The women behind our courses

They are Austrian, Canadian, Spanish, American, Argentinian, and Italian… They are physicians, designers, scientists, marketers, paramedics, and project managers… The women behind Medmastery's courses come from many different countries and backgrounds. Accounting for 76% of our workforce, they are a massive driver behind what we do and stand for. 

As our CEO and founder, Franz Wisebauer, says, "At Medmastery, we're all about embracing diversity, and our team is proof that it's a winning strategy. We've noticed that having lots of amazing women on board gives us an edge." On International Women's Day, we want to celebrate our women with a special Spotlight article featuring three of our team members. So, without further ado, let us introduce you to Brigitte, Laura, and Tori.

When she enrolled at the Art University of Linz to study fashion design, Brigitte probably dreamed of having her creations walk the catwalks in Paris and Milan. Yet, after completing her degree and working in the fashion industry for a while, she understood that this wasn't her calling. Still full of creativity, Brigitte returned to school and successfully completed a graphic design program. Fresh out of college, she started working with Medmastery, which, at the time, was just a startup. Both Brigitte's and Medmastery's lives have changed a lot over the years, but they've always walked side by side. After helping grow our design team, Brigitte naturally progressed to the position of Art Director and Head of Course Design. Little did she know then that a bigger responsibility was coming her way. In 2021, the arrival of her daughter turned Brigitte's life upside down. After enjoying a year of maternity leave, Brigitte came back to Medmastery, and leads the design team. Because she works from home, she can also look after an energetic toddler.

When she returned to work after maternity leave, Brigitte decided to work 20 hours per week instead of 30. This way, she can manage the Course Design department while still being actively involved as a mother. She usually works in the mornings and spends time with her daughter in the afternoon. Thanks to flexible working hours and her supportive boyfriend, she has the freedom to change her schedule depending on her work and family commitments. After feeding and dressing her daughter for the day, Brigitte retreats into her home office. Her workday starts with meetings, emails, and other admin tasks. She then switches to design-related work, like drafting design guidelines or templates, and whatever else is on her plate. Around noon, Brigitte takes a break for her daughter’s nap time; she often won't sleep without her mommy (who can blame her?). Then it's lunchtime and off to the playground, but not before spending some time doing her daughter’s favorite pastime—watching cars going up and down the road. After dinner, when her daughter goes to sleep, Brigitte gets back to work, takes care of house chores, or gets some personal time, depending on the day.

I feel very lucky to work with Medmastery because it gives me a lot of flexibility. Being a mom is very demanding for me, and I don't know how I could do it in any other job… Before I returned from maternity leave, I did think about the leadership position and thought, will I be able to do it? Should I step down?... I decided against it because I just love what I do. —Brigitte Mair

Every good leader has questioned, at least once, whether they are putting too much on their plate. For a woman, motherhood might be that time. Brigitte loves her job, but raising a child and managing a department are huge responsibilities, and she wanted to make sure she could succeed in both roles. Having Medmastery as an employer gave her that peace of mind, and she eventually decided to keep her management position. In making this decision, Brigitte knew she could count on a flexible, family-friendly work environment. On our end, we are delighted to have Brigitte back in her role and proud that our supportive culture enables her to be a great manager, creative design lead, and an amazing mother all at the same time.

After obtaining her PhD in neuroscience, Laura worked in a lab as a postdoc for a bit, but when she had her son, her life changed completely. Commuting long hours from her home to the lab in downtown Toronto was becoming a nightmare. She would leave in the morning while her son was still eating breakfast and would return home just in time to tuck him into bed and kiss him goodnight. Luckily, Laura's husband worked closer to home, and he would drop their son off at daycare and pick him up after work. Life at this pace was just not sustainable for Laura's family. So, when her contract with the laboratory ended, she decided she needed to find a different solution. She was a stay-at-home mom for a while, but Laura missed working and she soon started looking for a job that would give her a better work-life balance. She tried different things like proofreading, editing, and contract teaching for some time. Then, shortly after her daughter was born, she came across Medmastery and fell in love with it. She had finally found a job that set her up for success as a woman, mother, and wife.

Medmastery has been phenomenal in terms of being able to be a mom, a wife, and a woman. It enables me to be successful in all my roles, at home and at work. One of the things I love most about Medmastery is that I can be unapologetically me. I can be a mom while I'm still at work. I don't have to pretend I don't have a life outside of work. —Laura Pacey

Laura joined Medmastery in 2017 as a Course Manager and has worked her way up through various leadership positions. Now, as the Chief Learning Officer, Laura is responsible for the overall strategic direction and quality of the courses we put out here at Medmastery. She has oversight of the course department—Medmastery’s largest department—which includes course strategy and teacher recruitment, course design, production, accreditation, course development, and more. She has proven to be an inspiring and more-than-capable leader, admired by those who have worked for her and alongside her, as well as advocating for the hiring and placement of more women in positions of leadership.

