FemTech - A Marketing Revolution - Together Digital Power Lounge, Women in Digital with Power to Share

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
Hello everyone and welcome to our weekly power
lounge.
This is your place to hearauthentic conversations from
those who have power to share.
My name is Amy Vaughn and I amthe owner and chief empowerment
officer of Together Digital, adiverse and collaborative
community of women who choose toshare their knowledge, power
and connections.
You can join the movement attogetherindigitalcom, and today

(00:35):
I am very excited because we arewelcoming Ikram Gurd, who is
doing incredible work at theintersection of women's health
and marketing.
Ikram is the CMO and generalmanager for the US at Apevix,
where they are creatingsolutions like painless IUD
insertion, which, let me tellyou, friends, it's pretty

(00:55):
revolutionary for anyone who'sever been through.
That Sounds like a game changerto me.
What I love about Ikram's story,though, is how she is bringing
over 20 years of experience fromboth big corporations to
scrappy startups across theUnited States and Europe into
this emerging FemTech space.
And she does not stop there.

(01:15):
She is also on the board ofInspiring Girls USA, mentoring
the next generation and breakingdown those persistent gender
barriers that we are facing.
And, let's be honest, women'shealth tech has been overlooked
for far too long, and that's whyI am very excited to dig into
Ikram's approach to marketing,networking and personal branding

(01:36):
today.
So, whether you arespecifically interested in
health tech or just looking fora fresh perspective and
marketing strategies, I thinkyou're going to walk away with
some things that you can useimmediately.
So, ikram, welcome so much tothe Power Lounge.
We're thrilled to have you heretoday.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Likewise.
Thank you so much, Amy, forhaving me.
I'm very excited about today.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
Absolutely.
I'm curious, with such a variedbackground across different
marketing industries, what is itthat pulled you into the
femtech space?
Was there a specific momentwhere you thought this is where
marketing can really make adifference, or what is it about
femtech in this space?

Speaker 2 (02:14):
That's a good question.
I will probably just take astep back in the way I started
my career.
So I've always been interestedin healthcare very, very young.
So I wanted to be apediatrician.
Then I wasn't able to go to medschool so I went with my second
passion, which was aroundlearning other languages and
cultures.
So I've done a master's degreein international trade and

(02:37):
during that time I was verylucky to work for Procter Gamble
and that's really when I justlearned about marketing and I
just fell in love with marketing.
I was back then more than 20years ago.
So I've completed with a masterdegree in strategic marketing
and that experience brought meto healthcare in some ways.
So I find this opportunity fortwo months and those two months

(02:59):
became 20 years.
So I'm very stubborn in a goodway, in the sense that I wasn't
able to be a doctor, but I wasable to find a way through
marketing to join healthcare andI had experiences in pharma,
home care, medical device, andduring that time I've learned so
much, both on the marketingside but also in healthcare, and

(03:22):
being now in Femtech kind ofmakes sense as a woman.
So I'm 40 years old and I hadthis great opportunity that came
from my CEO, who I used to workwith 10 years ago in another
company, and it's a kind ofperfect timing and we just find
ourselves working together andit makes totally sense.
I don't see myself working inany other industry because

(03:45):
there's so much to do in women'shealth and anyone who would
like to join just please join us.
There's so many things to doand fun things to do also on the
marketing and innovation.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
That's good to know.
I think a lot of us within themarketing space have been
looking for a sense of passionand purpose, and so I mean I
know I personally relate a lotto your story a sense of passion
and purpose.
And so I mean I know Ipersonally relate a lot to your
story.
Fun fact yeah, I was my firstyear of college, was pre-med, I
wanted to be a doctor and I, Imean, I fell in love with, but

(04:17):
then also it was like a a two.
It was a double-sided sword forsure.
You know, it's like a love-hatesituation.
I was in healthcare for a numberof years.
I was a certified nursingassistant.
I worked in the ER, nursing home, hospitals, psych office, all
these different roles andthere's a lot about like the
systems and the things like thatwithin healthcare that feel
very like difficult and broken,but at the core of it is just

(04:38):
this tremendous sense ofhumanity and desire to really
help people and I think that'swhat I've always continued to
love about it.
And then, I agree, I kind oflike, similarly, I did a year
pretty bad, was struggling tokind of make things work, you
know, with my student loans, andthen decided to kind of take a
hiatus and then found marketingand then, like you, kind of

(04:58):
stuck with that road and so,yeah, I totally get it how those
two can be such a powerhouse,you know, for the sake of really
helping others, because at theend of the day, like you know,
it's that whole sense of like dono harm.
You know, even though we nevertook the oath, you know, as
doctors, there are ways that wecan, you know, do the work that
we love, which is marketing, and, you know, still fulfill that

(05:21):
need of helping and supportingothers.
So I love, love love yourpassion for all of this and, you
know, one of the things Iwanted to touch on that was from
the intro was this introducingcertain things like painless IUD
insertion devices.
You know it's a challengebecause I think you know, like I

(05:42):
mentioned with the systems andhealthcare, embracing change is
a challenge.
Right, they're a little bitarchaic sometimes in their
ability to embrace new tech, toevolve what they do, how they do
it.
So how do you approachmarketing?
You know something that isdisruptive in places, that kind
of feel more traditional.

