An interview with CEO of Medikidz, Kim Chilman-Blair
By Kelly Dolan T
he role of a doctor goes far beyond diagnosing and treating the sick and injured. Whilst their job description places
emphasis on the investigation of the cause and solution of an illness, this didn’t stop Doctor and CEO of Medkidz Kim Chilman- Blair from spotting a huge gap in the healthcare industry to supply information to children in a fun and educating way. Almost overnight, Kim went from the prospect of a rewarding and comfortable job to catching the entrepreneurial bug.
As I interview Kim, she tells me that whilst training as a Doctor she was faced with the challenge of finding information for a young patient that could break down their diagnosis with an easy explanation. When there was nothing available, Kim had a light bulb moment that there was a global lack of information for ill children looking for answers. Soon enough, Kim left her job as a doctor and set up MediKidz, a worldwide initiative that would supply
My focus is to concentrate on making Medikidz the place to go for children no matter what their illness
children with medical information in the form of comic books. “When we first set up we were the only company in the world explaining medicine to children. There was no other merchandising of characters and we saw a huge opportunity. If you go to Boots or Tesco there is nothing in kids health, they just slap a Disney character on a plaster and it just didn’t make sense because Disney is not about medicine.”
46 entrepreneurcountry
The co-founders of Meikidz, Dr. Kate Hersov (left) and Dr. Kim Chilman Blair
Over the last couple of years Medikidz have sold 2 million comics in 23 different languages and in 48 different countries and Kim hopes to expand on that. “We have 50 titles now but I want 300. My focus is to concentrate on making Medikidz the place to go for children no matter what their illness. They can get accurate information on anything to do with health, not just a particular condition. Children have questions and they want a resource that is accessible, not critical. I also hope that once our readers understand one illness they will want to read another comic about something else.”
I am also keen to discuss with Kim as to whether she had been affected by the lapse in print publications and whether advertising was needed as a stream of revenue. “Children don’t want advertising and the website is completely free from it. I didn’t want to go down the route of food and drug companies wanting to advertise with us and children’s advertising is tricky. At the moment, we are funded by other things we are doing and we want to offer completely free access to the patient.” At present, Medikidz customers are the medical companies, and whilst the business model is going through sponsorship drug companies are paying for the comics and giving them to the doctors for free as a service. “Doctors are
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