Femtech Frontier: Authenticity, Innovation, and Policy Insights

[00:00:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Calling all health care innovators, it's Joy Rios from Like a Girl Media.

[00:00:07] [SPEAKER_01]: This October the action is not just in the front line, it's in Vegas!

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[00:00:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Vegas might be known for its lights, but this October it'll be the future of health

[00:00:55] [SPEAKER_01]: care that shines brightest.

[00:01:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Welcome to the HIT Like a Girl podcast!

[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_01]: We are here at Health Europe.

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_01]: This is awesome, we're in Amsterdam.

[00:01:14] [SPEAKER_01]: We're in Amsterdam.

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_01]: And I am with Dr. Brittany Beretto again, lovely to see you again.

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_01]: I love every single time that we run into each other.

[00:01:21] [SPEAKER_00]: It's always a blast.

[00:01:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_01]: And it's mostly because I'm so impressed with like how much of a badass you are

[00:01:26] [SPEAKER_01]: and how much you get to accomplish in all of the worlds that you're in and

[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_01]: everything you see.

[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I love my life.

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_00]: I really, I just travel the world and I ask people did you consider sex and gender in your

[00:01:38] [SPEAKER_00]: research and your product design?

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_00]: I really feel like I'm influencing people and that makes me so happy.

[00:01:43] [SPEAKER_00]: You really are.

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean you make a huge difference and I know that it shows up because when you go places

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_01]: now and I get it probably a fraction the way that you do of people that feel like

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_01]: they know you.

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:01:54] [SPEAKER_00]: People really, they're like, oh I'm Brittany!

[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm like, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, who is this?

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Who is this?

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And they're like, oh you don't know me.

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_00]: And actually just yesterday there was a girl in our workshop, she was like, you've come

[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_00]: on so many runs with me.

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_00]: And at first I was like, oh and I was like, oh she listens to my podcast and her runs!

[00:02:09] [SPEAKER_00]: That's so nice.

[00:02:10] [SPEAKER_00]: So cool.

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm a companion.

[00:02:13] [SPEAKER_00]: I love that.

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_01]: I love it when people feel that they get to know you but they also respect you.

[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:02:19] [SPEAKER_00]: It's so fun.

[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_00]: You know I think that it's this mixture that I've, and it's not just kind of

[00:02:24] [SPEAKER_00]: how I am.

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm a scientist so I like I know what I'm talking about and I have all these

[00:02:28] [SPEAKER_00]: data and facts that I can get really nerdy.

[00:02:30] [SPEAKER_00]: But like at the end of the day I'm just some lady who enjoys talking about women's

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: bodies and anatomy and I make it just really comfortable and fun and people are

[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_00]: like, what a special combo!

[00:02:40] [SPEAKER_00]: And for me it's just natural.

[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Well it's very authentic and I love that you bring us with you because I feel

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_01]: like I've seen you at your doctor's office, in bathrooms, and all of the

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_01]: different like TikToks that you do that you're like, I am going to share

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_01]: with you the absurdity that I am seeing.

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Yes.

[00:02:56] [SPEAKER_01]: And in such a catchy way.

[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_01]: So it's great.

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_01]: It's very educational and I feel like that's what we kind of all need is

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_01]: like accessibility to the reality and not something that is you know super

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_01]: polished to be honest.

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_00]: I actually love that about TikTok now is authenticity is doing the best.

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Like in fact videos where you're looking directly at the camera are

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_00]: not doing as well as if it's just like a side angle and you're like

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_00]: living your life.

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_00]: In fact my best videos are demos even with the audio off.

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Like just put a trending song on and it's me like messing around with

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_00]: some medical device and people are loving it.

[00:03:29] [SPEAKER_01]: OK, so I want to talk to you about all of the things that you see

[00:03:33] [SPEAKER_01]: because you have insights to medical devices and softwares and

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_01]: technologies and women's health in general.

[00:03:39] [SPEAKER_01]: And so I don't know top five that you see in top three if you can

[00:03:43] [SPEAKER_01]: think of them.

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_01]: But like what are the things that have left lasting impressions

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_01]: that you feel like other people need to know about?

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_01]: I am pausing because there's so many.

[00:03:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Let me decide what I want to pick.

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm a big fan of Neua Surgical.

[00:03:55] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a medical device out of Ireland and it is for C-sections.

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_00]: So essentially when you have a C-section or a cesarean where your

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_00]: whole abdomen is cut open, they're literally using hands to hold

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_00]: your abdomen open.

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_00]: And in fact I've even heard of cases where they use tape,

[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_00]: where they tape the woman's body down to the table to get the baby out.

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_00]: This is crazy in 2024 that that's the standard of care.

[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_00]: And so Neua Surgical, it fits into one of my favorite categories

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_00]: of femtech which is called Duh.

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Obviously why did this not exist yet?

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's literally just like a deep oval that helps open the

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_00]: abdomen and it takes into account all the different layers

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_00]: of the skin, the muscle, the uterus, you know, and then it

[00:04:40] [SPEAKER_00]: opens up big enough for the baby to come out.

[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's like Duh and it's going to decrease infection

[00:04:46] [SPEAKER_00]: because you're no longer using hands.

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_00]: It's going to increase your recovery time because your body

[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_00]: is literally being pulled apart, right?

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_00]: And so if you have a device that's making it more of a

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_00]: gentle experience, the woman's going to recover faster just

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_00]: because she can't feel it in that moment.

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_00]: She's going to feel it for the next few weeks.

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's muscle tissue.

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_00]: It's not just going to return to normal in a few weeks.

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_00]: That's right.

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_00]: That's right.

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I don't know if anyone's ever had like a scar

[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_00]: that itches, but can you imagine your entire abdomen

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_00]: has the giant one on it, you know?

