May 19, 2025 • 25 mins
Join us for an exclusive conversation with Joanna Shu, Co-Founder & CEO of FreezeNit – the groundbreaking healthcare startup revolutionizing head lice treatment with innovative CO2 technology.
From winning the prestigious Eddie award from Mass Innovation Network to securing exclusive licensing for non-toxic treatments, Joanna shares her extraordinary entrepreneurial journey and the science behind FreezeNit's pesticide-free solution. In this must-listen episode, discover how a Boston University alum with a background in finance pivoted to healthcare innovation, creating a solution that treats all hair types quickly and effectively without tedious combing or harmful chemicals. Joanna reveals how Kelly McInnis's crucial support made a tremendous difference in FreezeNit's successful launch, the challenges of disrupting an established industry, and why her personal mission to improve children's healthcare drives everything she does. Whether you're an entrepreneur seeking inspiration, a parent looking for safer healthcare solutions, or someone fascinated by innovative technology, this conversation delivers powerful insights about perseverance, innovation, and the importance of mentorship in creating meaningful impact in healthcare.
QUE PASA BOSTON: YOUR DIRECT CONNECTION TO BOSTON'S VIBRANT COMMUNITIES Experience Boston's most influential bilingual podcast and community affairs show, trusted by Boston's celebrities, polititians, and our dedicated iHeart listeners. Catch us Sundays at 6 AM on Rumba 97.7 and 6:30 AM on JAMN 94.5, or stream the extended podcast anytime. Follow us on social media @QuePasaBoston and visit freezenit.com to learn more about Joanna's revolutionary head lice solution. #QuePasaBoston #BostonInnovation #FreezeNit #HealthcareRevolution #iHeartMedia #Rumba977 #JAMN945 #MassInnovation
En Espanol
La Solución Revolucionaria para los Piojos que Está Cambiando el Cuidado de la Salud Únete a nosotros para una conversación exclusiva con Joanna Shu, Cofundadora y CEO de FreezeNit – la innovadora startup de salud que está revolucionando el tratamiento de piojos con tecnología de CO2. Desde ganar el prestigioso premio Eddie de Mass Innovation Network hasta asegurar licencias exclusivas para tratamientos no tóxicos, Joanna comparte su extraordinaria trayectoria empresarial y la ciencia detrás de la solución libre de pesticidas de FreezeNit. En este episodio imperdible, descubre cómo una ex alumna de Boston University con experiencia en finanzas cambió su rumbo hacia la innovación en salud, creando una solución que trata todos los tipos de cabello de manera rápida y efectiva sin el tedioso peinado ni químicos dañinos. Joanna revela cómo el apoyo crucial de Kelly McInnis marcó una diferencia tremenda en el exitoso lanzamiento de FreezeNit, los desafíos de revolucionar una industria establecida, y por qué su misión personal de mejorar la salud infantil impulsa todo lo que hace. Ya seas un emprendedor en busca de inspiración, un padre buscando soluciones de salud más seguras, o alguien fascinado por la tecnología innovadora, esta conversación ofrece poderosas perspectivas sobre la perseverancia, la innovación y la importancia del mentoreo en la creación de un impacto significativo en el cuidado de la salud.
QUE PASA BOSTON: TU CONEXIÓN DIRECTA CON LAS VIBRANTES COMUNIDADES DE BOSTON Experimenta el podcast bilingüe y programa de asuntos comunitarios más influyente de Boston, respaldado por la Gobernadora Healey, la Alcaldesa Wu y nuestros dedicados oyentes de iHeart. Escúchanos los domingos a las 6 AM en Rumba 97.7 y a las 6:30 AM en JAMN 94.5, o disfruta del podcast extendido en cualquier momento. Síguenos en redes sociales @QuePasaBoston y visita freezenit.com para conocer más sobre la revolucionaria solución para piojos de Joanna. #QuePasaBoston #InnovaciónBoston #FreezeNit #RevoluciónSanitaria #iHeartMedia #Rumba977 #JAMN945 #MassInnovation
From winning the prestigious Eddie award from Mass Innovation Network to securing exclusive licensing for non-toxic treatments, Joanna shares her extraordinary entrepreneurial journey and the science behind FreezeNit's pesticide-free solution. In this must-listen episode, discover how a Boston University alum with a background in finance pivoted to healthcare innovation, creating a solution that treats all hair types quickly and effectively without tedious combing or harmful chemicals. Joanna reveals how Kelly McInnis's crucial support made a tremendous difference in FreezeNit's successful launch, the challenges of disrupting an established industry, and why her personal mission to improve children's healthcare drives everything she does. Whether you're an entrepreneur seeking inspiration, a parent looking for safer healthcare solutions, or someone fascinated by innovative technology, this conversation delivers powerful insights about perseverance, innovation, and the importance of mentorship in creating meaningful impact in healthcare.
QUE PASA BOSTON: YOUR DIRECT CONNECTION TO BOSTON'S VIBRANT COMMUNITIES Experience Boston's most influential bilingual podcast and community affairs show, trusted by Boston's celebrities, polititians, and our dedicated iHeart listeners. Catch us Sundays at 6 AM on Rumba 97.7 and 6:30 AM on JAMN 94.5, or stream the extended podcast anytime. Follow us on social media @QuePasaBoston and visit freezenit.com to learn more about Joanna's revolutionary head lice solution. #QuePasaBoston #BostonInnovation #FreezeNit #HealthcareRevolution #iHeartMedia #Rumba977 #JAMN945 #MassInnovation
En Espanol
La Solución Revolucionaria para los Piojos que Está Cambiando el Cuidado de la Salud Únete a nosotros para una conversación exclusiva con Joanna Shu, Cofundadora y CEO de FreezeNit – la innovadora startup de salud que está revolucionando el tratamiento de piojos con tecnología de CO2. Desde ganar el prestigioso premio Eddie de Mass Innovation Network hasta asegurar licencias exclusivas para tratamientos no tóxicos, Joanna comparte su extraordinaria trayectoria empresarial y la ciencia detrás de la solución libre de pesticidas de FreezeNit. En este episodio imperdible, descubre cómo una ex alumna de Boston University con experiencia en finanzas cambió su rumbo hacia la innovación en salud, creando una solución que trata todos los tipos de cabello de manera rápida y efectiva sin el tedioso peinado ni químicos dañinos. Joanna revela cómo el apoyo crucial de Kelly McInnis marcó una diferencia tremenda en el exitoso lanzamiento de FreezeNit, los desafíos de revolucionar una industria establecida, y por qué su misión personal de mejorar la salud infantil impulsa todo lo que hace. Ya seas un emprendedor en busca de inspiración, un padre buscando soluciones de salud más seguras, o alguien fascinado por la tecnología innovadora, esta conversación ofrece poderosas perspectivas sobre la perseverancia, la innovación y la importancia del mentoreo en la creación de un impacto significativo en el cuidado de la salud.
