FemTech Focus

Brionna Ned is the Co-Founder & Lead Facilitator of Bask + Being, a mental health startup on a mission to reduce workplace stress, anxiety & burnout. She co-founded Bask + Being to help others and organizations understand and remove the institutional barriers to employee success and well-being. Prior to Bask + Being, Brionna received her MA & BA from Stanford Sociology with a focus on Organizational Behavior & International Relations, respectively, and her J.D. with honors from the University of Texas. She has prior experience in big law, intellectual property and has served as in-house counsel. We discussed the elusive "work-life balance", how stress manifests in your body and self care vs productivity.

Check out Bask + Being at www.baskandbeing.com

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Greg Linton is the founder & CEO of Perinatal Access, a cloud-based digital health platform that leverages telemedicine and live ultrasound streaming to enable OB/GYN physicians and other specialists in the Obstetric space to be more effective. Greg was inspired to start Perinatal Access by his past 9 years working in the high-risk obstetrics business and he and his wife’s personal experience with the premature birth of their twin sons. Greg believes Perinatal Access will help healthcare facilities offer high-value specialist care to mothers despite projected OB/GYN shortages and dwindling access to rural maternal care. We discussed access to maternal care, high risk pregnancies & telehealth during COVID-19.

Check out Perinatal Access at www.perinatalaccess.com

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Frances Tang is the founder & CEO of Awkward Essentials, the parent company of her first product, dripstick (previously come&gone).Dripstick is a post-sex clean-up tool which is made of super soft, sterile, medical grade sponge that quickly soaks up all the excess fluids so you can go on with your day/night. Frances's product has been featured in various media channels such as the Huffington Post UK, Daily Mail, The New York Post and the Cosmopolitan. Frances graduated with a degree in Communications from the University of California San Diego. We discussed peeing after sex, cleaning the vagina and breaking the stigma around sex.

Check out Awkward Essentials at www.awkwardessentials.com

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Dr. Faz Bashi, M.D is the lead investor at the Portfolia Femtech Fund and is also one of Femtech Focus's advisors. One of their investment funds, The Portfolia FemTech Fund, focuses on emerging technologies, products and services improving women’s health and wellness. From fertility solutions to menopausal care and overall fitness, the fund will invest in high-potential opportunities that can be both profitable and grant women greater health and wellness. Faz has a background in Immunology and Virology from UCSF and was one of the early investors who was actively investing in Femtech before the industry rose in popularity. We discussed the investments that Portfolia has made in different Femtech companies, what Femtech investors are looking for and the importance of your network. In this episode Dr. Brittany Barreto announces some exciting new launches for Femtech Focus! Hint: We want to help YOU fundraise your Femtech startup.

Check out Portfolia at www.portfolia.co

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Allison Shickel is the CEO, founder & inventor of Brobe, a bra & robe combination for women after mastectomies or any kind of chest surgery. Allison's company specializes in post-surgical adaptive clothing company that focuses on developing apparel and accessories for women recovering from major surgeries that are comfortable yet chic. Allison has won multiple awards namely, the Women's Chamber of Commerce 2016 "Blazing Star" award and Austin's 2015 InnovateHer Award. Among her accomplishments, she has also partnered with Kendra Scott for the "Heal Comfortable, Feel Beautiful" campaign in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We discussed her story behind Brobe, the obstacles she overcame and fundraising as a femtech entrepreneur.

Check their products at www.thebrobe.com

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Dr. Teriya Monick Richmond is a board certified family medicine physician and has been practicing for over 10 years. Dr. Richmond was the first physician in the Harris Health System to facilitate Centering Pregnancy, she also served as an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas-Houston and currently serves as the Chief Medical Officer of the AIDS Foundation in Houston. Dr. Richmond recently opened Your Essential Healthcare and DaySpa (YEHD), which is a dedicated women’s health center and continues her clinical research in areas topics including endometriosis, cervical cancer and bacterial vaginosis. Apart from her extensive career in health, Dr. Richmond has also initiated her own women’s empowerment brand, Mocha Millennium Women, which encourages women to be confident in who they are through fitness, fashion, and fun. We discussed the history, disparities & the current state of of black women’s health in the United States including racism in public health.

Check out Dr. Richmond’s work at www.yourtotalhealthdoctor.com

Kate Torgersen is CEO and Founder of Milk Stork. The first and only breast milk delivery service for business traveling moms. They provide refrigerated overnight shipping of your milk to your baby while you are away. Milk Stork is on a mission to help moms continue to nourish their babies while they continue to nourish their careers. In 2015, Milk Stork was recognized as one of Business Insider's "19 Coolest New Businesses in San Francisco" and has shipped over 3.6 million ounces of breast milk. We discussed the basics of breastfeeding, balancing life while lactating and supporting mom-run businesses.

Check out Milk Stork by visiting www.milkstork.com

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Dr. Barb DePree is CEO and Founder of MiddleSexMD, a sexual health resource for women in perimenopause and beyond. They provide medically accurate content, and suggest products that have been proven to help women continue to have great sex even after menopause. Dr. Barb DePree has been a practicing gynecologist for over 30 years and has been specializing in menopause for the last 10 years. We discussed sex after menopause, the role of estrogen for comfortable sex, and the importance of maintaining intimacy with yourself or a partner after menopause.

Check out MiddleSexMD by visiting www.middlesexmd.com

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The founders of Femtech Focus, Drs. Brittany Barreto and Julie Hakim, sit down in sesh-coworking (no dogs this time) to talk about the Femtech Focus podcast and what the femtech industry needs as a whole. In this episode they touch upon their observations in recent pitch competitions to how they can help future Femtech founders. Julie expands her reach by launching SOMOSGYN in both English & Spanish to help young girls out there. The duo drops little teasers on future episodes and interesting findings surrounding diversity in the womxn’s health & wellness space!

The conversation was live-streamed in June on Facebook and Instagram. Don’t wait for these behind the scenes discussions to drop on the podcast. Rate, review & subscribe!

Cindy Belardo is CEO and Founder of Menstrual Mates, a community to discuss periods and normalize menstruation. They are committed to uplifting their community, especially those experiencing period poverty. This lack of access to menstrual care products greatly affects people who are homeless and people in prison. We discussed the history of menstrual cups and the biology of toxic shock syndrome. Support their initiatives by visiting www.menstrualmates.com

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