Women to Watch 2021: Sophie Asker, GCI Health

Sophie Asker

Managing director
GCI Health
Singapore

In a list largely dominated by industry leaders who serve a broad audience or client set, Sophie Asker stands out as a highly specialised individual. With 15 years of specialist healthcare communications experience under her belt, she has harnessed her skills to achieve significant growth for GCI Health since joining in 2020 and is noted for her leadership, empathy and expertise.

Asker’s career started in-house at Servier Laboratories as part of the cardiovascular-risk marketing team. After a stint at Athena Medical Communications she progressed rapidly to become deputy managing director of PR at Syneos Health, where she was the senior leader on the biggest global accounts and led multiple award-winning campaigns. Her active involvement in Asia-Pacific campaigns from within Europe landed her a spot on the APAC leadership team at GCI Health in 2020.

Since joining the GCI Health Singapore team, Asker has demonstrated resilience and leadership during the pandemic, working with her colleagues to stabilise the team and client base during Covid’s most acute phases. Under her leadership, the firm has achieved strong business win rates and retained staff.

Asker leads GCI Health’s people initiatives in APAC, working with country heads to ensure a positive employee experience across the region. She is passionate about mentorship and passing on her skills, taking the time to mentor every member of her team, as well as provide ad hoc communications counsel to third parties in her own time. She is even planning to start a creative writing course to formally document her experiences of travel, languages and her career to inspire upcoming communications professionals.

In terms of her own development, Asker regularly pushes herself out of her comfort zone to evolve as a leader and a communications professional. She is a keen linguist (she graduated from the University of Bath with a double honours degree in French and Italian with EU Studies) and has learnt Mandarin since arriving in Singapore, enabling her to better understand and engage with the local culture.