The 2023 Rising Stars of the Profession: Chloe Lok

Chloe has nearly 10 years of experience in the healthcare industry, leading engagements in pharma, biotech, and digital health with particular expertise in the areas of respiratory, oncology, psychiatry, dermatology, and rare diseases. She brings deep experience in qualitative and quantitative primary research techniques, as well as portfolio and strategic planning, strategic marketing, patient journey mapping, and financial modeling and forecasting. Combining data analytics, competitive intelligence, and voice-of-customer research, Chloe develops straightforward actionable solutions for multifaceted problems.

In her role at Kx Advisors, Chloe is an active committee member of the Women's employee resource group, Women@Kx, Wellness Committee, and co-leads the Kx Mentoring scheme. She is also a Google-certified #IamRemarkable facilitator and has leveraged her skills and learning to train other employees in these vital competencies.

Chloe holds an MSc in Management from Imperial College Business School of Imperial College London, and a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Reading. Merging her passion for both business and science, Chloe launched her consulting career at a pharma and healthcare market research-based consultancy before joining Kx Advisors.

Chloe lives in London and enjoys traveling out of the city for some fresh air and countryside rambling when the weather permits. Otherwise, you will find her upskilling on digital art, creating fine line portraits of friends and family on her tablet.

What would you say has been the biggest factor in your success so far?

The support and generous investment of others in me has been the biggest factor in my success. As a first-generation university graduate and professional in my family, I am always grateful to those who have supported me both personally and professionally to get to where I am today. For every naysayer or moment of self-doubt, I had multiple supporters believing in my capabilities before I did, encouraging me to take the next step and push for the next big thing.

As I reach new heights of success, I reflect on a piece of advice my secondary school teacher once gave me; "When you have grown and start to bear fruits of your labor, be a mango tree. Reach down to your roots and nourish those around you." I hope to give back and help those who face similar challenges as I did to realize their full potential.

What do you enjoy most about your career in the consulting industry?

I am the type of person who can get bored very easily, so I appreciate the pace of consulting and the variation of the work that I do. I enjoy the satisfaction in solving different problems with my team and the learning opportunities that come with each solution. There are many elements of consulting that seem oxymoronic at first, such as thinking creatively to ensure a logical demand forecast is of greatest value to the client or focusing on the details to refine the bigger picture – it is these types of challenges that force me to activate different skillsets, which I greatly enjoy.

I also very much appreciate the way in which we engage with our clients as advisors and not as contractors. It is a privilege to be exposed to so many different businesses and their challenges and be embraced by clients as an extension of their team. I have been able to work alongside so many different people, in different roles, at different companies, giving me an insight into how they work, and learning from each.

What is your proudest achievement to date?

I am proud of myself for getting to where I am in my career so far. From not knowing what a consultant does, to leading teams and advising C-suite executives on their health care strategy, it has been a journey of continuous learning and stepping out of my comfort zone. It is extremely rewarding to see client decisions being made based on our recommendations and the influence it has on their strategy, and ultimately the impact it has to the patients they serve. To that end, I'm extremely proud that my efforts and contribution has been recognized by being named one of the Rising Stars in Consulting, as well as my recent promotion to Principal at Kx Advisors, which marks a monumental point in my career so far.

What's the best advice you've ever been given?

Visualize a target drawn with three concentric circles – each of these rings represent different zones that we can be in. We can only operate in one zone at any given time. The bullseye is the comfort zone, where everything is easy and quick to accomplish. Tasks that might sit here include things that we opt for when feeling lazy, as they often require very little energy.

The second ring is the uncomfortable zone, where things are somewhat difficult to accomplish and there is a learning curve to get better at the task. These tasks can seem scary at first, and a small leap of faith may be needed to get going.

The last ring on the outside is the zone of chaos, where you lose control and don't know where to begin. Sometimes, large tasks in this zone can be broken down into smaller pieces that themselves fall into the uncomfortable zone.

Always seek to operate in the middle of your uncomfortable zone to keep learning and growing. With the correct support and tools, you'll eventually look back and realize a lot of things in your uncomfortable zone have fallen into your comfort zone and have become second nature, and the scary tasks in your zone of chaos don't seem so daunting anymore and are in your uncomfortable zone.

I was given this piece of advice as a fresh graduate and pass this piece of wisdom on to team members whenever they get overwhelmed by a task at hand.

What does this recognition mean to you?

Being recognized as a Rising Star in Consulting with excellence in leadership makes me proud of the younger Chloe who persevered in consulting when others told me I was "too nice" and "too quiet" to do well in this industry. This recognition also gives me a platform to show others with a relatable background to me that we too can make great leaders in an industry where the leadership roles are traditionally held by people who don't usually look like us.