Season 4

We’ve had a number of entrepreneurs on the show over the years, but few have taken the kind of leap that Rola did when she stepped far outside her comfort zone and started a children’s clothing company. Back in Pharma and in leadership at Merck, Rola reflects on the lessons learned from both radical and lateral moves through her career. She shares her perspective on the power of curiosity, the impact of truly listening to the customer and the role of humility in her success. The PharmaBrand...

It is striking that an industry with such impactful stories to tell so rarely tells those stories impactfully. In this episode award-winning filmmaker Calvin Hudson Hwang shares how he marries two career paths (seasoned pharma executive and acclaimed filmmaker) to create impactful long-form content focused on health, health access, and health equity. In our conversation we dive into Clavin's business SUPRE Films, the impact his movies are having, and the specific focus his business has on bri...

Our guest for this episode, Jenny Plant, has spent a large part of her career demystifying the role of the agency Account Manager, so it should come as no surprise that she articulately covers so many topics in one conversation. From ‘selling’ (not a word Jenny uses, by the way!), to partnering with Procurement, to the value of differentiated Account and Project roles, to the place for Account Leads in the age of AI Jenny shares her insight on the many dimensions of Account and Agency life.

With the ‘Age of AI’ being a cornerstone event for PharmaBrands, it makes sense that we’ve had lots of AI-focused conversations on the podcast. This episode picks that topic but with a twist. Our guest Sara Rodrigues shares her personal AI adoption journey, taking us from feeling left behind to becoming an AI Champion within Vertex. Placing that journey in the context of working in a large and dynamic pharma company will resonate as many of us struggle to adapt to the technology changes that ...

Health tech — from wearables, to platforms to med devices — continue to transform condition management and care delivery. In this episode Jamie Harsevoort, CEO of LaunchIt Solutions, traces the arc of his entrepreneurial journey, highlights the incredible impact of a principled approach to partnership, and shares his criteria for success in market. This conversation comes at a time of great scale for LaunchIt, with a Shoppers Drug Mart partnership and an expansion to Brazil well under way. Th...

It feels like we are all tackling some transformation challenge these days – whether it is evolving the way we work personally, adopting new tools and tech on our teams or helping to steer a brand or division onto the right path for the future. Bayer has gone all in and is undergoing transformation on a global scale as they shift to a model called Dynamic Shared Ownership. With candor, humour and incredible insight, Viktoria Friedrich, shares how that new way of working is driving change at B...

We all know that big milestones are an opportunity to reflect and that’s just what Dave does on this episode. In conversation with our host Neil Follett, Dave reflects on the motivation for Maven when it was just an idea and shares the moment he took the leap to start out his own business. He reflects on staffing and scaling up and talks about the clients and changes that have powered Maven’s success over the last decade. Dave's thoughtful answers make for an episode we know you’ll enjoy. The...

Orbiting around the major galaxies of pharma, insurance and health delivery organizations is an entire universe of entrepreneurs and disruptors looking to make a meaningful impact. As the CEO of Matter, a global healthcare startup incubator, community nexus and corporate innovation accelerator, Steven Collens has an incredibly unique perspective on the connections, insights and business that drive change. For more than a decade Steven and his team have been at the forefront of digital health,...

Tony Miller has had one heck of a career. After an early run of hopping between agency roles he landed in the creative department and has never looked back. In this episode Tony shares his enthusiasm for the craft while reflecting on what makes a client a great partner, the genesis of breakthrough ideas (hint: it is all about teamwork!) and the power of creativity within constraints. Tony speaks with equal parts passion and pragmatism and this episode is a great listen for anyone involved in ...

Being in leadership positions since the mid 90s Dave Drodge has seen his share of digital transformation. From early web implementations, to social and mobile adoption to today’s AI rollouts, Dave has been at the forefront of what’s next. In today’s episode Dave shares some of the insights he’s gained from the past and some of his thoughts on where we are going in the future. Through it all he also reflects on what can be done today to drive meaningful and sustained organizational change. The...