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Like that's just so uncomfortable.

[00:05:15] [SPEAKER_00]: So that's what I'm really excited about.

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Another company I'm really excited about is Kegg.

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_00]: So it's a cervical mucus monitor for fertility and they've

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_00]: helped over 25,000 couples have kids in the last few years.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_00]: And that founder is just she's skyrocketing.

[00:05:31] [SPEAKER_00]: She's doing so well.

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_00]: What are we tracking with mucus?

[00:05:34] [SPEAKER_00]: So sperm actually can't enter through the cervix

[00:05:37] [SPEAKER_00]: into the uterus unless the cervix called fluid

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_00]: is in certain alignments.

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Actually quite cool.

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_00]: So your cervix, which I like to think of as like the knot

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_00]: on the bottom of the balloon, the balloon being your uterus.

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_00]: The cervix is the thing that's holding the air, i.e.

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_00]: baby inside.

[00:05:53] [SPEAKER_00]: OK.

[00:05:53] [SPEAKER_00]: And it does have an opening where the menstrual effluent

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER_00]: can come out and this semen can come in.

[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_00]: But it actually has glands in it.

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I just recently learned this.

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_00]: It has glands.

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_00]: So when you're quote unquote wet, you know, sexually aroused,

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_00]: that's actually where that's coming from.

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_00]: I never knew that.

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_00]: There's glands in your cervix that are releasing this fluid.

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_00]: And depending on its viscosity, if it's thick,

[00:06:16] [SPEAKER_00]: then the sperm can't swim through it.

[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_00]: But if it's very liquidy, then the sperm can swim through it.

[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's actually set up that way specifically to block

[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_00]: sperm from entering when you're not fertile.

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, wow.

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Our bodies are amazing.

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Women's bodies are so amazing.

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_00]: And so they're measuring the viscosity of your cervical fluid

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_00]: using this.

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_00]: It looks like a kegel ball with a little gold ring on it

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_00]: that measures the fluid.

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_00]: So you put it into the vagina.

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_00]: They actually promote like brush your teeth, put it in,

[00:06:45] [SPEAKER_00]: brush your teeth by time you're done, brush your teeth.

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_00]: It Bluetooth connects to your phone and it has a monitor that says

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_00]: whether or not your viscosity is, you know, for fertile or not.

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_00]: So cool.

[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_00]: That's amazing.

[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:06:55] [SPEAKER_01]: So all right, there's two.

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_01]: There's at least two.

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_00]: I know we have other stuff to talk about.

[00:07:01] [SPEAKER_00]: I want to talk about my book too.

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, I know.

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, OK, so you've been doing a ton of research.

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_01]: I want to hear how you are transitioning all of that

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_01]: information that is in your mind out into the world.

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_01]: How has been the book writing process going for you?

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_01]: For one, because that's a huge undertaking.

[00:07:15] [SPEAKER_00]: It is. Thank God for AI.

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'll tell you more about how I've used AI to write it.

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_00]: But the book is called Unlocking Women's Health, FemTech and the Quest

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: for Gender Equity, and it's an introductory book to innovation

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_00]: in women's health.

[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_00]: So anyone who's like, how what is FemTech?

[00:07:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Or I'm interested in this topic.

[00:07:30] [SPEAKER_00]: This is the book they should read.

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Essentially, what I've done is given introduction to what is FemTech?

[00:07:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And then I cover 16 categories of health in women's health.

[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's essentially not a deep book in terms of like there's only,

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_00]: you know, 20 pages on breastfeeding and there could be 20 books

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_00]: on breastfeeding, right?

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Only 20 pages.

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Come on.

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Right.

[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_00]: But it's so it doesn't go through all the examples and all the innovations,

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_00]: but it gives you an introduction to all these things.

[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_00]: And then you can go and deep dive further into whatever topics interest you.

[00:07:58] [SPEAKER_00]: But essentially what I did was I took 100 founders from my podcast,

[00:08:03] [SPEAKER_00]: transcribed their episodes and then put them into the book.

[00:08:06] [SPEAKER_00]: So it has 100 founders that are highlighted.

[00:08:08] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's really honestly like my whole business is I prop up FemTech founders.

[00:08:13] [SPEAKER_00]: I see what they're doing.

[00:08:15] [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's incredible and I just provide them a platform to be seen.

[00:08:18] [SPEAKER_00]: So that's essentially the book is the same, same concept.

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_00]: And I wrote it because I wanted to read a book on FemTech and couldn't find one.

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Today, if you look on Amazon, right?

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_00]: FemTech, there is nothing.

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Are you serious?

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_00]: There's literally nothing.

[00:08:30] [SPEAKER_00]: So it'll be the first book on FemTech.

[00:08:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I can imagine it's already going to be a bestseller

[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_01]: because everybody's looking for information on that.

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_01]: It's huge.

[00:08:38] [SPEAKER_01]: And especially opening up the trillion dollar opportunity in women's health.

[00:08:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, by the way, not to diminish.

[00:08:46] [SPEAKER_00]: I anticipate it being a bestseller and not to diminish that title.

[00:08:49] [SPEAKER_00]: But did you know that to be a bestseller,

[00:08:51] [SPEAKER_00]: you have to select certain categories that your book falls under?

[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Guess how many books you have to sell in menopause to be considered a bestseller?

[00:08:58] [SPEAKER_00]: How many?

[00:08:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Eleven.

[00:08:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Shut the front door.

[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Eleven.

[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_00]: That's how underserved it is that like there's like not a lot of books

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_00]: and publications coming out.

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_01]: And that actually makes me wonder, like, what are the actual categories

[00:09:11] [SPEAKER_01]: that you is FemTech a category?

[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_00]: No, no.

[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Right.

