September 21, 2024 • 39 mins
What if you could revolutionize an entire industry with just one bold move? Meet Rachel Braun-Scherl, the pioneer who turned a capitalistic chance into a groundbreaking venture in women’s sexual and reproductive health. Rachel shares her fascinating story of coining the term "Vagipreneur" and leading the charge in creating a new category focused on women's wellness. Tune in to hear how her journey began not from personal experience, but from seizing an opportunity to solve long-standing issues in women’s health.
Our conversation takes a deep dive into the challenges and innovations shaping the future of women's health, particularly menopause. Rachel draws parallels to Warby Parker’s disruptive approach in the eyewear market, emphasizing the need for unique, innovative solutions that are better, faster, and cheaper. We also navigate the complex landscape of raising funds for women’s health ventures, shedding light on societal and financial hurdles that entrepreneurs face.
Finally, Rachel highlights the burgeoning business opportunities in menopause care and the importance of influential figures like Oprah and Melinda Gates in changing public perception. We discuss the potential for industry consolidation to offer comprehensive, science-based care, making it easier for women to navigate this life stage. Join us for an inspiring episode as Rachel shares insights on the evolving menopause market, the role of influencer impact, and the future of women's health.
https://www.sparksolutionsforgrowth.com/about-rachel-braun-scherl/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelbraunscherl
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHQDQ7-WYPqL5ppAYvW-mQA
https://www.facebook.com/rachelbraunscherl/
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Email Us: info@midovia.com
MiDOViA is dedicated to changing the narrative about menopause by educating, raising awareness & supporting women in this stage of life, both at home and in the workplace. Visit midovia.com to learn more.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Medovia Menopause Podcast, your
trusted source forevidence-based, science-backed
information related to menopause.
Medovia is dedicated tochanging the narrative about
menopause by educating, raisingawareness and supporting women
in this stage of life, both athome and in the workplace.
(00:21):
Visit medoviacom to learn morehome and in the workplace.
Visit Medoviacom to learn more.
I'm one of your hosts, aprilHaberman, and I'm joined by Kim
Hart.
We're co-founders of Medovia,certified health coaches,
registered yoga teachers andmidlife mamas specializing in
menopause.
You're listening to anotherepisode of our podcast, where we
(00:43):
offer expert guidance for themost transformative stage of
life, bringing you realconversations, education and
resources to help you overcomechallenges and reach your full
potential through midlife.
Join us and our special guestseach episode as we bring vibrant
, fun and truthful conversationand let us help you have a
(01:07):
deeper understanding ofmenopause.
Today we have RachelBraun-Scherl joining us.
She's a respected entrepreneurand thought leader and has
successfully launched, built andrevitalized companies around
the globe, based on the beliefthat sustainable, profitable
growth starts with a soundstrategy and is continually
(01:30):
driven forward by connectingwith customers, building
partnerships and creatingrevenue.
As a managing partner andco-founder of Spark, she's led
consulting engagements withmultinationals such as Johnson
Johnson, bayer and Pfizer.
She has counseled numerousstartups, with an emphasis on
female health, focusing oninsights, customer acquisition,
(01:54):
customer lifetime value andretention.
Her expertise has helped drivesignificant growth for her
clients, as well as her ownventures.
In the process of runningbusinesses, Rachel helped create
a new category in which shecontinues to lead.
She's a self-describedvagipreneur.
She is a market maker in themulti-billion dollar global
(02:18):
women's sexual health subsector.
Her first book, orgasmicLeadership Profiting from the
Coming Surge in Female Healthand Wellness, was published in
May 2018, and, yes, you canstill get your hands on it.
It's always an insightfulconversation with Rachel.
Enjoy the show.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Hey everybody, Today we're welcoming Rachel
Braun-Scherl.
She's a women's health expert,entrepreneur and a speaker,
specializing in business growthstrategies and female health,
and she is also known for herorgasmic leadership.
I am so excited to say thesewords and work on innovative
solutions in women's health andwellness.
(03:00):
Rachel, welcome to the show.
It's so good to see you again.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
So great to see both of you.
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Yeah, we've had you on our LinkedIn.
Live you and I just you and meand I enjoyed that conversation,
so we're excited to dive inagain today.
Can you start by telling usyour journey and how you got to
this women's health andentrepreneurship space?
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Well, it's interesting.
So many people, as you know,get into women's health because
they have an experience or acondition or set of
circumstances.
They look around for a solution.
They don't see one and they say, well, I better create this
myself.
Mine was much more capitalisticin nature.
I had been working in consulting.
(03:42):
I had started my career afterbusiness school, at J&J.
So any health businessultimately is women's health.
So I'd been doing a lot ofconsulting with my company, with
my business partner, fordecades, and one day an investor
showed me a business plan for acompany that had a product that
improved arousal, desire andsatisfaction for women of all
(04:05):
ages and life stages, calledZestra.
And he said, well, this isn'tfor me, but maybe you and Mary,
my longstanding business partner, would like to help them.
So, long story short, the assetwound up becoming available.
We raised venture capital, webought the asset and we built a
company and a category at thesame time around pleasure,
(04:27):
desire, arousal and satisfaction.
And that was in 2008 andhaven't really looked back,
really been focused on women'ssexual and reproductive health
since then, with companies largeand small, venture-backed
public companies, large andsmall venture backed public
(04:48):
companies you name it If it hasto do with finding a better
mousetrap or providing asolution, um, that doesn't exist
for our problem.
That's been around for a longtime.
That's what I focus on.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
It's a fun thing and yeah, and for your time.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
I feel like, you know , I just feel like you're before
your time, because we'redefinitely talking more openly
about women's health, andcertainly vaginal health and sex
.
You know, we're kind of turningthat rock over, which is
fantastic.
I know that when our audiencelooks at your bio, they're going
(05:22):
to wonder why you use the wordI'm going to pronounce it wrong
vagipreneurship, and you, Idon't think you specifically
coined that term, but can youtell us what you mean by that
and what the heck does that mean?
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Sure, I mean it's so fun.
One of the things I talk abouta lot in this space is that we
need a language to have aconversation.
So you know Vagipreneur and thename of my book, orgasmic
Leadership.
You know you can see thatthere's a trend.
I want things to be memorable,but in any case, when we were
first working on the businessand we were trying to get media
(05:59):
outlets to take our assets ourcommercials we want to give you
money, we want you to run ourcommercials 95% said no, and so
we realized, after a lot ofheadbanging, that we needed to
earn the media instead of buy it.
So we found a PR company whothought that was the right
(06:19):
strategy, and one of the firstsort of breakthroughs that we
had is we were interviewed bythis amazing journalist, abby
Ellen, who writes for the NewYork Times, and she was
interviewing us and she says oh,you're in business and it's
vaginas.
You're a vagipreneur.
So when I would go to speak,you know we would sort of test
(06:42):
it out and see how people likedit, and they liked it.
So at one point I was memorableand you know I define it as a
person in the business ofwomen's sexual and reproductive
health.
So, you know, the vagina part ismeant to be representative of a
much broader spectrum ofconditions and the entrepreneur
piece obviously is the businessside.
(07:02):
So I reached out to Abby and II give her credit every time we
talk about this and I say youknow what this seems to be
memorable?
I'm it's getting people'sattention, at least gets them to
laugh, and it it it lightens upa room.
Do you have any intention ofusing this?
Because if you don't want it, Iwould like to trademark or
copyright it.
So that's what I did, gotpermission and always kudos to
(07:29):
Abby Ellen, who's a brilliantwriter and obviously incredibly
creative and still a friendafter 16 years.
So that's how it came to be.
And the name Orgasmic Leadershipwas also an idea that I was at
an event that really it was thisconcept of how do you create
(07:53):
Silicon Valley and thenetworking in New York.
And I'm sitting next to a womanby the name of Karen Kahn who
has a business focused onhelping lawyers grow their
business.
And she said to me just inpassing you know, rachel,
everybody's talking aboutentrepreneurship, everything.
Everyone's talking aboutleadership.
You should make the name ofyour talks orgasmic leadership.
