneider was playing soccer at a high-enough level that he qualified for the prestigious U.S. Olympic Development Program. He had realistic designs on eventually going pro and had mentally steeled himself for the sacrifice it would require.

And then, inexplicably, his body started to weaken. “I just slowed down,” he recalls.

After a handful of doctor’s visits — he grew up in Baltimore, so he was able to avail himself of the A-list staff at Johns Hopkins — Schneider received a diagnosis of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), the third-most common form of muscular dystrophy and a condition for which there is no cure, treatment or long-term prognosis.

“It was a lifequake. It rocked my world,” Schneider says.

But it also set him on a path that led to professional prominence before he turned 40. “The doctor said to me, ‘Listen, you’re a smart guy. Focus on academics,’” he continues. “I realized at that moment that doctors and researchers and pharma were a beacon of hope for me. I found my purpose early on.”

Schneider studied pharma marketing at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, graduating as valedictorian within his major. He went straight to work at GSK and spent the next decade carrying the proverbial bag, ultimately ascending to district sales and field capabilities managerial roles. Along the way, he received a master’s degree in organizational dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania.

That course of study aligned with Schneider’s broader career goals. “I wanted to understand principles of leadership. I wanted to learn how to effect change on a larger scale,” he says. By the end of his GSK tenure, Schneider was “kind of leading a sales training organization. I was the first face people saw when they walked through the door at GSK.”

To hear former DeepIntent CMO Marcella Milliet Sciorra tell it, that was a role Schneider was born to fill. “Chris is the type of person who can connect with everyone,” she says. “He’s extremely empathetic and he really gets people. He has all the qualities of a great leader.”

Schneider’s diagnosis, and the subsequent reckoning with his new reality, drew out those qualities. Around the time he came off the road and settled into a GSK managerial role, his disease symptoms started to worsen. “They made me a little different than one deviation from the norm,” is how he puts it. The changes prompted him to worry that his illness would impinge on his burgeoning career.

“There was this thought I had that, when you’re a pharma rep or part of a corporate organization, you don’t want to be too different. You want to be somewhat within the bell curve,” Schneider explains.

Happily, the industry is a different place — specifically, a more open-minded and compassionate one — than it was even a decade ago. “The corporate world has changed to encourage all kinds of diversity,” Schneider says. This realization liberated him to share his story with colleagues and acquaintances alike.

“What you put out into the universe is what you get back. People thanked me and then they told me what they were going through,” he continues. “That showed me it’s OK. Vulnerability is a kind of superpower.”

Schneider’s condition also instilled in him a roll-with-the-punches mentality, which served him well as he shifted from a traditional big-pharma gig into one that straddles the media/technology divide. Upon departing GSK, Schneider led a 20-strong DuPont Nutrition and Health team that marketed probiotics and dietary supplements. Upon arriving at Roku in early 2022, he ventured onto yet another playing field.

It’s an ideal pairing of company and individual. As Roku’s health and wellness marketing lead, Schneider has been charged with bolstering relationships between change-wary pharma marketers and a key player in the rapidly expanding streaming universe. He’s similarly involved with helping Roku’s internal teams better understand pharma’s quirks and verbiage.

“The focus is on working with clients to confirm their perceptions of streaming, but also to bust the myths that are out there,” he explains. “We’re educating about CTV as a whole but also about the category itself.”

Asked to identify the most pervasive myths, Schneider points to the widely held — and wildly inaccurate — perception that the 50-and-older set doesn’t stream. “Come on. They got hooked on Stranger Things like everyone else and they never looked back,” he says.

Schneider also disputes the notion that marketers can’t connect with HCPs via CTV. “Doctors are leaning into streaming during what we call these ‘blue jeans moments’: They do their patient charts while they’re streaming. The living room couch is the new point of care.”

Central to Roku’s pitch is the wealth of research around streaming it has conducted. Among other learnings, the company has revealed that doctors who have cut the cable cord are twice as likely to restrict in-person visits from pharma sales reps.

“People in pharma — at the end of the day, they’re scientists. People in this industry respond to data,” Schneider notes. “The goal is to provide that information that convinces people they can’t continue down the same old path and expect to get the same results.”

Schneider embraces a similarly progressive mindset in his patient journey. Since early 2020, he has been participating in the first clinical trial of a FSHD drug, Fulcrum Therapeutics’ losmapimod. His enrollment was in itself a stroke of good fortune: His wife, a health-tech executive, shared his story in front of a group of investors. One of them approached her after the presentation and suggested that Schneider might want to look into the imminent trial.

“It was really lucky. Sometimes when you’re focused on the day-in-day-out of your life, you can miss a big opportunity,” he says.

To that end, a great majority of Schneider’s day-in-day-out is devoted to his children and his job. “People ask, ‘What do you do for fun?’ and I’m like, ‘Well, I’m in the depths of parenthood. I get some time for myself every so often.’”

While he is no longer able to play soccer himself, he remains involved with the sport as the coach of his 7-year-old’s team. “Nothing has diminished my love for the game,” he stresses. “I’m still a massive fan.”

That sunny perspective seems central to Schneider’s personal and professional growth. He may lament what he has lost, but he doesn’t let his condition close him off to joy or opportunity. Rather, Schneider believes his battle with FSHD has made him a better parent and person.

“Having kids changes your perspective regardless of the circumstances, but I’ve tried to show them that it’s possible to live and be successful despite challenges like having a rare disease,” he says. “When you fall down, you get back up. But you can ask for help.”

Chris Schneider

Roku / head of marketing and solutions, health and wellness, CPG / March 2023-present

Roku / vertical marketing lead, health and wellness / February 2022-March 2023

International Flavors and Fragrances / senior director, global marketing leader, health / February 2021-January 2022

DuPont Nutrition and Health / U.S. healthcare provider marketing lead / January 2019-January 2021

GSK / numerous roles, including district sales manager, field capabilities manager for vaccines and specialty businesses, and executive sales specialist / May 2006-December 2018