To mark International Women’s Day 2025, Petra Molan, Global Chief Commercial Officer at Mundipharma, speaks here about why International Women’s Day (IWD) is important, the progress we are making and how we can all play our part to #AccelerateAction
Petra Molan, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at Mundipharma, took on a significant role when she joined at the beginning of 2024. Heading up the Global Commercial business leading hundreds of people in countries across the world, Petra spends time with her teams based in multiple locations and managing competing priorities across the business. This is in addition to managing unexpected queries and situations that inevitably arise, all while balancing a busy home life and her roles as a wife and mother.
As Global CCO, there are heavy demands on her time, yet Petra is proud to also be our Global Diversity and Inclusion Executive Sponsor, a role she takes incredibly seriously.
With International Women’s Day (IWD) approaching and this year’s theme of #AccelerateAction front of mind, Petra has shared her thoughts on what we can do to create and drive greater inclusion and accelerate equality, why always speaking up is important and what inspires her daily.
Why is IWD important to you?
First of all, I think that International Women's Day is the day when we focus our conversation, remind ourselves that we are on the journey together, but that the journey has not ended yet.
We have seen progress, but we are still not there. It's important to spend a day to have this conversation, reflect on our progress and be honest that sometimes it is too slow, and unfortunately, we see in some parts of the world that we are regressing. So it's even more important to continue conversations on this topic and use International Women’s Day as a catalyst to do so.
Which women in your life inspire you – professionally and personally? Why?
There have been many women that I can say that have inspired me or at least made me think during my lifetime, in different periods for different reasons. But the woman I want to call out is my mum.
I grew up in an environment where both parents worked. My mum had three children and she worked; we were brought up in a country where there was no real difference between men and women. This gave me the base that men and women are supposed to be equal – from when I was young in kindergarten, at school and then later in my working life.
My mum repeatedly told me and both my sisters that it was essential we do well in school and get a good education, because this is the key to independence.
The other advice my mum shared all the time with us was that you shouldn’t have to sacrifice elements of your life. You can be a mother or wife if you want to be and you can have a career, it shouldn’t be a choice between the two. This has been the thread throughout my whole life. I have a career but I am also a wife (I have been married for 25 years now!) and a mother of a wonderful young woman who is just starting her life in the world of work.
How does it feel to be a role model for other women in the industry?
I don't consciously think about myself as a role model. Though of course it makes me feel proud to hear this feedback. But I take it very seriously because I believe that what you do is who you are and that you need to walk the talk.
I have always tried to inspire and encourage female colleagues, giving advice on how to balance private and work life and how to create the support system around you. It’s so important to have this support system outside of work which helps you to progress because let’s be honest, we all have good days and there are less good days and you wonder, “why did I put so much on my shoulders?”.
I hope that I have passed this on to my daughter as my mum did to me. My daughter has grown up seeing me balance my different roles and yes, there were times when I was away on a business trip and she missed me, and I missed her. Now she has grown up, and been successful in school, she has a great job and is starting out in her own career and I can see how hard she is working. So I think she has learnt from me and the environment she grew up in.
Why do you have such a strong commitment to DE&I initiatives?
When I started my career, as I progressed and especially when I moved to different places and more senior roles, I was surprised that the higher I moved up in the corporate world, the gender balance was less favourable. Many times, I was the first woman to have that role or the only woman in the room.
This encouraged me to speak out and start initiatives in DE&I – not just in terms of gender balance but also respect for different nationalities, for different cultures. This has made me always ensure I incorporate DE&I in my leadership style and in my team building approach.
I also understand that diverse teams produce better results. If you have a very monochromatic team, then you get monochromatic solutions!
What do you think we do well at Mundipharma in terms of DE&I and how can we improve?
I do think that at Mundipharma we talk about diversity and inclusion throughout the year, not just to tie in with days like International Women’s Day. We encourage people to think about it and people are really open to this. I am proud of the gender balance within our Executive Committee and our senior leadership team. This was something I was very impressed with when I joined. We have a collaborative, respectful and very tolerant environment. This is a real competitive advantage for us when it comes to attracting talent and I always share this with all potential candidates that I meet.
What we need to continue doing, or do even better, is that when we are searching for potential candidates, we ensure women are getting the right opportunities to progress, whether that’s internally or looking outside our own talent pool.
What will you do to demonstrate your commitment to #AccelerateAction?
An important part of my job is to initiate the conversation and raise awareness. I want to create and encourage discussion throughout the organisation and especially within my team to support people to look at what actions they can take themselves. I will ensure to take time for this and give my time to people to have these conversations. I am also serving as a mentor to some colleagues, which is an important commitment for me and I will keep encouraging my mentees and their ambitions.
What do you encourage others to do? Whether early in their career or leaders like yourself?
Be curious about people and open minded. Embrace that we are not all the same and try to understand why certain people think in a different way and what their background is. This applies not only early on in your career but also as you progress and reach leadership level too. When you are a leader, you need to really get to know the people in your team to support them, help them perform at their best and thrive.
I think it is also important that you create the opportunities and environment where people feel comfortable to ask questions, give feedback and to share their opinion, even if it is different to the general view. The other part is to be self-aware. We all have biases, so you need to engage in conversations with other people, be open and ask them to tell you what they think your blind spot is. You can't improve if you don’t know!
How do you personally balance your very busy job and family life? Especially when your daughter was young.
Leadership starts with self. You do have to learn very quickly how to prioritise and understand what is really important to you. Is it the quantity or the quality of the time that you have with your children or with your family? From a business perspective, which meetings or actions deliver the greatest value to you and your colleagues? You need to decide and this self-discipline is something that you can learn over time.
For me, it was important to sit down and have dinner with my family every evening and switch off the phone because most of the time, things can wait until the next morning. Having this understanding that yes, my role is important but the job and the business will not fall apart if I have dinner with my family.
In fact, it is good for everyone that I balance my life and that I take time for myself, for sports and for relaxation because that will make me a better person and a better leader the next day. It is this self-reflection and focus on yourself first before you start working with other people that is important and that I try to live by.
What is your one wish for women’s equality and how can we move this forward in the next few years?
My biggest hope is that the next generation will build on the hard work and the breakthrough of the previous ones. That all women follow their ambitions and their dreams, that they can have resilience and persistence and not be discouraged. I think it's always important that you try. Sometimes you gain, sometimes you fail. But it's always important to try and with the IWD theme this year of #AccelerateAction, let’s try to work together now to keep ensuring the world does change for women everywhere.
Petra Molan
Global Chief Commercial Officer