For Ivone Veiga-Moroldo, success has never been about reaching a particular title or position. It is about the impact you have on people, and, perhaps most importantly, what you enable them to become.
That philosophy has shaped a career spanning more than 27 years across varying industries, from hospitality and consumer goods to health technology.
Today, as Head of Client Experience at health tech company Healthbridge, Veiga-Moroldo combines her experience in marketing, product management, customer experience and business strategy to help create value for healthcare professionals and the patients they serve.
But her career has also been shaped by something less tangible: people who believed in her.
When someone sees your potential before you do
One experience, in particular, remains with her. Early in her career, a senior female executive entrusted Veiga-Moroldo with her responsibilities while she was on maternity leave. “It was about more than the opportunity itself; it was her belief in me that changed my career trajectory.”
The experience taught her how powerful it is to believe in people before they fully believe in themselves. It is a lesson she consciously pays forward.
“I make a conscious effort to create opportunities for people before they think they're ready,” she says. For Veiga-Moroldo, leadership is not about having all the answers. It is about creating an environment where people feel trusted, supported and challenged enough to discover what they are capable of.
Curiosity as a career advantage
That approach has served her well through a career that has required her to adapt, learn and embrace change. She started her career in marketing at Nando’s, moved into product management at Electrolux and eventually joined Healthbridge, where she’s spent two decades developing her expertise across marketing, product management and client experience.
While the industries may have been different, Veiga-Moroldo believes the underlying skills were not. “Never underestimate how transferable your skills are,” she advises women considering a career or industry change. “Every industry has its own language, but understanding customers, solving problems, building relationships and creating value are universal skills.”
For her, curiosity has been the constant. Asked to describe herself in three words, she chooses “curious, collaborative, purpose-driven”. It is a combination that reflects both her career journey and her approach to leadership.
“Confidence comes from being willing to ask questions and learn, not from having all the answers on day one,” she says.
That belief in continuous learning has become increasingly important as she works in health tech, an industry driven by rapid advances in technology and artificial intelligence.
Putting technology in service of people
At Healthbridge, where technology is being developed to reduce the administrative burden on healthcare professionals, Veiga-Moroldo sees innovation through a distinctly human lens. “Technology should never get in the way of care; it should quietly enable it.”
For female clinicians, many of whom are balancing demanding careers with family responsibilities, she sees particular potential in agentic AI to take repetitive administrative tasks off their hands and give them time back. “I don't see AI replacing the human element of healthcare, particularly for female doctors. I see it strengthening it by allowing technology to handle routine tasks while enabling them to spend more time doing what matters most.”
Her thinking about technology is also reflected in her approach to leadership. Influenced by behavioural scientist BJ Fogg, Veiga-Moroldo has come to believe that meaningful change is often less about demanding more from people and more about removing the obstacles that stand in their way.
“Rather than asking, ‘How do I get people to work harder?’ I ask, ‘What obstacles are in their way, and how can I remove them?’” It is a philosophy that applies equally to the doctors across the Healthbridge client base and to her colleagues.
Making room for more women to succeed
For Veiga-Moroldo, creating the conditions for people to succeed is also central to how she views women in leadership. She admires leaders such as Sheryl Sandberg and Indra Nooyi, not simply for what they’ve achieved professionally, but for their authenticity, empathy and commitment to developing others.
She believes women can do more to create that same environment for one another. “We need to move away from the idea that success is limited, and the mindset that if one woman succeeds, there's somehow less opportunity for everyone else.”
Instead, she advocates mentoring, sharing opportunities, celebrating success and, above all, giving other women the confidence to step into roles they may not yet believe they are ready for.
That, ultimately, is how she defines success.
“It's seeing clients succeed because of something you've helped create, watching colleagues you've mentored grow into confident leaders, and knowing your work has made a meaningful difference.”
And perhaps that is the most fitting advice she can offer women building their careers. “Don't rush your journey,” she reflects. “Every role teaches you something you'll use later, even if you don't realise it at the time.”
For Veiga-Moroldo, careers are built one experience at a time. And leadership, she believes, is ultimately about ensuring that the people who walk alongside you have the opportunity to grow, succeed and create an impact of their own.
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