Meet Spencer Gore, founder and CEO of EMJ

Spencer Gore is the founder and CEO of EMJ, Europe’s leading digital health communications company that strives to play an enhanced role in global healthcare education. In 2022 EMJ celebrates 10 years of successful operation in the market, providing a source of information on the latest medical practice for healthcare professionals worldwide.

Tell us about the founder behind the brand?

Growing up, I was inspired by my father’s entrepreneurial spirit as I watched him run his own business. Working autonomously and having the freedom to make key decisions was what I wanted for his career. The only question was how to make this happen.

From a young age, creating and managing businesses was a passion of mine. I was always looking for potential opportunities and always enthusiastic about giving all new ventures a serious trial.

I pride myself on seeing opportunities where others see nothing. I credit this to my dyslexia, something I was not aware I had until later in life. However, after finding out my mind worked differently from others, it made a lot of sense. Connecting and learning from other people is where my true passion lies. My true understanding of the world and its practices have come from learning from my peers rather than from a textbook.

Tell us about your experience before launching your business?

Before launching EMJ in 2012, my entrepreneurial spirit came into play during my time at university. I always explored pursuits with friends, from investing in shares to selling tickets. With such a business-focused mind, creating my own company was always on the cards.

What inspired you to launch your business and what is the end goal?

As my career progressed, I found myself working for a publishing company that had a primary focus on healthcare. It was during this time that I noticed a flaw within this industry. While thousands of healthcare professionals would sign up for a congress, less than half of these individuals would attend. It was clear that there was an opportunity to promote congresses beyond the event itself. I realised e-journals could be produced after these events to give those who could not attend the chance to read about what they had missed.

My idea was rejected by the company I worked for at the time - but this became a defining moment in my career. This was an opportunity to develop this idea on my own and take ownership. After spending a year on the business plan, I was confident in its capacity to succeed, so I set up my own business. Starting with just one business partner, I went from the comfort of a six-figure salary to earning nothing overnight. This was the motivation I needed to completely buy into my company and set out a map to success.

However, in my first healthcare journal company, I realised my business partner was not aligned with my values. This difference ultimately led to us going our separate ways. Moving forwards, I decided that for my next business to flourish, I needed to establish values for the company that would help ensure that those who were to join me were aligned with my values.

This led to the creation of EMJ. Alongside my new business partner, Dan Healy, and the assistance of two interns, I created the company with the end goal to become the go-to place for healthcare professionals by 2025. Recently, the company has established a goal for 2030, which ties in with the US Sustainable Development Goals: to elevate the quality of healthcare globally, by supporting all healthcare professionals with free and easy access to independent education and lifelong learning opportunities. We do this to create Gold Medal Winners, in a way that drives equal opportunity and enables more sustainable choices. My personal goal is to create a Golden Unicorn company and own a football team that lifts a trophy at Wembley.

Tell us about your journey into this market.

As my career progressed, I found myself working for a publishing company that had a primary focus on healthcare. It was during this time that I noticed an unfulfilled gap in this industry. While tens of thousands of healthcare professionals would sign up for congresses, less than half of the people that registered ever attended. It was clear that there was an opportunity to promote Congresses beyond the event itself. I decided that journals could be made after these events to give those who could not attend the chance to read about what they had missed.

How well versed were you in the planning and strategic growth of your business? Did this come easy to you?

Planning has been fundamental to the ascension of the company. I work alongside my senior leadership team and board members. We meet every quarter to assess the progress that has been made in the previous quarter and implement a strategy for the upcoming three months.

This level of care and planning has been extended across the company, with every member of EMJ now being invited to quarterly planning sessions. This serves to keep everyone informed on company decisions and encourages everyone to strive towards a common purpose.

The company has set Key Performance Indicators that are reviewed every week to understand the progress made and evaluate challenges that are hindering KPIs from being reached. While this is a normal process for EMJ, it does not mean that planning can always be classified as 'easy’. This is why a consistent review of performance indicators is necessary.

Any moments where you thought you have bitten off more than you can chew?

The beginning of the company may have initially felt overwhelming, due to sacrificing my pay cheque to ensure my employees were paid in full. However, a mantra of mine is that if you

feel comfortable in your job, you’re not pushing yourself hard enough. With confidence in my business ability, I was able to persevere and see EMJ rise to profit from the first year onwards.

What does your business offer its target audience?

At its core, EMJ offers healthcare professionals the opportunity to access important information shared at international congresses that they may have been unable to attend. The spread of this important information enables HCPs to remain informed about medical breakthroughs and any updates.

As EMJ continues to expand, however, so has its’ collection of products. EMJ also offers clients the opportunity to host webinars, send out e-Blasts to their wide database, commission peer reviews, Key Opinion Leader articles, and more.

Recently, the company has created a Continued Medical Education (CME) platform, which will enable HCPs to gain their required credits to continue practising in the medical field.

How do you set yourself apart from other businesses in your industry?

EMJ positions itself as a disruptor of the industry. I am always searching for innovative ideas to make dynamic changes. Processes cannot be followed just because it is “the way it has always been done.” Instead, I strive to encourage people to be disruptive and challenge when something is done in a certain way. I want to ignite change within the healthcare industry, with the ultimate goal of promoting growth.

My ambition is to build a community around the pharmaceutical industry to improve communication and develop better care solutions for patients with unmet needs.

What’s the single most important decision that you made, that contributed to your business?

There have been two, the first was the decision to start EMJ in the first place. It took a long time to come to that decision.

After I had started EMJ though, the most important decision was to recruit applicants based on their values. I believe skills can be learned, but values are intrinsic. Even if a candidate has all of the required skills and more, if they aren’t aligned with the company values, then they aren’t going to be the right fit for the company. Maintaining this additional measure in our interview process has ensured that every person that starts at EMJ is a Gold-Medal Winner that will thrive within their position.

How is digitisation empowering your business?

Digitisation has played a pivotal role in the performance of EMJ since its beginning as an e-Journal. The pandemic initially posed a challenge to a company that had previously operated by being in the office five days a week and travelling to international congresses to create journals. However, in response to the sudden upheaval of the norm, we were able to implement new digital products to offer clients and allow the spread of information to continue even during lockdowns being imposed across the world. This included the introduction of podcasts and webinars which proved to be a resourceful move for the company.

What’s the most important question entrepreneurs should be asking themselves?

If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, the first thing I would ask at the very start of the journey is: Are you 100% committed to doing what it takes to be successful?

Lots of people have ideas, a few of them start ideas, and very few of them become successful. It takes a huge amount of commitment and you've got to be relentless. So you've got to be 100% committed to doing it because I was you might as well not bother.