Activate Health CEO Sarah McLeod was highlighted in Bold Journey, an online magazine dedicated to providing readers with valuable insights from various professionals. In her Q&A feature, she discussed her experience in the healthcare marketing and public relations industry and the experiences that have contributed to her success.
Sarah, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
Growing up in the Midwest, my family instilled a diligent work ethic in me. It wasn’t an option—it was just a way of doing things. I was 10 years old with my own business cards for my babysitting services and doing whatever other job I could find. Having two brothers to keep up with was a motivating factor that didn’t hurt, either!
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m CEO of Activate Health, a strategic marketing and public relations firm that’s dedicated solely to helping clients in the healthcare industry. The agency was founded in 2010 after we recognized a massive gap in communications, marketing and advertising support for business-to-business healthcare organizations. Some agencies may have understood patient marketing for hospitals or health systems, but don’t grasp the complexity around concepts like value-based care, financial risk, population health, and the like.
Originally, I started my career working in marketing roles for healthcare organizations. I saw how Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurial startups operated, gained exposure to this vast and complicated industry and grew passionate about it. So, when my former boss offered me an opportunity to join her and help grow the firm, I took a leap of faith and said goodbye to the security of the corporate world.
Forming an agency that specialized in healthcare made perfect sense. The landscape is ever-evolving, and trends and forces shift regularly. It’s a full-time job to keep up with the intricacy and the industry effects on different healthcare entities, like payer and provider organizations, health tech vendors, specialty pharmacies and everything in between. And we built a team of people who understood just that, from our account teams to our creative folks.
Today, what we hear from our clients further reinforces that our healthcare specialization is what sets us apart. We know how to simplify the complexity of the industry into personal, compelling stories that resonate. It’s so important—on the B2B side especially—to influence individuals, not companies.
Read the full article here.