[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_00]: No, yeah.

[00:09:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:09:16] [SPEAKER_00]: So what categories do you choose?

[00:09:17] [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to do like administration.

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_00]: My publisher will pick them, but she I was like,

[00:09:21] [SPEAKER_00]: I want to really make sure we get bestseller.

[00:09:24] [SPEAKER_00]: She's like, oh, girl, don't worry.

[00:09:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And I was like, I know, but I'm still worried.

[00:09:26] [SPEAKER_00]: She was like, let me tell you, she's like,

[00:09:28] [SPEAKER_00]: we select menopause, for example.

[00:09:30] [SPEAKER_00]: She goes, let me look 11 books.

[00:09:32] [SPEAKER_00]: I was like, are you kidding me?

[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_00]: My mom will buy 11 books for me to get that.

[00:09:35] [SPEAKER_01]: I can't believe that there's that little information even

[00:09:38] [SPEAKER_01]: for like publicly available.

[00:09:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:09:41] [SPEAKER_00]: So not to, again, like not to diminish

[00:09:42] [SPEAKER_00]: that I'm going to be a bestselling author.

[00:09:44] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm definitely putting that on my LinkedIn,

[00:09:45] [SPEAKER_00]: but it actually really speaks to how underserved our industry

[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_00]: is because you only have to sell 11

[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_00]: and be considered bestseller.

[00:09:52] [SPEAKER_01]: OK.

[00:09:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, when I think about just the underserving

[00:09:56] [SPEAKER_01]: the aspect of it, is that changing?

[00:09:59] [SPEAKER_01]: No.

[00:09:59] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, yes, there is momentum, but what is it

[00:10:02] [SPEAKER_00]: that you're saying?

[00:10:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Something I'm really excited about

[00:10:04] [SPEAKER_00]: is actually universities are going

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_00]: to use my book for courses on FemTech now.

[00:10:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, the first ever introduction to gender medicine studies.

[00:10:13] [SPEAKER_00]: And yeah.

[00:10:13] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, because that's a conversation

[00:10:14] [SPEAKER_01]: that shows up a lot, is that there's not

[00:10:16] [SPEAKER_01]: that much curriculum for women's health.

[00:10:19] [SPEAKER_01]: And so if we want to change the discourse,

[00:10:22] [SPEAKER_01]: we actually have to change the root of the problem.

[00:10:24] [SPEAKER_01]: How do we get that?

[00:10:25] [SPEAKER_01]: So congratulations on making that happen.

[00:10:28] [SPEAKER_01]: That's massive.

[00:10:28] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm so excited.

[00:10:29] [SPEAKER_00]: So I used a lot of AI for transcribing the podcast

[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_00]: episodes and chat GPT is seriously

[00:10:37] [SPEAKER_00]: the best thing for my productivity.

[00:10:39] [SPEAKER_00]: It is amazing.

[00:10:41] [SPEAKER_00]: So essentially what I did here's a little like inside AI

[00:10:43] [SPEAKER_00]: secret that I did.

[00:10:44] [SPEAKER_00]: I transcribed the episodes.

[00:10:46] [SPEAKER_00]: And I mean, you can hear this.

[00:10:47] [SPEAKER_00]: This is around on sentences.

[00:10:48] [SPEAKER_00]: We're laughing or saying whatever.

[00:10:50] [SPEAKER_00]: That's not very easy to read if I just put directly

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_00]: the words into the book.

[00:10:54] [SPEAKER_00]: So what I did was I dropped the entire interviews,

[00:10:57] [SPEAKER_00]: 45 minute interviews into chat GPT.

[00:11:00] [SPEAKER_00]: And then I said, respond to the following question

[00:11:02] [SPEAKER_00]: as if you are Joy and her tone of voice.

[00:11:05] [SPEAKER_00]: And I asked the question that I had asked in the episode.

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_00]: So the answer that Joy said in the interview is in there.

[00:11:11] [SPEAKER_00]: But it gave me like a three paragraph

[00:11:13] [SPEAKER_00]: succinct, like complete sentence answer

[00:11:15] [SPEAKER_00]: in your tone of voice.

[00:11:17] [SPEAKER_00]: So the book has different attitudes and words

[00:11:20] [SPEAKER_00]: or whatever based on their interviews.

[00:11:24] [SPEAKER_00]: But now it's succinct.

[00:11:25] [SPEAKER_00]: So that's how I wrote the book.

[00:11:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's incredible.

[00:11:29] [SPEAKER_01]: Go AI.

[00:11:29] [SPEAKER_01]: I know we are so fortunate that like at least

[00:11:32] [SPEAKER_01]: for our own productivity half the time, a lot of times

[00:11:35] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, I'm about to interview so and so.

[00:11:37] [SPEAKER_01]: What questions would make here is her LinkedIn profile?

[00:11:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Here is her about section.

[00:11:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Here's all information about her or her company.

[00:11:43] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, LinkedIn, like I do have a lot of interns

[00:11:46] [SPEAKER_00]: and fellows that work for me.

[00:11:48] [SPEAKER_00]: And they're always looking for like recommendation letters.

[00:11:50] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's so easy now.

[00:11:51] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just like Ryan a recommendation letter

[00:11:53] [SPEAKER_00]: for so and so for this program.

[00:11:55] [SPEAKER_00]: She is these five characteristics

[00:11:57] [SPEAKER_00]: and she was really great at this.

[00:11:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's like, bloop, amazing professional thing.

[00:12:01] [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah.

[00:12:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Look, when you think about just running a business

[00:12:03] [SPEAKER_01]: and being an entrepreneur,

[00:12:05] [SPEAKER_01]: the amount of administration

[00:12:07] [SPEAKER_01]: and things that need your attention.

