“Empowered women surround me. Be it my mom, my 9-year-old daughter, my current boss, my kick ass colleagues, women on my team or the boards I serve on, my career coach, and my mastermind friends. They have taught me to be unapologetically me and embrace my full self. I have developed a personal board of empowered women.” Today’s woman dreamer, Ritu Nadkarni is a global business leader to watch, with 22 years of experience working with some of the top Healthcare systems including Mayo Clinic, Merck vaccines and Biogen. Currently, she is the commercial regional director for Southeast Market. She is passionate about population health initiatives and nurturing high performing diverse teams, and her work received numerous Industry awards. In an exclusive interview with Women Who Win, she shares her career journey, and her top career and leadership tips for all women!

What inspired your interest in the healthcare industry?

Growing up in India during an era where she was opening her doors for the first time to global trade gave me a front row ticket to witness the impact of revolutionary medicine as I watched my father, in his entrepreneurial journey, provide life-altering therapies and medical devices. With each hospital bed and healthcare equipment his company manufactured, he enabled a healthier community and helped so many in need. I was fascinated by the ability for countries to use their unique strengths and saw firsthand the advantages of international trade.

Following the exposure I gained during my childhood, I went to a top ranked college in Pune, India to pursue my master’s in international trade. During graduate school, I interned at Dr. Reddy’s, which is India’s premium pharmaceutical company. After graduation, I moved to Germany to work for a medical device company in international marketing. As a young 20-year-old, I knew there was more than one way to help people via healthcare. I realized that my interests might not align to being a healthcare provider, however, they were a perfect match for bringing the best lifesaving, life- altering medicine and equipment to top hospitals/providers in the world, thereby, ensuring they had the best tools in their hands to help their patients.

After a very aggressive stunt with the medical device company in Europe, I got married to my college sweetheart who had just accepted a job with an oil and gas company in Texas. The European company asked me to continue working with them in the US market. It seemed like a perfect solution, but the challenge became that their marketing functions were in their headquarters in California, and I was moving to Texas. And so, the journey brought another opportunity to serve in the healthcare industry. They asked me to join their field sales team in the US market as a sales rep and help launch a digital platform for their equipment that I worked on in Germany. That was one of the steepest learning curves for me- new country, new marriage, and a new job profile. Those 5 years of medical device sales taught me so much about what it takes to launch and sell multi-million-dollar products. After learning the ropes and winning multiple sales awards, I went to business school at Thunderbird and was recruited by Merck for their flagship MBA leadership program. During my time at Merck, I gained exposure and experience to all aspects of commercialization from market research to tender management to medical affairs. I grew in my leadership journey in sales, reimbursement and account management and developed passion for therapies that impact population health and became a strong proponent of health equity. Today, I am a commercial leader for Biogen’s biosimilar business and grateful for these experiences that have helped shaped me. It has been my privilege to serve the healthcare industry for the last 22 years in 3 different continents.

2. How would you describe your leadership style? What are the key characteristics of a good manager/leader in your experience? 

I have been blessed with some phenomenal managers in my life who have influenced my own leadership style. The best managers I have had led with trust. They gave me the confidence, the tools, and the resources to drive results. They helped me take calculated risk and motivated me to grow in my journey.

My leadership style is a combination of visionary and servant leadership. I lead with a clear vision, recruit the best talent, and support them to deliver their best. I strive to create a performance based, speak up culture where diversity is celebrated and making mistakes is considered a part of learning. I do this by being authentic, vulnerable, and leading by actions. Candor and care are the hallmarks of my leadership style, and I often find myself resorting back to these pillars while facing challenging situations. What drives me is growth - for my team, for my company and for me as an individual. I aim to help my teams get to their best version by not only being an advocate for them in their current role but also putting a strong focus on their development.

3. Think back to your first job. What is your key piece of advice to young professionals in setting their careers up for success? 

I love this stage of my career because I get to share my learnings and mistakes and growth with other women and young professionals as they look to make career choices. I have had an unusual career trajectory and I am almost always the only immigrant commercial leader in a room, and I don’t take that responsibility nor reality lightly. Mentoring is one of the most satisfying parts of my job. Over the last 5 years I have had opportunities to mentor young women through HBA, ERN and other formal programs. Here are top 3 pieces of advice I share with them

• Run your own race- every person’s journey is different. Focus on your strengths, continue building skill sets that complement your strengths and never be afraid to take a chance and say yes to learn something new.