Speaker 2 (06:01):
Yes, that's a very good question, so let me just
also take a step back inpresenting what our solution is.
So the name of the company isAspivix, which stands for Aspi
for aspiration and Vix forcervix.
So just looking at what is usedcurrently, right now, when you
get an IUD and I'll try to makeit very short, at least you can

(06:23):
that's one takeaway that you canget out of our discussion today
.
So when you get an IUD,basically you go to your OB-GYN
and very quickly there'sdifferent steps.
So they will place the speculum, then they will use something
called the tenaculum and I willinvite you to Google it so that
way you can see how it lookslike.
I would say it's almost like apair of scissors with two sharp

(06:48):
teeth and that instrument willhelp grab the cervix, pull it
and stabilize it, so that waythey can measure the depth of
the uterus and then insert theIUD Kind of four steps.
The pulling of the cervix withthese two sharp teeth is one of
the most painful steps in theprocedure and this instrument

(07:09):
has been developed more than 30years ago during the US Civil
War, to extract bullets fromsoldiers, and probably some guy
thought let's use it on women,why not?
They don't know how that feelsno and it became kind of the
standard of care.
So it's used in gynecology forthis procedure and other

(07:31):
procedures as well, likeendometrial biopsies,
hysteroscopy and others.
So, just looking at that, whenyou think about zero innovation
in 100 years when it goes towomen's health and we know that
it's painful, so I'm super gladto see more women Gen Z, gen X,
gen Z, sorry more sharing theirstories on social media saying

(07:53):
it's, it's enough when I'mgetting an IOD recording
themselves.
It's super painful.
Yeah, we have spent a lot oftime at SPV as well, just
educating.
So everything starts witheducation and how.
Even myself as a woman, Ididn't know it was done like
that until I joined ASPVIX.
So how do we just empower womento learn more about their own

(08:14):
body and how the procedure isdone, so that way you can feel
empowered to have a conversationwith your OB-GYN and ask the
right questions.
So that's really what we aredoing.
Everything takes time in termsof changing mindset, practices
and so on.
So finding those early adopters, ob-gyn who are willing to

(08:34):
change and willing to useinnovation.
So that's really where we arefocused on and getting great
evidence.

Speaker 1 (08:41):
And it's brilliant too, right, because I think it
really speaks to those thatyou're trying to convince within
the marketing and the systemsto make those changes, that they
might not.
Be more apropos to do is if youeducate the consumer and the
consumer says there's a better,easier way, then I will go to my
doctor and I will ask for that,and that's I think that's so
smart, it makes a lot of sensebecause that's what you want is

(09:02):
them to move from thateducational space to the
advocating for themselvesself-space.
Because I think that is anotherplace in healthcare where I
just I wish there was a solutionfor this where there could be,
and I think there are.
In certain situations, right,if you've been diagnosed with
something terminal, like youmight get a patient advocate.
But I just kind of wish all ofus had patient advocates for us,
because it is, it can beoverwhelming, it can be

(09:24):
confusing to kind of understandand know what things are
happening.
There's nerves that go into play, right.
So when you're sitting thereand you're talking about birth
control options with your doctor, maybe make some people
uncomfortable and then you'resaying, okay, yes, I'll take
this thing and you're going toinsert it into me and, like you
said, I have had an IUD and Ihad it removed after a couple of
years.
I didn't love it.
The insertion and theextraction, both were not

(09:47):
pleasant either, I will say, butthey didn't describe to me what
you just described to me why.

Speaker 2 (09:55):
It's wild, yeah, when you just take a look at the
instrument, it's scary, it'smedieval.
It's really nuts, it's like atorture device, exactly.

Speaker 1 (10:01):
Exactly, it's medieval.
It's really not.
It's like a torture device.

Speaker 2 (10:04):
Exactly exactly, and that's really what we are
changing in terms of bringingthat into the discussion, with a
more transparent dialoguebetween the physician and the
patient.
And we have one site inIndianapolis, which is IU Health
, which is currently they'recurrently using the device and

(10:25):
it becomes part of theconversation.
So when they explain thedifferent steps, they show the
speculum, they show our devicecalled the CareVix, because we
care about the cervix and that'sbecome just natural and just
looking at the device makes thelevel of anxiety a little bit
lower.
Exactly.

(10:47):
And that helps with just thefull experience.

Speaker 1 (10:48):
Now, that makes a lot of sense, and I'm wondering too
, like if you know, as you'retrying to reach these different
audiences patient who, patientswho need solutions like this,
doctors who want to provide them.
I don't even know about theinsurance companies who want to
pay for them.
That's a whole nother topicmaybe, um, for a whole nother
day.
For those of you who aren't like, oh, you're just listening,
like Eric Grimshad's, like, yes,popping up and down outside of

(11:12):
this patient kind of educationand advocacy, like efforts and
approaches, are there any otherapproaches that have worked for
you in the ways to kind of getpeople to acknowledge, adopt or?

Speaker 2 (11:26):
get people to acknowledge, adopt or embrace
new products like these in themarket.
In our own experience, we areat the very early stage, so
right now we have started thecommercialization in Switzerland
.
We're expanding to Europe.
I'm about to launch acommercialization in the US.
It's also very interesting tosee how, at the end of the day,
each woman is different in termsof pain tolerance, but at the
end of the day, each woman isdifferent in terms of pain

(11:47):
tolerance, but at the end of theday, a woman in the US, a woman
in Switzerland or in I don'tknow in any other country are
the same.
They will feel kind of the sameexperience.
So what we have been doing lastyear is really focused on
getting evidence, creating acommunity and an ambassador
program with early adopters,with different type of
institution, from the privateoffice to the academics, and

(12:09):
being able to have those usersusing the device giving feedback
about the user experience.
But also on the patient side,what is the patient satisfaction
with the use of the device?
And we had great results thatwe can use in our marketing
strategy, both targeting B2B ourhealthcare providers but also

(12:31):
in our conversation with womenpatients and just as part of the
education.
That's fantastic.

Speaker 1 (12:35):
And I love this because I think all of this is
applicable to anyone in anyother vertical.
That's kind of struggling withgetting people to kind of take
on and adopt things either onthe B2B or the B2C side Exactly,
I think it's really reallysmart.
I love that evidence andcommunity.
I think those are very big, big, big wins when you can kind of
collect those data points andshare and create and facilitate

(12:56):
those kinds of things to likecommunity.
So I'd love to talk a littlebit more about some of the
challenges you're facing,because I know Femtech isn't
always an easy sell, right, it'snot at the top of everybody's
to-do list.
Um, what has been your biggest?
How are we going to solve thismarketing moment and what did
you learn from pushing throughit?

