Empathy isn’t always the first thing you hear in a boardroom. Strategy? Absolutely. Efficiency? Of course. But empathy? That’s often dismissed as soft, optional, or secondary.
For Monica Mockus, empathy isn’t optional—it’s essential. It’s the throughline of her work in healthcare and the key to her impact as a leader. In this episode of the Riveo Impact Lab Podcast, Monica takes us inside her journey and shows us why human-centered creativity is not only possible in healthcare but necessary for its future.
A Winding Path to Healthcare
For Monica, healthcare was always in the background. Her mom worked in the field, and Monica grew up fascinated by the way it touched people’s lives. Still, her own career path was anything but linear. She switched majors more than once before landing in graphic design—a choice that, at first, felt worlds away from healthcare.
But creativity, as she’s learned, is never wasted. In fact, it’s become one of her greatest strengths. Today, she even teaches a graphic design class, guiding students who are just beginning to navigate their own futures. Watching them explore possibilities reminds her that unexpected turns can lead to opportunities you’d never imagine.
That perspective has been invaluable in her work. In healthcare—a space often defined by rules, regulations, and rigid systems—Monica brings a creative lens. She sees connections others might miss and designs solutions that put people, not processes, at the center. It’s proof that creativity doesn’t just belong in the arts; it’s a powerful tool for building more human-centered systems.
Choosing a Different Path
Of course, not every step along Monica’s journey was encouraging. At one point, after telling her director she had to quickly run and pick her son up from daycare, she was confronted with a question that stopped her cold: “You have a decision to make about what your priority is, your career or your family?”
For too many women, this isn’t an isolated story—it’s the reality. The message behind the question is clear: you can’t be both ambitious and family-oriented. You can’t show up fully in both spaces. And yet, as Monica’s story shows, if the system that is already in place doesn’t work for you, you have to create a new system that does.
That moment, combined with other frustrations, became fuel. Monica decided to take a different path: she started her own business. One built not on ultimatums, but on empathy. Not on exclusion, but on possibility.
Her company, mock5 design inc. , focuses on human-centered creativity in healthcare, bringing together strategy, design, and compassion. Instead of forcing people to choose between their roles—as professionals, parents, or individuals—her work builds solutions that recognize people as complex, valuable, and whole.
By redefining the rules on her own terms, Monica didn’t just create a career she could be proud of. She created a business that makes space for others to thrive too.
Carrying It Forward
Monica’s story is proof that success doesn’t come from squeezing yourself into someone else’s mold. It comes from reimagining what’s possible, using creativity as a tool, and leading with empathy at every turn.
Instead of bending your life to fit into systems that were never designed with you in mind, take inspiration from Monica and ask yourself: “What systems am I a part of, and who do they serve?” If the answer doesn’t include people—their voices, their families, their humanity—then it’s time to design something better. Because when empathy becomes the strategy, impact isn’t just possible—it’s inevitable.
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