Mompreneur: Natalie Bourre
Company: Marketing 4 Health Inc.
Website: www.pharmaceutical-marketing-coach.com
Marketing 4 Health Inc. is a marketing consulting company which focuses on pharmaceutical, medical and healthcare products. I am currently niching myself as a baby healthcare marketer.
A subdivision of this company is ‘Pharmaceutical Marketing Coach’, which focuses on pharmaceutical marketing training, targeted specifically to junior pharma marketers.
What inspired you start your business?
Passion for promoting healthcare products and a strong desire to stay at home with my son drove me to start my own business.
Pharmaceutical sales and marketing have always been my passion. What a great feeling of pride and satisfaction to be promoting a product that you truly believe will help other people’s health.
And my son … well, I don`t need to explain that to all the Mom’s out there. Living in Canada, I am lucky that I was permitted a full year off work to spend time with my baby. This gave me the time to really analyze what I wanted for my son, myself and my career. The natural decision was to start a company where I could work mostly from home and during the hours that fit my family’s schedule.
How long has your business been in business?
Less than a year
What did you do in your past work life?
My career always focused on pharmaceutical sales and marketing. I have launched new brands, managed brands faced with generic entries, and even have the opportunity to be the lead marketer for the 5th largest drug in Canada. Something that is unique in my marketing career is that I have successful managed several pharmaceutical co-promotions. This requires not only marketing skills, but a great deal of interpersonal management as well. When I managed my own pharmaceutical marketing team, I was thrilled to be working with some fantastic, enthusiastic marketers, most of which were still fairly junior in their role. It was really important for me that these marketers flourish into sophisticated business people, so I spent a lot of time coaching them individually and as a team. They regularly gave me feedback on how much they were learning from me and appreciated me taking the time with them. I always felt tremendous satisfaction from seeing them becoming effective marketers. When senior managers remarked on the great work of members of my team, I saw this as a success not only for the individuals involved, but for myself as well.
What is your ideal workday like?
My son is just slightly over a year old at the time of writing this, so at the moment, I am happy when I can make a few business calls without interruptions and am able to read all my e-mails. When my son is asleep, I work intensely on my projects in order to meet my clients’ timelines.
What have been some of your major successes and challenges?
My first major success was finding a client who understood and respected my situation as a stay-at-home Mom with a limited schedule. Now I am just waiting to see the results of some of the projects that I have completed – I hope that next time we talk that I will be able to reference these as successes as well 
I also launched my website to help train junior medical marketers. This month, the site tripled its traffic from last month thanks to my networking on LinkedIn, FaceBook and Twitter.
What have been some of your major challenges?
I have so many ideas on how to promote my company, how to manage it, and projects that I would like to initiate, but there is only so much time available. Therefore, I have to stay focused and excel in a few projects at a time.
On those impossible days, what motivates you to keep going?
My passion for promoting healthcare, especially for babies, keeps me motivated.
If there was one piece of advice you could give to your children about running a successful business, what would it be?
Decide what you want to achieve during a specific period, whether it be a quarter or a year, and then stay focused on that objective throughout all your activities. Track your achievements, and everytime you get closer to your objective, celebrate !
What is your balancing secret in managing a business and family?
I am honest with my clients and I tell them exactly what I can and cannot do, and when I believe I will be able to deliver the end product. By doing this, I am making sure that there is enough time in the day to spend with my family.
Do you have a favorite business tool and/or resource?
Social media sites and blogs provide me with tremendous insights from talented people all around the world. I try to take it all in and learn from others.
What is next for your business?
Next year, I would like to have two healthcare baby brands to promote to Mommies. The types of projects that I am hoping to get involved in with these baby healthcare products would be social media marketing to Mommies, market research and consulting on various promotional activities in Canada and the United States.
Also, I have put together the first international pharma marketing training board with experts from all parts of the world and with varies knowledge and expertise. With the guidance of this group, I plan on developing a pharmaceutical marketing training program that junior pharma marketers can use as a self-learning tool.
Your two cents sales pitch?
With my medical marketing expertise, extensive knowledge of the pharmaceutical promotional guidelines, and as a Mom, I can provide a unique perspective to help grow baby healthcare brands. I can be contacted marketing4health at yahoo dot ca to discuss baby healthcare projects.
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Way to go Natalie, you’re an inspiration to us all.