Speaker 2 (13:16):
um, that's a very good question and very broad
question.
Uh, I would say just to also bevery clear on what is fintech
People tend to get confused withfintech, which has nothing to
do Interesting, right?
Yes, Financial Exactly so.
Fintech and woman's health needs, and that can really go from

(13:52):
reproductive health, menopauseperiods, cardiovascular disease,
pregnancy and so on.
So the bucket is super, superlarge.
So you can think of one of thechallenges and one of the gaps
that we have right now inFemtech is the lack of data.
So that's why all the differentinnovators, companies, research

(14:16):
centers are really focused ongetting data and AI can help
with that.
Yes, because basically, whenyou think about the data we have
, we only have around 30 yearsof data.
Everything that has been doneprior to that were clinical
studies just used on men, whitemen, so we don't have the data

(14:37):
about how the women's body willreact to any medication and all
that.
So we are trying to fill thatgap.
So that way we have, so it'sunder research, underfunded, and
to be able to get moreinvestments, you need also to
get those data.
So we are trying to kind ofaccelerate and close this gap.
So that's one of the challenges, and AI is a wonderful tool, if

(15:01):
it's used properly, to reallytry to get quicker, faster data
than we can.
We can use for our productinnovation, communication and so
on.

Speaker 1 (15:11):
Absolutely.
Yeah, I want to highlight that,the fact you stated there,
because I mean, I think we'vesaid it before on the podcast,
but I don't know thateverybody's heard this or
realizes this pharmaceuticalresearch in general, like
clinical research, not untillike what the 90s was done on
women, and it's just wild tothink about the amount, yes, it
was all men and then, like yousaid, all white men and it's

(15:32):
like so you know, our bodychemistry is different, our
physiological makeup isdifferent and so so many of the
medications that we even taketoday still don't have an
abundant amount of research,with women kind of at the
forefront of it, and that can bekind of scary and, like you
said, between not beingunder-researched and underfunded

(15:53):
, it makes it hard to do whatyou said earlier, where it's
like you're building thatevidence, you're creating that
education, so then you can getto that advocacy and community.
But I agree with you, I love,love, love AI for healthcare
Again, having been worked withinthe systems and I'm also a
patient advocate for my mom andso, like all these lived
experiences, there's just thereis so much data around our

(16:15):
health and there's also a lot ofmisinterpretation, there's a
lot of human error that you know.
I think in a lot of ways thatAI could actually help solve for
and looking for and analyzingthe data that we have to see
instances in happenstance wherewe can't see it as humans.
I nerd out just for a minuteIkram, because I have to give a
little background.
My husband's a former universityprofessor who does like

(16:38):
biomedical research throughmathematical modeling.
So like I watched and seen howhe can literally take something
like building up something with,you know, a little bit of AI, a
little bit of computerprogramming, to model clinical
research without the use ofhumans and animals and it's
accurate and I'm like justthat's just mind blowing.
That's really going to help usget ahead or at least get caught

(17:00):
up really, maybe more thananything, get up exactly,
exactly I love it, so yeah no,it's all very critical.
I'm excited to see what ai doesfor health care.
I'm not.
I'm not in health care as muchanymore, obviously, um, and I'm
kind of curious, like justquickly, sidebar question is
like how much are you know?
Is the health care industryembracing it?

(17:21):
What's your sense of it?

Speaker 2 (17:22):
Yes, yes, I get to be within the healthcare community
in Femtech, which is kind of asmall community, and you get to
see so many innovations comingour way.
We just need to get the funding.
But also, just broadly, I sitinto a different committee to
review some of the innovationcoming our way in terms of

(17:44):
mental health, in terms, like,different things not specific to
women, and it's just amazinglike everybody's really
embracing ai.
So, if you like, feel likeyou're not in it, like, yeah,
you probably need to right nowthat's good.

Speaker 1 (18:00):
That makes me very hopeful because I do think I
could remedy a lot of differentthings in like, the sense of
like, even like misdiagnosis youknow, misdosing, and I've dealt
with all of these issues as afamily and I'm like, oh, we've
got to find solutions for this,so love it All right.
So this next question I reallylike because it's really about
evolving our thinking and, youknow, looking back over your

(18:22):
career which you know, likeyou're saying, you've been here
for a minute Are there anymarketing approaches that you
want to swore by that you wouldcompletely abandon now and or
maybe are sort of like slowlywalking back as far as what
you're doing and working withinwomen's health and marketing?

Speaker 2 (18:51):
Not necessarily one, because I also, like most of my
career, was really targeting.
Well, in terms of marketing, Iwas really targeting B2B, so
healthcare providers, pharmacies, different type of doctors.
I would say that probably it'sthings that have changed, but
that comes also with technology.
So it has been interesting tosee also the evolution of
marketing over this for mycareer over the last 20 years,
absolutely coming from europe tothe us.

(19:12):
Uh, when we used to be, even ifyou are targeted, you used to
have the same messaging toeverybody.
Yeah, because we didn'tnecessarily have the right tools
.
And now it's like, oh my god,everything goes so fast in terms
of development and evolution.
So, especially in women'shealth, one size doesn't fit all
, so you need to be also verypersonalized in the way you are

(19:36):
reaching out to your differentaudience within the same targets
.
So being able to have rightpersonalization AI can help with
that being able to also get theright data so that way you can
be even more personalized inyour communication.
So I would say that the way weuse marketing back then is like
targeting and have the right,the same messaging to all of our

(19:57):
customers and now being able tobe very precise and specific
and that you can see that withthe data it's like yeah, it
increases engagement.
All of that we were not able totrack at that time.
It makes me feel super oldsaying that.

Speaker 1 (20:11):
No, I get it.
I'm there with you.
I'm pretty sure we've talliedout the same number of years.
I just stopped counting.
Yeah, I should probably do thatAfter 15,.
I was like, yeah, 15 plus sure,but you know, we've got to own
it.
Right, we've got to own itbecause it's all valuable
experience.
I'm kind of curious too.
This is another fun sidequestion.
You know I've also lived andworked outside of the US and

(20:36):
have worked with someinternational companies as well
and within healthcare and withconsumers in general.
Obviously regulations aredifferent.
So I'm kind of wondering,wondering too like with that
like how, how has yourexperience been?
Sort of an approach sort ofshifted between like europe and
the united states and the waysin which you either can or could
or should market?