QUE PASA BOSTON: TU CONEXIÓN DIRECTA CON LAS VIBRANTES COMUNIDADES DE BOSTON Experimenta el podcast bilingüe y programa de asuntos comunitarios más influyente de Boston, respaldado por la Gobernadora Healey, la Alcaldesa Wu y nuestros dedicados oyentes de iHeart. Escúchanos los domingos a las 6 AM en Rumba 97.7 y a las 6:30 AM en JAMN 94.5, o disfruta del podcast extendido en cualquier momento. Síguenos en redes sociales @QuePasaBoston y visita freezenit.com para conocer más sobre la revolucionaria solución para piojos de Joanna. #QuePasaBoston #InnovaciónBoston #FreezeNit #RevoluciónSanitaria #iHeartMedia #Rumba977 #JAMN945 #MassInnovation
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Get that Boston Comwistan.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
This is a wonderful day because I have something that is.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Culturally at taboo.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
However, I think everybody needs to know because I know
that you've been there at some point.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
You need to know this information.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
If you have kids, if you have beautiful long hair,
if you take care, actually, if you bring your kids
to the park, if you have them wearing helmets, sharing brushes,
you need to meet my friend Johanna and Kelly because
they bring to us today a product that is going
(00:37):
to save a lot of concerns and a lot of
big issues when it comes to lice m beneath us.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Thank you, Johanna.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Tell me how did you come up with such a
great idea? And I want you to go way back
into like if you have an experience when you were
growing up, if you ever suffered with lies, what happened.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Sure, So I'm not going to take credit. I'm not
the scientist, but I do have three kids and they've
all had headlines more than once, and like me, they've
got a lot of hair, thick, curly hair, and so
they kept getting it. And it was from baseball, it
was from sleepovers, from kindergarten and the products on the
shelf are full of pesticides. It's actually pretty dangerous stuff
(01:23):
to be putting on children, and so I'm like, there's
got to be a better way. So just from being
a mom not a scientist.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Okay, So I got to tell my audience a story.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yes, Pa Savik. So I went to mass Innovation Network
and our dear friend Sophia introduced me to the Eddies Awards,
which I was so astunned because it was astonishing to
see all of you guys come up with great products,
great inventions, and all of a sudden you were awarded. So,
(01:59):
for those that don't know, the Eddies is one of
the most prestigious awards that come in Massachusetts, obviously for
innovation and seeing two powerful women, especially you Johanna, come
up with all these ideas and then all of a
sudden received this award. It's fantastic. But bring me back
to how did the idea get started?
Speaker 3 (02:22):
So it actually started with a different product exactly. So
my co founder, doctor Carrol Spangler Vaughan. She's a scientist
with a PhD from Johns Hopkins and so she was
a cancer survivor and she was working on a cold
capping for cancer patients to keep their hair during chemotherapy,
so that for people who don't know, it cools your
(02:43):
scalp and so the chemo drugs can't destroy your hair,
so you can keep your hair and your dignity as
a cancer patient. So she found another use for this technology.
She knew it could also kill headlines and just at
a different temperature and using gas. So she realized it
had nothing to do with her company, which is about
cancer products, so she spun it out. She brought me
(03:04):
on my background's consumer products. I started my own skincare
company about ten years ago for fresh skin therapy, still
on the market, and it was all natural skincare because
I have a lot of allergies, so at the very
beginning of the natural skincare movements, So no chemicals and
you know, preservatives, colors, fragrances, all that stuff you don't need,
(03:25):
just you know, healthy ingredients for the skin. And so
she thought we could do the same for head lice
to make a better healthier choice for parents.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
That's what fristnet it's all about. Yes, exactly, Okay, So
when you join mass network Innovation, what happened there?
Speaker 3 (03:41):
It was amazing. I met people like Kelly, who've been innovators.
I hadn't really you know, I didn't consider myself an innovator.
I didn't really know. They connected us with all these
really impressive people across Massachusetts. I had no idea there
was so much cool technology being developed here, and not
just in the big name universities all over and so
these were the top twenty you know, new companies all
(04:05):
from AI to you know, new drugs, cancer treatments, and
so they all put us together and every week we'd
meet and we'd learn about how to build a business.
They would make the right connections to the people across Massachusetts,
whether it's professors or stores, anything that could help you,
anything you needed, they were there.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
That's fantastic, Kelly. How do you get involved in mass Innovation.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
There's a different a few different ways. As I've so,
Massive Innovation has been around for thirty nine years. It
came through Spain Small Business Association of New England known
as the Innovation Awards. It was rebranded back in twenty
eighteen and through mass Innovation became a nonprofit and that's
(04:50):
where it was rebranded with the name of the Eddies.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
So back in the Eddies because it's.
Speaker 5 (04:57):
Thomas Edison named after.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
And so back in thirty nine years ago, the way
that you would come through the program is somebody would
nominate you, so you'd be out in the market. So
this is nineteen eighty six and think Ben and Jerry's
are Staples or something that that was really going to
be disrupting the industry, and.
Speaker 5 (05:19):
Somebody would nominate you, and then you would go.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
Through the nomination system, which was nowhere as sophisticated as
it is now, and it was really brought The concept
was it was to bring innovators together, because that can
be a silos, a siloed space where you can feel
like you're trying to work alone.