[00:12:09] [SPEAKER_01]: And you're like, okay,

[00:12:10] [SPEAKER_01]: oh just try to write an about section about yourself

[00:12:13] [SPEAKER_01]: but in 30 characters are left.

[00:12:15] [SPEAKER_01]: That's right.

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh.

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Hell yeah.

[00:12:18] [SPEAKER_00]: You know what I'm really excited for

[00:12:19] [SPEAKER_00]: is when they finally come out with a plugin

[00:12:21] [SPEAKER_00]: for dating apps so that AI can chat

[00:12:23] [SPEAKER_00]: with people on my behalf.

[00:12:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And then they can like ping me when they're like,

[00:12:27] [SPEAKER_00]: okay this person's qualified enough.

[00:12:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Like you can start talking to them now.

[00:12:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Every funny year I start talking to their AI.

[00:12:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Well yeah, AI should just check with each other.

[00:12:36] [SPEAKER_01]: And then you know.

[00:12:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Infit, they're a match.

[00:12:39] [SPEAKER_01]: I love it.

[00:12:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Well yesterday we were part of a pretty interesting

[00:12:42] [SPEAKER_01]: ideation session.

[00:12:44] [SPEAKER_01]: And so it was day zero at Health Europe

[00:12:47] [SPEAKER_01]: and we were three hours with how many people were in

[00:12:50] [SPEAKER_01]: my gosh, at least 75.

[00:12:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:12:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe even 100.

[00:12:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I would say 100.

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER_01]: And broken up into five different categories

[00:12:56] [SPEAKER_01]: and addressing like how do we change

[00:12:59] [SPEAKER_01]: and address the biggest problems of these five

[00:13:01] [SPEAKER_01]: is that I think it was five different.

[00:13:02] [SPEAKER_01]: It was five, yeah.

[00:13:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Major conversations.

[00:13:05] [SPEAKER_01]: I was in menstruation and reproductive health.

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER_01]: There was also brain, cancer.

[00:13:11] [SPEAKER_01]: You were in.

[00:13:12] [SPEAKER_01]: There was autoimmune.

[00:13:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you.

[00:13:13] [SPEAKER_01]: And then I was in investment.

[00:13:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[00:13:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Can we, that tended to have the biggest conversation.

[00:13:18] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean we all, we all ideated,

[00:13:20] [SPEAKER_01]: came up with all of our ideas,

[00:13:22] [SPEAKER_01]: presented what we thought was the best one at the end.

[00:13:24] [SPEAKER_01]: And it was obvious that the investment conversation

[00:13:28] [SPEAKER_01]: warranted the most conversation and questions

[00:13:30] [SPEAKER_01]: and discussion at the end.

[00:13:32] [SPEAKER_01]: That's right.

[00:13:32] [SPEAKER_01]: And I feel like that might be a hint at

[00:13:35] [SPEAKER_01]: part of the biggest changes that need to be made

[00:13:39] [SPEAKER_01]: in order to make an impact on women's health.

[00:13:42] [SPEAKER_01]: And I just want to get your feedback on that.

[00:13:45] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean what was it like being part of that conversation

[00:13:47] [SPEAKER_01]: and what did you take away so far?

[00:13:48] [SPEAKER_01]: And I know that conversation's not done yet.

[00:13:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah.

[00:13:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, before I say anything,

[00:13:53] [SPEAKER_00]: let me say that I was so grateful for the experience.

[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_00]: I thought it was really well thought out,

[00:13:58] [SPEAKER_00]: well organized, executed.

[00:14:00] [SPEAKER_00]: And I was grateful that the organizers put it on.

[00:14:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[00:14:03] [SPEAKER_00]: With that being said,

[00:14:05] [SPEAKER_00]: there was definitely even discourse within our groups

[00:14:08] [SPEAKER_00]: and even the organizers of it

[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_00]: in terms of like what they thought was important

[00:14:13] [SPEAKER_00]: or prioritized or even there were some comments made

[00:14:16] [SPEAKER_00]: that it was like, we have more work to do.

[00:14:18] [SPEAKER_00]: That very sexist comment that was just made.

[00:14:21] [SPEAKER_00]: We were, someone actually came up to our table and said,

[00:14:25] [SPEAKER_00]: and this is one of the organizers came up and said,

[00:14:27] [SPEAKER_00]: you should think about women's health

[00:14:29] [SPEAKER_00]: in terms of the fashion industry because,

[00:14:32] [SPEAKER_00]: if you can make the case to investors

[00:14:34] [SPEAKER_00]: that fashion has so much money

[00:14:36] [SPEAKER_00]: because women dominate that field

[00:14:38] [SPEAKER_00]: and try to make the case

[00:14:39] [SPEAKER_00]: that women are participating in healthcare.

[00:14:41] [SPEAKER_00]: And I was like, what are you talking about?

[00:14:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Like we're talking about medical gaslighting,

[00:14:47] [SPEAKER_00]: reimbursement codes,

[00:14:49] [SPEAKER_00]: grant money for scientific research.

[00:14:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Like how is any of this gonna relate to,

[00:14:53] [SPEAKER_00]: there is no one-to-one fashion.

[00:14:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, like literally the only thing is that

[00:14:59] [SPEAKER_00]: likely a woman is making a decision on fashion

[00:15:02] [SPEAKER_00]: for her family.

[00:15:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Or more likely a woman's making decision

[00:15:05] [SPEAKER_00]: on medicine for her family.

[00:15:07] [SPEAKER_00]: That's literally like the only crossover.

[00:15:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Like I'm not gonna make a whole thesis about that.

[00:15:12] [SPEAKER_00]: So even within the leadership that was so well intentioned

[00:15:16] [SPEAKER_00]: there was still some perception of women's health

[00:15:19] [SPEAKER_00]: that was just so off the mark.