Speaker 2 (20:56):
okay, so health care is very regulated everywhere.
Uh, having said that, itdepends also on the type of
product or service you'reoffering.
In my case, right now, we havea medical device.
I used to work in pharma, sothe regulations were very
different.
Also, in Europe and in the US,the way we are targeting is very

(21:17):
different.
For a medication, you can haveTV ads here in the US.
That's something you will never, ever, ever see in Europe.
It's like just myself coming tothe US like, oh, that's
interesting, they have ads forthis treatment.
I was like okay, so that's oneof the difference.
Being in a medical device space,it depends on the

(21:41):
classification of your deviceand who is your purchaser.
In our case, it's a medicaldevice class too, so the one
that can purchase are thehealthcare providers.
Having said that, our devicecan be purchased by patients in
other regions or countries, soyou need to be mindful of that,
because that also impacts yourmarketing strategy and the way
you will be targeting them.

(22:01):
That also impacts yourmarketing strategy and the way
you will be targeting them.
For us here in the US, we aretargeting healthcare providers
with clinical data, evidencestudies and so on.
And then, on the women's side,even if they are not the one
purchasing, they can influence.
So we have this moreeducational content that we

(22:23):
develop for them.
So it really depends and I likethe fact that even sometimes it
feels like, oh, marketinghealthcare it seems very boring.
It feels like it's so regulatedthat you cannot do pretty much.
No, you get a chance to be alsovery creative, just also being
mindful of the regulatorylandscape, but you can still
make an impact and have amarketing.
So I've done very diverse typeof marketing and I just love it
because you get to make animpact and have a marketing.
So I've done very diverse typeof marketing and I just, uh,

(22:45):
yeah, I love it because you getto make an impact I agree.

Speaker 1 (22:48):
I agree I always kind of felt like, um, sometimes
those regulations, you know,where they feel like barriers
and obstacles, I always saw themas opportunities to kind of get
a little more creative right,learn the rules so you can break
them, kind of a mentality.
And I do think it is reallyinteresting here stateside how
it is like you know these brandname drugs constantly and people

(23:08):
just go to the doctor and askfor it, but then at the same
time I'm like but it's kind oflike as it squeamish, as it
makes me sometimes I also haveto also acknowledge and realize
that like they're, in a way,they're advocating for
themselves, they might hear orsee something and be like well,
I need to talk to my doctorabout this, or at least know
that there's options right For acertain type of medication that

(23:33):
they maybe didn't even realize.
And again, depending on thedoctor, mine's great, I like him
.
That's why I haven't fired him.
He'll be like well, these areall your options.
Like here's what is being, likethis is the big name that
everybody's putting out there,but here are the side effects,
here are the watch outs, here'sthe ways it might interact with
you and anything else you'retaking.
And then here's otheralternatives, which I appreciate
.
And if your doctor doesn't dothat for you, ladies, maybe
consider finding a new doctor,just exactly exactly, exactly,

(23:58):
100% yep, yeah.
So yeah, it is.
It's, it's interesting dynamicand I'm sure, working between
the two um you know continents,it definitely creates like a
whole nother level of complexityat times but you know it's fun.
yeah, I was gonna say like thosechallenges are why you keep
going right, more things to kindof figure out as you go,

(24:19):
exactly all right.
So there's this, you know this.
We've talked about evidenceearlier and there is like
persistent idea around the factthat medical marketing should be
all clinical device andtechnical specs, usually kind of
might say, maybe more on the Bto B side, very sterile, very
formal, very formal.
I'm kind of curious, and I'mguessing in astrofix you might

(24:41):
see things a little bitdifferently and if so, what is
your take on that?

Speaker 2 (24:44):
Yeah, you need to have the foundation, and the
foundation is making sure thatyou have the right data, you
have evidence, because if youwant to impact and make a change
, you need to get the buy-infrom those stakeholders.
So if you don't get the buy-infrom the healthcare providers
and if you don't have anyclinical data, there's no reason

(25:04):
and no way to make anythingtowards patients Because, at the
end of the day, the healthcareproviders, who are the buyers,
won't buy your product.
So, making sure that you havethose data and making sure that
you have data from differentregions of the world as well and
they're critical that helpswith building the brands and the

(25:25):
credibility and you can presentthem those data with leaders in
the area and making sure thatyou have exposure in conferences
and so on.
You need to have that first tobe able then to start talking to
patients like, oh, there's anoption out there, this is how it
works, so that way, they havethe healthcare providers have

(25:48):
enough information.
Not everybody will buy it rightaway, but if you have those
early adopters, they can becomeyour ambassadors.
And then, when women will starthaving the conversation, then
the gynecologist is like oh,I've heard about it, oh, I've
used it and then it's a totaldifferent discussion.
But you need to have thisfoundation first with technical
data clinical data.

Speaker 1 (26:09):
Yeah, no, I agree it's not safe to start without
it, but I love that too and I'mkind of curious, like FDA
approval.
I'm sure it was like a big, bigpart of that and hurdle and
work through for you all too.
I need to remember to connectyou to one of our, one of my

(26:29):
connections.
She was a member for a whilewith Together Digital, melanie.
She is creating a medicaldevice for women, different than
what you all are doing, but sheis like flying solo on this.
She's gone through I think Ican't remember the name of the Y
Combinator out in California, abig accelerator, and I think
she's close to having her FDAapproval, and then she needs to
hit the ground running withmarketing.
So I should set up a chat withthe two of you.
Yes, I would love that Cause.

(26:51):
Yeah, it's super, super awesomewhat she's working on.
I know I'm hella excited for it.
I don't need it quite yet, butI know in my lifetime and that I
will.
So I'm like I'm like, oh, forthis.
I'm like, how can I help you?
So we, we check in with eachother every so often.
Then it just as you werespeaking.
It's so funny, I left this out.
I was working at apharmaceutical research company
at the front desk when I kind oflearned I came from a small

(27:14):
town, um, and our guidanceprincipal, or guidance counselor
, was like you can be a nurse,not a doctor, a nurse, a teacher
, a lawyer or a wife orsomething like that was his like
reply to me.
When I asked like about careeroptions, I was like, bro, I
think I should be a guidancecounselor because I'm probably
better than you're doing rightnow.
But anyways, just to kind ofgive you that context, I we

(27:37):
moved to Chicago after I gotmarried and I was working at a
pharmaceutical research companyand I kind of fell in with the
CMO there.
She had seen some of the thingsthat I had put together for the
office and was like you do,like you write really well, your
design's really nice.
Would you want to help me withthis?
Like clinical research study,like campaign that we're doing?