Speaker 5 (05:40):
But you're trying to come up with this big, huge idea.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
So that companies would get nominated and then they would
be judges and we'd come around in this big conference
room and we'd start to pick the most innovative product
for the year. And it was a much smaller scale.
Now it is truly like when I look at a
whole competition, it's a whole competition. And Sophia has done
(06:06):
Sophia has done an amazing job as the executive director
of really taking it full circle for the years. So now,
as a judge or somebody who recognizes innovation, I'm watching
all year long to see is this disruptive, disruptive? Is
this going to change something? How is this changing something?
And then I find you know, I did not nominate
(06:26):
Joanna's company or Joanna.
Speaker 5 (06:30):
I do make a lot of nominations when I'm out
and about.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
So, but as soon as I walked in last year
as one of the judges, I knew, and I knew
of I had the chance to see what the products
were were coming through the system, and I knew as
soon as I saw Joanna's I'm like, this is this
is a game changer, this is disruptive, and this will
go quickly to commercialization and that's really what.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
We look for.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Yes, So tell me a little bit about your background, Kelly.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
Uh So, I have been forty years in some version
of HR, you know, whether it was. I started out
with the community group, which house developmentally disabled for the state,
and I started as a receptionist answering I want Dad,
And then ten years later I had built out the
whole HR department. And then that led to my family
(07:20):
owned a restaurant in West Newton, which I stepped away
from HR.
Speaker 5 (07:24):
Actually I didn't step away.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
I helped with that and then I in two thousand
and eight, I really started to focus on my career
and that led to recruiting. Then I spent ten years
in recruiting agency recruiting, had my own business and recruiting,
and so I just I've had this natural talent, natural
born talent.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
To identify talent. Yeah, yes, so you can just see
somebody and be like, oh.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
You're the money maker. That's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
So, Johanna, how does it feel to be part of
these powerful network and also have other women like Kelly
be your support system? Because one thing, one thing that
I have seen is that you guys and we because
I have to consider myself a little bit of part
of the mass innovation network. There's so much conversation and
(08:14):
so much support that it's very hard to fail.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
I mean, I am still shocked that I'm part of
this group because they're big. Names have come through here,
Like I mean names, Everyone recognized Ben and Jerry's Zip car, safety,
Vista print, different genzyme, Yeah, hubs, Spot, pubspots Spot. So
to be in the same breath as them, it's like,
(08:39):
are you sure? Like do I belong here? This is
just like some weird lives thing. So I'm still I'm
trying to, you know, own it.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
So when you speak about lies, this is something that people.
I'm talking about lies the little animals are in your hair,
not that we're telling lies, but I lost Carolin Espanol.
We have to make sure that that conversation keeps going.
(09:08):
And we were saying that you know, of air that
people tend to not share the information because it's like
an STD right, It's like the worst thing that could
happen to your kids is that you have lies in
your hair. And there's a very familiar movie I don't
know if you've seen it with Jessica sorry Jessica Parker,
that was filmed here in Boston, and she actually gets
(09:28):
lies on her hair.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
It's so cool. I'm gonna like send you I don't
remember the name of the.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Movie, but I can't remember, but it's all are you
all that or a I don't know, I can't remember
the name of it. But the thing is that she
goes to a business meeting and she has lies in
her hair.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
And she's like scratching.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
It's like so crazy, and that's what I think of
you know, people not wanting to share that there's an
issue and there's actually a solution now.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Yeah, and it's also we have to we have to
bring the temperature down, usually with parents, right because they're
they're at a ten, they're panicking. But really, if you
think about it, there's no real reason. I mean, lice
don't cause disease.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
So what is lice? Let's just start there.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Little bugs, they're older than humans, They live in your hair.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
How did they develop? How do they transfer from one place?
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Just head to head contact, so there's really they're not
going to jump, fly, crawl. You have to be like
selfie head next to somebody. So that's why the big
days for headline spreading our picture day. We've seen a
lot more in girls in high school now because of selfies.
You know, they put their heads together, but usually it's
ages three to eleven, kind of the early elementary kids
(10:42):
just you know, they'll crowd around an iPad.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
How about sharing a hair brush.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
Yeah, you shouldn't do that. You shouldn't share it. So
if we always say if it goes in your hair,
we do not share, okay, But otherwise you know, if
we're sitting you know, it wouldn't jump.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
And what do they do? Like, once you have lights
on your head, what happens then? Are they like eating
your follicles? Are they what's happening?
Speaker 3 (11:05):
It's about to get gross. I'm sorry. They buy juice
and kind of like a mosquito, so they're drinking. So
that's why you're blohit and it's itchy. Yeah, so like
tiny mosquitos and yeah, that's it's annoying.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
And you know, and what's their purpose, Like, what's the
purpose of a lies or it's just I don't know.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
They just live off of us.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Okay, So when you discover that you have that intention
of finding the solution, where did you start? Did you
just go in and Google and like started searching everything.
Did you go with your scientist's friend that actually had
that first net you know, opportunity.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
But now you have a shampoo.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Yeah, now we have this really exciting non toxic gel.
And so we met a retired chemist. He had done
the clinical trial for this non toxic treatment. He had
gotten the patents executed, so he had done a ton
of work and he just you know, he didn't want
to be involved in the day to day run and
he saw what we were doing and we immediately hit
it off. So we have the exclusive license for this product.
(12:06):
And it's really exciting because there's no pesticides. It's kind
of a different mechanism. It kind of grinds up the lice,
It slices them, shreds them using ultrafine, walnut shell powder, orange.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Oil co It happens if you're allergic to nuts.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Well yeah, probably not for people who are allergic to nuts,
but that's good to know. Yes, yes, and it'll be
on the package for sure. But it's better than right now.
The CDC their first line recommendation is.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
So what's forfical treatment now? Right now?