[00:15:21] [SPEAKER_00]: So we have a lot of work to do,

[00:15:22] [SPEAKER_00]: but we did come up with some really cool stuff.

[00:15:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And I was really excited with the idea

[00:15:26] [SPEAKER_00]: we came up with at my table

[00:15:28] [SPEAKER_00]: because what we were talking about

[00:15:30] [SPEAKER_00]: is one of the biggest barriers to investment

[00:15:32] [SPEAKER_00]: is that really early stage investment,

[00:15:35] [SPEAKER_00]: that first big round of investment

[00:15:37] [SPEAKER_00]: because most FEMTech founders are actually spending

[00:15:40] [SPEAKER_00]: their first round of funding on basic scientific research.

[00:15:43] [SPEAKER_00]: The reason they're doing that

[00:15:44] [SPEAKER_00]: is because we're 100 years behind them.

[00:15:46] [SPEAKER_00]: And we don't have the data.

[00:15:47] [SPEAKER_00]: We don't have the data.

[00:15:47] [SPEAKER_00]: And so we can't even make the product

[00:15:49] [SPEAKER_00]: because we don't have the data.

[00:15:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Like for example, endometriosis diagnostic.

[00:15:53] [SPEAKER_00]: We still do not know the markers of endometriosis.

[00:15:56] [SPEAKER_00]: So we can't even create the diagnostic test.

[00:15:58] [SPEAKER_00]: So the first round of funding

[00:16:00] [SPEAKER_00]: is actually going into research.

[00:16:01] [SPEAKER_00]: And so our argument is that

[00:16:03] [SPEAKER_00]: that's actually not investors responsibility.

[00:16:06] [SPEAKER_00]: That's the government's responsibility

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_00]: to put on grants to fund research, right?

[00:16:10] [SPEAKER_00]: And so we're like, all right,

[00:16:11] [SPEAKER_00]: well, how do we make government fund

[00:16:13] [SPEAKER_00]: early stage research?

[00:16:15] [SPEAKER_00]: And we were like, what if there was some

[00:16:16] [SPEAKER_00]: like grant matching program

[00:16:18] [SPEAKER_00]: where if you're investing in women's health,

[00:16:20] [SPEAKER_00]: if a company gets a million dollars from investors,

[00:16:22] [SPEAKER_00]: governments will match it with another million

[00:16:24] [SPEAKER_00]: or something like that.

[00:16:26] [SPEAKER_00]: And the idea we actually, at the end of the day,

[00:16:29] [SPEAKER_00]: boiled down to was in the United States,

[00:16:31] [SPEAKER_00]: we're actually just started a lobbying group,

[00:16:34] [SPEAKER_00]: a PAC, that is going to be influencing policy

[00:16:37] [SPEAKER_00]: at the capital to say,

[00:16:39] [SPEAKER_00]: be in every room and every conversation,

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_00]: essentially forcing the conversation

[00:16:44] [SPEAKER_00]: around sex and gender and medicine.

[00:16:46] [SPEAKER_00]: What if Europe had something similar

[00:16:48] [SPEAKER_00]: where there was a lobbying group

[00:16:49] [SPEAKER_00]: that's lobbying the EU,

[00:16:51] [SPEAKER_00]: lobbying the European investment fund,

[00:16:53] [SPEAKER_00]: which is a giant, giant trillions of dollars fund

[00:16:57] [SPEAKER_00]: that invests in funds around Europe.

[00:16:59] [SPEAKER_00]: What if they actually said,

[00:17:00] [SPEAKER_00]: hey, if you get money from us,

[00:17:02] [SPEAKER_00]: we require that 10% of your healthcare investments

[00:17:05] [SPEAKER_00]: are in women's health, right?

[00:17:06] [SPEAKER_00]: So how do we lobby them?

[00:17:07] [SPEAKER_00]: So that was our idea that we came up with

[00:17:09] [SPEAKER_00]: that I was pretty excited about.

[00:17:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I mean, I'm a huge advocate for policy

[00:17:12] [SPEAKER_01]: being a driver of change.

[00:17:14] [SPEAKER_01]: And if things aren't mandated,

[00:17:16] [SPEAKER_01]: a lot of times they won't change.

[00:17:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Like change doesn't just,

[00:17:19] [SPEAKER_01]: and it's similar with power.

[00:17:21] [SPEAKER_01]: It's not given, it's taken.

[00:17:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's kind of similar to,

[00:17:25] [SPEAKER_00]: we can look at the climate tech industry.

[00:17:28] [SPEAKER_00]: So much climate tech startups

[00:17:29] [SPEAKER_00]: actually allocate some of their budget to lobbying.

[00:17:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe not so much anymore,

[00:17:33] [SPEAKER_00]: but they used to, right?

[00:17:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Because we were literally fighting the perception

[00:17:36] [SPEAKER_00]: that global warming wasn't real, right?

[00:17:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Now we're all accepting it, okay?

[00:17:41] [SPEAKER_00]: I feel like we're in the same boat with FemTech right now

[00:17:43] [SPEAKER_00]: where people are like, is it really that bad?

[00:17:45] [SPEAKER_00]: And like in 20 years, no one is gonna say that it's niche

[00:17:48] [SPEAKER_00]: or that it's not that bad.

[00:17:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Like everyone's gonna be on board and pushing it.

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER_01]: And one of the conversations I think with investors

[00:17:54] [SPEAKER_01]: or the investment conversation

[00:17:56] [SPEAKER_01]: is the mindset shift of thinking,

[00:17:59] [SPEAKER_01]: okay, let's stop complaining about the problem

[00:18:01] [SPEAKER_01]: and start thinking about the opportunity

[00:18:03] [SPEAKER_01]: because if the investment folks in their mind

[00:18:06] [SPEAKER_01]: are just thinking numbers, numbers, numbers,

[00:18:08] [SPEAKER_01]: well guess what?