(27:57):
It's for GERD, which is likethe gastroesophageal reflux
disease, but in kids, and likehere's like what we need.
And I mean I had no clue what Iwas doing.
I think I laid it out in wordand then I made a little logo.
I still remember what it lookedlike.
And then the day they createdcandy jars to go on the desks of
the doctor's offices, cause thekids would be like candy, and
then the, and then the parentswould be like, oh, brochures,

(28:19):
what's this for, you know?
And so I had my little logo onthe jars and I remember taking
that out and being like, look, Imade this.
I don't even think.
I have one I should have keptone of the jars right, but that
was it for me.
I like ditched that job, wentback to school, started working
at a graphic design firm nextdoor.
It was wild, but yeah, I wasliterally in the midst and the
throes of health care, workingat a pharmaceutical research

(28:41):
company, debating.
I'm like, do I want to be oneof these 20 somethings that like
has like all these like Deltapoints and miles Cause they're
just going around schleppingdrugs all day, every day?
And I was like no, I don'tthink so, but this marketing
thing is pretty sweet.

Speaker 2 (28:57):
I love your story.
I love.
Sometimes it's a yeah.
It just takes, um, just takesone comment from someone that
makes you think about whatshould I do next and maybe try
something new.
And here we go, absolutely yeah.

Speaker 1 (29:09):
I don't know if she's known it, Deb, I've mentioned
her a couple of times on thispodcast probably, and I might've
reached out to her on LinkedInat one point or another, Like
we're still connected but wehaven't caught up in forever.
But yeah, I mean I do give hera lot of credit for giving me

(29:30):
that opportunity and thatinspiration to just go off and
try something completelydifferent.

Speaker 2 (29:32):
So yeah, yeah, became marketer, amy, instead of Dr
Amy, which is all good.

Speaker 1 (29:34):
It is all good, Awesome, all right, we've talked
already a little bit about AI,and then we have had several
episodes on AI marketing.
They've all been very, verypopular.
If you guys want to go back andtake a look at some of the past
episodes, um, how did?
We talked a little bit abouthow it's evolving, like the
healthcare industry, but I'mkind of curious how I might
specifically change the game forfemtech marketing, especially

(29:57):
when it comes to sensitivetopics that might need more of a
human touch, because we aretalking about some pretty, you
know, private things for somepeople Me I'm like whatever.
We can talk about IUDs all daylong Same.

Speaker 2 (30:12):
Right now, I feel like AI becomes, as I was
mentioning, a key tool to helpus accelerate our innovation,
the way we reach out to ourcommunity, the way we engage
with our providers.
You can use AI in so many ways,so I'll just take as a first
example so many differentinnovation, developing apps and

(30:34):
devices and different kind ofservices to help women
throughout different healthconditions or just throughout
their health journey throughoutdifferent health conditions or
just throughout their healthjourney.
So I've seen so many amazingthings where we can also
correlate different type of data.
Right now, there's manydifferent hot topics.

(30:54):
Iud insertion is a hot topic.
There's anything related tomenopause.
Suddenly, we just discoveredthat, oh my God, every woman
will go through menopause.
So everybody's talking moreopenly about menopause.
And there's so many things thatare coming our way in the
market with um apps that canreally help you with um, URA

(31:16):
brings, uh like monitoring yourcycle and just going back to the
way that women have hormonesand they fluctuate quite a lot
and that means a lot.
So if you can predict thevariation of hormones, then that
way you can be able to takecare of yourself and take

(31:38):
ownership of your own health.
So being able to get those dataas a predictor and that way you
can have the right advices,symptoms conversation then with
your healthcare providers.
So many great things coming inthe market, so we just need the
funding.
Also, more on the marketingside so many ways to use AI.

(32:01):
When you think about I wastalking about personalization we
can even take it to the nextlevel with hyper personalization
See collaboration with otherindustry why not?
You can be creative and say,okay, we have this data.
If you can maybe combine itwith other companies.
More on the fitness, sport,diet, nutrition and get

(32:24):
something that can really helpand bring a solution.
And engaging the audience with,uh, right content at the right
time to the right people.
Uh, smart education ai canreally help with smart education
.
Um, what else?
Social listening there's somany conversations, so it's
really about opening theconversation, creating the
community, being able to, reallyabout opening the conversation,
creating that community, beingable to really monitor and have

(32:47):
those data that you can use andthat can help also with the
hyper-personalization.
So, yeah, many, many ways too.
I can talk hours about that,but many ways that we can use it
.
It's exciting.

Speaker 1 (32:58):
Yeah, I love it.
Yeah, I was thinking a coupleof things as you were giving
those examples.
Those are all brilliant.
Thank you so much.
Is Apivix using a chatbot?
Any kind of AI chatbot rightnow?

Speaker 2 (33:10):
Not right now.
It's something we are lookingat.

Speaker 1 (33:14):
Okay, I want to introduce you then, to Lauren.
We just had a masterclass andshe broke my brain on our
Together Digital Masterclass onlike AI marketing with your bot.
And because here's the thing,ikram, what I'm hearing and
seeing and this is anecdotal, soI don't have a whole lot of
data on this, but and also alittle bit of case study in one

(33:34):
is that I am seeing and hearingthat people are almost more
comfortable asking uncomfortablequestions to AI.
It's kind of like a Googlesearch.
Right, you don't want nobody tosee that Google search because
that's embarrassing, possibly,but there's something about
having a highly personalized,highly attentive chat bot that
might actually make it easierfor you to ask the hard
questions that maybeface-to-face you couldn't ask.

(33:55):
So, if you're up for it, Iwould love to introduce you to.
Lauren at Mongoose, that's whatthey do.
Definitely up for it.