(08:16):
And I said immediately I lovethat name.
I think it is so clever.
But you know I'm speaking.
I've had this experience wherecompanies will hire me to speak
and they'll say we want you totalk but you can't say the word
vagina or you can't say the wordsexual.
I said so.
You know, when I speak at a Jand J or you know NFL teams,
(08:37):
they're not going to hire me tospeak about orgasmic leadership.
But I think it's a great namefor a book, and there were
probably two or three yearsbetween that initial
conversation and when I actuallypublished the book, because I
needed the idea to come to me asto how I would bring that to
life.
But that is again, it's great tohave smart people sitting next
(08:59):
to you.
So that's how I got that nameand it just I really like in
this space it's not hard to getpeople's attention, for sure,
but it's really important to getit in a way that you can
continue the conversation andnot that you sort of like stun
them into silence.
(09:20):
Where we were speaking aboutthe business at the Harvard Club
in New York and we said theword vagina and, honestly, you
could have heard a pin drop, andso one of our claims to fame is
that we think we're the maybethe first or the only people to
say the word vagina publicly atthe Harvard Club of New York.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
So what a badge.
You know what I love and thisis just a side note I love this
conversation.
We could probably spend theentire podcast just talk telling
stories.
But, um, I love the when I'mgoing through the grocery store
line and someone just randomconversation, just says, hey,
you know, what do you do?
Speaker 3 (09:55):
No, what do you do?
Speaker 1 (09:58):
You have much friendlier, you just keep going.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Well, you know what it is.
I have these bags that, um, myfriends in Eswatini, africa,
made, and it's always aconversation piece because
they're like, oh, these are sobeautiful, where did you get
them?
And then the story goes on onhow I've been over there and set
up enterprises, and then thequestion is what do you do?
Right, I love that question andI love answering it, right?
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Oh well, I mean, it's a setup, I talk about
menstruation, menopause, sexualreproductive health, vaginas.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
What would you like to talk about?
Silence.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
You then have a person who wants to learn more.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Yeah, a hundred percent.
Yeah, it's fantastic.
Well, we love what you do.
Yeah, it's fantastic.
Well, we love what you do.
And there are a lot ofcompanies, now that there is
more buzz about women's healthwhich thank goodness there is
that want to enter this space,and I'm just wondering, from
where you sit, if you can sharewith us what some of the biggest
(10:59):
challenges are that companiesface in this space as they try
to bring innovative solutions tothe table.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Yeah well.
So it's a big question and wecould talk about this a lot.
You know, one of the jokes isand you guys have been the
beneficiaries of this, I think,with the work that you're doing,
you know it seems as if the NewYork Times discovered menopause
like two years before that.
It didn't exist.
You know, millions of women aregoing through this transition
since the beginning of time, butnow it's real, if it's been in
(11:29):
the times, which is, by the way,great because it creates
conversations.
So I think one of the challengesis is really finding a solution
.
The problems are everywhere.
There are conditions.
Obviously we all use thelanguage, things that affect
women only differentially orprimarily.
So there's a plethora ofproblems to solve and I don't
(11:51):
think the problems are new.
What we do need is a reason forthe companies to be brought to
life.
Are they doing it?
What I say, are they doing itbetter, faster, cheaper?
Is there a reason that thissolution is going to either get
people to buy, pay for asolution, a product or service
(12:13):
for a problem they haven'tsolved before, or is this a
better solution to an existingproblem?
And so I think, and obviouslythe first question many VCs ask
is what is the problem you'resolving and what are people
doing now?
In many cases in women's health, the answer historically had
been well, I'm not doinganything, I didn't know there
was a solution for that.
(12:35):
And the world has changed, youknow, in many productive ways,
so that now we have lots ofsolutions.
So the biggest challenge Iwould say is, when you're
building a company, make surethere's a reason for it and the
reason isn't just you.
You know, as I referencedearlier, there are women who
identified problems and startedcompanies to solve those
(12:57):
problems.
But they didn't do it in avacuum.
They spoke to hundreds ofpeople, they test the market,
they see if there's a need forwhat they're doing and I think
one of the clearest examplesthat I feel like always sort of
makes it clear to people andwhen I'm speaking to students
able to get glasses before theadvent of Warby Parker um at
(13:26):
April and Rachel.
So it wasn't like the problemthat we're solving is that
people can't get glasses.
What they did is we said we'regoing to make this whole, and I
wasn't in these meetings.
This is the gospel, accordingto Rachel, is they sort of um,
disintermediated the entireprocess and said okay, it's too
(13:46):
expensive, we're going to makeless expensive frames, it's time
consuming, we're going to sendit to your home.
We want to be able to see howit looks.
We're going to give you virtualtry on.
We don't want to wear the samepair of glasses all the time,
but they're too expensive.
We're going to combine thisidea of fashion and price so
that you really get value.
So they were solving a problemthat had a solution.
(14:06):
But what was so unique is theywere approaching this problem in
an entirely different way, andI think that's often where
companies get stuck.
They identify a problem andthey say, oh, I can do this too.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
But it's the same way , right, it's still staying.
Many times it's the same way.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
And now we have a little bit of an embarrassment
of riches, and I'm sure you'reseeing this in the work that
you're doing with workplaceeducation.
There are lots of peopletalking about different
verticals within menopause.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
What.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
I'm not doing is sort of covering the whole range,
and it makes sense for a lot ofreasons.
So you do workplace education.
You're not delivering care.
There are people who aredelivering care.
Those may or may not be thepeople you want to buy the
products from, so there's youknow.
You want consultations.
Then there are benefitopportunities.
(14:59):
How do you get these benefits inyour workplace?
All of these are differentobjectives.
To help people, I'll say, makemenopause more enjoyable, less
disruptive People can fill inwhatever descriptor they want
More empowering, produce agreater, less expensive, less
(15:20):
work days.
You, you know there arethousands of benefits from doing
this, but you really have tofigure out what is your lane and
how are you doing it in a waythat's different than other
people.
And then, of course, you havethe challenges of raising money,
which is not just, uh, achallenge for women's businesses
, but when you combine womengetting less money, women being
(15:43):
the majority of founders, andwomen's health and talking about
things that many people aren'tcomfortable with you, know I
call that sort of like thetrifecta.
How do you, how do you figureout how to win, how to raise
money, how to get access tomedia channels in an environment
where I'm not going to say thecards are stacked against you,
(16:03):
but the wind is not at your backin many cases, in women's
health.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Yeah, that's a better way of putting it.
Yeah, the wind is not at yourback.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
How do you see the menopause market evolving during
this time, like what'sespecially with this increased
attention to women's wellnessand health?
What do you?
You know, what are you seeing?
And you know you said state,you know everyone's got a lane
and there's a lot of players inthat space, but how do you see
it evolving over time?
Speaker 3 (16:29):
So, you know, money talks.
It's nothing new.
It's not related to menopause.
I think, as we start seeingthese companies, we're seeing
these women's health unicorns,we're seeing, you know, really
just an incredible surge ininterest.
Focus on menopause, becausethat's your space.
I think the companies that candemonstrate that they can make a
business out of it are the onesthat are going to have the
(16:52):
biggest impact, not because theones that aren't making money
aren't valuable, but the wholesystem works.
You know when, when, there'swhen, the when money is flowing
through.
So, for instance, many of thecompanies that are working in
menopause now are trackingmetrics that were never
discussed track before, which isare we seeing increased
(17:14):
productivity when we providetraining and I'm sure you guys
have a lot of data on that Arewe seeing fewer lost work days
when we give people access toonline menopause care or access
to holistic care aroundmenopause?
And once you can demonstratethat there's an economic benefit
to doing this, that's when Ithink the conversation changes
(17:37):
and we're starting to see that.
You know you're as familiar asanybody with the Mayo Clinic
study, that you know it'snumbers next to this $1.8
billion in lost productivity forwomen going through menopause.
20% of women in the workforceare menopausal women.
You know we're seeing companiesare seeing that where we are
(17:58):
with menopause is similar towhere we were a couple of
decades ago with fertility andfamily building.
