I doubt anyone would have predicted I’d become an entrepreneur – least of all me – but that’s what I am and I’m loving it! At university I read history and it’s true it does teach you to see both sides of an argument (very useful in business) – it was either that or I’ve got classic middle child syndrome!
I’ve had lots of interesting (and some not-so-interesting) jobs over the years. I worked at the House of Commons and Reuters before joining Pan Books in the 80s halcyon days of publishing. That was such a fun time and so stimulating but I think it was then that my desire to understand business began. I saw an ad for a Masters in Business Administration course with the headline “A Year to Change Your Life” and at the time I thought that’s exactly what I needed so I applied, won an award and took myself off to Warwick University fully intending to go back to publishing. I was, however, lured into the city and became a “teenage scribbler” for a couple of years.
Following a move to Birmingham I spent eight years working for BMI Healthcare as Business Development Manager at The Priory Hospital, before setting up Healthier Weight with my husband Dr David Ashton. Like many women I’ve had an interest in weight management for as long as I can remember. I was a plump teenager which, with my surname was extremely unfortunate. I’ve been “watching my weight” all my life.
At Healthier Weight all we do is help people who are overweight or obese to lose weight. This could be via our own range of nutritional products, our own behavioural weight loss programme or complex obesity surgery. I was very clear that I wanted to differentiate our service on quality. Our surgical director, Professor Franco Favretti, for example, is one of a handful of world specialists in this field. Franco is a pioneer in laparoscopic obesity surgery – he developed the original surgical technique for gastric banding. He was also the first obesity surgeon in the UK to perform SILS (single incision laparoscopic surgery). In addition to being a great surgeon he is truly one of the kindest, most humane people you could ever meet.
What makes my job both fascinating and challenging is that it changes all the time. Scientific developments in the management of obesity, especially in surgery, have to be assessed and, where appropriate, implemented. We must stay ahead to offer our patients modern, effective but – above all- safe interventions.
The whole business is focussed on our patients. What does the patient want? What will make the patient journey better? How can we communicate better with our patients? In healthcare people need a lot of reassurance. Some people can be very aggressive at the start, often because they are scared. We have to soak up a lot of that aggression. People need to know that we care.
Patients are always telling us what a difference we have made to their lives and that makes all the pressure and the responsibility worthwhile.
Chrissie Twigg BA, MBA
Communications Director
Read Chrissie's recent Sunday Times profile