My job is to just make sure that we're all on the same page, we're all pulling in the same direction, and that we're all creating the best courses that we possibly can create for our learners. Part of my role is also to make sure that, you know, we're trying new things, that we're getting better all the time… that we're getting more efficient… that we're growing as a company and as a group in terms of how we develop courses and what they look like and what we're offering to our learners. —Laura Pacey

After practicing as a general OB / GYN physician for several years, Tori decided she needed a change and started a program in Oklahoma City, where she lives with her husband and twin teenage boys. According to Tori, her sons have really fun personalities—slightly attitudinal but not as much as you would expect for teenagers. However, while she might not be experiencing too much drama at home, Tori is no stranger to taking on a challenge. She is now an OB hospitalist, which means she practices obstetrics with inpatients only. Her service takes care of high-risk women who don't have any prenatal care or physician guidance. Over the past ten years and with the help of other high-risk obstetricians, her tertiary care center has been so successful that she is now opening another one, together with a low-intervention birthing center. Being a hospitalist, Tori works 24-hour in-house shifts and is not on call when she is off. That allows her to pursue other passions, one of which is teaching. She teaches obstetrics and runs obstetrical emergency simulations. Her passion for medical education is what brought her to Medmastery. When she first saw the job ad for a Course Manager at Medmastery, Tori went straight to the website. After checking out our courses, she regretted that she didn't have something similar to help her through her residency, and she applied for the position. The rest, as they say, is history.

In the midst of Covid, working in the hospital was horribly difficult. Medmastery and the culture of support and guidance and acceptance, and encouraging creativity from all of the employees really kept me with the company. And that's a breath of fresh air in medicine. Because medicine can be a kind of cut-throat environment where everybody is trying to get to the top… [At Medmastery], we definitely are a rowdy bunch… and I enjoy it. And Laura is a phenomenal leader, and so she's really easy to work with. —Tori O’Daniel

After working as a Course Manager under Laura for a year and a half, Tori was promoted to Lead Course Manager and then Head of Course Development shortly after that. As Head of Course Development, Tori specifically oversees the courses that are currently in production and leads and trains the team of course managers, who work closely with our expert medical educators to make our Medmastery courses come to life. Tori couldn't speak highly enough of Laura, not only as a great manager, but as a fantastic person. This strikes us as a wonderful example of solidarity between women. Two tough women leaders who encourage, inspire, and support each other instead of competing.

When asked what advice she would offer women, Tori says, "Stop apologizing, stop apologizing for opinions, stop apologizing for your ideas, stop apologizing for being human and making mistakes in ways that assume all things are your fault.” 

Not everything is your fault, and you are allowed to make mistakes and have your feelings and opinions. More importantly, remember that great leaders will appreciate you expressing your views, even if they disagree with them.
 

Medmastery's team is made up of a creative and dedicated bunch of women and men.  At Medmastery, our women and men support and value each other, and our workplace culture. Laura emphasizes that our culture of support and empathy comes from the top down. Our CEO, Franz, is very much a family man who embraces diversity. Laura loves celebrating her colleagues for who they are, inside and outside of work—whether they are women, men, or transgender people, or whether they have kids, grandchildren, or pets. As paternity leave is becoming more common among men, she is delighted to see colleagues at Medmastery being encouraged to take advantage of this benefit to enjoy fatherhood and to support their partners' careers.  

When we're hiring, the biggest thing we're looking for is somebody who is a culture fit. The men that we're bringing into the company are also buying into this culture. And it's not a women's culture. It's a supportive, empathetic culture, a flexible culture that allows people to be themselves… We know that there are lots of talented people out there. So it's more than just being able to do the actual job. It's about being able to do the job in the way that we do it as a team...We basically let our people work in a way that works for them." —Laura Pacey

One of the things that Laura loves about being in a leadership position at Medmastery is that she can perpetuate the culture she fell in love with. “We can't sit at our desks and expect things to remain as they are forever. If we don't continue to foster collaboration, empathy, and support in our work environment, they will disappear over time.” That's why when interviewing for an open position, Laura looks for somebody who is a culture fit. When she eventually sees the person she hired shining and thriving in their job, she feels gratified. 

Thank you to Brigitte, Laura, and Tori for sharing their experiences at Medmastery! We are proud that our company culture supports their personal and professional goals. While this is a clear sign that we are working in the right direction, we know that we have to continue to nurture and foster the values of empowerment, trust, and flexibility on a daily basis, particularly as we continue to grow our team and bring new amazing people on board.

If you wish to work in a diverse, flexible, and supportive environment, keep an eye on our Linkedin jobs profile for new openings and ways to collaborate with Medmastery.