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Permethrone which is like a really powerful insecticide or.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Oh yeah, which is putting that on your children's head
exactly exactly, So I wouldn't recommend that.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
I mean, and it even doesn't work anymore because Lisa
developed resistance sort of like antibiotics, people took them too
much and then they don't work as well. That's what's
happened with these life treatments that are on the shelf
yes Walgreens, is that now they're only they're less than
fifty percent effective. So you can use these toxic chemicals
and still have lice two weeks later, and it's very
(13:10):
frustrating for parents. So there's turning to all kinds of crazy.
We've heard so many crazy stories about what people use.
They put raid on their kids. Yeah, yeah, raid and
then covered with a plastic bag. Actually, there was a
toddler in Massachusetts that diet died from their parents put
mayonnaise on their head and then put like a shower
caper plastic bag and then they pulled it over their
(13:30):
face and they suffocated.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
So this is not just a but that idea because.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
The Internet says right, the Internet says doctor Google says, oh,
you can use listerine or you can use WD forty.
Don't use any of those. Those are bad news. They're
not proven to work, and they're really just going to
make your kid at worse, they're going to make your
kid very unhappy, and you know it can be dangerous.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
So they also back in the day, it was you
have to be careful because some skin it would burn skin. Yes. Yeah,
it's like you're trying to figure out getting the nets
out without getting the product too close to the scalp
and then burning the scalp.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
I've seen.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
I have a couple of friends that actually have made
very profitable businesses with removing lives. One of them is
in Mexico and she actually has a salon and it's
a specific salon that you go to because they do
the whole shampooing and with that special comm and like
I've seen people even shave their head because you know,
(14:29):
they don't know how to take care of it, but
you know, she shares that business. Then I have another
one that actually has a concert service that goes in
Manhattan to these very expensive condominiums and treats people, and
they keep it confidential because there's a shame into.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Having this type of situation. Right.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
However, I think that it's very important for us to
communicate and share this information at school, especially with teachers,
especially parents. What do you think should be the best
way to communicate that it's a situation that is going
to happen most likely, and that it's okay because it's,
(15:11):
you know, part of our growing up and there's a
solution that doesn't involve all these craziness that you're mentioning
about chemical products?
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Right, how would should we start?
Speaker 3 (15:23):
So? I think school nurses are usually the first ones
to see these the problems, they see it, and so
schools right now they say they don't send kids home
for life, but the reality is it causes such disruption teachers,
you know, they have teachers have enough to deal with,
so they just they're like, send the kid home. So
the problem is that the kids keep having lice and
it's not getting treated. They miss out on all that learning.
(15:46):
And then guess who has to stay home to take
care of your parents. It's mom? It's usually mom, right,
and parents, yes, but it's usually mom. And so mom's
missing work, not getting paid, kids aren't learning. So it's
actually it's a really big problem. It's a health equity issue.
Feel like it's not just a cosmetic issue. And I
will say about the Life Picker thing. You know who
Timothy Chalomay is. No, he's an actor and oh yes,
(16:10):
so he said that if he wasn't going to become
an actor, his backup career was life picker. And so
I'm really hoping, if you're listening, Timothy, show that I
won't take care of it. We you know, we're just
waiting for him to call us.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
So I just wanted to tap into one quick thing though,
because what people also don't recognize is the psychological and
emotional effect it has on a chat.
Speaker 5 (16:33):
Yes, especially because we are all.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
Seeing through neuroscience that those ages between four years old
and ten years old, those whatever trauma is going on
or whatever shift in your life is happening, that stuff
gets buried in some cases for decades and it helps,
you know it, it can take their confidence away, and
(16:55):
especially like and I think back in the early two thousands,
like both of my girls had very long hair, and
so they did not want to lose their hair. So
you know, it was hours and hours of going through it.
But if they if they anybody did get their.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Hair cut short or did get get bullied, they would.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
Go back to school and they were like, you cut
lies exactly because you made a shift in your parents
that was drastic, and so that would stick with that child.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
I think it's what pyohosa so that we heard that
a lot in our customer Discovery. Kids have memories of
being called that in school and it's very you know,
it really affected them badly.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
I actually grew up in Mexico and it was a
big thing. It was like oh yeahs and like you know,
if you see somebody scratching. It could have been just
like dry scalp and they will call you pyohosa.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
That's what that's right.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
So how about in our culture, especially especially like Hispanic
culture where we have these huge taboo, Well, do you
have information in Spanish as well so we can share
with our community.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Yes, definitely. I mean we feel like with the United States,
what the second largest Spanish speaking country in the world,
and then not everybody realizes that, and so yes, it's
going to be in Spanish and English. Everything perfect.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
So I'm going to go back into the process of
making or building your company. When you start developing the product.
Now met you met the chemist? What happens Kelly with Joan?
And how do you help her commercialize and bring this
to live? And where do you go for the packaging,
(18:37):
like the design, like what's the name of the product?
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Like how do you start that process?
Speaker 4 (18:42):
So I'm glad you brought that up because that I'm
very passionate about that, especially protecting something that I see
where the founder or the owner, the people around it.
Usually it is again it goes back to innovation and
this one person you know, comes up with an idea
and they want to be the innovator, and then they
(19:03):
share it with a few friends, and then they share
it with a few friends. The next thing you know,
you have an entire company of people that are your
friends that are helping you get get it up and
get it off the ground. And that does work. But
in some cases, like for Joanna's product of products, I
would want to support her to stay ahead of it
(19:24):
as best as possible, and with all my years in
HR experience, it would be to support her so she's.
Speaker 5 (19:31):
Not taken advantage of.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
And that's why I kind of like the small startup space,
especially companies that are just starting to fund, because nothing
makes me more ill than a company receiving a boatload
of money to bring a product to market. And everybody
vultures out there, oh yeah, to spend all their money
like I want. I still I'd like to be coupon
(19:54):
shopping with Joanne and be like, you know what, look,
this is the best, the best way to.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Spend however, we want to spend your money at iHeart.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
But it's protecting, Like, yes, think about all these companies
that have come through this program for thirty nine years,
and it's like really protecting them so that they're not
burning through money and then they're out of business.
