Ana Pharma

The first thing that drives me is the amount of effort and determination that my dad had in me, the confidence he had in me. He compromised his health for my education. I just lost him a couple of years ago, but I always think if he could have spent more money on quality food and those things, he could have been alive now for another 10, 20 years with me. He compromised a lot of other things for our education because we are a big family and he was the only breadwinner. Whatever he was earning monthly went to our private school fees, and we only had food from our farm. I always feel that he could have taken care of his health better if he hadn't spent so much on our education. We are five siblings and he invested in all of us equally, but I was the only one able to prove him and make him proud. That is the prime driver for me every day, every moment. Whenever I feel low, I don't want to give up because my dad didn't give up for 25 years. The second thing is my personal life. My dad is a 200% positive influencer in my life, and my spouse is the complete opposite. My personal life wasn't that good, so I was under pressure that I have to develop this life by myself. I didn't have any other choice. I can't be dependent on anyone. I don't have any support system throughout my life, so I have to build my own life. That's the only option I have left. Otherwise, I have to go back to the level where I started growing up. I've chosen this option because I don't want to go back and I don't want to give up on my dad's pain. I have three little kids who are all completely dependent on me. My older one is in university now, which is a big chunk of payment that I have to make. They're completely dependent on me, so I don't have any choice. I have to push myself.

The best advice I could say is just be confident that you'll be able to achieve this, because there's always an impression about this industry that women can't do it, especially when it comes to business development or sales or marketing, because it requires extensive traveling and they don't want to do it. They just get settled down with the family and all those things. Even if someone wants to do this, I would say this is the most rewarding career, and it also builds up your self-confidence as a woman. Not many women want to do this in a male-dominated industry like this, so there is nothing to scare about this industry, nothing to scare about how you're going to grow, because it's the best department. If you want to really grow your career in the pharmaceutical industry, this is the most rewarding, and if you want to build up your confidence, I would say this is the best too. When you do everything by yourself independently, because this job allows you to do a lot of things independently, you make your own plan, you make your own strategy, you make your own results, and you're going to do it by yourself. This gives you an opportunity to build up your self-confidence. When you have done that, then that takes you to the next level of confidence. You don't have to be scared about getting into this industry. There is a lot to learn in this industry, there is a lot to grow, there is a lot of exposure that will definitely build up your confidence level. It actually helped me to develop my confidence and my personal development too, and I'm actually a fiercely independent woman just because of this pathway that I've taken. Probably if I could have taken a different department in the pharmaceutical industry, I don't think I would have been in the position right now.