• Surround yourself by people you want to grow up to be. Even today, I am consistently seeking mentors and role models for various aspects of my life whether it’s building teams, developing business plans, leading through crisis or even parenting.

• Invest in yourself- Take time to get to know your authentic self and make decisions from that place. A ritual I do annually is take a quick 3-day solo technology free trip where I spend time in the nature, disconnect and make copious notes on how I want to grow and serve in the coming year.

4. As a women's platform, is there an empowered woman you admire? 

Empowered women surround me. Be it my mom, my 9-year-old daughter, my current boss, my kick ass colleagues, women on my team or the boards I serve on, my career coach, and my mastermind friends. I am extremely fortunate to have role models who not only are my mentors but sponsors. They have taught me to be unapologetically me and embrace my full self. I have developed a personal board of empowered women and I seek their expertise as I make various personal and professional choices.

Nationally, I have followed Indra Nooyi’s journey closely. There is something to be said about you can’t become what you can’t see. I have had the opportunity to meet her twice and I admire her journey as an immigrant of Indian origin and growing up the ranks of Pepsi Co. Local leaders I look up to and cherish are Julie Sudduth- president of PNC Bank, Christina Vetrano- CEO of Ronald Mc Donald House, Nory Angel- CEO of American Leadership Forum and Malisha Patel- CEO Memorial Hermann.  In our industry, I look up to so many women I have had a chance to work for and be associated with- including Arpa Garay- Moderna and Alisha Alaimo- Biogen, among others. I am fortunate to be surrounded by women who make a conscious effort to lift each other up!

5. You are certainly a busy woman. Outside of work, how do you like to relax and unwind? 

My love language is quality time- so spending quality time with my kids, family and close friends is my ideal way to unwind! I have young kids- I incorporate them in the activities I do- whether it is running for a charity I support or cooking food or packing a meal at a food bank. I love being in the nature so there are days when we’ll all pack in a car, leave the phones behind and head for a quick getaway or a hike. I am a through foodie - I am known to take a vacation and fly to a place just to tick off a Michelin star restaurant off my list or even to experience a local hole in the wall place. I am constantly looking at new coffee places, local restaurants, and new cuisines to try! Lastly reading a good book or just spending an evening in the backyard with the kids and our dog brings me immense joy!

Thank you Ritu for sharing your story with us! We are excited to have you in our global women’s network!

Bio: Ritu is a Global Sales/Business Development leader and a Strategic Marketer with 22 years of experience working with some of the top Healthcare systems including Mayo Clinic, Merck vaccines and Biogen. Currently she is the commercial regional director for Southeast Market, leading a team of sales, reimbursement, and account management professional responsible for one fourth of the division’s revenue. She is passionate about population health initiatives and nurturing high performing diverse teams. Her work has resulted in multi-million-dollar revenue and has been acknowledged by numerous President and Industry awards. Ritu credits her cultural sensitivity and ability to work well with various constituencies to her experiences of living and working in three different continents and growing up in a multi-generational household. She holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, Glendale, AZ from where she graduated as a Beta Gamma Sigma honor society member. She also holds a master’s degree in International Business from the Symbiosis Institute of Foreign Trade, Pune, India. Ritu resides in Houston, TX with her husband Kunal and their son Ayan (12) and daughter Avya (9). In her spare time, she enjoys activities with her family – traveling, participating in half-marathons, long distance bike rides (MS 150) and writing for business publications including the Huffington Post. She is an active contributor in her community and is involved with multiple initiatives related to Education and Diversity & Inclusion. She along with husband founded “Empowering kids for future”, to support and provide opportunities to children from her community. She currently serves on the board of Ronald Mc Donald House (RMHC), Child Rights and You (CRY), and is a fellow of the prestigious American Leadership Forum class XLIX. Equally, Ritu has been an impactful mentor and an ally to many aspiring leaders and was an active participant in mentoring programs such as TENT that supports LGBTQ Refugees.