Meet mPharma’s 1st Chief Operating Officer.
I am thrilled to welcome Sophia to mPharma as our first Chief Operating Officer. She joined us last month and is already leading key initiatives at mPharma. As our COO, Sophia will drive operational efficiency and people development across the organization. Sophia began her career at Morgan Stanley before spending seven years in a variety of senior roles at AbInBev, the world’s largest brewery. She then joined the Delhaize Group as the Global Director of Strategic Cost Management (Delhaize merged with Ahold to form one of the largest supermarket chains in the world). Sophia also managed and administered a $400 million syndicated loan facility for the development of a new terminal with Ghana Airport Company Limited.
I sent the tweet below early last year. However, as you begin to scale, it becomes very important to balance results based mindset with a process driven organization. One of my weaknesses as a CEO is that I am not the most process driven person, so I knew we had to recruit a COO who will lead this transition. I am honored that Sophia agreed to join mPharma on this journey.
I had a chat with Sophia about why she is excited to make this transition to mPharma.
What excited you most about mPharma?
“Making Medicine Accessible and Affordable,” this is what excited me about mPharma.
Having lived in Ghana for a while, there are many times when I’ve left hospitals/clinics heart-broken as people are either turned away, left dying in beds, legs rotting, or in unbearable pain all because the medicine required is either not available or too expensive. In some incidences, these drugs are considered to be “basic“ in other parts of the world. The size of the problem appeared insurmountable, and I felt almost helpless in trying to make a difference. Thus, when the mPharma opportunity presented itself, I didn’t hesitate; there was a complete alignment between my passion to impact lives and the company’s mission.
It’s a great time to join mPharma, and I’m excited by the journey ahead as we endeavor to widen our network to touch more lives and explore different business models that will lead to similar outcomes.
What traits do the best teams have?
It starts with the bigger picture, do we all know and understand the mission and the means to achieve it? Do we all understand that by each one of us performing our role we’re not “just laying bricks but building a Cathedral”?
I believe that integrity and transparency are also instrumental in building a strong team. Being able to trust your team member and hold them accountable for their respective deliverables ensures that there are no “weak links.”
What do you do for fun?
I was an athlete in primary school and the discipline of training has becoming part of my DNA, I can’t go a week without doing some form of exercise, be it in the gym or finding a route to run — I MUST do something. The feeling of pushing oneself to the limit, I find exhilarating. The sense of achievement of being able to do a full 45 minutes of insanity workout, is an amazing feeling.
With my children, we go on mini “adventures” where we take trips exploring our surroundings, learning new things, trying new foods, and seeing how other people live.