Speaker 5 (20:15):
It's like a business plan.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
It's like, so, what like for you to ask for money,
because I think that's the most difficult part. You can
have the idea and then how do you sustain the
facts and say, like.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
I promise you it's going to be successful. I know it,
I feel it.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Yeah, it was not easy, and especially being female owned.
You know, Carol and I are both women, and women
get less than two percent of funding of venture capital
and actually in Massachusetts it's even lower, zero point six.
I think. So we were so lucky.
Speaker 5 (20:46):
We're changing that.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
We're trying to change I you know, we maybe we
bumped up the numbers for last year. We just closed
our pre seed round. We raised Yeah, we raised money
from investors. But it was, yeah, really hard because we
have people have to believe in me and my ability
to execute.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
And how about grants, how about like the state's you know,
economic development Office.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
There's definitely stuff out there not really for life. We're
kind of in a weird spot. You know. It's not cancer,
right because it's.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
Not far, it's farm, it's not pharma.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
It's yeah, it's kind of in the middle and some
you know, it's not a cosmetic but it's not a drug.
We're actually a liquid medical device, so we are regulated
by the FDA.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
That's important to recognize. Also very important because that distinction
was another thing that I recognized when understanding what Johanna
was doing, because you know, it wasn't a drug discovery
and wasn't a medical technical medical device, yes, but the
liquid medical device. Absolutely there's a market for that, and
(21:49):
it was I also was trying to pay attention to
what she would have to go through for any prinical trials,
in clinical trials, and it seemed like she had leaped
from a lot of that because of this particular marketing
of this product. So I was like, okay, that's another
when you're looking for innovative products, it's like, what's going
to get there the fastest that doesn't have to go
(22:11):
through all the trials because that's where things fall off
and things fail through the trials.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
Yeah, like you know the GLP one drugs, those were
developed in the eighties, it took that long to get
it to market right till what a couple of years ago,
So it took opera only you're right, so we're not
that and so I think that also appealed to to Kelly.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
And so when you're pitching your product, right, you're probably
in competitions, you're probably you know, against other businesses. What
would you suggest our audience, and I know that they're
very interested in learning how they could bring their invention
to life. What would you say is the most important
(22:55):
thing about keeping your information together, the patents, the secrets
that you don't share, but also that eagerness because I
believe that investors invest in people. Yeah, I think you
have to have a very solid story.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Exactly, it's the story, it's weaving it all together. And
so that's I think what I got good enough at
to win a number of competitions and some prize money.
When there was scientists who are, you know, ten times
smarter than me, and they're up there, but they've got
like charts and graphs, it's not resonating with the average person.
With the judges who maybe they weren't in this field,
(23:33):
maybe they were a pr executive. So if you can
make it, if you can dumb it down so that
every not dumb it down, but simplify it, that's the
skill that everyone can understand the story, then you've got
a winner. Excellent.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Where can we find your products and information about you?
Speaker 3 (23:47):
Johnna, So you can find me on LinkedIn, Joanna Shoe
or our company freezing It. Our website is freezing it
dot com. But this new product is going to be
called knit happens.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
But that happens, for sure, it happens.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
And Kelly, where can we find you? So you can
find me. I'm actually in the process of building my
own firm nice on. Congratulations, Thank you, uh in website
design development right now as we're speaking.
Speaker 5 (24:20):
But you can find me on LinkedIn, Kelly McInnis.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
And also I've been you know, Mass Innovation Network uh
and I'm listed there as a judge. And again it's
been part of my part of my DNA.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
We are going to share all that information on the
screen and we're going to share it also on our platforms.
It's been such a pleasure having you ladies that I
am so happy that I'm able to share break to boost.
Tell people if you've got lies noid as puojosa, remember
you have a solution. There is something that has no chemicals,
(24:54):
that it's a product that has been thought through. There's
a strategy like engineering everything behind it. To find that
solution for us, so thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Ladies.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Again, Yallosava, Mihinda, don't forget to download the iHeart app
and select Capaza Boston as your favorite podcast.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
We'll see you next week.
Get that Boston Comwistan.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
This is a wonderful day because I have something that is.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Culturally at taboo.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
However, I think everybody needs to know because I know
that you've been there at some point.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
You need to know this information.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
If you have kids, if you have beautiful long hair,
if you take care, actually, if you bring your kids
to the park, if you have them wearing helmets, sharing brushes,
you need to meet my friend Johanna and Kelly because
they bring to us today a product that is going
(00:37):
to save a lot of concerns and a lot of
big issues when it comes to lice m beneath us.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Thank you, Johanna.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Tell me how did you come up with such a
great idea? And I want you to go way back
into like if you have an experience when you were
growing up, if you ever suffered with lies, what happened.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Sure, So I'm not going to take credit. I'm not
the scientist, but I do have three kids and they've
all had headlines more than once, and like me, they've
got a lot of hair, thick, curly hair, and so
they kept getting it. And it was from baseball, it
was from sleepovers, from kindergarten and the products on the
shelf are full of pesticides. It's actually pretty dangerous stuff
(01:23):
to be putting on children, and so I'm like, there's
got to be a better way. So just from being
a mom not a scientist.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Okay, So I got to tell my audience a story.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yes, Pa Savik. So I went to mass Innovation Network
and our dear friend Sophia introduced me to the Eddies Awards,
which I was so astunned because it was astonishing to
see all of you guys come up with great products,
great inventions, and all of a sudden you were awarded. So,
(01:59):
for those that don't know, the Eddies is one of
the most prestigious awards that come in Massachusetts, obviously for
innovation and seeing two powerful women, especially you Johanna, come
up with all these ideas and then all of a
sudden received this award. It's fantastic. But bring me back
to how did the idea get started?
Speaker 3 (02:22):
So it actually started with a different product exactly. So
my co founder, doctor Carrol Spangler Vaughan. She's a scientist
with a PhD from Johns Hopkins and so she was
a cancer survivor and she was working on a cold
capping for cancer patients to keep their hair during chemotherapy,
so that for people who don't know, it cools your
(02:43):
scalp and so the chemo drugs can't destroy your hair,
so you can keep your hair and your dignity as
a cancer patient. So she found another use for this technology.