Speaker 2 (34:01):
Yes, please do.

Speaker 1 (34:04):
All about connecting and I I was like when we went
through that master class, I waslike whoa, there's just so much
that they've seen like a ton oflift and like actual
conversions and engagement whenthey are just really well
fine-tuned, well built bots thatdon't feel like bots at all on
the back end or on the front endto the consumer.
And then I loved what you weresaying about apps too, because

(34:25):
you know, as women who obviouslyneed to advocate for ourselves
in an abundance of places, youknow, in the doctor's office is
another.
I'm 43, I'll be 44 next monthand I know I am premenopausal,
but I'm also kind of shit aboutkeeping track of my cycle, but I
know it's not regular, so I'mlike why bother, because it just
comes when it wants and I havehot flashes and I have insomnia

(34:46):
and I, you know, then I feelfatigued and brain fog, but then
my, again, my male doctor islike nope, you're too young.
But again, if you have, likeyou said, that data or you could
be kind of having those thingsmore easily tracked, I know
people love like this aura ringsand things like that, um,
whether it's devices or otherapps to help you track, like
again, like you said, thatinformation is power, so that

(35:07):
you can be like yo just look atthe data buddy tell me exactly
I'm not premenopausal because Ican't lose weight, also like,
and I'm having hot flashes, butI'm on a pill like you know.
Be like.

Speaker 2 (35:20):
Oh, that is strange exactly, and that's the scary
part.
Even open guy you know theyhave a very short amount of time
in their education.
You know the curriculum toreally cover menopause.
So even your doctor doesn'tknow that much about menopause.
So right now we are likegetting this data and learning

(35:41):
every day.

Speaker 1 (35:42):
Um, so the more data the better but still like even
with your physician, I'm surethat there's so many things he
doesn't know, yeah, well, andthen to be fair, not to just
throw him under the bus.
But my female rhino said thesame thing to me.
She did.
I was really shocked.
I was like and here I thoughtwe were sympathetic she's like
no it just seems too early andI'm like then explain the

(36:03):
symptoms.
Then what is happening to mybody that I'm having hot flashes
like in the middle of the night, night sweats like all these
things.
I'm not sick, but yeah, anyhow,off that soapbox for a minute,
um.
Also, I wanted to kind ofremind, as we get to our last
few questions, our livelistening audience.
You are always welcome to dropinto the chat and ask any
questions that you have for us.

(36:24):
As we kind of get towards theend of the session, I want to
pivot for just a moment into theamazing work that you're doing
with Inspiring Girls USA.
I would love for you to tell usa little bit about who they are
, what they do and then you knowwhat, like you know a lot of us
within this kind of industry.
We're kind of workaholics, we dolove what we do and we work

(36:45):
hard.
But it often feels like wecan't bring our whole selves and
our professional expertise um,as well as our lived experiences
um to help advocate for bettersolutions.
So I'm kind of curious, likeone about Inspiring Girls USA
and then two, this kind of feelslike a double question now, um
to like how, how do you workthrough the balance personally.

(37:06):
So let's start with inspiringgirls, USA, and then more of
like how you're navigating andmanaging the balance of being
able to bring your whole self towork.

Speaker 2 (37:13):
Okay, okay.
So inspiring girls, um, I'vealways been.
Um, uh, okay, I'll just say,take a step back quickly.
Uh, it was probably 15 yearsago.
I had one of my manager.
He was a man and one day hetold me like I was like working
very hard, uh, getting greatresults.
He was very happy then when hewas asking me oh, what do you

(37:36):
want to do next?
And then I told him oh, I wantto be a manager.
He basically kind of laughed,laughed at me.
He's like no, you cannot be amanager, you're too nice, uh,
like, you're too kind.
I was like no, you cannot be amanager, you're too nice, you're
too kind.
I was like yeah, you cannot sayno.
Okay, interesting, then justcoach me.
Then I think he just didn'tbelieve in me.
A year later, I moved to anothercompany.

(37:56):
I had my first leadershipexperience and since then I've
been a leader for over 10 years,both in Europe and in the US.
I've built a leader for over 10years both in Europe and in the
US.
I've built marketing teams andI'm glad that I had also that
type of feedback, because thatreally drove me and that helps
me being who I am right now.

(38:17):
Having said that one way toalso give back was how I can
give back to others, becausethat's something that is very
important to me.
So, giving back to my team, I'mvery proud and very grateful to
be able to be to sit in thatposition and to have mentored
others.
Yeah, uh, some of them eventook my position, which was like

(38:39):
the best reward ever rightexactly is right, exactly.
So.
Joining Inspiring Girls was anextension of that.
How can I also help with myexperience and help other girls?
Because I wish I had someoneduring that time who could have
been a great mentor and help menavigate that type of feedback
and situation with all theself-doubt that you can have,

(39:06):
feedback and situation with allthe self-doubt that you can have
.
So Inspiring Girls was a greatopportunity to join a team of
women who have been successfulin different industries and
bringing that experience back toyoung girls from the age of
seven, eight and showing themthat we look alike.
There's women who have beensuccessful in finance, in
healthcare, in sports, and havethose conversations.

(39:27):
So different type of formats wehave webinars.
We go to schools and explainwhat is our leadership journey,
the challenges we have faced,and we have also kind of a
dating networking session wherethey can get to ask their
question and it's superempowering and super cute in
some ways to have those younggirls, eight years old, very

(39:49):
like, impressed, yeah, and andat the same time, very open and
very curious to ask questionshow did you get there, what,
what is it a?
What is a surgeon doing and howcan I get there and seeing
women who look like you also isvery inspiring.
So that's really about, uh, themission we have, so finding
those role models in differentindustries.

Speaker 1 (40:09):
I love it.
I love it.
That has to be so fulfillingand satisfying and I love thank
you for sharing your story aboutthat, boss, because I'm sure
all of us have kind of been insome similar situation and I
just all I could think Ikram waslike who's laughing now.
You know, like just all I couldthink Ikram was like who's
laughing now.
You know like who's laughingnow.
Like she's been a leader nowfor like 15, 20 years.
Who's laughing?
And then I always joke and saylike the one way to get me to do

(40:33):
anything is to tell me that Ican't do it right because.
I'm gonna be like watch me.

