Grooving with the times

Jewel-encrusted, memory-foam using, platform-trainer-wearing ‘loose women’ in pharma, Miriam Kenrick and Sarah Sowerby, reflect on their progress and ambitions, one year on…

“March was a real milestone,” reflects Miriam Kenrick, co-Founder of Women in Pharma – a grassroots organisation on a mission to inspire and empower women in life sciences to play bigger and shake up medicine by reinventing it through the lens of biological gender. “We launched our first Role Model Awards in March 2024 and we’ve just come back from the second. We had been reflecting on traditional industry awards – hosted at ‘that hotel’ with a thousand people in your industry, listening to a ceremony of winning announcements without really seeing the human work behind the shiny result.”

Sarah Sowerby, co-founder of Women in Pharma and Founder of boutique creative healthcare agency, Wordbird, continued: “The human story. The creativity and the wins. The struggles and the coping mechanisms. Real life. Sometimes good, oftentimes with something challenging to manage in the background. Carrying loads of expectations of ourselves and loads of baggage too. Most of it negative. It’s not easy. But we’re all quietly living lives like this and doing amazing things in the meantime.”

“We wanted to recognise people leading the way! Challenging themselves to stand up.  For themselves. For others. Championing important principles and projects. The greater good. Investing personal time and energy. Just because it matters. And, if they don’t, who else will?” Miriam explained energetically.

“We were sitting on a windy beach in Cornwall doing three days’ intensive planning for Women in Pharma. The energy was flying – the wind, the waves, our ideas! The sun was shining. Miriam had just done her back in and was in lots of pain. Perfect conditions! That’s when the Awards were conceived. Miriam had just said, ‘I want to be a role model. Someone who inspires people and shows what’s possible.  Championing something that matters’. That’s when we realised – this would be our awards,” Sarah reflected.

“We had eight categories for different ages and stages. People championing well-being, inclusivity, leading others, rising stars. Male and female categories. The nominations were SO inspiring! People sent in nominations in all kinds of ways – photos, videos, stories. People nominated each other or themselves. It made us realise how many people were putting themselves out there and it inspired us. After all, one of our three pillars is to INSPIRE! We all need inspiration to keep going in this crazy, unpredictable, fast-changing world,” Miriam explained.

She added: “Last year we had about 50 entries. This year over 100. All the entries were amazing. Our five judges, led by the inspiring serial entrepreneur and industry shaker-upper herself, Rina Newton, said they had such a difficult time deciding.

“One of our judges is Andrew McAskill – CCO of life sciences talent consultancy, Fraser Dove International, and on a personal mission to end career-based misery – is a brilliant guy who brings positive vibes to people who are often at a real low and looking for roles after restructures,” Miriam continued.

“He sees people’s LinkedIn profiles every day and checked out our nominees. He said, ‘they are not claiming their achievements enough publicly’. He’s right. Particularly women. We tend to expect our achievements to speak for themselves. We say it’s a team effort, which of course it is, but we don’t take the credit as leaders or for our unique contributions.

“We don’t encourage self-promotion. We are our own worst enemies! Girls are taught not to be boastful. It gets hard-wired. Unless we have a family that code us differently.  We can get over it, but it takes effort. The first thing is to be self-aware.

“People like Rina charge around with confidence, challenging the code and speaking at the House of Lords, and is exactly the role model we needed as Head Judge!” Sarah insisted.

“Meanwhile, our buzzing winners’ ceremony, kindly hosted by cheerleader Beverley Newbury, CEO of VCCP Health, hearing the potted stories of the 24 amazing finalists. I told them all the winning is just a made-up thing for the drama. We all love a bit of that. Drum rolls. But you’re all winners. You’re all amazing role models.

“There are so many others like them quietly doing their things. We can all be role models. Role-modelling whatever our things are. Inspiring greatness. Pushing ourselves outside our comfort zones to grow and make a bigger impact. Which we are frequently doing right now, aren’t we, Miriam?” Sarah reflected.

“Indeed, that’s the theme of our fifth INSPIRE event – ‘Hi5 Futureproof Yourself’. We want to inspire and recognise role models. But we so often hold ourselves back, usually without realising,” says Miriam.

“If we can work on that mindset, it makes life much easier and enjoyable. We put so much pressure on ourselves and say ‘yes’ way too much. We don’t use AI enough, we put ourselves last and burn ourselves out because of the mortgage and the school fees and the fear.”

“So, our next event is designed to help people with that. To INSPIRE. And also empower them, our second pillar. Our last event in January featured speaker trainer, Emma Wainer. It went down so well with her teaching us executive presence workshop style. We decided to do more of that for INSPIRE! Hi5 to help everyone navigate the crazy times right now,” Sarah confided.

“We’ll be speed-dating each other, sharing AI tips and shouting NO repeatedly whilst laughing our heads off, I expect! We love our music and surprise elements. Sarah already has the big idea planned out. I’m a bit scared!” Miriam laughed. “And I’m usually the one scaring her!”

“When is it, I hear you ask?! INSPIRE! Hi5 is taking place on Tuesday 8 July in London at Cherry Thinking’s stunning Thameside offices. Be quick. We’re honoured that all our events sell out. Get on the Get me in! list on our website,” Sarah advised.

“The thing that’s been really pushing me to be a role model this year?” Miriam continued.

“Figuring out how to create a rewarding portfolio career after a lifetime in corporate. I’m loving life right now,” Miriam shared.

“Still working with my lovely colleagues in pharma but in different ways. Strategy and marketing consulting, facilitating and helping women have massive personal transformations through 1:1 coaching. And for Women in Pharma, while inspiring people, it’s also about our third pillar, Shake! With our Beyond Bikini Medicine mission,” Miriam confided.

Sarah explains: “We want to make a dent here. We know it’s huge and probably won’t be sorted within our lifetimes. But we want to have moved things forward with gendered medicine. We published our Beyond Bikini Medicine white paper and manifesto for change last year and we’ve been doing keynotes and panels with leaders in the field. We also have our own webinars on the biological gender differences in different therapy areas.

“It certainly sounds ambitious. But that’s what role models have to do – put themselves out there.”