She is sharing her story as part of our month-long International Women’s Day tribute to those who inspire us at Medavie.

Melanie is among those who bring our values of being caring, accountable, responsive, innovative and community-minded to life and deliver on our mission to improve the wellbeing of Canadians. We are proud to have her on our team!

Describe your role at Medavie?

As part of the new Digital Direct line of business, I will be leading the creation of new digital health solutions to diversify and expand Medavie’s pan-Canadian presence. Through an evidence-based and human-centered design approach, I will be exploring multiple concepts, evaluating the competitive landscape to determine unique value propositions, and implementing a digital health strategy through partnerships with the goal of improving the health and wellness of Canadians.

What is the most gratifying part of your role?

I am passionate about digital health innovations and the application of technologies for the purpose of promoting better healthcare and quality of life. The most gratifying part of my role is to work with end users and to see the value of the products and services that I can bring to their health care experience. As people embrace digital health as part of their journey, there is a greater need and demand for innovative solutions which makes it highly rewarding to develop strategies that are useful and effective.

As a woman, what are your proudest achievements?

As a woman, I am proud to be an engineer and a mother. Being able to simultaneously grow my career and family has truly been an achievement; one moment, I could be recognized as a leader in medical device interoperability standards by the technical community and in the very next moment as “mom” by my children. Two very different hats that I am proud to wear.

Who are the role models that inspired your achievement?

I’ve looked up to many female leaders that have pushed the boundaries in their own way. My mother and grandmother have been inspiration for the love and care of my family. I strive to continue their expression of love through cooking and baking. I was fortunate to have worked with a female leader that always exuded confidence in her approach, strong in her delivery and demonstrated respect to everyone around her. I inspire to have a similar style.

What qualities does it take to succeed?

To learn and constantly listen to others with an open mind. There is never an end to learning; learning from interactions with different people that come from different experiences and knowledge, learning through exploration and investigation, learning from my successes and especially my failures. Taking those learnings and applying them to the next challenge.

What career advice would you give to younger women?

Always be authentic by being yourself, knowing your limits and then pushing those limits by setting goals, challenging yourself to take it a step further and not to be afraid of pursuing new opportunities.

At Medavie, our mission is to improve the wellbeing of Canadians. How do you improve your wellbeing?

Connecting with family and friends whenever possible. The community around me keeps me grounded and I can always find support from them.

What’s one piece of advice you would give to improve wellbeing under the four pillars of wellbeing?

• Physical: Be more active; find opportunities to get up and move.
• Mental: Take a few minutes each day for yourself. In the morning, I take a few deep breaths before I begin my day, and at the end of the day before I go to bed.
• Social: Reach out to friends.
• Financial: Establish pre-authorized transfers and review these periodically. This has been key to help organize my personal finances.

How do you achieve a work-life balance?

My work hours are shifted to achieve work-life balance. After school before dinner time is one of the busiest times in our house and being present and available to my family has been extremely important. After the kids are in bed and there are less distractions, I find myself motivated to pick up and focus on work again before the next day.

How has the pandemic impacted this?

The pandemic has eliminated my commute to the office, which resulted in finding creative ways to step away from the home office for environment change. My family has been conscious and deliberate to leave the house in the evenings and to enjoy a family walk around the neighbourhood.

The global theme of IWD 2022 is “Break the Bias.” Have you encountered bias in your career?

I have been very fortunate to not have encountered many biases in my career. Colleagues, who have often been older men, have respected me as their manager regardless of my age, gender, or race. In the technology and engineering field, there are still unfortunately countless instances where I would be the only female in the room and although biases were never from others, there have been moments when I was self-conscious leading to my own re-evaluation of my clothing choice, my makeup application, and even the tone of my voice.

What are the most important steps we can take, individually and collectively, to make a positive difference for women?

Creating a culture and environment for all members of the team to feel safe about having open, honest, and respectful dialogue about gender biases. Acknowledging and admitting that there is a certain amount of fear in speaking up; but if there is no communication, the biases will continue to be hidden and ignored. Another opportunity is to be an active ally to female peers and colleagues by publicly celebrating and support the accomplishments. These are steps that we can take to make a positive difference for everyone.

Tell us one fun fact about you?

I started bread making at the beginning of the pandemic and at least once a week I bake a sourdough bread / focaccia / cakes / loaves / cookies to keep my sourdough starter (and family) happy. I’m thinking of starting a small bakery business on the side and always looking for taste testers to validate recipes.