Diva Tech Talk interviewed Elena Lipson, Founder of Mosaic Growth Partners (http://www.mosaicgrowth.com/).  Elena is also the host of THE BOOST Podcast, a podcast highlighting accomplished entrepreneurs, athletes and healthcare professionals.  Elena has experimented with multiple paths in the creation of her mission. “I started off in a corporate job in HR and marketing,” after her college graduation. “But I realized, quickly, that I wanted to do work that was more mission-focused. So, I went back to school to get my master’s in public policy.”   Elena moved into the world of public sector consulting working at BearingPoint, a small firm and then t Deloitte Consulting for 7 years ( https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en.html). “There, I really fell into the health tech space.” Elena said “I was really not that technical person. I was more interested in how technology could help enable better healthcare.” She worked in consulting for 8 years, but “I got to the point where I felt that being a partner in a big consulting firm was not the path I wanted to be on.”

So, Elena moved over to a business development role at AARP (www.aarp.org).  But the pace of that organization was “a lot slower than what I was used to,” she said.  “I had this ‘aha’ moment where I realized that I was tired and burned out from working for other people.”   So, Elena decided to start her own consulting firm. “I quit my job at AARP, started Mosaic Growth Partners. I spent the first year testing out a lot of things. From that I developed a couple of core offerings,” she said. “My firm is helping entrepreneurs, and  organizations, in the digital health space. I focus on helping them with growth strategy consulting, and business development. We do a lot of market intelligence work; go-to-market and innovation strategy work; as well as outsourced business development functions and workshops around new business models.”  

Elena also launched her podcast and is launching a coaching program for professional women “to help them get the promotions, raises and respect they are looking for in the workplace.” Two major lessons are “staying attuned to the market to see what’s working, and keeping your eyes on the ‘bottom line’ all the time.”  She foresees great developments in the healthcare industry. “I am seeing a lot of user-designed research and that’s really exciting.”

Elena recently published an article to supplement her newly-minted coaching practice. Entitled “7 Things Badass Professional Women Don’t Do”, her tips included: Don’t put your head down, take time to build relationships; don’t always say “yes,” protect your time; and don’t be a “tough guy.”  In saying “no,” you can accomplish this with “grace and finesse. You don’t have to steamroll people.”

Self-care is essential in Elena’s opinion to professional success and happiness. She ensures that she gets eight hours of sleep, blocks out time to exercise, and has good nutritional habits. “If you’re an entrepreneur, you deal with a lot of rejection,” she said.  So being in top physical shape is a protection and enables her to “handle some of that, and deal with the stresses.”  

Elena also values mentoring and noted that she has had both formal and informal mentoring relationships but benefitted most from those that are organic, “relationships with people that really feel natural, and you are just the right fit, from a chemistry perspective.” Elena’s final words of wisdom are “you need to be confident in yourself; no one else is going to be able to give you that.”  Additionally, she emphasized “Just be open to where experience will take you.”

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