Jean Mathews, PharmD
MakoRX Pharmacy services
President
For Jean Mathews, the pharmaceutical industry isn’t just a passion — it’s a calling.
Now the president of Raleigh-based MakoRx, she’s been in the industry since she was 17 and working as a pharmacy technician at Walgreens. A colleague told her the pharmaceutical industry was one of the best for women, so she made a leap.
She went on to work for Walgreens for years, moving up through the company and helping establish more than 50 new locations in the RTP (Research Triangle Area). Creating access to health care spoke to her.
“It’s a demanding job, but where passion meets purpose, there’s always success,” Mathews says.
This year, she took another leap into Mako Medical, where she co-founded MakoRx, the full-spectrum lab’s first venture into pharmaceuticals.
In June 2019, the MakoRx card was launched to opioid clinics in the Carolinas for patients with no or low-coverage health insurance. Debuting later this year is the rollout of behavioral health medications and offerings for small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, disrupting patient healthcare as we know it today. “We’re focused primarily on the patient and user experience,” Mathews says.
It’s a daunting mission, but if anyone can do it, Mathews can. She earned a Doctor of Pharmacy at 23 and has worked hard to do good in the health care realm ever since. MakoRx, she says, is the thing she’s most proud of and passionate about in her life.
“Starting MakoRx is probably my biggest accomplishment, and I say that passionately because to be able to be incorporated with an incredible company and be involved with them from the ground up — to me, that’s one of my biggest accomplishments,” Mathews says.
The Chicago-native also founded “LEW”, or Lavishly Empowering Women, which offers events and key note speakers to empower women to lead extraordinary lives. She’s an avid runner and has completed two Boston Marathons — one of which was the year of the bombing — and several Ironman Triathlons despite only learning how to swim in 2010.
It’s hard to imagine anyone so driven has time to relax, but Mathews says she enjoys spending quality time with her two children, traveling, reading and involvement with her local church.
A resident of Raleigh for over 20 years, “we have different people from all walks of life. Everything is here. It’s such a great place to live,” Mathews exclaims.
