Some of the magical things about ESSENCE Festival is that it brings together good Black women from across multiple industries who sit in leadership positions at a few of the biggest, most influential, and most well-known firms on the planet. The strong sense of sisterhood that the Festival organically encompasses every year provides a secure space of sorts where these women come to share their experiences, insights, and invaluable advice in ways in which they never have before.

Throughout the 2022 ESSENCE Festival of Culture, UnitedHealth Group Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President Dr. Margaret-Mary Wilson joined ESSENCE Chief Executive Officer Caroline Wanga for an unforgettable conversation on the Wealth & Power stage. Engaging in a candid but pointed exchange, the 2 dynamic women connected on similarities between their inspiring backstories, while exploring Dr. Wilson’s inspiringly remarkable journey to success.

As Caroline opened the discussion by thanking Dr. Wilson for taking outing from her busy schedule to be on the Festival before asking her to inform the audience who she is and what her journey was to develop into that person, Dr. Wilson noted that there was no place she’d quite be.

“I can’t consider anywhere else I might quite be but here. I come from an extended generation of strong Black women…that is home; there’s nothing more necessary,” she said. “Who am I? I’m Victoria’s daughter; I never let myself forget that. Victoria was my mother (she died two years ago). She was a single mother, divorced, and have become single after my father walked out on her. She couldn’t read or write. She struggled financially and she or he was poor after my father left, however the one thing she knew, was that she was not going to let me walk her path. And that’s who I’m on the core.”

Though Dr. Wilson didn’t initially know that she desired to be a health care provider of course, a word of discouragement from an uncle who told her at age 7 that ladies couldn’t be doctors proved to be all of the motivation she needed to pursue a profession in medicine. After entering into medical school at age 16 and completing medical school with the financial support of her mother, the long run C-Suite executive began to discover her true calling to go even further than she —or her doubtful uncle—could have imagined.

“It was a tough life, doctors weren’t paid much [in Nigeria]; I didn’t have lots of money,” she said. “I had actually little or no money, but that began my walk, my seek for answers. And, Caroline, something happens when, as a young doctor in my early 20s, babies are dying, moms are dying–something happens. It pushed me to go looking for more.”

In a while within the conversation, Dr. Wilson opened up about her own all-too-familiar quest to seek out the proper doctor after she and her wife moved from Latest York to Texas. And never just any doctor, but one who cared to know the unique healthcare needs for thus many Black women whose identities sit on the intersectionality of race, gender, sexual orientation, and citizenship status.

“Most persons are like me. I’m a Black, African, immigrant, lesbian, legally married and living within the state of Texas,” she said. “When my wife and I moved to Texas from Latest York, we wanted a health care provider. Who did we search for? A physician who got us. A physician who looked like us. A physician who represented us in somehow. Any person Black, female, LGBTQ…or perhaps even white, male and never LGBTQ, but who’s used to coping with people like me.”

The conversation also heard the women discuss the Black maternal health crisis, find out how to empower yourself inside the healthcare system, UnitedHealth Group’s $100 million commitment towards advancing diversity and equity within the clinical workforce over the subsequent 10 years, and way more. Hear the complete discussion within the video above.

For more of every little thing you missed on the 2022 ESSENCE Festival of Culture, visit our official video content hub HERE.