WIN Spotlight: Christina Nesheva

Welcome to the latest “WIN Spotlight,” our ongoing series that celebrates inspirational women in our community. Each interview features a member of WIN who is championing innovation at her organization or across the industry. We dig into the diverse perspectives, influences, mission, drivers, and dreams of these leaders, and of course, ask them for practical advice and pro tips from their years of experience.

This month we are excited to feature Christina Nesheva, Co-founder and Director at Hive Innovation Unit for ViiV Healthcare, author of The Entrepreneur’s BattleBook and WIN ambassador!

Who are you and what do you do?

I am a mum of two beautiful daughters, a partner to a great man and a soul who loves figuring things out and finding the way in the unknown. I guess that is why I have been drawn to working in innovation. I co-founded and currently lead the innovation lab at ViiV Healthcare, an HIV-dedicated pharmaceutical company. I am also the author of The Entrepreneur’s BattleBook — a step-by-step guide for bringing ideas to life and navigating the emotional journey of being an entrepreneur/innovator.

What’s the best part of your job?

I love creating something out of nothing and figuring out the way.  The best part of my job is that moment when the magic happens — the team is in a flow, it comes up with that kernel of an idea and you know deep down that it has legs. During those sessions it’s not about ‘you’, it’s about the team helping an idea emerge. Pure magic!

What is your favorite quotation?

“A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she is in hot water”.

What are the life moments that most influenced you to seek a career in innovation?

I have always had this belief that I can do any job, I can figure out how, I can find the way. My teenage years were during the transition from communism to democracy. I guess witnessing how everything changed almost overnight and how everyone was called up to re-define pretty much everything created this belief and the need to bring new ideas to life. 

Even though I spent most of my working life in big corporations pretty much all of my roles have been around setting up new functions, business units, processes and driving change. In that process I came to question the status quo and naturally raised my hand when ViiV decided to set up an innovation lab.  

If you had to choose one, who is the woman that most inspires you?

I struggle with this question. There are so many women that have helped me keep the fuel on. I admire women who break the mould to do the things they want on their own terms AND who support others. I love Michelle Obama. I am deeply inspired by a very close friend of mine who ditched her corporate career to set up her own business. I guess what inspires me is to see how seemingly ordinary people face their fears to achieve the extraordinary. 

…I admire women who break the mould AND who support others…what inspires me is to see how seemingly ordinary people face their fears to achieve the extraordinary. 

How do you keep up to date with the world?

Reading — love reading, and also trying to engage in as many conversations on as varied topics as possible. I am looking for ways to find inspiration from seemingly unrelated fields. I recently finished Range by David Epstein. Absolutely loved it. It explores how in this time the way to be successful is through cultivating breadth of experiences, experimenting and combining insights from various fields. It looks into the processes of problem solving, learning and when is the time to “drop your tools”, a metaphor David Epstein uses to describe the time when the previous experience needs to be discarded as it not only does not solve the problem but hinders the solution. 

Podcasts are another favourite of mine — a great way to have a productive commute or when doing the housework. I am a big fan of The Tim Ferriss Show. I regularly listen to the A16z (Andreessen Horowitz) podcast as well as Reid Hoffman’s Masters of Scale. 

What is the biggest learning when it comes to your professional development?

I have done a number of transitions in my career — from HR to commercial to general management and now to innovation. My key learning in this process is to be really confident and to not undermine the skills and experiences I bring. Confidence is key. I approach this by looking into the requirements of a role I am interested in, breaking them down into skill based components and then identifying my relevant experience in displaying those skills. This learning has been critical. Being able to have this level of dialogue with the hiring managers usually dispelled any concerns they may have. I wish I had learned this earlier in my career.

What is your advice for women in innovation and/or the next generation of female leaders?

Have a side-hustle! Have something that you do outside of your day job that fulfills you and allows you to stretch and grow on your own terms. I have seen a lot of cases where women start to second-guess themselves when they have less than great line managers. Having something outside of work helps maintain a sense of perspective and confidence in our own abilities. 

Talk us through the highlights of your career — which moments have you been most proud of?

I started my career in HR and then moved into marketing with a particular focus on new product launches. I stumbled upon innovation by chance when I worked on a project on disruptive innovation for our CEO many years ago. At that point, the company decided that it was not the right time to focus on innovation and I went to do other roles, amongst which being a general manager for GSK in Latvia. 

The most rewarding moments of my career so far have been when I see my team and/or ideas succeed. The launch of S.A.M — our online HIV and STI testing subscription service in Germany as well as seeing how our unit grew and established its reputation for delivering results are two such moments. 

My GM experience was by far one of the experiences where I grew the most. I did my fair share of mistakes and learned a lot. I am grateful to the team in Latvia who were willing to go on a journey with me and trust me. The fulfillment of being able to laugh with that same team about the things we struggled with at the beginning is beyond words. 

Working in a pharma company offers the unique opportunity to positively impact the lives of people. I have had the opportunity to launch a number of new medicines and vaccines and also to design the approach by which GSK launches new products. 

I have seen a lot of cases where women start to second-guess themselves when they have less than great line managers. Having something outside of work helps maintain a sense of perspective and confidence in our own abilities. 

What do you think will have the biggest impact on the industry in 2020?

Unfortunately, the current coronavirus outbreak will have enormous impact on pretty much any industry and on the lives of many of us. However, I also think that this crisis provides huge opportunities for many companies to fundamentally rethink big portions of their businesses, so from that point of view, meaningful innovation that solves problems and delivers value quickly will be needed. 

What product, service, or industry do you think is most ripe for innovation? Why? 

Healthcare and education are on top of my list. Both require systemic changes which make them challenging to profoundly change quickly. 

How is London unique in how it does innovation?

London provides a truly global perspective — a lot of us based here work on global projects that require us to be able to quickly understand local cultures and environments. Also, in terms of inspiration, London is one of a kind. The combination of great art, design, history, science in such a short proximity allow for truly unique insights and ideas to emerge. 

What excites you most about the world right now?

I believe we are at the cusp of redefining how we understand and practice leadership and what is the best way to organise ourselves for business. More and more organisations start to realise that they need to reformulate the relationship between leaders and “subordinates” and to re-think whether the role of the leader is “to make the decisions” or to actually create the conditions for the best decisions to be made by the people who are best placed to do it. Leadership and the culture it creates are critical for any innovation to succeed. 

…the current coronavirus outbreak will have enormous impact on pretty much any industry and on the lives of many of us. However, I also think that this crisis provides huge opportunities for many companies to fundamentally rethink big portions of their businesses, so from that point of view, meaningful innovation that solves problems and delivers value quickly will be needed. 

Thank you Christina for sharing your story with the WIN community!

Photos by Juan Lozano

Edited by Meera Pathak

WIN: Women in Innovation Copyright (c) 2020 All rights reserved. This blog post may not be reproduced or repurposed without written permission from WIN: Women in Innovation (501(c)3). This blog post is provided for your personal use only.