Her Story
About Lakia
I've been in the pharmaceutical and healthcare manufacturing space for 21 years, and honestly, I kind of fell into this industry. I was groomed my entire life to be an international corporate lawyer - I got my bachelor's in political science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte - but after going abroad, I came back and realized I didn't want to be a lawyer. I worked in a loan office and property management before being laid off in 2008, and that's when I found an opportunity at Lash Group in Charlotte through a resourcing agency. I spent 10 and a half years there, and that's where my career in this industry really began. Since then, I've built out patient support programs and HUB programs at Indivior for adults with schizophrenia, spent 8 years at AbbVie in director roles overseeing new product launches for brands like Skyrizi, Humira, and Rinvoq, and most recently transitioned to Boehringer Ingelheim in December 2025. I earned both of my master's degrees while working - one in Business Administration and Management from the Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University, and another in Human Resource Management and Services from Keller Graduate School of Management at DeVry University, where I also got my graduate certificate in global supply chain management. What drives me is my curiosity and my zest for being able to help patients, especially in areas where there is a heavy unmet need, whether it's specialty medications or ultra-rare diseases.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Lakia
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say just my curiosity, honestly. I'm just curious, and I have this zest for being able to help patients. I've been fortunate enough to be part of an industry where there is a lot of innovation, and every pharma company is really looking for where there is a heavily unmet need and where we can support if we have a product in our pipeline that can help. It's really being able to help patients where they need it, whether it's specialty medications or ultra-rare diseases. That drive to meet patients where they are and provide some type of support is what keeps me going.
02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think our biggest challenge right now is just that the healthcare landscape has changed drastically since the early 2000s. It's keeping up with a lot of the complexities and the ever-changing laws - there is a lot of impact from what's happening at Capitol Hill, and it's a domino effect. We're really having to understand the different landscapes of the payer markets, even with insurance companies, and the different complexities happening with their utilization management, meaning prior authorizations and predeterminations and things like that. It's just keeping up right now in how the landscape has changed dramatically since the early 2000s, and what that impact means to companies like mine, and what we can and cannot offer to patients to help support them.
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