She knew it could also kill headlines and just at
a different temperature and using gas. So she realized it
had nothing to do with her company, which is about
cancer products, so she spun it out. She brought me
(03:04):
on my background's consumer products. I started my own skincare
company about ten years ago for fresh skin therapy, still
on the market, and it was all natural skincare because
I have a lot of allergies, so at the very
beginning of the natural skincare movements, So no chemicals and
you know, preservatives, colors, fragrances, all that stuff you don't need,
(03:25):
just you know, healthy ingredients for the skin. And so
she thought we could do the same for head lice
to make a better healthier choice for parents.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
That's what fristnet it's all about. Yes, exactly, Okay, So
when you join mass network Innovation, what happened there?
Speaker 3 (03:41):
It was amazing. I met people like Kelly, who've been innovators.
I hadn't really you know, I didn't consider myself an innovator.
I didn't really know. They connected us with all these
really impressive people across Massachusetts. I had no idea there
was so much cool technology being developed here, and not
just in the big name universities all over and so
these were the top twenty you know, new companies all
(04:05):
from AI to you know, new drugs, cancer treatments, and
so they all put us together and every week we'd
meet and we'd learn about how to build a business.
They would make the right connections to the people across Massachusetts,
whether it's professors or stores, anything that could help you,
anything you needed, they were there.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
That's fantastic, Kelly. How do you get involved in mass Innovation.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
There's a different a few different ways. As I've so,
Massive Innovation has been around for thirty nine years. It
came through Spain Small Business Association of New England known
as the Innovation Awards. It was rebranded back in twenty
eighteen and through mass Innovation became a nonprofit and that's
(04:50):
where it was rebranded with the name of the Eddies.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
So back in the Eddies because it's.
Speaker 5 (04:57):
Thomas Edison named after.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
And so back in thirty nine years ago, the way
that you would come through the program is somebody would
nominate you, so you'd be out in the market. So
this is nineteen eighty six and think Ben and Jerry's
are Staples or something that that was really going to
be disrupting the industry, and.
Speaker 5 (05:19):
Somebody would nominate you, and then you would go.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
Through the nomination system, which was nowhere as sophisticated as
it is now, and it was really brought The concept
was it was to bring innovators together, because that can
be a silos, a siloed space where you can feel
like you're trying to work alone.
Speaker 5 (05:40):
But you're trying to come up with this big, huge idea.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
So that companies would get nominated and then they would
be judges and we'd come around in this big conference
room and we'd start to pick the most innovative product
for the year. And it was a much smaller scale.
Now it is truly like when I look at a
whole competition, it's a whole competition. And Sophia has done
(06:06):
Sophia has done an amazing job as the executive director
of really taking it full circle for the years. So now,
as a judge or somebody who recognizes innovation, I'm watching
all year long to see is this disruptive, disruptive? Is
this going to change something? How is this changing something?
And then I find you know, I did not nominate
(06:26):
Joanna's company or Joanna.
Speaker 5 (06:30):
I do make a lot of nominations when I'm out
and about.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
So, but as soon as I walked in last year
as one of the judges, I knew, and I knew
of I had the chance to see what the products
were were coming through the system, and I knew as
soon as I saw Joanna's I'm like, this is this
is a game changer, this is disruptive, and this will
go quickly to commercialization and that's really what.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
We look for.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Yes, So tell me a little bit about your background, Kelly.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
Uh So, I have been forty years in some version
of HR, you know, whether it was. I started out
with the community group, which house developmentally disabled for the state,
and I started as a receptionist answering I want Dad,
And then ten years later I had built out the
whole HR department. And then that led to my family
(07:20):
owned a restaurant in West Newton, which I stepped away
from HR.
Speaker 5 (07:24):
Actually I didn't step away.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
I helped with that and then I in two thousand
and eight, I really started to focus on my career
and that led to recruiting. Then I spent ten years
in recruiting agency recruiting, had my own business and recruiting,
and so I just I've had this natural talent, natural
born talent.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
To identify talent. Yeah, yes, so you can just see
somebody and be like, oh.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
You're the money maker. That's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
So, Johanna, how does it feel to be part of
these powerful network and also have other women like Kelly
be your support system? Because one thing, one thing that
I have seen is that you guys and we because
I have to consider myself a little bit of part
of the mass innovation network. There's so much conversation and
(08:14):
so much support that it's very hard to fail.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
I mean, I am still shocked that I'm part of
this group because they're big. Names have come through here,
Like I mean names, Everyone recognized Ben and Jerry's Zip car, safety,
Vista print, different genzyme, Yeah, hubs, Spot, pubspots Spot. So
to be in the same breath as them, it's like,
(08:39):
are you sure? Like do I belong here? This is
just like some weird lives thing. So I'm still I'm
trying to, you know, own it.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
So when you speak about lies, this is something that people.
I'm talking about lies the little animals are in your hair,
not that we're telling lies, but I lost Carolin Espanol.
We have to make sure that that conversation keeps going.
(09:08):
And we were saying that you know, of air that
people tend to not share the information because it's like
an STD right, It's like the worst thing that could
happen to your kids is that you have lies in
your hair. And there's a very familiar movie I don't
know if you've seen it with Jessica sorry Jessica Parker,
that was filmed here in Boston, and she actually gets
(09:28):
lies on her hair.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
It's so cool. I'm gonna like send you I don't
remember the name of the.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Movie, but I can't remember, but it's all are you
all that or a I don't know, I can't remember
the name of it. But the thing is that she
goes to a business meeting and she has lies in
her hair.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
And she's like scratching.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
It's like so crazy, and that's what I think of
you know, people not wanting to share that there's an
issue and there's actually a solution now.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Yeah, and it's also we have to we have to
bring the temperature down, usually with parents, right because they're
they're at a ten, they're panicking. But really, if you
think about it, there's no real reason. I mean, lice
don't cause disease.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
So what is lice? Let's just start there.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Little bugs, they're older than humans, They live in your hair.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
How did they develop? How do they transfer from one place?
