Influential Woman · Pharmaceutical

Mina Creswell

Clincal Account Specialist, Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Chino Hills, CA

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Member National Sales Network Member Boys Republic and Steve McQueen Foundation

Her Story

About Mina

What inspired me to enter pharmaceutical was my mother, who passed away from cancer when I was a child. I think I was maybe young, and I didn't really understand what cancer was or what goes into finding cures. That's what led me to the field of pharmacy, because I couldn't see myself as a doctor, even though I loved learning about medicine. I found just another avenue to take and try to help change other patients' lives, to make them aware of medications, and to be able to educate the doctors, who educate the patients, who educate the families. I've been in this field for about 11 years now. My typical day involves working to identify the right doctors for patients that have rare disease. I meet with providers maybe 8 to 10 a day, if I can, and just have meetings to educate providers. Some of the challenges in my field include getting to educate a doctor too late and maybe a patient might have passed away, or having access challenges where you're not always able to get in to meet providers that really could benefit from knowing about what you have. What I've done to overcome this is explain the importance of being able to get to a provider, or whether I can get to their nurse practitioner or MA. I just try my best to educate whoever's available to make sure that it gets in the hands of the right provider so that they can help a patient. Sometimes it's just being able to leave the material where it needs to be. I think that if you have education and understanding, you can do a lot more than even just help your family, you can help others. Being able to understand the mechanism of action and how it can impact your life is very important.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Mina

01What do you attribute your success to?

I would say my core values have been key to my success. One, I would say having integrity, loyalty, being hardworking, very driven, but also structured. And I just care about people. I genuinely just really care about people. I've also been fortunate to have incredible mentors. Ron Davis was the first gentleman to give me a job when I was young, and he taught me that with hard work, focus, and dedication, you can do a lot in life. My current manager, Angela Charles, is phenomenal. I've learned in just a short period of time of working with her. She just has a very caring spirit and just really cares about people. She's very intelligent, knowledgeable, has a great spirit, very helpful and nurturing as a district manager. I've never met a manager that I've seen carry themselves the way she does, just with the spirit of caring.

02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

The best career advice I've ever received came from Ron Davis, who was the first gentleman to give me a job when I was young. He taught me that hard work, focus, and dedication, you can do a lot in life.

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

Some of the challenges in my field could be getting to educate a doctor too late, and maybe a patient might have passed away. Sometimes you can have access challenges where you're not always able to get in to meet providers that really could benefit from knowing about what you have. But ultimately, I think those are the main two. What I've done to overcome these challenges is I've explained the importance of being able to get to a provider, or whether I can get to their nurse practitioner or MA. I just will try my best to educate whoever's available to make sure that it gets in the hands of the right provider so that they can help a patient. Sometimes it's just being able to leave the material where it needs to be.

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

My core values are having integrity, loyalty, being hardworking, very driven, but also structured. And I just care about people. I genuinely just really care about people. Right now, my daughter is my direct focus. She's 6'5", plays basketball, so a lot of my hobbies goes into her journey of development and just making her a well-rounded young lady. A lot of my time goes into supporting her. I'm mainly right now in a place of serving, like serving people, service. I haven't really done a lot of things that are personally focused on myself lately. I've just been in a service-minded role right now. I think that if you have education and understanding, you can do a lot more than even just help your family, you can help others.

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