[00:18:09] [SPEAKER_01]: There is so much opportunity to be made

[00:18:11] [SPEAKER_01]: from all of the advancements that could happen.

[00:18:14] [SPEAKER_01]: And when one thing that stuck with me

[00:18:15] [SPEAKER_01]: from the conversation was the amount of money

[00:18:18] [SPEAKER_01]: that has been committed to women's health

[00:18:19] [SPEAKER_01]: and I think it was something like $100 million, right?

[00:18:23] [SPEAKER_01]: And the lady in the back was like,

[00:18:24] [SPEAKER_01]: can we just talk about how much it costs

[00:18:27] [SPEAKER_01]: to house an elephant in the Zurich Zoo

[00:18:30] [SPEAKER_01]: and it's $70 million?

[00:18:33] [SPEAKER_01]: $70 million a year.

[00:18:35] [SPEAKER_00]: And Switzerland, that same country

[00:18:37] [SPEAKER_00]: that pays $70 million a year for the one elephant,

[00:18:40] [SPEAKER_00]: it dedicated $11 million for five years for women's health.

[00:18:44] [SPEAKER_01]: But it's like, how can we not be,

[00:18:45] [SPEAKER_01]: we're just like, thank you?

[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Like thank you for half of the population

[00:18:49] [SPEAKER_01]: to just sort of have a fraction of the budget

[00:18:51] [SPEAKER_01]: that one elephant gets.

[00:18:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and I love elephants.

[00:18:54] [SPEAKER_01]: I do too.

[00:18:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Like pro-elephants.

[00:18:56] [SPEAKER_00]: So your main tree article, love it, love elephants.

[00:19:00] [SPEAKER_00]: No, they keep their budget.

[00:19:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Well also give us budget.

[00:19:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and it's just wild to think

[00:19:05] [SPEAKER_01]: that that is the absurd conversation that we are having

[00:19:09] [SPEAKER_01]: and it feels like half the time,

[00:19:12] [SPEAKER_01]: like are we taking crazy pills?

[00:19:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:19:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Another thing I felt like we got too hung up on

[00:19:17] [SPEAKER_00]: and I actually disagreed and I was like,

[00:19:20] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not in charge here.

[00:19:21] [SPEAKER_00]: How much do I pipe up?

[00:19:23] [SPEAKER_00]: But people kept saying like,

[00:19:24] [SPEAKER_00]: well we just need the data to show the exits.

[00:19:27] [SPEAKER_00]: We need the data to show the market value.

[00:19:28] [SPEAKER_00]: We need the data because as long as we have the data

[00:19:31] [SPEAKER_00]: and the key studies, then the investors' emotions

[00:19:33] [SPEAKER_00]: will be taken out and they'll just invest.

[00:19:35] [SPEAKER_01]: And I just disagreed with that so much.

[00:19:37] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't think that the emotions do get taken out.

[00:19:38] [SPEAKER_00]: No, they never get taken out.

[00:19:39] [SPEAKER_00]: No.

[00:19:40] [SPEAKER_00]: I thought honestly, so I got a job in venture capital

[00:19:43] [SPEAKER_00]: about six years ago and I thought I was gonna learn

[00:19:46] [SPEAKER_00]: about all this financial modeling

[00:19:47] [SPEAKER_00]: and I was gonna see the real like

[00:19:49] [SPEAKER_00]: quantitative investment decision making.

[00:19:52] [SPEAKER_00]: There was that existed but it was honestly

[00:19:54] [SPEAKER_00]: at the end of the day not the thing that made it.

[00:19:56] [SPEAKER_00]: It was important to get it to the deal

[00:19:59] [SPEAKER_00]: to the table to show the market was there.

[00:20:00] [SPEAKER_00]: That the business model was, da-da-da-da.

[00:20:02] [SPEAKER_00]: But the actual decision was based on how cool

[00:20:05] [SPEAKER_00]: our general partners thought it was

[00:20:07] [SPEAKER_00]: because most of in venture capital

[00:20:09] [SPEAKER_00]: is about recruiting your friends to also invest

[00:20:12] [SPEAKER_00]: because if you're the only investor, it's not gonna work.

[00:20:14] [SPEAKER_00]: So you need to actually sell the deal to your peers

[00:20:17] [SPEAKER_00]: and then you also need to sell the deal

[00:20:19] [SPEAKER_00]: to your investors and your fund

[00:20:20] [SPEAKER_00]: so that they continue to fund you.

[00:20:22] [SPEAKER_00]: And if you're talking about heavy menstrual bleeding

[00:20:24] [SPEAKER_00]: and you have three white guys running a fund,

[00:20:28] [SPEAKER_00]: how are they, they don't even feel like,

[00:20:30] [SPEAKER_00]: even if they do feel passionate

[00:20:31] [SPEAKER_00]: about heavy menstrual bleeding,

[00:20:33] [SPEAKER_00]: there's not that many other people

[00:20:34] [SPEAKER_00]: that are passionate about it.

[00:20:35] [SPEAKER_00]: And so they need to think about their own success rate

[00:20:37] [SPEAKER_00]: of like how can I recruit other people to care about this?

[00:20:41] [SPEAKER_00]: And so data or not, like I also here's on a hot take.

[00:20:45] [SPEAKER_00]: I honestly thought I think the Me Too movement

[00:20:47] [SPEAKER_00]: has hurt us in terms of I think

[00:20:50] [SPEAKER_00]: that men are afraid of saying something stupid

[00:20:52] [SPEAKER_00]: whether they are intentional or not.