So we were losing people youknow at their prime potential
for adding, making acontribution, because of all the
things involved in familybuilding.
And so we're going to now offerbenefits company X, apple,
(18:19):
google, whatever the case may beto keep those people and I
think we're seeing the sameright now with women in
menopause in the workplace.
Not that you necessarily atleast from my perspective want
to run through the hallsshouting I'm in menopause, but
women tend to be older, theyhave more experience, they're
more senior and it's a big costto lose these people at the peak
(18:41):
of their contributing potential.
So I always go back to youbuild the economic case and the
businesses grow.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Yeah, what are you most excited about in this space
?
I mean, there's a lot happening, there's a lot of buzz.
What's most exciting for youthat's either on the horizon or
maybe on the burner right now.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Well, it's going to be boring, but I'm really
excited about the data that saysthere's economic benefit to do
this.
And so that you know, thetelehealth companies are
gathering a lot of that.
The benefits companies aregathering a lot of that.
So, I'm really excited that youdon't have to continue to prove
that this is an opportunity, youknow, and when people say it's
(19:25):
a niche, you know I haven't donemath in a long time, but I was
a math lead in high school.
I mean, if I look at menopauseand I say one out of every two
people walking on the planetexperiences this, it can last
seven to 15, endless number ofyears and there are dozens of
symptoms 15, endless number ofyears and there are dozens of
(19:45):
symptoms, all which requiredifferent treatment or different
attention.
That to me, looks like thebiggest category that I've ever
seen.
So we have to chip away atshowing that taking care of
women is good for business, andI think we saw that.
So that's not a sexy answerlike this crazy gadget or you
know this.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
No, it's a great answer.
I mean, you're preaching to thechoir here, right?
I mean what?
How many times withorganizations do we have the
same conversation to try toconvince them that it's the
right thing to do and that it issmart financially to bring in
menopause programs within anorganization?
We're still having thoseconversations, which is shocking
(20:27):
to me because there is data outthere.
It's not a secret anymore.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
No, it's not a secret .
We have the Wham study, we havethe McKinsey study, we have the
Mayo Clinic study, we have theDeloitte study, we have the
Accenture study.
I mean, there are lots ofcompanies with a lot of
credibility who are now sayingthis is huge, this is an
opportunity, but I think it's a,you know, a one on one kind of
effort, and I think you'reprobably seeing that, when
(20:54):
you're trying to sell theseprograms, that there is a
benefit for doing this.
We're not doing this for ourhealth, right?
You should do it in spite ofthe fact that it's the right
thing to do.
So.
Don't, don't have that be theissue, because I think women's
businesses get put in a corner.
Oh, it's the right thing to do,but there's no business model
(21:14):
lead with.
Here's the business benefit,right, yeah, right.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
And oh, by the way, it's the right thing to do.
It's the right thing to do, andcompanies.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
I've.
I've spoken to companiesinsurance companies, companies
that are on the most admiredplaces to work who say they're
now using their benefits as away to attract and keep talent
Absolutely Back in the day.
You know, when you were goingfrom company to company, you
weren't looking at that.
(21:41):
I should speak for myself.
I and many of my peers were notlooking at that.
It wasn't a competitiveadvantage.
Now it can be a competitiveadvantage and people can choose
to stay because of the breadthand depth of the benefits, or
they can choose to leave.
It becomes another decisioncriteria in deciding about where
you want to work.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
I think 100% it does and we are looking for that.
We want that support and it'snot looked down upon for us to
change positions like it used tobe.
I mean 15, 20 years ago, if myresume had two years of
experience at an employer andthen I hopped to another
(22:23):
employer, that would have beenquestioned.
But I don't think it'squestioned anymore.
Not as much, maybe, maybe alittle bit, but not as much.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
So I think the millennials have said you know,
we're clearly not interested instaying a place for our lives,
right?
You know, in my own experiencehaving conversations with young
people, you know I would nevergive someone advice to leave,
and under a year, right years,because that's sort of how we
(22:52):
were trained.
But it's not the case anymore.
And I think the other thingthat we can learn in the
menopause market from youngerpeople is you know, they're
saying just because it was thathard, we don't want it to be
that hard, right, right.
I would never have said youknow, boss, I need a day off for
my mental health.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
It wasn't even a thought, I mean because you
would have been afraid you wouldhave been fired and you would
have had to have been creativeto think about it.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
That's right, right.
And how do I protect myself?
Speaker 1 (23:22):
So how do I protect myself?
And I still have had to havebeen creative to think about it,
that's right.
And how do I protect myself?
And how do I protect myself?
And I still have thosequestions.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
I still have those questions, but it's a
conversation and companies areconcerned about their employees'
mental health and famousathletes and celebrities are
coming out and talking abouttheir mental health issues and
that's all good.
That's another huge change.
You know, especially inmenopause, the best thing to
happen to menopause is Oprahhitting menopause.
(23:49):
So you know when you have Oprahtalking about it, and when you
have Melinda Gates talking aboutit, and when you have Naomi
Watts and Gayle King, and youknow you get people in power who
have platforms talking about it.
That's as quick a way to changethe conversation as anything.
Take these people who arecrushing it.
(24:12):
No one would look at them andsay, well, clearly menopause has
slowed them down or age hasslowed them down.
I happen to have been one ofthese longstanding diehard fans
of Oprah, and the first articlethat I wrote that got some
attention was how to find yourleadership voice, because
Oprah's is already taken, youknow, decade after decade.
(24:33):
You know she creates newindustries, she revitalizes old
industries, and so it's sopowerful when someone like that,
who is a self-made billionairewho didn't come from you know
huge opportunity and certainlynot financial security.
Who did this?
And oh, by the way, she didthis while she was experiencing
(24:54):
menopause or she did this whenyou know she didn't have someone
helping her helping her.
And so I really think it's soimportant that we have the
businesses, the economic dataand influencers.
You know, celebrities were ouroriginal influencers.
They might not be using it thesame way as the younger
(25:14):
influencers are, but it matters.
It matters when people aretalking about this.
It matters when Dr Ashton getson ABC for the past many years
and brings up discussions onmenopause.
It matters when Brooke Shields,you know, launches a
documentary about how, about herlife when she was at least for
(25:35):
people my age the most famousperson on the planet she's
experienced.
All of that makes a differencefor the discussion.
It does.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
We're grateful for all of them, really yeah
absolutely For sure.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Yeah, makes the conversation more direct, right,
we don't have to like circlearound it in any way, we can go
right to the point.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
And you know I get a little tired of words like
empowered, but you know often,but if you look at people who
are in power like some of theones that we, that we were just
talking about, you would have todo a lot of work to say these
people aren't at the top oftheir game.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
For sure, and I read a statistic the other day where
people need to hear it 250 timesbefore they take it on and
totally believe that this is athing that we need to, whatever.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Is that statistic?
Speaker 2 (26:31):
menopause specifically, no just general.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
It used to be 10 or 12 times when we were doing TV
advertising.
So now now with.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
you know now, with all of the social media and all
that you know, I think the truthproblems that we're having, for
lack of a better word, likepeople always believing the
truth, it takes a little bitwhile longer for people and you
have so many different sourcesof information coming at you.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
No-transcript run once a year and everybody
watched them.
We didn't have, you know, notto date myself, but you didn't
have 10,000 choices.
I remember there was once ayear when the Wizard of Oz was
on and if you wanted to watch ityou had to watch it then, and
so it's 200.
The reason I mentioned that isthis 250 time thing is in a
(27:43):
context where you're beinginundated with inputs all the
time, day and night, from manydifferent channels.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Yeah, absolutely, which makes sense?
That makes sense, right?
Yeah, I wonder.
I'm wondering if I had acrystal ball and I could put it
right in front of you right now.
Rachel, with the untappedmarket here, with menopause,
with the opportunities that arein front of us, what would you
say is going to happen?
Speaker 3 (28:10):
I think consolidation is really what's going to
happen and companies willumbrella, companies will create
a portfolio approach tomenopause or to women's health
in general.