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Just head to head contact, so there's really they're not
going to jump, fly, crawl. You have to be like
selfie head next to somebody. So that's why the big
days for headline spreading our picture day. We've seen a
lot more in girls in high school now because of selfies.
You know, they put their heads together, but usually it's
ages three to eleven, kind of the early elementary kids
(10:42):
just you know, they'll crowd around an iPad.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
How about sharing a hair brush.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
Yeah, you shouldn't do that. You shouldn't share it. So
if we always say if it goes in your hair,
we do not share, okay, But otherwise you know, if
we're sitting you know, it wouldn't jump.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
And what do they do? Like, once you have lights
on your head, what happens then? Are they like eating
your follicles? Are they what's happening?
Speaker 3 (11:05):
It's about to get gross. I'm sorry. They buy juice
and kind of like a mosquito, so they're drinking. So
that's why you're blohit and it's itchy. Yeah, so like
tiny mosquitos and yeah, that's it's annoying.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
And you know, and what's their purpose, Like, what's the
purpose of a lies or it's just I don't know.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
They just live off of us.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Okay, So when you discover that you have that intention
of finding the solution, where did you start? Did you
just go in and Google and like started searching everything.
Did you go with your scientist's friend that actually had
that first net you know, opportunity.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
But now you have a shampoo.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Yeah, now we have this really exciting non toxic gel.
And so we met a retired chemist. He had done
the clinical trial for this non toxic treatment. He had
gotten the patents executed, so he had done a ton
of work and he just you know, he didn't want
to be involved in the day to day run and
he saw what we were doing and we immediately hit
it off. So we have the exclusive license for this product.
(12:06):
And it's really exciting because there's no pesticides. It's kind
of a different mechanism. It kind of grinds up the lice,
It slices them, shreds them using ultrafine, walnut shell powder, orange.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Oil co It happens if you're allergic to nuts.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Well yeah, probably not for people who are allergic to nuts,
but that's good to know. Yes, yes, and it'll be
on the package for sure. But it's better than right now.
The CDC their first line recommendation is.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
So what's forfical treatment now? Right now?
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Permethrone which is like a really powerful insecticide or.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Oh yeah, which is putting that on your children's head
exactly exactly, So I wouldn't recommend that.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
I mean, and it even doesn't work anymore because Lisa
developed resistance sort of like antibiotics, people took them too
much and then they don't work as well. That's what's
happened with these life treatments that are on the shelf
yes Walgreens, is that now they're only they're less than
fifty percent effective. So you can use these toxic chemicals
and still have lice two weeks later, and it's very
(13:10):
frustrating for parents. So there's turning to all kinds of crazy.
We've heard so many crazy stories about what people use.
They put raid on their kids. Yeah, yeah, raid and
then covered with a plastic bag. Actually, there was a
toddler in Massachusetts that diet died from their parents put
mayonnaise on their head and then put like a shower
caper plastic bag and then they pulled it over their
(13:30):
face and they suffocated.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
So this is not just a but that idea because.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
The Internet says right, the Internet says doctor Google says, oh,
you can use listerine or you can use WD forty.
Don't use any of those. Those are bad news. They're
not proven to work, and they're really just going to
make your kid at worse, they're going to make your
kid very unhappy, and you know it can be dangerous.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
So they also back in the day, it was you
have to be careful because some skin it would burn skin. Yes. Yeah,
it's like you're trying to figure out getting the nets
out without getting the product too close to the scalp
and then burning the scalp.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
I've seen.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
I have a couple of friends that actually have made
very profitable businesses with removing lives. One of them is
in Mexico and she actually has a salon and it's
a specific salon that you go to because they do
the whole shampooing and with that special comm and like
I've seen people even shave their head because you know,
(14:29):
they don't know how to take care of it, but
you know, she shares that business. Then I have another
one that actually has a concert service that goes in
Manhattan to these very expensive condominiums and treats people, and
they keep it confidential because there's a shame into.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Having this type of situation. Right.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
However, I think that it's very important for us to
communicate and share this information at school, especially with teachers,
especially parents. What do you think should be the best
way to communicate that it's a situation that is going
to happen most likely, and that it's okay because it's,
(15:11):
you know, part of our growing up and there's a
solution that doesn't involve all these craziness that you're mentioning
about chemical products?
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Right, how would should we start?
Speaker 3 (15:23):
So? I think school nurses are usually the first ones
to see these the problems, they see it, and so
schools right now they say they don't send kids home
for life, but the reality is it causes such disruption teachers,
you know, they have teachers have enough to deal with,
so they just they're like, send the kid home. So
the problem is that the kids keep having lice and
it's not getting treated. They miss out on all that learning.
(15:46):
And then guess who has to stay home to take
care of your parents. It's mom? It's usually mom, right,
and parents, yes, but it's usually mom. And so mom's
missing work, not getting paid, kids aren't learning. So it's
actually it's a really big problem. It's a health equity issue.
Feel like it's not just a cosmetic issue. And I
will say about the Life Picker thing. You know who
Timothy Chalomay is. No, he's an actor and oh yes,
(16:10):
so he said that if he wasn't going to become
an actor, his backup career was life picker. And so
I'm really hoping, if you're listening, Timothy, show that I
won't take care of it. We you know, we're just
waiting for him to call us.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
So I just wanted to tap into one quick thing though,
because what people also don't recognize is the psychological and
emotional effect it has on a chat.
Speaker 5 (16:33):
Yes, especially because we are all.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
Seeing through neuroscience that those ages between four years old
and ten years old, those whatever trauma is going on
or whatever shift in your life is happening, that stuff
gets buried in some cases for decades and it helps,
you know it, it can take their confidence away, and
(16:55):
especially like and I think back in the early two thousands,
like both of my girls had very long hair, and
so they did not want to lose their hair. So
you know, it was hours and hours of going through it.
