What inspires you about healthcare communications?
It is not just an interest, it is a passion! I have a degree in Applied Biology and am a scientist at heart; what healthcare communication allows me to do is take science, mix it with creativity and commercial acumen and use this to make a difference to people – whether it is those who have a health condition, healthcare professionals, clients or my talented teams, I know I am positively impacting someone, somewhere. I get out of bed everyday knowing that I am going to spend the day doing what I love most, and it might just help someone.
Where do you feel you have made the most impact in your role?
I have always been a fervent supporter of the BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) and female leadership agenda and I feel that as a leader it is always my duty to do more to help promote a diverse and inclusive organisation. When I look across imc group and specifically the programmes we have in place for recruitment and employee engagement, our focus is to ensure we have a diverse and gender-neutral approach. I am extremely proud of what we have achieved on this.
What has been your greatest challenge, and how did you overcome it?
A challenge that I constantly face sadly, is the fact I am of a BAME background coupled with being an ambitious female. I overcome this successfully by always trying to be an inspirational leader, constantly achieving business goals through my foresight of the healthcare industry and being focused about attaining my career ambitions. Above all, I am immensely proud of my heritage and gender and as such, I have never allowed racism or gender inequality deter me from losing focus or my can-do attitude. I live and breathe by something Michelle Obama said – “Am I good enough? Yes I am.”
How do you manage a satisfactory work-life balance?
I have never really had that much difficulty in managing a work life balance as I love what I do! Working with talented people who are zealous about healthcare communication drives me both professionally and personally, so I have never really regarded work as work. However, saying that, as a leader it is important to set a good example, so I always encourage a work hard play hard culture across the group and I constantly remind the team of the importance of having ‘me’ and family time.
Has your vision for imc changed in the last year?
No, it has not really changed. The pandemic has made everyone look at the way they work and how we interact with healthcare professionals but ultimately my vision has always remained the same, to create a group comprised of healthcare agencies that provide insights driven best-in-class, value add and transformative omnichannel solutions aimed at improving patient safety and outcomes across the entire lifecycle of a brand.
