Swapping the general practice for a career in femtech has allowed Dr. Claudia Pastides to relocate her family to Cyprus and find career fulfilment.

Having worked as a family doctor, I had already made the switch to healthtech and knew it was right for me. When I was approached by Flo, I was mid-relocation of my entire family — grandparents included — to Limassol, Cyprus, but the flexibility meant I could have my dream job in my dream location. Here, I explain how working at Flo gives me intense job satisfaction without the huge sacrifices I felt I had to make in general practice.

Interviewed by Laura Potter.

What attracted you to working at Flo?

I was a general practitioner (GP) for a few years, but I’d already made the transition to healthtech, and I wanted to keep on that career path. When I was approached for a medical advisor job at Flo, I was in the process of relocating to Cyprus, and I had three very young children. It sounded like my dream job, but I had to leave in a couple of months. I was told that I could work from home, plus they had an office in Limassol, so it was perfect.

What challenges have you faced around boundaries while building your career at Flo?

When I transitioned to become the medical director, I realised it could easily be a 24/7 job, so I had to set clearer boundaries for myself. For the first time, I started blocking out lunch because otherwise, I could easily sit for the entire day. That was reminiscent of being a GP and was one of the reasons I left general practice. I started blocking out time for various tasks: emails, managerial work, and even exercise. I became much more structured in my approach, and through doing that, I became more efficient. I’ve gotten better at switching off at 6 PM — not completely, but that comes with the flexibility — if I expect to have the flexibility to attend sports day on a Tuesday morning, then I will work later on a Thursday and make up for it. I’ve found a happier medium.

Was there anything that didn’t work while trying to find the balance?

I tried colour coding everything on my Google calendar to analyse how much of my time was spent doing what. That was sucking up too much time, and I realised there is such a thing as over analysing. I found it easier to do what felt right intuitively.

How do your stress levels differ from working in general practice?

We talk about this a lot within the team because we’re all doctors who have worked either as obstetricians or gynaecologists in delivery suites, in accident and emergency departments, or in busy, back-to-back GP clinics, and everything feels — compared to that — much easier. There are challenges and pressures: working in such a big team where everybody has different priorities, getting your point across to colleagues who are not medical, and striking a balance to create a great product. But to me, nothing compares to dealing with people who are severely unwell, dying, or having complicated births. I was working so much and so hard, and it was so stressful that I was struggling to sleep. I don’t have that anymore. Yes, there’s a lot of risk, and everything we do is seen by millions of women, which we’re so conscious of, but the personal stress to me is nowhere near the same level.

What are some of the biggest differences when it comes to balance?

Even when I have a few really stressful days at Flo, it’s still never as difficult as my life in general practice. I couldn’t take time off if my kids were unwell because I had 50 sick people to treat. I knew that a fever or chickenpox in my child was not generally a major thing, so I would still go to work, and I would have to find someone else to look after my kids, which made me feel pretty awful. Now, if one of my children is sick, I know I can be at home to look after them.

As a GP, my priority was always my patients and my work, and it took a while to realise that if I couldn’t sleep because I was so stressed, I couldn’t look after people. Burnout in general practice is so prevalent because of that. I felt like I couldn’t take time off — I was on this treadmill, and I had to keep going. It’s not sustainable.

How do you feel as part of a team in Cyprus?

We meet up in person every three to four months, and we speak to each other every day. We have a Slack channel where we’re running things past each other, but we also share some jokes, so it’s not just work. Despite the fact that it’s such a disruption for all of us to meet up because we’ve either got kids or dogs or live in other parts of the world, we look forward to it, and we’ll always do something non-work-related too. Recently, we had afternoon tea and did some painting. We’re a very sociable team that gets on very well.

How do you separate work and family?

I’m very lucky because I brought my parents to Cyprus, and my husband’s parents also live in Limassol. The reason I can work full-time in a managerial role is because I have such a good support network. My husband is a surgeon, so he works very unpredictable hours. I do the school drop-off in the morning, but my parents do the pickup in the afternoon. My kids come home fed and watered, having done their homework, and I get to shut my laptop and enjoy spending time with them. I turn notifications off during the evening because our Slack channels are so busy, but after my kids have gone to bed, I check in in case there’s something urgent that can’t wait until the morning.

Have you had any instances where you have needed extra support or flexibility at work?

When I onboarded into the role, I started part-time, which meant I was able to pack, move, settle in, get the kids into school, and understand what was going on in the company without it being too overwhelmingly stressful. That was suggested by my manager, and it made a huge difference.

Working remotely also meant that during the school holidays, when we have almost three months off and my parents go back to England, I was able to have chunks of time off so that we could cope. My husband also took time off, and the children went to clubs, but I was able to drop them off and pick them up when needed.

Who do you go to at Flo when you need support or advice?

Our internal team of doctors is excellent because we’re such a mixed bag of skills, specialities, and experiences, so that’s my first point of call. I also tend to turn to our science team, and I work very closely with the content team, so I’m able to turn to our chief content editor, for example, and run any thoughts, worries, or ideas by her. We don’t always agree — we have quite different opinions — but she’s very empathic, and I find discussions with her really helpful.

Your work is detail-focused. Does that clash with a fast-paced tech company?

Obviously, there is a clash, but everybody we work with understands that there’s more to gain by being medically credible, accurate, and trustworthy than there is to being click bait-y. Our brand is built upon the fact that we are medically credible, that we use doctors — and yes, that slows everything down — sometimes by weeks, and sometimes that’s really frustrating, but ultimately, it’s what sets us apart.

Your social media posts have included you as a talking tampon. Can serious work also be fun?

Massively. Even as a GP, it was still fun. I firmly believe that if you make health information and education fun, it’s memorable and less frightening. Society is getting better at embracing health and seeing the doctor, but traditionally, it’s been a scary thing. I enjoy presenting information in a more lighthearted and entertaining way without trivialising it. That talking tampon was really funny, but it was a great way of delivering the message around how long you should have a tampon in that wasn’t just “Make sure you change your tampon every six hours.”

What brings you the most satisfaction at work?

My team. Even if work is hard, I look forward to seeing them and encouraging them to grow in their roles. The other thing that gives me satisfaction is the feedback we receive from app users — good and bad. It shows me that people are engaging with and being impacted by what we’re doing. The good feedback is lovely, and the bad feedback is really useful for improvement or realising how people actually use the app.

How do you cope in high-stress periods?

Exercise prevents my stress levels from going too high in the first place and reduces them, so I always make time for it. We have a beach nearby, so I also regularly take myself for a walk, play tennis, or take the dog out, and I work outside. I have an office at home, but I rarely work there because moving around the house to work in different spaces helps to de-stress me.

If someone is looking at a role in femtech, what advice would you give them?

Build a personal brand. In medicine, you have quite a straightforward career progression — you start as a junior doctor, and you work towards becoming a consultant. In tech, it isn’t so easy to get in, and it isn’t easy to work out where you’re going next because it’s still quite a new field, so make sure you’ve got a good LinkedIn profile that shows what you’re interested in, engage with people in the fields that you’re interested in, and put your thoughts and opinions out there — make yourself discoverable. Then, when job opportunities come, apply.

#medical, #femtech, #work-life-balance, #career-advice, #leadership