[00:20:55] [SPEAKER_00]: It's actually a risk factor

[00:20:56] [SPEAKER_00]: that they need to take into account

[00:20:58] [SPEAKER_00]: in terms of if I'm on a board

[00:21:00] [SPEAKER_00]: of a vaginal microbiome sequencing company

[00:21:03] [SPEAKER_00]: and I say something stupid, I might get sued.

[00:21:06] [SPEAKER_00]: My fund might dissolve and it's a big PR thing potentially.

[00:21:10] [SPEAKER_00]: You know what?

[00:21:10] [SPEAKER_00]: It's safer for me to just not be in a company

[00:21:13] [SPEAKER_00]: where I have to say the word vagina.

[00:21:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Right. So a couple things have shown up for me.

[00:21:17] [SPEAKER_01]: One has been conversations where specifically in investing,

[00:21:21] [SPEAKER_01]: men have this opportunity to fail forward.

[00:21:24] [SPEAKER_01]: And a lot of times like they fail

[00:21:26] [SPEAKER_01]: and you're like, oh guess what?

[00:21:27] [SPEAKER_01]: Or we raised half a billion dollars

[00:21:31] [SPEAKER_01]: and we still went down.

[00:21:33] [SPEAKER_01]: And guess what?

[00:21:33] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm still going to make that person

[00:21:34] [SPEAKER_01]: the CEO of the next company.

[00:21:36] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, we don't get that privilege.

[00:21:38] [SPEAKER_01]: Elon Musk, Adam Newman, like yeah.

[00:21:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. And then the other one was on the teams of folks

[00:21:44] [SPEAKER_01]: writing the checks for investment

[00:21:46] [SPEAKER_01]: that like somebody mentioned that

[00:21:48] [SPEAKER_01]: when you can see where people spend their time

[00:21:51] [SPEAKER_01]: that like for women founded companies

[00:21:53] [SPEAKER_01]: they spend the majority of their time

[00:21:55] [SPEAKER_01]: looking at the team slide.

[00:21:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Who is in charge?

[00:21:58] [SPEAKER_01]: However, for male founded companies

[00:22:00] [SPEAKER_01]: they look at the vision and or the numbers.

[00:22:03] [SPEAKER_01]: And so we're like we're just getting scrutinized

[00:22:06] [SPEAKER_01]: when completely different things.

[00:22:07] [SPEAKER_00]: I thought that was so interesting that DocSend,

[00:22:10] [SPEAKER_00]: they said DocSend.

[00:22:11] [SPEAKER_00]: So for those who don't know

[00:22:12] [SPEAKER_00]: a lot of founders will send out their pitch deck

[00:22:14] [SPEAKER_00]: using DocSend because then you can tell

[00:22:16] [SPEAKER_00]: who's looked at it.

[00:22:17] [SPEAKER_00]: You can see what pages they looked at.

[00:22:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's what they said.

[00:22:22] [SPEAKER_00]: That female founded decks,

[00:22:23] [SPEAKER_00]: the investors are spending most of their time

[00:22:25] [SPEAKER_00]: on the team slide, but male founded decks

[00:22:27] [SPEAKER_00]: are spending their time on the business model slide.

[00:22:29] [SPEAKER_01]: And I almost feel like, hey, if you're looking for data

[00:22:30] [SPEAKER_01]: there's some data.

[00:22:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Like hey, we're looking that

[00:22:33] [SPEAKER_01]: like we're getting judged totally differently.

[00:22:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:22:36] [SPEAKER_00]: And I mean I'd like to think that they're

[00:22:38] [SPEAKER_00]: looking at our qualifications I guess,

[00:22:40] [SPEAKER_00]: but who knows what they're actually,

[00:22:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.

[00:22:42] [SPEAKER_01]: And I think that we're really like

[00:22:44] [SPEAKER_01]: there's no doubt about it.

[00:22:45] [SPEAKER_01]: We're up against the Yuck factor.

[00:22:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Like we have a Yuck factor just of people

[00:22:49] [SPEAKER_01]: and it has to do with how we name things.

[00:22:51] [SPEAKER_01]: And you know, half of the population,

[00:22:54] [SPEAKER_01]: the males don't menstruate.

[00:22:55] [SPEAKER_01]: So if they don't understand it,

[00:22:56] [SPEAKER_01]: they don't like they don't experience it.

[00:22:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Then like why should we prioritize it?

[00:23:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:23:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, because they're the other half of us.

[00:23:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:23:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Some people were arguing like,

[00:23:05] [SPEAKER_00]: well if we can just educate them about it,

[00:23:07] [SPEAKER_00]: then they'll know more about it

[00:23:08] [SPEAKER_00]: and then they'll invest.

[00:23:09] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm like investors don't know anything

[00:23:11] [SPEAKER_00]: about like how to fly a drone on Mars

[00:23:13] [SPEAKER_00]: and they'll still invest in that company.

[00:23:15] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, like they trust that you are the expert in it.

[00:23:18] [SPEAKER_00]: And they, and again, if it's cool,

[00:23:20] [SPEAKER_00]: like then they'll fund a crypto or blockchain or whatever.

[00:23:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Like they don't actually know how that works.

[00:23:26] [SPEAKER_00]: So I mean we can tell them all the day long

[00:23:28] [SPEAKER_00]: about volvas and breasts and how fallopian tubes work.

[00:23:32] [SPEAKER_00]: That actually might not be,

[00:23:33] [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's important to even try

[00:23:35] [SPEAKER_00]: to get an investment from them.

[00:23:36] [SPEAKER_00]: But if they don't even know what a fallopian tube is,

[00:23:39] [SPEAKER_00]: but they don't need to know

[00:23:41] [SPEAKER_00]: how it works to make the investment decision

[00:23:43] [SPEAKER_00]: because they make investments

[00:23:44] [SPEAKER_00]: in things they don't nothing about all the time.

