Influential Woman · Healthcare

Carolina Pinheiro

Assistant General Counsel, Virta Health

Santee, CA

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree JD from Brazil Degree LLM in International Contracts Degree University of San Diego Cert JD Cert LLM in International Contracts Member Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Member ACC San Diego Board Member

Her Story

About Carolina

I'm currently Assistant General Counsel at a healthcare company focused on nutrition, where I've been for the past 6 months. It's the first time in my career that I'm working in a private company, and they have plans to go public, so it's a new challenge for me. My main area of expertise is Corporate Governance and Securities, which I've been working in for the past 14-16 years. Before this role, I was doing the same thing, assisting boards and making sure public companies were in compliance with SEC laws and regulations. I've been working with corporate law in one way or another for almost 20 years. I'm originally from Brazil, where I got my JD, and I came to the U.S. to do a master's degree in international contracts at the University of San Diego. After finishing my master's, I was offered a job and ended up staying here. I've been in San Diego for the past 20 years. What inspired me to get into this field was a sense of justice and managing conflicts. My days are never the same - I try to put some structure on it, but I like to go with the flow because there's always a new product being released, changes in the organization, and demands from the board. I like the challenge and learning new things every day keeps it exciting.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Carolina

01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

I'm very fortunate to have a mentor, a fantastic woman who's retired now but had an excellent career. She gave me so many very good pieces of advice that it's hard to pick one. But I think the one that resonates the most with me is to understand that I'm enough and to value what I have. That advice has really stayed with me throughout my career.

02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

Don't try to be perfect. Just do it. You don't have to have everything figured out or be perfect at everything. The important thing is to take action and move forward, even if you're not perfect.

03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

The capital market is at a record low for the past 10-15 years, so we all have to reinvent ourselves to bring value and do different things. Understanding AI and how it can help us is a big challenge right now. A lot of people are worried about being substituted by AI, but I don't agree with that. I'm old enough that I went through the internet boom, and I think AI is similar - it's just a new tool that no one knows about yet. Back then, the internet was a big thing, and now it's so much a part of our lives we cannot imagine life without it. I think with AI, it will be the same thing. We just need to learn how to best use it, how to avoid mistakes, and how to be efficient with it.

04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

Health and love are the most important values to me. I'm passionate about what I do. I think if you love something or someone, you go above and beyond and just get things done. But first, before that, you need to think about your health - your own health, your family's health, your community's health - because without health, you have nothing. That's why I'm so excited to be working in a healthcare company, because it aligns with my values.

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