They will have efficiency inthe operations piece.
You know, often these companiesare speaking to either the same
(28:30):
healthcare providers or thesame insurers, or the same
patients or the same consumers.
So I think there will be fewerindividual companies and a
couple larger ones who aremeeting at least a range of
needs.
Obviously, anyone who's inmenopause, either experiencing
it or in the business of, knowsthat there is not one company
(28:54):
ever that could meet all theneeds.
But at least there would besort of centers of excellence
for where I would get menopausecare and I could get these
elements of my menopausetreatment here.
I would get menopause care andI could get these elements of my
menopause treatment here.
And, you know, maybe they have10 different products and
(29:14):
services and I could go go tothis group if I wanted to do
something else.
I think it's really confusingright now when there's, you know
, dozens of skin care companiesand lots of telehealth companies
and and and lots of fill in theblank, any kind of company that
you can hair care companies.
You know, we're just educatingpeople about menopause.
And then we throw 1000 choicesat them, so it becomes difficult
(29:34):
, and one of the things I'veseen in consumer research is
that too many choices is a is apoint of stress.
So, going through menopause andyou're already experiencing all
these new things and you may ormay not have learned that
they're not your fault andthey're part of an actual cycle,
you know.
On top of that, do you want tobe flipping through 17 different
(29:56):
options to figure out?
You know why your hair isfalling out.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Right, right, I don't think, then the answer is no.
I mean, we talk to women inmenopause all the time that say
that very thing, like I'm toobusy, I'm too darn busy, I don't
have time to muddle through allof that information.
Just give it to me.
Just tell me, right.
Tell me what is science-based,evidence based, so that I don't
have the junk, I'm not wastingmy money.
(30:21):
Um, give it to me, right.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
And I think that's what we're really saying.
Exactly what you saidScience-based, evidence-based is
really what people are lookingfor, and there are plenty of
companies out there who have oneor the other or both, and some
have neither Right.
And so one of the things thatI'm sure you're seeing in the
menopause literature a ton rightnow is how much disinformation
(30:46):
there is.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Right, oh, a hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
You look it up and you get three different answers.
And so how do I?
Even I don't have time to totake care of that, so I'll just
forget about it and ignore it.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
And how do I know as a lay person which information
is accurate and which isn't?
And that's where you know allthe impact of, you know,
celebrity doctor influencerscomes in, right, you know?
Just, it's just interesting howthat has become a way.
We have data that say that manywomen get the bulk of their
(31:21):
health, broad health information, um information from
influencers.
But you take an example likethere's been a huge growth in
influencers online talking aboutthe dangers of hormonal
contraception.
Now, that is only true forindividuals and the medical
community hasn't said let metell you about all the dangers.
(31:44):
I mean, they're giving you moreinformation but they're not
making blanket statements likethat.
So it really is the influencercommunity who has catalyzed that
conversation.
Now, it's great to ask thosequestions.
It's terrific to figure outwhat is the right choice for you
with your history and yourpre-existing conditions, and
what your life goals are, butyou have to do it in the context
(32:07):
of a conversation or knowledgeabout your own health,
absolutely.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Yeah, and knowledgeable physicians, right,
who are familiar with your ownindividual health.
I think the most importantthing is offering up that broad
buffet of options, as we like tocall it.
You know, here it is, we'll layit out on the table, and it's
(32:33):
all science-based,evidence-based, so that you can
trust it.
Now you get to choose what youput on your plate, right, yeah?
And if you need help deciding,then bring in a professional
that understands you,understands your health and can
help you make that decision.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
Right, and now that's wonderful.
There are lots of people whoare talking about menopause and
providing menopause treatment,you know, in its broadest sense
so, but it's a process.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
It is and it's individual, so I love that.
I love that.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Well, I love this conversation, Um, and we could
go on and on Cause we, we, uh,before we went on on record, we
were like we, better startrecording.
Have so much fun talking, toget talking with you, rachel,
but is there anything else thatyou'd like our audience to to
know about what the work thatyou're doing this space and how
can they find you if they'reinterested in knowing a little
(33:29):
bit more about what you're?
Speaker 3 (33:30):
doing.
You can look me up RB Sherrill.
You can search for VagipanoraOrgasmic Leadership.
My company is Spark Solutionsfor Growth.
Most of my handles are RBSherrill.
Love hearing from people.
I'm really focused.
What I'm interested in isfiguring out the connective
tissue between these startups,and I spent a lot of time on
(33:53):
these transactions.
How do you get theventure-backed startup with a
better solution and, as wediscussed, better can be defined
a number of different ways withthe right partner, is it the
right distribution partner?
Is the right strategic partner?
Is it the right investmentpartner?
So I really focus on that.
(34:13):
So I encourage people.
If you have a great idea and youhave some traction, that's
where we would come in to helpyou figure out.
How can I catalyze growth?
You know I've demonstratedproduct market fit, but I need,
you know I need the fuel litunder me to get to the next
level, and that's really what Ifocus on, which is finding homes
(34:36):
and opportunities for companies, from pre-seed to series, fill
in the blank, fill in the letterin women's health, so that they
can at least be in a positionto offer solutions and drive
their customers to engage intransactions, because you know
I'm a broken record, but withoutthe economics.
(34:58):
You know, a business thatdoesn't make money is a very
expensive hobby.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Yeah that's right, absolutely, we'll put all of the
uh, your links in show notes aswell, but we always end our
podcast with a little bit of fun.
So we're going to, we're goingto do a little rapid fire here
to get to know.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
I love that.
I always wanted to be on a gameshow.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
Okay, Well here you are here you are yeah, oh, easy,
easy peasy.
What, uh, I'll start.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
What is your?
What's your favorite indulgence?
Watching classic comedies forhours on end.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
I love that.
We all need to laugh actually.
Speaker 3 (35:37):
So you have to laugh a lot in women's health.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Yes, you do.
Oh, my gosh Laugh and cry Right.
I mean, it's a roller coasterride, what do?
Speaker 3 (35:47):
you do for fun.
I exercise, I travel, I playpickleball oh, you, pickleball.
I have a big extended familythat I love being with.
It's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (35:59):
You're blessed.
What's your favorite season, aswe're switching seasons right
now.
What's your favorite season aswe?
As we're switching seasonsright now.
What's your favorite season?
Speaker 3 (36:04):
I have to say I've always loved fall.
I've lived in the Northeast mywhole life and I love the four
seasons.
I like winter falls my favoritebecause it's you know, it
always reminds me my kids areout of school now but sort of
the rebirth and starting againand school supplies and sweaters
and leaves falling and just itfeels like a time of opportunity
(36:26):
and renewal.
So I love the fall.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
School supplies.
Well see, I was one of theloons who love that?
Speaker 3 (36:34):
Wow, I can't.
I'm terrified at a Home Depot.
Put me in a Staples and I'm inmy element Like golden.
Yeah, I got it.
All the highlighters, yeah.
Oh perfect and the different.
The advancements in stickies isjust phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
I mean, let's not even talk about that.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
Clearly need to go to the office supply section a
little bit more often.
I haven't seen it.
The last question that we havefor all of our guests is the
same what is?
Speaker 3 (37:05):
the best piece of advice you've ever received
Don't give up.
Now we I always use this quoteno timeout, no substitution
which was from a movie, ofcourse, which you know.
The concept in the movie wasyou know, you play to the death
kind of morbid no timeout, nosubstitution.
But I, for me, it's always beena great metaphor, for you know
(37:30):
how you live and how you build acompany.
It's harder than you think,it's more expensive than you
think, it takes longer than youthink, but you know you have to
really just every day put yourhead down, do as much as you can
to advance what your businessgoals are, and come back the
next day and do it again, yeah,yeah.
And there is something toendurance in this game.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
A hundred percent.
A hundred percent.
We understand that, don't we?
Yeah, now for us today.
Don't give up, Kim.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
I got lots to do, lots to do.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
Yeah, we sure do.
Uh well, rachel, it has been apleasure having you on.
We'll have you back on cause weclearly can keep talking.