[00:23:46] [SPEAKER_01]: And you can say the same about policy.

[00:23:48] [SPEAKER_01]: And I brought this up about like ectopic pregnancies.

[00:23:51] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm just like, okay, so a lot of women's health

[00:23:54] [SPEAKER_01]: conversations have to do with medical conditions

[00:23:57] [SPEAKER_01]: regardless of whether they want or don't want that child.

[00:24:00] [SPEAKER_01]: And that doesn't seem to be taken into account.

[00:24:04] [SPEAKER_00]: So I love to have audacious goals.

[00:24:06] [SPEAKER_00]: And I have an audacious goal for changing policy

[00:24:10] [SPEAKER_00]: around abortion and pregnancy.

[00:24:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Big, that's big, right?

[00:24:15] [SPEAKER_00]: So here's the angle I want to work on.

[00:24:16] [SPEAKER_00]: We today consider the first day of pregnancy

[00:24:19] [SPEAKER_00]: as the last day of your period,

[00:24:22] [SPEAKER_00]: which is on average 10 days before an egg

[00:24:26] [SPEAKER_00]: is even released from your ovary.

[00:24:28] [SPEAKER_00]: So we're calling you pregnant for almost two weeks

[00:24:31] [SPEAKER_00]: before an egg is even able to be fertilized.

[00:24:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And so when we talk about a six-week ban,

[00:24:37] [SPEAKER_00]: we're actually talking about a four-week ban

[00:24:38] [SPEAKER_00]: because two of those weeks are,

[00:24:40] [SPEAKER_00]: you weren't even actually pregnant.

[00:24:42] [SPEAKER_00]: And the reason that they made this the standard

[00:24:44] [SPEAKER_00]: was because back like 80 years ago or 100 years ago,

[00:24:48] [SPEAKER_00]: they decided that women wouldn't be able to remember

[00:24:51] [SPEAKER_00]: when they had sex or when they ovulated,

[00:24:53] [SPEAKER_00]: but they would remember the last day of their period

[00:24:54] [SPEAKER_00]: because they'd be so happy it was over.

[00:24:56] [SPEAKER_00]: That's how women would remember.

[00:24:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And so that's what they created the standard of care was

[00:25:01] [SPEAKER_00]: when was the last day of your period?

[00:25:02] [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to call the next day

[00:25:03] [SPEAKER_00]: day one of your pregnancy,

[00:25:04] [SPEAKER_00]: even though you weren't even ovulating yet

[00:25:06] [SPEAKER_00]: because we don't trust that you would remember,

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_00]: know that or like remember having sex

[00:25:10] [SPEAKER_00]: with your partner or whatever.

[00:25:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Is that wild?

[00:25:13] [SPEAKER_00]: And unintended consequences of things like that.

[00:25:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, because if you think about it,

[00:25:17] [SPEAKER_00]: a four-week ban, then you're not missing your period yet.

[00:25:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And so that's the policy I want to change.

[00:25:23] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to go in there and be like,

[00:25:25] [SPEAKER_00]: this is literally just science.

[00:25:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Whether you think I'm pro-choice or pro-life,

[00:25:29] [SPEAKER_00]: like obviously everyone knows what I am,

[00:25:32] [SPEAKER_00]: but I'm just making an argument for science.

[00:25:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I agree with you.

[00:25:35] [SPEAKER_00]: I agree with you.

[00:25:36] [SPEAKER_01]: So I love the audacious goals

[00:25:38] [SPEAKER_01]: of changing curriculum and education.

[00:25:40] [SPEAKER_01]: So I love that you are like common.

[00:25:43] [SPEAKER_01]: And then also policy.

[00:25:45] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, you are speaking my love languages.

[00:25:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah.

[00:25:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, Brittany.

[00:25:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Because this is, you know, we,

[00:25:51] [SPEAKER_00]: I love podcasting and I love having 3D printed

[00:25:53] [SPEAKER_00]: uteruses at conferences and stuff.

[00:25:56] [SPEAKER_00]: But if we're really going to like

[00:25:57] [SPEAKER_00]: leave a legacy, change the world,

[00:25:59] [SPEAKER_00]: really move mountains,

[00:26:01] [SPEAKER_00]: these are education and policy are huge.

[00:26:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Yep, I'm here for it.

[00:26:05] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm here for it.

[00:26:05] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm here for you.

[00:26:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for being here.

[00:26:07] [SPEAKER_01]: This was so fun.

[00:26:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Fantastic.

[00:26:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you.

[00:26:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, my pleasure.

[00:26:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Thanks for listening.

[00:26:14] [SPEAKER_01]: You can learn more about us

[00:26:15] [SPEAKER_01]: or this guest by going to our website

[00:26:17] [SPEAKER_01]: or visiting us on any of the socials

[00:26:19] [SPEAKER_01]: with the handle hit like a girl pod.

[00:26:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Thanks again.

[00:26:22] [SPEAKER_01]: See you soon.

[00:26:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Again, thank you so much for listening

[00:26:25] [SPEAKER_01]: to the hit like a girl podcast.

[00:26:27] [SPEAKER_01]: I am truly grateful for you

[00:26:29] [SPEAKER_01]: and I'm wondering if you could do me a quick favor.

[00:26:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Would you be willing to follow

[00:26:32] [SPEAKER_01]: or subscribe to this podcast

[00:26:34] [SPEAKER_01]: or maybe leave us a rating or review?

[00:26:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Or if you're feeling extra generous,

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[00:26:42] [SPEAKER_01]: All of those things help us podcasters out so much.

[00:26:45] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm the show's host Joy Rios

[00:26:46] [SPEAKER_01]: and I'll see you next time.