Maia Khetsuriani embodies passion and commitment. She has been Servier’s General Manager in Georgia for the past 10 years. We talked to her about her career and her outlook for the future of the business.

“I trained in cardiology but soon realized the hands-on contact with patients would be too much of an emotional burden. Still, I wanted to keep helping and caring for others. Servier seemed the obvious choice, both in terms of the company’s values and its excellence in cardiology.

I came on board 15 years ago as a medical representative and was promoted to general manager five years later. There were 13 of us in the team at the time, compared with 42 today, including 39 women! Georgia has a lot of women in the pharmaceutical industry, often in positions of responsibility and they are gradually making their mark. The country’s president is also a woman.

The thing I like most about my job is working with other people, shouldering the weight of decisions, seeing the results of our efforts, solving problems and overcoming hurdles while creating a climate of trust for my teams. My goal is now to get our subsidiary on track toward growth in a challenging Georgian market while coming up with creative new approaches. I aim to draw on my own inquisitive nature, ability to listen and sense of optimism in securing this success. Not to mention the fact that I’m as driven as I was on the day I started!”