Rachael Wilkinson, founder of Complex Therapy Comics

Rachael Wilkinson is a postdoctoral research scientist at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology. She is the founder of Complex Therapy Comics which aims to explain complex treatments in simple terms using the format of comics. Explaining complicated treatments to loved ones, particularly children, when facing diseases such as cancer is an additional pressure that patients or parents/guardians do not need to deal with. Their company aims to provide resources that will support people through such difficult times that can be used throughout the treatment process.   What is your background? What made you decide to become an entrepreneur? I am a research scientist with a background in biochemistry and characterising therapeutic targets. Whilst working at the University of Oxford for a clinical oncologist I was exposed to the many difficulties for patient's diagnosed with rare cancers. The clinical stories highlighted that there were possibly ways scientists could offer support that wasn't based in laboratory research, and I therefore decided to sign up to the RisingWISE programme at Oxford. This programme explored women in entrepreneurship and offered inspiration and guidance from many successful and aspiring entrepreneurs. It solidified my desire to pursue entrepreneurship as a means to provide useful resources that make the most of my scientific knowledge.   What is your definition of entrepreneurship? taking ownership of how to utilise my scientific knowledge in a way that can benefit people of a means of producing valuable resources.
For me entrepreneurship is the ability to transform my scientific knowledge into a concept that may benefit the wider community. For example, I hope to use my expertise and knowledge to produce resources communicating complex therapies in simple terms, making them accessible to the wider public.   How and when did you know your idea was good enough to develop it? The idea for the company started several years ago, when working on new therapeutic targets for a childhood cancer. Since then, I have talked to parents, cancer charities, experts in the field of child psychology as well as publishers to try and develop the idea further. This was further supported when this year I entered the EnSpire All-Innovate competition and developed a team working on this idea. During the process we completed a business model canvas and won a prize to develop our business.   What would you say are the top 3 skills that needed to be a successful entrepreneur? Why? Communication: for this project, the ability to bridge the gap between the academic science community and the general public will be imperative.
Courage: to transform an idea on paper into a viable product.
Leadership: the ability to lead and delegate within our project team to ensure that all areas of the project are covered - from the creatives to the business minded.   What is your favourite part of being an entrepreneur? I am early on in my journey, but so far the possibility of producing products that could offer support to families is really exciting. The ability to drive the project, whilst learning from so many experts is my favourite part.   What individual, company or organization inspires you most? Why? Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. They draw on experts in various fields to work towards their goals with a focus on preventing child deaths in poor countries for which treatments are available. They are taking known solutions and translating them into a new environment for the benefit of communities both locally and globally.   If you had 5 minutes with the above individual/company/organization, what would you want to ask or discuss? How they prioritise the areas of greatest need and ensure maximal benefit.   What has been your most satisfying or successful moment in business? We are early on in our journey, so the most satisfying moment so far has been storyboarding our first comic.   What would you say have been some of your mistakes, failures or lessons learned as an entrepreneur? The idea has flexed and changed since its inception and I think that has benefitted it. We have listened to the guidance of users and experts along the way and have always been willing to amend our product to best suit the needs we are trying to fill. We accept that this too may change over time and relish the opportunity to continually grow.   How have you funded your ideas? So far, we have been awarded a prize from the All-Innovate competition. As we continue to grow and progress we will look for further funding opportunities.   What is good about being an entrepreneur in Oxfordshire? Bad? The networks available in Oxford are invaluable as are the expertise they can offer.   If a new entrepreneur or startup came to you looking for entrepreneurship resources, where would you send them? Depending on their personal circumstances and what stages they were at I would happily recommend all elements of the Oxford entrepreneurship network I have encountered to date.   What resources would you recommend for women? The RisingWISE programme is highly valuable, as I am sure, the sister programmes SeedWISE and GroWISE. I would also recommend All-Innovate.   Do you have any advice for women who want to be entrepreneurs? Have the confidence to go for it. So many women I have spoken with have felt discouraged in even attempting to become an entrepreneur, but if you want to do it have faith that you can. After all failure is often not really a failure but instead a change of direction.   Any last words of advice? Never underestimate the benefit of working with others. Fresh perspectives are often really helpful.   You can keep up to date with Rachael by following her on Instagram.