Friday Interview: Karen Winterhalter on Coronavirus and her focus on people

By Helen Bowman

Tell us a little about yourself and your company, Onyx Health

We’re a healthcare marketing communications agency based in the Hoults Yard in Walker and are part of the UK’s fastest-growing digital cluster here. We work with healthcare and pharmaceutical companies of all sizes and from all over the UK.

I set up Onyx Health ten years ago when I moved back to the North East after several years working in London and the south in the healthcare communications industry. Originally, I was a nurse based in Walker but made the move into pharmaceuticals and then into marketing for the industry. My boss at the time moved my job down to Bristol and my career took off from there.

Agency life in London called and I worked my way up through the ranks to become head of Europe, the Middle East and Africa very quickly. I loved my life and my career, but ten years ago I came up to Newcastle to do the Great North Run with my husband. On the train on the way home he said: “If we moved up North we could have a great life”. I agreed with him and eight weeks later we moved back to the North East.

I set up Onyx Health from my home office, working alone initially, but I quickly took on two more people. There’s a thriving life science culture in the North East and I’ve made some amazing connections up here to help the business grow. We’re 15 strong now and love our home in Hoults Yard.

Obviously, since the Coronavirus hit, we’ve all been remote working. That’s a challenge when our team is so close-knit, but we’ve overcome that by introducing an office WhatsApp group to keep spirits up.

You’ve recently been recognised as one of the Sunday Times’ One to Watch companies in Newcastle – how did that come about?

The Sunday Times came to the North East and interviewed loads of companies in Newcastle. They visited Hoults Yard and spoke to many of the businesses based here. Onyx Health was identified as one of the six top companies in Newcastle thanks to our rapid growth and expanding team.

Being named as one of the six has been fantastic. It’s helped raise awareness of Onyx Health and the boost it’s given us as a company has been incredible. When you start a company up you live and breathe it. Any entrepreneur will tell you, your initial mindset it hopeful but not overly confident. We’ve reached a tipping point in our mindset and we’ve gone through the early phases of uncertainty and we’ve come out the other side.

Since being named as one of the Sunday Times’ Ones to Watch, we’ve been approached by loads of investors and recruitment agencies. It really sets us apart from our competitors. We want people to know about the life science community in the North East, the digital cluster, and some of the big influencers we have around Newcastle – we’re all connected. It’s all about connectivity.

What challenges has the Coronavirus brought for Onyx Health?

Obviously we’ve all started working remotely, which is a challenge for such a fun, close-knit team. But the digital revolution has meant that it’s business as usual for us. We’re using video calls and social media to stay in touch and keep our mental health in check. We may be out of the office, but we aren’t out of the loop.

Thankfully, we’ve got digital solutions in place to limit the impact of the Corona crisis. Even as public events are cancelled, we are harnessing the benefits of a strong digital presence to keep our clients seen and heard.

Coronavirus may be the worst public health crisis for a generation, but our business wheels will not stop turning. Businesses can continue to engage with their target consumers using webinars, email marketing campaigns and targeted social media content.