But, Rachel, it has been apleasure having you on.
We'll have you back on becausewe clearly can keep talking.
But until then, um audience, gofind joy in the journey.
We'll see you next time.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
Thanks, Rachel, thanks so much.
Great to see you both.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Thank you for listening to the Medovia
menopause podcast.
If you enjoyed today's show,please give it a thumbs up.
Subscribe for future episodes,leave a review and share this
episode with a friend.
There are more than 50 millionwomen in the US who are
navigating the menopausetransition.
The situation is compounded bythe presence of stigma, shame
(38:41):
and secrecy surroundingmenopause, posing significant
challenges and disruptions inwomen's personal and
professional spheres.
Medovia is out to change thenarrative.
Learn more at Medoviacom.
That's M-I-D-O-V-I-A dot com.
Welcome to the Medovia Menopause Podcast, your
trusted source forevidence-based, science-backed
information related to menopause.
Medovia is dedicated tochanging the narrative about
menopause by educating, raisingawareness and supporting women
in this stage of life, both athome and in the workplace.
(00:21):
Visit medoviacom to learn morehome and in the workplace.
Visit Medoviacom to learn more.
I'm one of your hosts, aprilHaberman, and I'm joined by Kim
Hart.
We're co-founders of Medovia,certified health coaches,
registered yoga teachers andmidlife mamas specializing in
menopause.
You're listening to anotherepisode of our podcast, where we
(00:43):
offer expert guidance for themost transformative stage of
life, bringing you realconversations, education and
resources to help you overcomechallenges and reach your full
potential through midlife.
Join us and our special guestseach episode as we bring vibrant
, fun and truthful conversationand let us help you have a
(01:07):
deeper understanding ofmenopause.
Today we have RachelBraun-Scherl joining us.
She's a respected entrepreneurand thought leader and has
successfully launched, built andrevitalized companies around
the globe, based on the beliefthat sustainable, profitable
growth starts with a soundstrategy and is continually
(01:30):
driven forward by connectingwith customers, building
partnerships and creatingrevenue.
As a managing partner andco-founder of Spark, she's led
consulting engagements withmultinationals such as Johnson
Johnson, bayer and Pfizer.
She has counseled numerousstartups, with an emphasis on
female health, focusing oninsights, customer acquisition,
(01:54):
customer lifetime value andretention.
Her expertise has helped drivesignificant growth for her
clients, as well as her ownventures.
In the process of runningbusinesses, Rachel helped create
a new category in which shecontinues to lead.
She's a self-describedvagipreneur.
She is a market maker in themulti-billion dollar global
(02:18):
women's sexual health subsector.
Her first book, orgasmicLeadership Profiting from the
Coming Surge in Female Healthand Wellness, was published in
May 2018, and, yes, you canstill get your hands on it.
It's always an insightfulconversation with Rachel.
Enjoy the show.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Hey everybody, Today we're welcoming Rachel
Braun-Scherl.
She's a women's health expert,entrepreneur and a speaker,
specializing in business growthstrategies and female health,
and she is also known for herorgasmic leadership.
I am so excited to say thesewords and work on innovative
solutions in women's health andwellness.
(03:00):
Rachel, welcome to the show.
It's so good to see you again.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
So great to see both of you.
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Yeah, we've had you on our LinkedIn.
Live you and I just you and meand I enjoyed that conversation,
so we're excited to dive inagain today.
Can you start by telling usyour journey and how you got to
this women's health andentrepreneurship space?
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Well, it's interesting.
So many people, as you know,get into women's health because
they have an experience or acondition or set of
circumstances.
They look around for a solution.
They don't see one and they say, well, I better create this
myself.
Mine was much more capitalisticin nature.
I had been working in consulting.
(03:42):
I had started my career afterbusiness school, at J&J.
So any health businessultimately is women's health.
So I'd been doing a lot ofconsulting with my company, with
my business partner, fordecades, and one day an investor
showed me a business plan for acompany that had a product that
improved arousal, desire andsatisfaction for women of all
(04:05):
ages and life stages, calledZestra.
And he said, well, this isn'tfor me, but maybe you and Mary,
my longstanding business partner, would like to help them.
So, long story short, the assetwound up becoming available.
We raised venture capital, webought the asset and we built a
company and a category at thesame time around pleasure,
(04:27):
desire, arousal and satisfaction.
And that was in 2008 andhaven't really looked back,
really been focused on women'ssexual and reproductive health
since then, with companies largeand small, venture-backed
public companies, large andsmall venture backed public
(04:48):
companies you name it If it hasto do with finding a better
mousetrap or providing asolution, um, that doesn't exist
for our problem.
That's been around for a longtime.
That's what I focus on.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
It's a fun thing and yeah, and for your time.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
I feel like, you know , I just feel like you're before
your time, because we'redefinitely talking more openly
about women's health, andcertainly vaginal health and sex
.
You know, we're kind of turningthat rock over, which is
fantastic.
I know that when our audiencelooks at your bio, they're going
(05:22):
to wonder why you use the wordI'm going to pronounce it wrong
vagipreneurship, and you, Idon't think you specifically
coined that term, but can youtell us what you mean by that
and what the heck does that mean?
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Sure, I mean it's so fun.
One of the things I talk abouta lot in this space is that we
need a language to have aconversation.
So you know Vagipreneur and thename of my book, orgasmic
Leadership.
You know you can see thatthere's a trend.
I want things to be memorable,but in any case, when we were
first working on the businessand we were trying to get media
(05:59):
outlets to take our assets ourcommercials we want to give you
money, we want you to run ourcommercials 95% said no, and so
we realized, after a lot ofheadbanging, that we needed to
earn the media instead of buy it.
So we found a PR company whothought that was the right
(06:19):
strategy, and one of the firstsort of breakthroughs that we
had is we were interviewed bythis amazing journalist, abby
Ellen, who writes for the NewYork Times, and she was
interviewing us and she says oh,you're in business and it's
vaginas.
You're a vagipreneur.
So when I would go to speak,you know we would sort of test
(06:42):
it out and see how people likedit, and they liked it.
So at one point I was memorableand you know I define it as a
person in the business ofwomen's sexual and reproductive
health.
So, you know, the vagina part ismeant to be representative of a
much broader spectrum ofconditions and the entrepreneur
piece obviously is the businessside.
(07:02):
So I reached out to Abby and II give her credit every time we
talk about this and I say youknow what this seems to be
memorable?
I'm it's getting people'sattention, at least gets them to
laugh, and it it it lightens upa room.
Do you have any intention ofusing this?
Because if you don't want it, Iwould like to trademark or
copyright it.
So that's what I did, gotpermission and always kudos to
(07:29):
Abby Ellen, who's a brilliantwriter and obviously incredibly
creative and still a friendafter 16 years.
So that's how it came to be.
And the name Orgasmic Leadershipwas also an idea that I was at
an event that really it was thisconcept of how do you create
(07:53):
Silicon Valley and thenetworking in New York.
And I'm sitting next to a womanby the name of Karen Kahn who
has a business focused onhelping lawyers grow their
business.
And she said to me just inpassing you know, rachel,
everybody's talking aboutentrepreneurship, everything.
Everyone's talking aboutleadership.
You should make the name ofyour talks orgasmic leadership.
(08:16):
And I said immediately I lovethat name.
I think it is so clever.
But you know I'm speaking.
I've had this experience wherecompanies will hire me to speak
and they'll say we want you totalk but you can't say the word
vagina or you can't say the wordsexual.
I said so.
You know, when I speak at a Jand J or you know NFL teams,
(08:37):
they're not going to hire me tospeak about orgasmic leadership.
But I think it's a great namefor a book, and there were
probably two or three yearsbetween that initial
conversation and when I actuallypublished the book, because I
needed the idea to come to me asto how I would bring that to
life.
But that is again, it's great tohave smart people sitting next
(08:59):
to you.
So that's how I got that nameand it just I really like in
this space it's not hard to getpeople's attention, for sure,
but it's really important to getit in a way that you can
continue the conversation andnot that you sort of like stun
them into silence.
