Today we’d like to introduce you to Deidra Hudson.
Hi Deidra, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Early Life and Education: Deidra Hudson was born in California and raised in North Carolina, where she was deeply influenced by her parents’ commitment to community service, political involvement, and their careers in home building, insurance sales, and real estate. This upbringing instilled in her the importance of helping others and being actively involved in her community.
Deidra attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she majored in Public Policy Analysis with a focus on health. She furthered her education at Meredith College, graduating with a B.A. in Political Studies. She has worked in insurance, real estate, managed care, biotech and pharmaceutical industries. Deidra is involved in community and volunteers in several professional organizations with common them eof gender equity. In her professional and personal organizations she is a strong advocate for women, patients and health equity.
Personal Life: Deidra is married to Kevan Cooper and enjoys a blended family with Samantha, Mayson, Jayden, Collin, Chase, Cameron, Carson, and Cannon, along with their two dogs, Maxwell and Romeo. For fun, Deidra loves spending time with her family, interior decorating, bike riding, swimming, and enjoying live jazz.
As the president of Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) I am aligned with its mission. HBA aims to achieve gender parity in leadership positions, provide equitable practices that enable organizations to realize the full potential of women, and facilitate career and business connections to accelerate advancement. The HBA envisions being the global leader in gender equity, advancing women into positions of influence and decision-making to improve health equity and outcomes
During my first year as president of the RTP for Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association we now have a full board, expanded our membership, volunteer committees, and corporate partnerships. In collaboration with our volunteer committees and corporate partners we have provided outstanding educational and developmental programs for women in healthcare. We have great representation that spans the healthcare industry in biotech, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, diagnostic, consultants, and clinical research organizations. We are focused on our outreach to health systems, patient care(physicians, nurses, mid-levels), pharmacists, and managed care organizations.
The HBA serves a diverse community of 80 countries, over 17,000 individual members and nearly180 corporate partners. Membership benefits include networking opportunities, access to industry thought leaders, educational programs, affinity programs, and global recognition of outstanding individuals and companies.
As a chapter we are lucky to be in the Research Triangle Park area, where we have an opportunity access to a wide range of corporate partners. Our goal is to continue to identify new partnerships and expand our reach with current partners. We have also built relationships with local businesses and other non-profit organizations in the community to highlight the service they provide and they work they are doing to help others.
The team is now excited that we are planning for our annual event with Women In Biotech that will be November 12th. It will focus on the intersection of women’s health and gender parity. A very important topic for today’s time and aligns perfectly with our mission and vision.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I think obstacles for me have sometimes been myself. Self doubt that leads you to believe you don’t deserve your success or when you don’t see the success you have which manifests as imposter syndrome. This is very common for women. Sometimes what is standing in the way is “you”. I was cleaning out my office closet and found performance reviews from several past employers and letters of recommendation from professors, employers and colleagues. At the time I received them I did not see and grasp the phenomenal work that I had done. I was so hard on myself that it did not dawn on me that I was given exceptional feedback. This may be because of this idea instilled in me by my parents and other African Amercian parents that we have to be 100xs better than others to be successful. That is a difficult measuring stick to live up to, but I have heard my other friends say the same thing.
I have overcome by replacing those thoughts with positive affirmations, setting realistic goals, and asking for feedback from peers, friend circle and professional coach (internal audit). This has helped me to adjust my lens and see my contributions and achievements as others see them.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Professional Experience: With 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, Deidra has made significant contributions in market access, patient access, patient services, and patient advocacy. She has successfully launched 13 drugs and biologics for various biotech and pharmaceutical companies, showcasing her expertise and dedication to improving patient outcomes.
In her current role as Associate Director of Reimbursement Marketing Operations, Deidra creates print and digital resources to enhance patient access. She has led initiatives to help uninsured patients gain access to necessary treatments, organized patient awareness events in oncology, and developed strategies to ensure Medicare patients can access the first available drug for their diseases.
Leadership and Achievements: Deidra’s leadership is characterized by her strengths as an achiever, activator, ideation, learner, and her strong sense of responsibility. She is a servant leader that believes in empowering and developing others. She has done this through mentorship through her work in the biopharma industry and her professional organizations, with a focus on empowering other women. She was also selected by leadership to co-lead a team to develop the DE&I strategy for the Market Access and Patient Services teams.
Her dedication and excellence have been recognized through numerous awards, including:
• Managed Care and Customer Operations Top Talent
• Field Reimbursement Masters
• United Healthcare nACT Core Team – Teamwork/Collaboration Award
• Values in Action Award
• Winners Circle
• Presidents Club
• Sales Excellence Award
Community Involvement: In her free time, Deidra is the President of the Healthcare Business Women’s Association, focusing on gender equity, health equity, and transformational leadership. She also serves as the treasurer on the Executive Board for WomenNC and is a member and past board member of Pearls in Partnership. Additionally, Deidra is a lifetime member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Other organizations: Ophthalmic World Leaders and National Association of Medication Access & Patient Advocacy
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
As an African American woman (double minority) my parents instilled in me that you have to be 100 x better than the competition, so its best not to rely on luck! One of my favorite quotes is from William Arthur Ward about achievement, “Four steps to achievement; plan purposefully, prepare prayerfully, profess positively, and pursue persistently.” I have tried to live by this quote throughout my career and community and professional organizations involvement. He has another quote that really speaks to this idea of luck, “Success never resides in the world of weak wishes, but in the palace of purposeful plans and prayerful persistence.” I truly believe in this, as the bible says faith without works is dead.
There are some that may get lucky by being the right place at the right time, my thoughts are why chance it? Do the work, so when you do succeed you know you earned it and you can be proud of the path you forged to your achievement.
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