"I believe when you put yourself in uncomfortable situations is when you grow the most. Living in a rural village, no running water, no electricity, and essentially being a doula in a middle Atlas Mountain Village for two and a half years, different language, different religion, you know, you just learn a lot about people."

From Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco to CEO of Oxeon—the executive search firm reimagining healthcare leadership—Sonia Millsom has spent 30 years proving that the most uncomfortable paths lead to the greatest transformations. Her journey through healthcare's biggest successes (including helping scale Maven to unicorn status and Iora Health to a billion-dollar exit) taught her one critical truth: companies don't fail because of bad CEOs—they fail because the wrong people are at the wrong tables.

Now at Oxeon, Sonia is fixing that problem by placing leaders at ALL the tables that matter: executive teams, boardrooms, and cap tables. Because after 13 years of data, she knows exactly what makes leaders successful—and it's not what most people think.

"High performing teams have high degrees of psychological safety," she explains. But in today's world of AI disruption, multi-generational workforces, and constant pivots, that safety is harder to build than ever. Her solution? Stop looking for the CEO with three unicorn exits. Start looking for leaders who can "think again" like scientists, not preachers or prosecutors.

In this episode of Inspiring Women with Laurie McGraw, Sonia also reveals:

• The 5 key attributes that predict leadership success (hint: clock speed matters more than credentials)


• Why women will control $34 trillion by 2030—and how that changes everything about healthcare


• What Peace Corps taught her about patient care that Harvard Business School never could


• The real reason companies pivot faster now (and why your old playbook won't save you)


• How ambient listening cameras preventing patient falls signals healthcare's AI future


• Why "life begins at the end of your comfort zone"—advice she's passing to her daughters


• The pattern recognition trap that causes investors to miss breakthrough leaders

"Nothing is up and to the right all the time," Sonia admits. "When those times of when things go down is actually where you learn the most."

From serving as a doula in rural Morocco to orchestrating billion-dollar healthcare transformations, Sonia Millsom proves that understanding people—whether patients in villages or executives in boardrooms—is the key to driving real change. At Oxeon, she's not just filling leadership positions; she's architecting the future of healthcare by ensuring the right leaders are at every table where decisions get made.

Her motto? "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." Her mission? Making sure healthcare's next generation of leaders—including her own daughters—are ready to be uncomfortable, curious, and kind enough to transform an industry that touches us all.

Chapters

01:30 - Why Leadership Diversity Drives Healthcare Success

03:45 - Five Key Attributes of Successful Leaders

07:20 - Psychological Safety in Uncertain Times

10:15 - From Peace Corps to Healthcare CEO

13:00 - Pivoting in Healthcare: Lessons from Iora and Maven

16:30 - AI and the Multi-Generational Workforce

19:45 - Women's $34 Trillion Financial Future

23:00 - Life Begins at the End of Your Comfort Zone

Guest & Host Links

• Connect with Laurie McGraw on LinkedIn
  


• Connect with Sonia Millsom on LinkedIn
  

Connect with Inspiring Women

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