(09:20):
Where we were speaking aboutthe business at the Harvard Club
in New York and we said theword vagina and, honestly, you
could have heard a pin drop, andso one of our claims to fame is
that we think we're the maybethe first or the only people to
say the word vagina publicly atthe Harvard Club of New York.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
So what a badge.
You know what I love and thisis just a side note I love this
conversation.
We could probably spend theentire podcast just talk telling
stories.
But, um, I love the when I'mgoing through the grocery store
line and someone just randomconversation, just says, hey,
you know, what do you do?
Speaker 3 (09:55):
No, what do you do?
Speaker 1 (09:58):
You have much friendlier, you just keep going.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Well, you know what it is.
I have these bags that, um, myfriends in Eswatini, africa,
made, and it's always aconversation piece because
they're like, oh, these are sobeautiful, where did you get
them?
And then the story goes on onhow I've been over there and set
up enterprises, and then thequestion is what do you do?
Right, I love that question andI love answering it, right?
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Oh well, I mean, it's a setup, I talk about
menstruation, menopause, sexualreproductive health, vaginas.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
What would you like to talk about?
Silence.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
You then have a person who wants to learn more.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Yeah, a hundred percent.
Yeah, it's fantastic.
Well, we love what you do.
Yeah, it's fantastic.
Well, we love what you do.
And there are a lot ofcompanies, now that there is
more buzz about women's healthwhich thank goodness there is
that want to enter this space,and I'm just wondering, from
where you sit, if you can sharewith us what some of the biggest
(10:59):
challenges are that companiesface in this space as they try
to bring innovative solutions tothe table.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Yeah well.
So it's a big question and wecould talk about this a lot.
You know, one of the jokes isand you guys have been the
beneficiaries of this, I think,with the work that you're doing,
you know it seems as if the NewYork Times discovered menopause
like two years before that.
It didn't exist.
You know, millions of women aregoing through this transition
since the beginning of time, butnow it's real, if it's been in
(11:29):
the times, which is, by the way,great because it creates
conversations.
So I think one of the challengesis is really finding a solution
.
The problems are everywhere.
There are conditions.
Obviously we all use thelanguage, things that affect
women only differentially orprimarily.
So there's a plethora ofproblems to solve and I don't
(11:51):
think the problems are new.
What we do need is a reason forthe companies to be brought to
life.
Are they doing it?
What I say, are they doing itbetter, faster, cheaper?
Is there a reason that thissolution is going to either get
people to buy, pay for asolution, a product or service
(12:13):
for a problem they haven'tsolved before, or is this a
better solution to an existingproblem?
And so I think, and obviouslythe first question many VCs ask
is what is the problem you'resolving and what are people
doing now?
In many cases in women's health, the answer historically had
been well, I'm not doinganything, I didn't know there
was a solution for that.
(12:35):
And the world has changed, youknow, in many productive ways,
so that now we have lots ofsolutions.
So the biggest challenge Iwould say is, when you're
building a company, make surethere's a reason for it and the
reason isn't just you.
You know, as I referencedearlier, there are women who
identified problems and startedcompanies to solve those
(12:57):
problems.
But they didn't do it in avacuum.
They spoke to hundreds ofpeople, they test the market,
they see if there's a need forwhat they're doing and I think
one of the clearest examplesthat I feel like always sort of
makes it clear to people andwhen I'm speaking to students
able to get glasses before theadvent of Warby Parker um at
(13:26):
April and Rachel.
So it wasn't like the problemthat we're solving is that
people can't get glasses.
What they did is we said we'regoing to make this whole, and I
wasn't in these meetings.
This is the gospel, accordingto Rachel, is they sort of um,
disintermediated the entireprocess and said okay, it's too
(13:46):
expensive, we're going to makeless expensive frames, it's time
consuming, we're going to sendit to your home.
We want to be able to see howit looks.
We're going to give you virtualtry on.
We don't want to wear the samepair of glasses all the time,
but they're too expensive.
We're going to combine thisidea of fashion and price so
that you really get value.
So they were solving a problemthat had a solution.
(14:06):
But what was so unique is theywere approaching this problem in
an entirely different way, andI think that's often where
companies get stuck.
They identify a problem andthey say, oh, I can do this too.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
But it's the same way , right, it's still staying.
Many times it's the same way.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
And now we have a little bit of an embarrassment
of riches, and I'm sure you'reseeing this in the work that
you're doing with workplaceeducation.
There are lots of peopletalking about different
verticals within menopause.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
What.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
I'm not doing is sort of covering the whole range,
and it makes sense for a lot ofreasons.
So you do workplace education.
You're not delivering care.
There are people who aredelivering care.
Those may or may not be thepeople you want to buy the
products from, so there's youknow.
You want consultations.
Then there are benefitopportunities.
(14:59):
How do you get these benefits inyour workplace?
All of these are differentobjectives.
To help people, I'll say, makemenopause more enjoyable, less
disruptive People can fill inwhatever descriptor they want
More empowering, produce agreater, less expensive, less
(15:20):
work days.
You, you know there arethousands of benefits from doing
this, but you really have tofigure out what is your lane and
how are you doing it in a waythat's different than other
people.
And then, of course, you havethe challenges of raising money,
which is not just, uh, achallenge for women's businesses
, but when you combine womengetting less money, women being
(15:43):
the majority of founders, andwomen's health and talking about
things that many people aren'tcomfortable with you, know I
call that sort of like thetrifecta.
How do you, how do you figureout how to win, how to raise
money, how to get access tomedia channels in an environment
where I'm not going to say thecards are stacked against you,
(16:03):
but the wind is not at your backin many cases, in women's
health.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Yeah, that's a better way of putting it.
Yeah, the wind is not at yourback.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
How do you see the menopause market evolving during
this time, like what'sespecially with this increased
attention to women's wellnessand health?
What do you?
You know, what are you seeing?
And you know you said state,you know everyone's got a lane
and there's a lot of players inthat space, but how do you see
it evolving over time?
Speaker 3 (16:29):
So, you know, money talks.
It's nothing new.
It's not related to menopause.
I think, as we start seeingthese companies, we're seeing
these women's health unicorns,we're seeing, you know, really
just an incredible surge ininterest.
Focus on menopause, becausethat's your space.
I think the companies that candemonstrate that they can make a
business out of it are the onesthat are going to have the
(16:52):
biggest impact, not because theones that aren't making money
aren't valuable, but the wholesystem works.
You know when, when, there'swhen, the when money is flowing
through.
So, for instance, many of thecompanies that are working in
menopause now are trackingmetrics that were never
discussed track before, which isare we seeing increased
(17:14):
productivity when we providetraining and I'm sure you guys
have a lot of data on that Arewe seeing fewer lost work days
when we give people access toonline menopause care or access
to holistic care aroundmenopause?
And once you can demonstratethat there's an economic benefit
to doing this, that's when Ithink the conversation changes
(17:37):
and we're starting to see that.
You know you're as familiar asanybody with the Mayo Clinic
study, that you know it'snumbers next to this $1.8
billion in lost productivity forwomen going through menopause.
20% of women in the workforceare menopausal women.
You know we're seeing companiesare seeing that where we are
(17:58):
with menopause is similar towhere we were a couple of
decades ago with fertility andfamily building.
So we were losing people youknow at their prime potential
for adding, making acontribution, because of all the
things involved in familybuilding.
And so we're going to now offerbenefits company X, apple,
(18:19):
google, whatever the case may beto keep those people and I
think we're seeing the sameright now with women in
menopause in the workplace.
Not that you necessarily atleast from my perspective want
to run through the hallsshouting I'm in menopause, but
women tend to be older, theyhave more experience, they're
more senior and it's a big costto lose these people at the peak
(18:41):
of their contributing potential.
So I always go back to youbuild the economic case and the
businesses grow.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Yeah, what are you most excited about in this space
?
I mean, there's a lot happening, there's a lot of buzz.
What's most exciting for youthat's either on the horizon or
maybe on the burner right now.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Well, it's going to be boring, but I'm really
excited about the data that saysthere's economic benefit to do
this.