Speaker 2 (40:38):
Yes, exactly, I'm the same way right, gotta prove
them wrong.

Speaker 1 (40:43):
And I do feel like something like this where you
can find the time, space andopportunity to volunteer.
I think there's like thisvolunteer fatigue that has
happened over the last like fiveor six years, just because,
again, the world's gone througha lot.
But I think I love that you'restill doing this, because I
think there's so much that youget back.
It's not just about the givingyou like you receive so much
right, because I I coach girlssoccer.

(41:03):
I've done.
There's a local community herecalled um innovation girls that
I've helped to support and Ihonestly I know that they get
big eyed, starry eyed when, like, we walk in.
But I get just as psyched whenthey walk in because they're
just so brilliant like theydon't even know it yet, but
they're just so brilliant andthey're still very uninhibited,

(41:24):
which they love.
You know the world's notbeating them down and made them
pessimistic.
So I do highly encourage youall.
Yes, if you feel like you'relacking like that sense of
connection, purpose, self, likejust getting out there and
community with others andvolunteering is such a great way
to do it.
So I love, love, love thatyou're doing that, ikram.
It sounds like an amazing grouplikewise.

Speaker 2 (41:43):
Likewise, I love it and that's uh.
Going back to your secondquestion, sometimes it's
difficult to balance because youhave your full-time job, you
have your family job, you havealso other commitments here and
here.
I'm the kind of person wholikes to be I'm very curious, so
I love to learn every daysomething new.
I love to network with people,get to know other inspiring

(42:05):
leaders and being able to findsome time also to volunteer.
But that's the kind of activitywhere you just get out of it
and you just feel fulfilled.
Oh yeah, it just makes you feelsuper good and it kind of
rebalances all the things goingon in your life.
Like, okay, I'm doing that, butI'm definitely seeing some

(42:25):
impact and just planting a seedearly on and maybe this young
girl will be an inspiring leaderand that's something I will be
kind of very proud, kind of likea mama.

Speaker 1 (42:37):
Uh-huh, no, exactly, I believe that I agree with you.
Every time I volunteered, Iconsider it a form of self-care,
I consider it as just for me asfor anybody else because, like
what you said, when you walkaway feeling good about it.
My daughter was, he was 11, hewas in a bit of a slump in the
fall and just feeling kind ofpowerless.
Um, that was the first thing Ithought of was like what

(42:57):
volunteer activity could I signher up for, or could?
We do as a family.
That might make her feel likeshe can make a difference, she
can make an impact, she can makea change.
So, again, you know, I know somany of us we're talking about
healthcare and regulatory andlike clients and all these
things Like it can always feellike it's no, no, no, no, no,
barrier, barrier, barrier.
But like things like this are,you know, not just opening up

(43:18):
doors for yourself, butdefinitely opening up doors and
you perspective for others.
So, thanks again for doing thatwork.
I love that you do it likewise.
All right, cool, well, we're atour power round questions.
These are fun, like lightninground type of questions.
Um, I wanted to know is there aspecific marketing metric that
you think matters more inwomen's health than other

(43:40):
industries in particular, or onethat people might be
overlooking?

Speaker 2 (43:48):
Not necessarily specific to Femtech, although I
would probably think aboutmetrics around patient
experience score things, wherewe can also capture how the
patient feels more comfortableand respected when they engage

(44:09):
with your brand, and then youcan use different points to
measure that the engagement onsocial media, having surveys
sent if they are going to theirphysician to see how was the
experience, but being able tohave some kind of patient
experience score that you canreally highlight also to
healthcare providers and so thatit's working, you're making an

(44:31):
impact and overall it's helpingthe women.

Speaker 1 (44:36):
Yeah, testimonials are far overlooked across all
industries, I think.
For how many reviews we like torate and that are out there,
yeah, I'm just as guilty.
So, yeah, totally, let's see.
I know that reviews we like torate and that are out there.
Yeah, I'm just as guilty, uh,so yeah, totally, uh, let's see.
I, you know, I know that you'reon the marketing side.
I'm not sure how close you areto, like you're like, you know
the gaining capital andfundraising and things like that
.
But you know, I feel like whenI have talked to women in any

(44:57):
kind of femtech space overall,um, it's often dubbed as like
too niche for too much for muchof the investment.
Never mind, we're 50% of thepopulation and 85% of the buying
power in this country, no bigdeal.
So I'm sure you've heard thistoo.
But what are some ways in whichyou've tried to, or that APOVEX
has tried to, respond to thatkind of classic notion that

(45:18):
femtech is too niche?

Speaker 2 (45:21):
oh my god, you have no idea how many times we've
heard this.
I'm also helping with thefundraising for the company and
when you pitch to investors,most of the time investors are
men and it's heartbreaking insome ways to see we are 51% of
the total population, sodefinitely not a niche market

(45:45):
Getting only two percent of thetotal VC fundings.
The potential of Femtech ishuge.
That's one of the fast growingsector in healthcare right now.
So that's why we need moremoney, we need more innovation,
we need more talent joining.
We need to talk more abouteverything we are doing.
I'm starting hearing less andless this market niche Good.

(46:14):
I don't know if it's finallychanging, but at the end of the
day we are not getting all theinvestment.

Speaker 1 (46:19):
So still work in progress.

Speaker 2 (46:21):
I'm hearing it less and less.
Maybe one of the reasons isthat we are also getting more
women joining the VC world, soinvesting themselves, so they
can understand, they can relateand they can understand why is
it important to invest.
So I will encourage more womento join and also just men

(46:43):
overall.
Just going back to theeducational piece, it's really
about education.
That's something they won'thave to go through this type of
contraception, all the differentconditions we might have or
challenges we have as a womanbut educate them.
They all have wives, sisters,daughters in their life that at
some point might need to gothrough any of that.

(47:05):
So I love doing during thosepitch, having just a
conversation and being a littlebit controversial in the way I'm
presenting the device.
So just showing our medievalinstrument that is currently
used and just thinking about howwould you feel if it was used
on your body part yeah, and thenwe can have a conversation.

