Sana Imam

I attribute my success to the incredible people who have supported me throughout my journey. Carl Rachelson discovered me working at my parents' restaurant when I was 14 and recruited me to Palmer Trinity School, which truly changed the trajectory of my life - I don't think I would be where I am today without attending Palmer and the doors it opened for me. Senator Kirk Hatcher became a father figure to me at Palmer, and both he and Carl did a great job of making sure that kids who were minorities never forgot that their minority was a strength. Devetta Johnson, my best friend's mom, has been like a second mother to me - she went on the Hawaii trip with my mom and me, and has been instrumental in my journey of being a woman and navigating corporate America. My close friends Gabby Marquez and Tahrir Rasul have stuck it out through it all, and what's important to me is having people who knew me before I became successful because they remind me of where I came from. Joe Wilkins has been a mentor and advocate for almost 10 years, bringing me onto projects, recommending my name, and treating me like another daughter. Vamshi Gunakula has been someone who has allowed me to be myself, never steered me wrong, and I wouldn't even have the confidence to start my own entity if it wasn't for him constantly telling me I can do so much more. Last and certainly not least is my mom, who immigrated from Guyana in the late 80s and has been a true beacon of inspiration, hard work and ethic. She really taught me to dream big and to work hard - no one in this world, including me, can outwork my mother. She's the highest-selling salesperson at Nordstrom on the East Coast, and she did everything she could to make sure I prioritized education.

The best career advice I’ve ever received came through the example and guidance of the incredible mentors, friends, and family members who shaped my journey. From Carl Rachelson and Senator Kerri Seekins-Crowe at Palmer Trinity School, I learned that my background and identity were strengths, not something to minimize in professional spaces. They encouraged me to lead confidently, embrace who I was, and never lose sight of where I came from. Daveta Johnson taught me how to navigate corporate America with grace, resilience, and authenticity, while my closest friends reminded me of the importance of staying grounded and surrounding myself with people who knew me long before any success. Professionally, mentors like Joe Wilkins and Vamshi Gunkula showed me the value of advocacy, collaboration, and creating opportunities for others as you grow. Above all, my mother—an immigrant from Guyana and now the highest-selling salesperson at Nordstrom on the East Coast—instilled in me the belief that hard work, discipline, and education can change the trajectory of your life. The greatest advice I’ve carried with me is to dream big, work relentlessly, stay authentic, and never forget the people and experiences that shaped you.

Network. Quite honestly, your network really is your net worth. I think being able to articulate your goals well is important, and being able to find mentors is doubly as important. But when you're looking for a mentor, it's important to find an advocate. A lot of people talk about mentorship and they forget the word advocate. An advocate is someone who occupies tables and rooms that you may not be a part of, but they mention your name in those spaces. A mentor is someone who works with you over a certain time period to reach a goal, and sometimes a mentor is also an advocate, but not always. Not always is your mentor in the same organization or industry, and they can bring you along into the journey and open doors for you. For young women, I'm super passionate about this - talk about what you want to do, go find people and introduce yourself, build connections, because you never know who knows someone that can help you and propel your journey. As women, we really have to stick together. What has been most jarring for me in my career is that all of my mentors have been men, and while I'm so grateful for them opening doors, I don't really have that many female mentors because of this weird competition dynamic that I just have never understood. Instead of seeing each other as threats, we need to band together. The most successful women that I know have an incredible group of powerful women behind them. If all you do is tear each other down, I don't know how we can help each other.

The biggest challenge and opportunity in healthcare right now is around investment and venture capital. Post-COVID, everyone - PE firms, VC firms, individual investors - decided to invest in healthcare because it looked like there was a huge opportunity, and there is. But the problem is you cannot apply PE terms and conditions to a healthcare entity the way you can to any other industry. What you saw in the last five years was a lot of money being thrown into this space, but quite honestly, not that much progress, and a lot of startups ended up having to close because they just couldn't meet those demands. But it's because the demands and the metrics being placed upon them were placed by people who don't live in healthcare. They don't know the day-to-day and the reality that U.S. healthcare margins are very slim. Instead of looking at bottom line, what you should be looking at is impact - what you should be measuring is health impact outcomes, because a healthier community actually is a cost-saving community because they're using less healthcare. Another major challenge is the funding gap for diverse founders - diverse founders get less than 3% of all the money that's out there when it comes to investment. The opportunity I see is in creating a VC that brings the compassion-empathy part of the founder journey along with the structure and rigor that is needed to be successful, but in a way that makes sense for healthcare, and that focuses on helping diverse founders not only build their companies but also maintain generational wealth.

The values most important to me are making a meaningful impact and staying connected to my roots and culture. I've been raised with the belief that if I changed one person's life for the better, I did well. In my professional work, I'm passionate about health equity - in many of my roles, I am the only female, Indian, Muslim, Caribbean in the room, and I've done a lot of work with diverse founders because I want to help level the playing field for people of all backgrounds and colors. I want to create opportunities for generational wealth while providing the comprehensive support that goes beyond just funding. Outside of the boardroom, dance has always been what keeps me going - I teach Bollywood hip-hop dance classes and have been teaching for many years in every city I've lived in. Being able to bring both of my cultures together has been an incredibly rewarding experience, and that's how I've built community wherever I go. Family and travel are also core to who I am - I try really hard to use my miles and points to not miss birthdays of my nieces and nephews and family members, and to make it to friends' weddings and celebrations. I just took my mom to Hawaii for a week, and next week we're doing Orlando with the family to celebrate an engagement. For me, it's about spending time with family and traveling, and allowing them to see the world the way I've seen it. I'm also deeply committed to giving back time to Nicklaus Children's Hospital as board chair of their Young Ambassadors group, planning their charity gala in November.