Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Keiana Cave of Sublima Pharmaceuticals On The 5 Leadership Lessons She Learned From Her Experience
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
The most important piece of advice I could give to other women leaders is to try their hardest to stay grounded! Take care of yourself physically and mentally, and the rest of your team will follow that example.
As a part of my series about “Lessons From Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Keiana Cave.
Keiana Cave is a 23-year old scientist and femtech entrepreneur. She is currently working on developing and launching the first non-hormonal birth control pill in the U.S., making her the youngest person in the world to pursue FDA approval on a drug. As her pill is in clinical trials, she hopes to launch a campaign for Sublima, as well utilize her platform to spread awareness and education around women’s health and hormones. Keiana’s goal is to advocate for better women’s healthcare by finding the intersection between being both a venture-backed founder and an advocate for social change.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Thank you for having me! I have always been a curious person, and during my sophomore year of high school, I learned that I also love chemistry and scientific research. I started working in a lab at Tulane University, and loved the process of solving big problems with tools I had right in front of me. Eventually, I was able to publish my work and by college, I was able to run my own lab. My career is essentially just a combination of my curiosity and love for chemical research!
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began at your company?
When I started Sublima, my days were filled with back-to-back calls with advisors and potential investors. One of the most interesting things I realized was that many of my investors/advisors all knew each other! The tech world is a very small place, and it makes for the most interesting connections.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The funniest mistake I made when I first started Sublima was actually that I put my personal email address on Sublima’s website. I didn’t realize that many people would even be looking at the website, but within weeks of launch I was being bombarded with emails from women all over the country asking when they could start using the drug. For a while, I didn’t understand how so many people knew my email until I finally asked one of them.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Sublima stands out because it is not only a female-led pharmaceutical company, but it also is on a mission to develop the first non-hormonal birth control pill in the U.S.
Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Are you currently satisfied with the status quo regarding women in STEM? What specific changes do you think are needed to change the status quo?
I am definitely not satisfied with the status quo regarding women in STEM. Did you know that women only make up 27% of the workforce in STEM fields? It’s the biggest reason why I choose to partner with brands like Olay- they are aiming to double the number of women and triple the number of women of color in STEM by 2030. They also just announced their second commitment of $1MM towards efforts to close the STEM gap through four innovative initiatives that will provide young girls with mentorship and role models. Not only does that mean a lot to the entire STEM community, it perfectly embodies the type of action that needs to be taken to improve the status quo around women in STEM.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women in STEM or Tech that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts? What would you suggest to address this?
One of the biggest challenges faced by women in STEM is the lack of role models and enthusiasm around mentorship. A big reason that the number of women in STEM fields is so low is because they end up being discouraged that there aren’t many people in the field that look like them. Another reason I love partnering with Olay is that they are actively working to spread awareness about the importance of mentorship, especially for young women looking to enter STEM fields.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a woman in STEM or Tech. Can you explain what you mean?
One of the biggest myths about being a woman in STEM is that we are somehow less adequately educated and worse at our jobs than our male counterparts. This leads to women having lower salaries than men doing the same job as them. I think that this couldn’t be further from the truth, because some of the girls I met in college consistently got the highest grades in all of their classes. Not to mention that some of the smartest people I know are women in STEM!
What advice would you give to other women leaders to help their team to thrive?
The most important piece of advice I could give to other women leaders is to try their hardest to stay grounded! Take care of yourself physically and mentally, and the rest of your team will follow that example.
What advice would you give to other women leaders about the best way to manage a large team?
As far as managing teams, I would also remind female leaders that it is okay to lean on that team. I personally like to hire people that are way smarter than me, so that I am learning things from them as opposed to only teaching them what I know. This means that, sometimes, the best thing to do is trust your team to get through the most stressful times.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I am particularly grateful for my first mentor, Deborah Elam, because she was one of the first people in a power position that took me seriously as a girl pursuing STEM. She encouraged me every step of the way, reassured me when I felt doubtful, helped me strategize when I had new ideas, and even helped make connections to other people that could help me.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Both Sublima and my former company are social enterprises aimed at improving the world, but beyond that,this is exactly why I am working with brands like Olay to increase the number of women in STEM and spread awareness about the power of mentorship.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
If I could inspire a movement, it would be one that empowers women to be fearless in the pursuit of their career goals! Olay is already doing such great work on building this type of movement, and I can’t wait to see what the world looks like as their message spreads.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I don’t remember exactly who said this, but my favorite life lesson quote is “You’ll never succeed if you don’t try.” It’s cliche, but it reminds me every day that I’ll never reach my goals if I don’t work at them, as hard as some of them might be to achieve.
We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
I would love to have lunch with Sheryl Sandebrg. She is someone I have looked up to since I first knew I was interested in STEM. She has paved the way for more women to achieve success in STEM fields, and has raised the bar for what we can aspire to!
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Keiana Cave of Sublima Pharmaceuticals On The 5 Leadership… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.