(47:27):
So it has been amazing to seealso the reactions Like oh, is
it how it's used?
And it's still in use, yeah,yeah, and it's like I don't want
my girlfriend to go throughthat.
And when you think about justIUD 99% of the most efficient
contraceptive solution oh, yeah,but so many women are just
afraid of pain.
So it's really about changingthat conversation on the patient

(47:51):
level, but also from theinvestor side.
It's like really understandingthe potential, like if we can
eliminate that the potential ofthe market just financially is
also very important.

Speaker 1 (48:01):
Yeah, yeah, I agree.
I mean it's a great call toaction for our allies Put your
money where your mouth is, likeyou know, if you've got money to
invest and you are an ally,like, find those diverse groups
to invest in.
And then also, I would say towomen, I agree with you more
women.
We need more women investors,and you don't have to be sitting
on a buttload of cash to be aninvestor.
There are groups out there thatare like social impact and, um,

(48:26):
you know, angel investors andthings like that.
Um, actually, another personthis is like me.
I made a list now a group of allthese people I want to
introduce you to.
I love it, and one of them isalso a mentor and friend of mine
, sue baggett, who's a part ofqueen city angel investors, huge
advocate and proponent for, youknow, helping more women get
funding.
She was a co-producer for ShowHer the Money, which is a
documentary they've beenscreening all across the globe,

(48:47):
and so she's got some greatconnections too.
That's why I want to connectyou to her so she can connect
you to her people that arespecifically looking for femtech
and healthcare, like femininehealthcare type of things to
invest in.
So I mean, if you guys arealways like, constantly looking
and raising, that's hard, that'sanother job on top of your job,

(49:08):
you know.

Speaker 2 (49:10):
Exactly exactly.
It can be exhausting, but atthe same time I always take that
as an opportunity to educate,to connect with other people,
and you get to use marketingskills also in that setting, in
a different way.
So that's another kind ofstakeholders and it's all, at
the end of the day, when youthink about the common thread,
it's all about the story.

(49:30):
So what is your storytellingand how do you create that
connection, that emotionalconnection, so then people can
remember you?
So it could be throughdifferent ways, but I love this
exercise as well.

Speaker 1 (49:42):
I agree it is.
It is a good exercise becauseyou're constantly having to
pivot and you're having to takesomething that is intended for
your target audience and thenexplain it to and simplify it
and get the people to empathizethat are not because, right,
usually the investors, thepeople on the other side of the
table when you're vying forcapital, are don't look like you
, and I've heard that from somany again.

(50:02):
I've heard that from so manyagain.
I've got so many female friendswho are business owners within
like tech and other places thatit is, it's that same thing.
You're sitting across the tableand it's really hard to help
them relate.
But I think sometimes, like yousaid, getting a little
controversial and being likewould you like this used on
yourself?
No, on your wife, no, prettymuch sold at that point at least

(50:23):
I hope so.
If, if not, I don't know, maybethere's something else we got to
talk about.
But all right, one last quickone.
What is the most unexpectedplace that you have found
inspiration for a campaign thatyou've done in the past?

Speaker 2 (50:38):
There's no one specifically.
I would say just be very openminded and I'm very curious.
I don't necessarily take a lookat anything that is done within
healthcare there's so manygreat examples but I'm always
trying to be very curious andlook at different industries.
The sports industry is veryinteresting in the way that they

(50:59):
are empowering also the sportleaders.
So how can we use what they areusing in our communication?
Because at the end of the day,it's also about empowering women
.
So that's an industry I kind oflike and I'm interested in
looking at what they're doing,especially right now they're
doing us, when you take a lookat the last campaign with nike,

(51:20):
really focused, finally, onwomen.
So how, how do we, how do theytackle that and is there
anything that we can learn fromit or maybe something that they
can learn from us too?
But really looking at otherindustries and the way they're
approaching and so on, I lovethat advice.

Speaker 1 (51:36):
That's fantastic.
Yeah, I agree, I never lovedthat.
Like what's your favoritecampaign running currently
within this industry or vertical?
And I'm just like you, I'mminding my business.
If I'm doing anything, I'mlooking out to see what other
groups and other industries aredoing, because that feels more
disruptive than just seeingwhat's already there and then
trying to copy somebody else'sefforts yes, love it such a
helpful conversation, like again, so insightful, ekram.

(51:58):
Thank you so much.
I know our listeners are goingto want to follow you and your
work, um what is the best placefor them to connect with you and
learn more about APVIX?

Speaker 2 (52:08):
They can reach out to me on LinkedIn, so I'm easily
fine.
So you can just find me Veryopen to engage and network with
any of you and ASPVIX they cango to.
Maybe we can have in the chatthe link.
So it's ASPVIXcomA-S-P-I-V-I-Xcom, so feel free
to reach out, ask questions andI'll be happy to answer.

Speaker 1 (52:29):
Absolutely Well.
Our listening audience is quiet, so I'm guessing they don't
have any questions at the moment.
But, as she said, you can reachout to her on LinkedIn and then
, as soon as I'm done clickingaround on all the wrong things,
I'll drop the website in therefor you all, to everyone
listening.
I hope you've enjoyed theepisode today.
We'd love if you'd subscribe tothe Power Lounge.

(52:49):
It's streaming on all channelsthat you might listen to
podcasts on.
Most of our community doeslisten on Apple Podcasts, so you
can easily find us there.
And, of course, I hope that youjoin us together in digitalcom
if you want to connect with moreamazing women who are sharing
their knowledge and lifting eachother up in the digital space.
This is the place.
This is the place we do thisall day, every day, and it's

(53:11):
like the best feeling ever, so Iencourage you to get in on it.
All right, everyone.
Thank you so much.
We hope to see you next week.
Ikram, again, thank you so muchfor being with us today, thank
you, amy.

Speaker 2 (53:20):
It was a pleasure.

Speaker 1 (53:21):
Thank you so much thank you, take care everyone.
Thank you, amy.

Speaker 2 (53:28):
It was a pleasure.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Take care everyone.

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FemTech - A Marketing Revolution

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