Women in Pharma’s Miriam Kenrick: my career so far

By Chris Wheal

March 06, 2024

Kenrick aims to inspire and empower fellow women in pharma

Miriam Kenrick is co-founder of Women in Pharma (WIP) but for her day job she is vice president marketing EMEA at eye health specialist Santen.

What and when was your first job in the sector?

SmithKline Beecham in 1996 as a market research analyst.

Who was your biggest mentor and why?

I feel that I haven’t had much mentoring support, if I’m honest, but I look up to and learn a lot from both my co-founder of Women in Pharma Sarah Sowerby, and Rina Newton, serial entrepreneur and founder of Code Clarity. Also credit must go to Richard Davis who helped me with my career break in SmithKline Beecham.

What was your biggest career break and how did it happen?

My first position in Smithkline was being made redundant, which was devastating to me at the time. I was mid-20s, in my first job in the industry and was absolutely loving it, so it was a big shock. But it forced me to apply for a job I didn't feel worthy of at the time and with the help and encouragement of Richard Davis I managed to get the role of commercial policy development manager at SB UK. This later propelled me into marketing, which has been my speciality ever since.

Did you plan your career, or did you take opportunities as they came?

I never planned my career but am working hard to manifest my next career phase. I am keen to have a more portfolio career model now, both championing gendered medicine within WIP as my passion whilst working for money in a more entrepreneurial context in health and wellbeing. 

What do you know now that you wish you’d known earlier?

None of us really know what we are doing and we all feel fear. But I now believe that if we get clear about who we are, why we are here on this planet and the ingredients for a fulfilling life for ourselves – the experiences we want to have in our lifetimes, how we want to grow and what contribution we want to make – then we’re already halfway there. The rest is believing and expecting it to happen, trusting ourselves and allowing the universe to support us.

What advice would you give to someone considering a career in the sector?

Healthcare is a fantastic industry to make the world a better place. To maximise your impact and enjoyment, make personal growth your number one priority. Invest in yourself rather than consume. Ask for help and mentoring support (which I didn’t!). And know that we older people are inspired by, and are constantly learning from, the younger generation so wherever you are in your journey of life/career, know you are a leader and influencer of others and use your powers to do good. We need you.