And so that you know, thetelehealth companies are
gathering a lot of that.
The benefits companies aregathering a lot of that.
So, I'm really excited that youdon't have to continue to prove
that this is an opportunity, youknow, and when people say it's
(19:25):
a niche, you know I haven't donemath in a long time, but I was
a math lead in high school.
I mean, if I look at menopauseand I say one out of every two
people walking on the planetexperiences this, it can last
seven to 15, endless number ofyears and there are dozens of
symptoms 15, endless number ofyears and there are dozens of
(19:45):
symptoms, all which requiredifferent treatment or different
attention.
That to me, looks like thebiggest category that I've ever
seen.
So we have to chip away atshowing that taking care of
women is good for business, andI think we saw that.
So that's not a sexy answerlike this crazy gadget or you
know this.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
No, it's a great answer.
I mean, you're preaching to thechoir here, right?
I mean what?
How many times withorganizations do we have the
same conversation to try toconvince them that it's the
right thing to do and that it issmart financially to bring in
menopause programs within anorganization?
We're still having thoseconversations, which is shocking
(20:27):
to me because there is data outthere.
It's not a secret anymore.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
No, it's not a secret .
We have the Wham study, we havethe McKinsey study, we have the
Mayo Clinic study, we have theDeloitte study, we have the
Accenture study.
I mean, there are lots ofcompanies with a lot of
credibility who are now sayingthis is huge, this is an
opportunity, but I think it's a,you know, a one on one kind of
effort, and I think you'reprobably seeing that, when
(20:54):
you're trying to sell theseprograms, that there is a
benefit for doing this.
We're not doing this for ourhealth, right?
You should do it in spite ofthe fact that it's the right
thing to do.
So.
Don't, don't have that be theissue, because I think women's
businesses get put in a corner.
Oh, it's the right thing to do,but there's no business model
(21:14):
lead with.
Here's the business benefit,right, yeah, right.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
And oh, by the way, it's the right thing to do.
It's the right thing to do, andcompanies.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
I've.
I've spoken to companiesinsurance companies, companies
that are on the most admiredplaces to work who say they're
now using their benefits as away to attract and keep talent
Absolutely Back in the day.
You know, when you were goingfrom company to company, you
weren't looking at that.
(21:41):
I should speak for myself.
I and many of my peers were notlooking at that.
It wasn't a competitiveadvantage.
Now it can be a competitiveadvantage and people can choose
to stay because of the breadthand depth of the benefits, or
they can choose to leave.
It becomes another decisioncriteria in deciding about where
you want to work.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
I think 100% it does and we are looking for that.
We want that support and it'snot looked down upon for us to
change positions like it used tobe.
I mean 15, 20 years ago, if myresume had two years of
experience at an employer andthen I hopped to another
(22:23):
employer, that would have beenquestioned.
But I don't think it'squestioned anymore.
Not as much, maybe, maybe alittle bit, but not as much.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
So I think the millennials have said you know,
we're clearly not interested instaying a place for our lives,
right?
You know, in my own experiencehaving conversations with young
people, you know I would nevergive someone advice to leave,
and under a year, right years,because that's sort of how we
(22:52):
were trained.
But it's not the case anymore.
And I think the other thingthat we can learn in the
menopause market from youngerpeople is you know, they're
saying just because it was thathard, we don't want it to be
that hard, right, right.
I would never have said youknow, boss, I need a day off for
my mental health.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
It wasn't even a thought, I mean because you
would have been afraid you wouldhave been fired and you would
have had to have been creativeto think about it.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
That's right, right.
And how do I protect myself?
Speaker 1 (23:22):
So how do I protect myself?
And I still have had to havebeen creative to think about it,
that's right.
And how do I protect myself?
And how do I protect myself?
And I still have thosequestions.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
I still have those questions, but it's a
conversation and companies areconcerned about their employees'
mental health and famousathletes and celebrities are
coming out and talking abouttheir mental health issues and
that's all good.
That's another huge change.
You know, especially inmenopause, the best thing to
happen to menopause is Oprahhitting menopause.
(23:49):
So you know when you have Oprahtalking about it, and when you
have Melinda Gates talking aboutit, and when you have Naomi
Watts and Gayle King, and youknow you get people in power who
have platforms talking about it.
That's as quick a way to changethe conversation as anything.
Take these people who arecrushing it.
(24:12):
No one would look at them andsay, well, clearly menopause has
slowed them down or age hasslowed them down.
I happen to have been one ofthese longstanding diehard fans
of Oprah, and the first articlethat I wrote that got some
attention was how to find yourleadership voice, because
Oprah's is already taken, youknow, decade after decade.
(24:33):
You know she creates newindustries, she revitalizes old
industries, and so it's sopowerful when someone like that,
who is a self-made billionairewho didn't come from you know
huge opportunity and certainlynot financial security.
Who did this?
And oh, by the way, she didthis while she was experiencing
(24:54):
menopause or she did this whenyou know she didn't have someone
helping her helping her.
And so I really think it's soimportant that we have the
businesses, the economic dataand influencers.
You know, celebrities were ouroriginal influencers.
They might not be using it thesame way as the younger
(25:14):
influencers are, but it matters.
It matters when people aretalking about this.
It matters when Dr Ashton getson ABC for the past many years
and brings up discussions onmenopause.
It matters when Brooke Shields,you know, launches a
documentary about how, about herlife when she was at least for
(25:35):
people my age the most famousperson on the planet she's
experienced.
All of that makes a differencefor the discussion.
It does.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
We're grateful for all of them, really yeah
absolutely For sure.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Yeah, makes the conversation more direct, right,
we don't have to like circlearound it in any way, we can go
right to the point.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
And you know I get a little tired of words like
empowered, but you know often,but if you look at people who
are in power like some of theones that we, that we were just
talking about, you would have todo a lot of work to say these
people aren't at the top oftheir game.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
For sure, and I read a statistic the other day where
people need to hear it 250 timesbefore they take it on and
totally believe that this is athing that we need to, whatever.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Is that statistic?
Speaker 2 (26:31):
menopause specifically, no just general.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
It used to be 10 or 12 times when we were doing TV
advertising.
So now now with.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
you know now, with all of the social media and all
that you know, I think the truthproblems that we're having, for
lack of a better word, likepeople always believing the
truth, it takes a little bitwhile longer for people and you
have so many different sourcesof information coming at you.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
No-transcript run once a year and everybody
watched them.
We didn't have, you know, notto date myself, but you didn't
have 10,000 choices.
I remember there was once ayear when the Wizard of Oz was
on and if you wanted to watch ityou had to watch it then, and
so it's 200.
The reason I mentioned that isthis 250 time thing is in a
(27:43):
context where you're beinginundated with inputs all the
time, day and night, from manydifferent channels.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Yeah, absolutely, which makes sense?
That makes sense, right?
Yeah, I wonder.
I'm wondering if I had acrystal ball and I could put it
right in front of you right now.
Rachel, with the untappedmarket here, with menopause,
with the opportunities that arein front of us, what would you
say is going to happen?
Speaker 3 (28:10):
I think consolidation is really what's going to
happen and companies willumbrella, companies will create
a portfolio approach tomenopause or to women's health
in general.
They will have efficiency inthe operations piece.
You know, often these companiesare speaking to either the same
(28:30):
healthcare providers or thesame insurers, or the same
patients or the same consumers.
So I think there will be fewerindividual companies and a
couple larger ones who aremeeting at least a range of
needs.
Obviously, anyone who's inmenopause, either experiencing
it or in the business of, knowsthat there is not one company
(28:54):
ever that could meet all theneeds.
But at least there would besort of centers of excellence
for where I would get menopausecare and I could get these
elements of my menopausetreatment here.
I would get menopause care andI could get these elements of my
menopause treatment here.
And, you know, maybe they have10 different products and
(29:14):
services and I could go go tothis group if I wanted to do
something else.
