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Employee Spotlight

We Are Norstella

While all Norstella employees share the same passion for improving patient access to life-saving therapies, they bring a wide array of experiences and skills to the table.

Employee spotlight

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April Constable

Director of Communications

As head of Norstella’s corporate communications, April Constable devises and implements strategies to help our employees stay informed, engaged and motivated. Her team leads corporate events and initiatives, oversees internal communications, and shares the company’s vision and values with employees across the world.

Tell us a little bit more about your role.

My role encompasses the traditional types of corporate communications, from town halls to events to newsletters, podcasts, and executive messaging. Since Norstella is growing rapidly, my job also slips over into the brand and PR space during a merger or acquisition.

A big part of what I do is bring the customer voice to life for employees who don’t get the chance to interact with customers or patients on a daily basis. We work at a hundred miles an hour, and we often don’t take the opportunity to see the impact that we’re having on the industry, and on patients who need treatment.

How did you join the company? What in your background brought you to pharma?

I’ve always worked in the marketing and communication space. I started off in a junior role and then organically worked my way up, expanding into events. As a result of the pandemic, I became really interested in corporate communications: how companies can keep their employees motivated with the right messaging during such a time of uncertainty.

I joined Norstella in 2021, just a few days before Evaluate and MMIT merged. Since then, I’ve seen each merger, acquisition or divestiture take place, and with each one, I became more involved as the structure of our team changed. At this point, my team leads all communications related to M&A activity.

It’s wonderful that we get a seat at the table early on, as so often, communications are brought in only at the last minute. But at Norstella, we are brought into the intricacies and rationale for the entire deal, which helps us communicate across the business to ensure that this news generates the excitement it deserves.

What does your day-to-day usually look like?

It really depends on where I am! I’m based in London, but I’ve been traveling a lot. Last week I was fortunate enough to be in Delhi, meeting almost 300 colleagues who work remotely across India. People came from every single corner of the country to this event, and it was an absolute whirlwind.

The first few days of my trip, I worked with the amazing teams on the ground to transform our hotel space into a branded hub. We had branding all over the room, but the masterpiece was an incredible Norstella logo made out of really fine, colored rice on the floor. For the rest of the week, I had the pleasure of meeting the team and talking about this new chapter of our global operations. The colleagues I met were just phenomenal, so kind and welcoming. I don’t think I stopped smiling in my whole week there, which was just lovely.

This week, I’m back in London. My morning routine is focused, and the time zone means I have the opportunity to catch-up with colleagues in Asia at the start of the day. From midday on, our team in the U.S. begins to come online. My afternoons are typically full of calls as I’m pulled into different projects.

What are some of the larger projects you’re working on?

We have an exciting employee recognition project that will likely launch in Q3. As Norstella has grown so rapidly, it can be difficult to see all of the great things that are happening across our organization on a daily basis. This new global recognition platform will give employees the opportunity to publicly recognize their colleagues across the business.

When we were all small, independent businesses, everyone used to know each other. Now that we’re one large organization, it’s naturally more challenging to know what’s going on and who’s doing what outside of your business unit. People send emails thanking their colleagues all the time, but now they’ll be able to do that on a stage where everyone can see. This platform will allow us to give and receive praise, points and prizes, really highlighting the collaborative work we do.

What are some of the common challenges of your role?

That’s a hard question. Navigating a global organization across multiple time zones can be quite tricky, but I would say the largest challenge lies in what we just talked about—the fact that there’s so much going on all the time.

As we grow, how can employees find all the information they need? How to we continue to operate as a small nimble business? When everyone is moving so quickly, it can be difficult to get employees to stop for a moment and share information about their successes.

What’s been your career highlight to date?

Being involved in so many acquisitions has been really interesting to me, so I would say that’s my first career highlight. We don’t often sit and reflect, but if I think about the business when I joined versus where we are today—it’s absolutely amazing how quickly Norstella has come together! The way that we’ve united all these companies to ultimately help patients is pretty special.

My second career highlight would have to be the employee recognition awards we pulled together at the end of 2023. We had more than a thousand colleagues attend four events hosted in London, Boston, New York, and Tokyo. Of the more than 350 nominations we received, only three were for individuals; the rest were for teams. I found that to be really incredible, as it just shows how well people are working together to achieve a common goal.

Which company principle resonates most with you?

For me, I think it’s the intersection between ‘kindness, empathy, and grace’ and ‘humility, gratitude and learning.’ Those two principles align nicely with each other, and with my strong belief that you should always assume positive intent in people. At Norstella, there is a big ethos on trying, time and again. You might fail, but you get back up, you learn from your mistakes, and you try again. It’s important to be grateful for all the lessons you’ve learned along the journey, to be humble about what you’ve experienced, and to extend that same grace to others.

What would you tell someone just starting their career with Norstella?
Stay curious! We’re always evolving, and there are so many opportunities that reveal themselves as a result of that flux. I would advise a new employee to go along for the ride: get involved, say yes to new opportunities, and keep innovating.

Where do you see Norstella in the next year or two?

I see Norstella at the forefront of our industry. The best part of my role is that I am privileged to work with people from so many different teams and functions across the business to help them deliver their message. The one thing that all of us have in common is that can-do attitude. We can tackle any problem with that collective mindset—the sky’s the limit!

What do you like most about working at Norstella?

There are so many opportunities that unfold here at Norstella. I love our ‘fail fast, learn fast’ culture. Our people are genuinely kind and helpful, and they want to help others—it’s in their nature. Norstella is excellent at hiring!

What do you like to do outside of work?

As I live in London, there is never a shortage of things to do! I spend a lot of time walking around the Canary Wharf area with my French bulldog, Pig—he eats absolutely everything, from dirt to stones to actual food, hence the name. My biggest passion is fitness, and I’ve recently become obsessed with reformer Pilates. I also love cooking for my friends and family.

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