After loss, a trajectory to the top

The roots of Leah Brown's business began during one of the darkest times of her life.

Six years ago, she was coping with losing her job and separating from her husband after 18 years of marriage.

Brown, a lawyer who had worked for years in health care, also was still mourning her uncle, who died in 1987 from HIV/AIDS. She was still angry there weren't more treatments available to help him.

That frustration, fueled by "divorce and downsizing," prompted her to form a company with a mission. In late 2004, she started A10 Clinical Solutions, with a goal of improving health care for minorities and women.

Today her Cary company employs more than 300 people and will reach $20 million in revenue this year. A10 manages clinical trials for customers such as Glaxo SmithKline, Merck and others. It also does work for the National Institutes of Health and other government agencies, and specializes in research aimed at underserved populations.

The company's rapid growth is attracting major attention.

On Monday, Fortune Magazine named Brown, 46, one of the 10 Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs for 2010. She's scheduled to speak at Fortune's Most Powerful Women summit this week in Washington, along with President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Warren Buffett and others.

In June, Ernst & Young named her an entrepreneur of the year for the Carolinas. In August, Inc. Magazine ranked A10 No. 92 on its annual list of the country's fastest-growing private companies. That was the highest spot for a Triangle company on this year's list.

Brown explains the hype: "They've never seen an African-American woman grow such a complex clinical research business on her own. It reaffirms we're on the right road."

The publicity also opens doors, as does the fact that A10 is certified as a woman-owned and a minority-owned business.

Brown makes no apologies that she uses that status as a strategic advantage.

"It ups our opportunity to win the business, but it doesn't close the business," she says. "I still have to deliver."

It makes sense for pharmaceutical companies to work with A10, because among their potential customers, "women make most households' decisions about consumer goods," Brown says.

She also co-founded, with a Merck executive, Diversity Alliance for Science, a group that connects minority-owned suppliers with big pharmaceutical companies that need their supplies and services. Brown works with several other groups that support women business owners and entrepreneurs.

To celebrate A10's success and its fifth anniversary, Brown paid for a big bash at its Cary headquarters Friday night. The black-tie optional party included limos, a red carpet, an ice sculpture in the shape of A10's logo, food catered by Raleigh's Irregardless Cafe and more.

The outreach and the bash are all part of the culture Brown has created to inspire passion and excellence, friends and co-workers say.

"Her spirit is infectious," says Carolyn Sawyer, a friend who is CEO of Tom Sawyer Co., a marketing and communications firm in Columbia, S.C.

Early passions

Born in New Jersey, Brown got her passion and a love for learning from her parents, both teachers. She earned a degree in information technology from Virginia Commonwealth University and her law degree from the University of Kentucky.

As with many other spouses in the Triangle, she followed her then-husband when he was transferred here by IBM. Brown was admitted to the North Carolina bar in 1992. She held various jobs, including one as an area executive for CHC Healthcare Solutions, an information technology and consulting firm.

After losing that job and her husband, Brown knew one thing: She didn't want to work for someone else again.

"I would never put myself in a situation where I put in all my soul and all my heart just to get dropped, dismissed," she says.

She took her savings and severance and spent a year incubating her business. She turned to free resources for entrepreneurs, including the N.C. Institute of Minority Economic Development in Durham, and listened to advice from other entrepreneurs and mentors.

She also listened to her uncle's voice in her head: "He was telling me, 'You've always wanted to do something to make a difference.'"

Brown chose clinical trials and other contract work for pharmaceutical companies partly because of her experience in health care, and her ability as a lawyer to navigate the regulatory environment. "That's my sweet spot," she says.

Her company's first job was converting regulatory documents with the new corporate name and other information for Talecris Biotherapeutics, the Research Triangle Park company formed from Bayer's blood plasma business. "Nobody wanted to do it, and we did a fabulous job," she says.

Other contracts followed from Merck, GSK and more.

Growth ahead

Brown is starting to diversify A10's business.

She's considering overseas expansion, especially in China, and A10 is running five on-site health clinics for corporate clients, with plans for more.

She's also passionate about finding new ways to increase minority participation in clinical trials, which could accelerate new medicines. And she's in heavy demand as a speaker and as an advocate for supporting minorities and women who start and run businesses.

But she's also looking for a bit more balance in her life. She's counting on the team of executives she has hired to help run daily operations at A10, as she focuses more on strategy and future opportunities.

"I've been married to this company for the past five years," she said.

No one expects her to scale back, including Brown. She's trying to spend more time gardening and on home improvement projects, but usually starts more projects than she finishes. And she helps her sister take care of their aging mother back in New Jersey.

Family time

As she's built her company, her two teenaged sons have split time between her and her former husband, with whom she remains friends. Her older son, Christopher, 19, is working and studying at Wake Tech. Clayton, 16, attends Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh.

"I travel a lot, and they've become very independent," Brown says. "They've fared very nicely."

When they do have time together, Brown and her sons enjoy playing tennis and skiing - Vail is her favorite resort.

They also play basketball, but Brown points out that she's the "short" one in her family at 6 feet 1 inch tall. Clayton is 6-foot-8. Christopher is 6-foot-5.

Not that Brown is ever intimidated as a smaller player.

As a female entrepreneur and business owner, she says she has to work harder to prove herself. She expects the same drive from her A10 employees.

She can lose her patience when an initiative doesn't move quickly enough to meet her expectations, says Susan McCormick, an A10 executive vice president. "She does not like delays in starting up any project," McCormick adds.

As Brown considers A10's future in the competitive drug-research industry, she has some words of warning for officials at Quintiles and PPD. Those Triangle rivals are among the world's largest providers of services to pharmaceutical companies.

"They better watch out," she says. "Here we come, and we're good at what we do."