I think it's really confusingright now when there's, you know
, dozens of skin care companiesand lots of telehealth companies
and and and lots of fill in theblank, any kind of company that
you can hair care companies.
You know, we're just educatingpeople about menopause.
And then we throw 1000 choicesat them, so it becomes difficult
(29:34):
, and one of the things I'veseen in consumer research is
that too many choices is a is apoint of stress.
So, going through menopause andyou're already experiencing all
these new things and you may ormay not have learned that
they're not your fault andthey're part of an actual cycle,
you know.
On top of that, do you want tobe flipping through 17 different
(29:56):
options to figure out?
You know why your hair isfalling out.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Right, right, I don't think, then the answer is no.
I mean, we talk to women inmenopause all the time that say
that very thing, like I'm toobusy, I'm too darn busy, I don't
have time to muddle through allof that information.
Just give it to me.
Just tell me, right.
Tell me what is science-based,evidence based, so that I don't
have the junk, I'm not wastingmy money.
(30:21):
Um, give it to me, right.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
And I think that's what we're really saying.
Exactly what you saidScience-based, evidence-based is
really what people are lookingfor, and there are plenty of
companies out there who have oneor the other or both, and some
have neither Right.
And so one of the things thatI'm sure you're seeing in the
menopause literature a ton rightnow is how much disinformation
(30:46):
there is.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Right, oh, a hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
You look it up and you get three different answers.
And so how do I?
Even I don't have time to totake care of that, so I'll just
forget about it and ignore it.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
And how do I know as a lay person which information
is accurate and which isn't?
And that's where you know allthe impact of, you know,
celebrity doctor influencerscomes in, right, you know?
Just, it's just interesting howthat has become a way.
We have data that say that manywomen get the bulk of their
(31:21):
health, broad health information, um information from
influencers.
But you take an example likethere's been a huge growth in
influencers online talking aboutthe dangers of hormonal
contraception.
Now, that is only true forindividuals and the medical
community hasn't said let metell you about all the dangers.
(31:44):
I mean, they're giving you moreinformation but they're not
making blanket statements likethat.
So it really is the influencercommunity who has catalyzed that
conversation.
Now, it's great to ask thosequestions.
It's terrific to figure outwhat is the right choice for you
with your history and yourpre-existing conditions, and
what your life goals are, butyou have to do it in the context
(32:07):
of a conversation or knowledgeabout your own health,
absolutely.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Yeah, and knowledgeable physicians, right,
who are familiar with your ownindividual health.
I think the most importantthing is offering up that broad
buffet of options, as we like tocall it.
You know, here it is, we'll layit out on the table, and it's
(32:33):
all science-based,evidence-based, so that you can
trust it.
Now you get to choose what youput on your plate, right, yeah?
And if you need help deciding,then bring in a professional
that understands you,understands your health and can
help you make that decision.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
Right, and now that's wonderful.
There are lots of people whoare talking about menopause and
providing menopause treatment,you know, in its broadest sense
so, but it's a process.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
It is and it's individual, so I love that.
I love that.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Well, I love this conversation, Um, and we could
go on and on Cause we, we, uh,before we went on on record, we
were like we, better startrecording.
Have so much fun talking, toget talking with you, rachel,
but is there anything else thatyou'd like our audience to to
know about what the work thatyou're doing this space and how
can they find you if they'reinterested in knowing a little
(33:29):
bit more about what you're?
Speaker 3 (33:30):
doing.
You can look me up RB Sherrill.
You can search for VagipanoraOrgasmic Leadership.
My company is Spark Solutionsfor Growth.
Most of my handles are RBSherrill.
Love hearing from people.
I'm really focused.
What I'm interested in isfiguring out the connective
tissue between these startups,and I spent a lot of time on
(33:53):
these transactions.
How do you get theventure-backed startup with a
better solution and, as wediscussed, better can be defined
a number of different ways withthe right partner, is it the
right distribution partner?
Is the right strategic partner?
Is it the right investmentpartner?
So I really focus on that.
(34:13):
So I encourage people.
If you have a great idea and youhave some traction, that's
where we would come in to helpyou figure out.
How can I catalyze growth?
You know I've demonstratedproduct market fit, but I need,
you know I need the fuel litunder me to get to the next
level, and that's really what Ifocus on, which is finding homes
(34:36):
and opportunities for companies, from pre-seed to series, fill
in the blank, fill in the letterin women's health, so that they
can at least be in a positionto offer solutions and drive
their customers to engage intransactions, because you know
I'm a broken record, but withoutthe economics.
(34:58):
You know, a business thatdoesn't make money is a very
expensive hobby.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Yeah that's right, absolutely, we'll put all of the
uh, your links in show notes aswell, but we always end our
podcast with a little bit of fun.
So we're going to, we're goingto do a little rapid fire here
to get to know.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
I love that.
I always wanted to be on a gameshow.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
Okay, Well here you are here you are yeah, oh, easy,
easy peasy.
What, uh, I'll start.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
What is your?
What's your favorite indulgence?
Watching classic comedies forhours on end.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
I love that.
We all need to laugh actually.
Speaker 3 (35:37):
So you have to laugh a lot in women's health.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Yes, you do.
Oh, my gosh Laugh and cry Right.
I mean, it's a roller coasterride, what do?
Speaker 3 (35:47):
you do for fun.
I exercise, I travel, I playpickleball oh, you, pickleball.
I have a big extended familythat I love being with.
It's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (35:59):
You're blessed.
What's your favorite season, aswe're switching seasons right
now.
What's your favorite season aswe?
As we're switching seasonsright now.
What's your favorite season?
Speaker 3 (36:04):
I have to say I've always loved fall.
I've lived in the Northeast mywhole life and I love the four
seasons.
I like winter falls my favoritebecause it's you know, it
always reminds me my kids areout of school now but sort of
the rebirth and starting againand school supplies and sweaters
and leaves falling and just itfeels like a time of opportunity
(36:26):
and renewal.
So I love the fall.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
School supplies.
Well see, I was one of theloons who love that?
Speaker 3 (36:34):
Wow, I can't.
I'm terrified at a Home Depot.
Put me in a Staples and I'm inmy element Like golden.
Yeah, I got it.
All the highlighters, yeah.
Oh perfect and the different.
The advancements in stickies isjust phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
I mean, let's not even talk about that.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
Clearly need to go to the office supply section a
little bit more often.
I haven't seen it.
The last question that we havefor all of our guests is the
same what is?
Speaker 3 (37:05):
the best piece of advice you've ever received
Don't give up.
Now we I always use this quoteno timeout, no substitution
which was from a movie, ofcourse, which you know.
The concept in the movie wasyou know, you play to the death
kind of morbid no timeout, nosubstitution.
But I, for me, it's always beena great metaphor, for you know
(37:30):
how you live and how you build acompany.
It's harder than you think,it's more expensive than you
think, it takes longer than youthink, but you know you have to
really just every day put yourhead down, do as much as you can
to advance what your businessgoals are, and come back the
next day and do it again, yeah,yeah.
And there is something toendurance in this game.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
A hundred percent.
A hundred percent.
We understand that, don't we?
Yeah, now for us today.
Don't give up, Kim.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
I got lots to do, lots to do.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
Yeah, we sure do.
Uh well, rachel, it has been apleasure having you on.
We'll have you back on cause weclearly can keep talking.
But, Rachel, it has been apleasure having you on.
We'll have you back on becausewe clearly can keep talking.
But until then, um audience, gofind joy in the journey.
We'll see you next time.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
Thanks, Rachel, thanks so much.
Great to see you both.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Thank you for listening to the Medovia
menopause podcast.
If you enjoyed today's show,please give it a thumbs up.
Subscribe for future episodes,leave a review and share this
episode with a friend.
There are more than 50 millionwomen in the US who are
navigating the menopausetransition.
The situation is compounded bythe presence of stigma, shame
(38:41):
and secrecy surroundingmenopause, posing significant
challenges and disruptions inwomen's personal and
professional spheres.
Medovia is out to change thenarrative.
Learn more at Medoviacom.
That's M-I-D-O-V-I-A dot com.
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