But if they if they anybody did get their.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Hair cut short or did get get bullied, they would.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
Go back to school and they were like, you cut
lies exactly because you made a shift in your parents
that was drastic, and so that would stick with that child.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
I think it's what pyohosa so that we heard that
a lot in our customer Discovery. Kids have memories of
being called that in school and it's very you know,
it really affected them badly.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
I actually grew up in Mexico and it was a
big thing. It was like oh yeahs and like you know,
if you see somebody scratching. It could have been just
like dry scalp and they will call you pyohosa.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
That's what that's right.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
So how about in our culture, especially especially like Hispanic
culture where we have these huge taboo, Well, do you
have information in Spanish as well so we can share
with our community.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Yes, definitely. I mean we feel like with the United States,
what the second largest Spanish speaking country in the world,
and then not everybody realizes that, and so yes, it's
going to be in Spanish and English. Everything perfect.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
So I'm going to go back into the process of
making or building your company. When you start developing the product.
Now met you met the chemist? What happens Kelly with Joan?
And how do you help her commercialize and bring this
to live? And where do you go for the packaging,
(18:37):
like the design, like what's the name of the product?
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Like how do you start that process?
Speaker 4 (18:42):
So I'm glad you brought that up because that I'm
very passionate about that, especially protecting something that I see
where the founder or the owner, the people around it.
Usually it is again it goes back to innovation and
this one person you know, comes up with an idea
and they want to be the innovator, and then they
(19:03):
share it with a few friends, and then they share
it with a few friends. The next thing you know,
you have an entire company of people that are your
friends that are helping you get get it up and
get it off the ground. And that does work. But
in some cases, like for Joanna's product of products, I
would want to support her to stay ahead of it
(19:24):
as best as possible, and with all my years in
HR experience, it would be to support her so she's.
Speaker 5 (19:31):
Not taken advantage of.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
And that's why I kind of like the small startup space,
especially companies that are just starting to fund, because nothing
makes me more ill than a company receiving a boatload
of money to bring a product to market. And everybody
vultures out there, oh yeah, to spend all their money
like I want. I still I'd like to be coupon
(19:54):
shopping with Joanne and be like, you know what, look,
this is the best, the best way to.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Spend however, we want to spend your money at iHeart.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
But it's protecting, Like, yes, think about all these companies
that have come through this program for thirty nine years,
and it's like really protecting them so that they're not
burning through money and then they're out of business.
Speaker 5 (20:15):
It's like a business plan.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
It's like, so, what like for you to ask for money,
because I think that's the most difficult part. You can
have the idea and then how do you sustain the
facts and say, like.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
I promise you it's going to be successful. I know it,
I feel it.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Yeah, it was not easy, and especially being female owned.
You know, Carol and I are both women, and women
get less than two percent of funding of venture capital
and actually in Massachusetts it's even lower, zero point six.
I think. So we were so lucky.
Speaker 5 (20:46):
We're changing that.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
We're trying to change I you know, we maybe we
bumped up the numbers for last year. We just closed
our pre seed round. We raised Yeah, we raised money
from investors. But it was, yeah, really hard because we
have people have to believe in me and my ability
to execute.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
And how about grants, how about like the state's you know,
economic development Office.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
There's definitely stuff out there not really for life. We're
kind of in a weird spot. You know. It's not cancer,
right because it's.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
Not far, it's farm, it's not pharma.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
It's yeah, it's kind of in the middle and some
you know, it's not a cosmetic but it's not a drug.
We're actually a liquid medical device, so we are regulated
by the FDA.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
That's important to recognize. Also very important because that distinction
was another thing that I recognized when understanding what Johanna
was doing, because you know, it wasn't a drug discovery
and wasn't a medical technical medical device, yes, but the
liquid medical device. Absolutely there's a market for that, and
(21:49):
it was I also was trying to pay attention to
what she would have to go through for any prinical trials,
in clinical trials, and it seemed like she had leaped
from a lot of that because of this particular marketing
of this product. So I was like, okay, that's another
when you're looking for innovative products, it's like, what's going
to get there the fastest that doesn't have to go
(22:11):
through all the trials because that's where things fall off
and things fail through the trials.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
Yeah, like you know the GLP one drugs, those were
developed in the eighties, it took that long to get
it to market right till what a couple of years ago,
So it took opera only you're right, so we're not
that and so I think that also appealed to to Kelly.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
And so when you're pitching your product, right, you're probably
in competitions, you're probably you know, against other businesses. What
would you suggest our audience, and I know that they're
very interested in learning how they could bring their invention
to life. What would you say is the most important
(22:55):
thing about keeping your information together, the patents, the secrets
that you don't share, but also that eagerness because I
believe that investors invest in people. Yeah, I think you
have to have a very solid story.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Exactly, it's the story, it's weaving it all together. And
so that's I think what I got good enough at
to win a number of competitions and some prize money.
When there was scientists who are, you know, ten times
smarter than me, and they're up there, but they've got
like charts and graphs, it's not resonating with the average person.
With the judges who maybe they weren't in this field,
(23:33):
maybe they were a pr executive. So if you can
make it, if you can dumb it down so that
every not dumb it down, but simplify it, that's the
skill that everyone can understand the story, then you've got
a winner. Excellent.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Where can we find your products and information about you?
Speaker 3 (23:47):
Johnna, So you can find me on LinkedIn, Joanna Shoe
or our company freezing It. Our website is freezing it
dot com. But this new product is going to be
called knit happens.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
But that happens, for sure, it happens.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
And Kelly, where can we find you? So you can
find me. I'm actually in the process of building my
own firm nice on. Congratulations, Thank you, uh in website
design development right now as we're speaking.
Speaker 5 (24:20):
But you can find me on LinkedIn, Kelly McInnis.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
And also I've been you know, Mass Innovation Network uh
and I'm listed there as a judge. And again it's
been part of my part of my DNA.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
We are going to share all that information on the
screen and we're going to share it also on our platforms.
It's been such a pleasure having you ladies that I
am so happy that I'm able to share break to boost.
Tell people if you've got lies noid as puojosa, remember
you have a solution. There is something that has no chemicals,
(24:54):
that it's a product that has been thought through. There's
a strategy like engineering everything behind it. To find that
solution for us, so thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Ladies.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Again, Yallosava, Mihinda, don't forget to download the iHeart app
and select Capaza Boston as your favorite podcast.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
We'll see you next week.
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