Together Digital Power Lounge, Women in Digital with Power to Share
Digital is a demanding and competitive field. And women are still grossly underpaid & underrepresented. But we are not powerless; we have each other. Together Digital Power Lounge is your place to hear authentic conversations from women in digital who have power to share. Listen and learn from our amazing guests along with host Amy Vaughan, Owner and Chief Empowerment Officer of Together Digital. Together Digital is a diverse and collaborative community of women who work in digital who choose to share their knowledge, power, and connections. To learn more, visit www.togetherindigital.com.
Together Digital Power Lounge, Women in Digital with Power to Share
FemTech - A Marketing Revolution
Welcome to this week’s episode of The Power Lounge, where transformative ideas meet impactful action. Today, we feature Ikram Guerd, CMO and General Manager for the US at Aspivix, a leader revolutionizing gynecological care with groundbreaking solutions for painless IUD insertion. With over two decades of experience in MedTech and FemTech across the USA and Europe, Ikram has driven growth and innovation in both large corporations and startups.
Discover how Ikram navigates the complexities of marketing innovative health solutions and leverages artificial intelligence to advance femtech marketing. Her dedication extends beyond her professional achievements; as a board member of Inspiring Girls USA, she mentors young women and champions gender equality in healthcare.
This episode offers valuable insights for health tech enthusiasts and marketing professionals alike, providing actionable strategies to enhance women's healthcare experiences through innovation and effective marketing. Join us for an enlightening discussion that highlights the power of marketing and technology in transforming lives.
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
01:46 - "Empowering Women: Amy & Ikram's Talk"
04:32 - Passion for Marketing Career Pivot
08:31 - Empower Consumers in Healthcare Choices
11:42 - Engaging Early Adopters for Feedback
15:49 - AI Revolutionizing Healthcare
17:49 - Hopeful Solutions in Women's Health Marketing
22:51 - Patient Advocacy in Prescription Choices
24:34 - Data Crucial for Stakeholder Buy-In
27:35 - Designing GERD Study Campaign for Kids
30:56 - AI-Driven Hormone Health Apps
35:54 - Hot Flashes and Inspiring Girls
38:31 - "Inspiring Girls: Mentorship for Young Women"
42:45 - Empowering Through Volunteerism
43:48 - Patient Experience Impact Score
49:32 - Bridging Investor-Audience Communication Gap
52:19 - "Subscribe to the Power Lounge"
53:14 - Outro
Key Takeaways:
Pioneering FemTech Revolution
Blazing Trails in Women's Health
Navigating Change and Innovation
Igniting Passion and Purpose
The Power of Networking and Mentorship
Personalization and Hyper-Targeting in Marketing
The Future of FemTech and Investment
Quotes:
"Marketing is driven by passion and purpose. Harness them to truly connect."- Amy Vaughan
"Turn every obstacle into an opportunity. Let 'you can't' fuel your determination."- Ikram Guerd
Connect with Ikram Guerd:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ikramguerd/
Website: https://www.aspivix.com
Connect with the host Amy Vaughan:
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/amypvaughan
https://www.togetherindigital.com/podcast/
Learn more about Together Digital and consider joining the movement by visiting https://togetherindigital.com
Hello everyone and welcome to our weekly power lounge. This is your place to hear authentic conversations from those who have power to share. My name is Amy Vaughn and I am the owner and chief empowerment officer of Together Digital, a diverse and collaborative community of women who choose to share their knowledge, power and connections. You can join the movement at togetherindigitalcom, and today I am very excited because we are welcoming Ikram Gurd, who is doing incredible work at the intersection of women's health and marketing. Ikram is the CMO and general manager for the US at Apevix, where they are creating solutions like painless IUD insertion, which, let me tell you, friends, it's pretty revolutionary for anyone who's ever been through. That Sounds like a game changer to me.
Speaker 1:What I love about Ikram's story, though, is how she is bringing over 20 years of experience from both big corporations to scrappy startups across the United States and Europe into this emerging FemTech space. And she does not stop there. She is also on the board of Inspiring Girls USA, mentoring the next generation and breaking down those persistent gender barriers that we are facing. And, let's be honest, women's health tech has been overlooked for far too long, and that's why I am very excited to dig into Ikram's approach to marketing, networking and personal branding today. So, whether you are specifically interested in health tech or just looking for a fresh perspective and marketing strategies, I think you're going to walk away with some things that you can use immediately. So, ikram, welcome so much to the Power Lounge. We're thrilled to have you here today.
Speaker 2:Likewise. Thank you so much, Amy, for having me. I'm very excited about today.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I'm curious, with such a varied background across different marketing industries, what is it that pulled you into the femtech space? Was there a specific moment where you thought this is where marketing can really make a difference, or what is it about femtech in this space?
Speaker 2:That's a good question. I will probably just take a step back in the way I started my career. So I've always been interested in healthcare very, very young. So I wanted to be a pediatrician. Then I wasn't able to go to med school so I went with my second passion, which was around learning other languages and cultures. So I've done a master's degree in international trade and during that time I was very lucky to work for Procter Gamble and that's really when I just learned about marketing and I just fell in love with marketing.
Speaker 2:I was back then more than 20 years ago. So I've completed with a master degree in strategic marketing and that experience brought me to healthcare in some ways. So I find this opportunity for two months and those two months became 20 years. So I'm very stubborn in a good way, in the sense that I wasn't able to be a doctor, but I was able to find a way through marketing to join healthcare and I had experiences in pharma, home care, medical device, and during that time I've learned so much, both on the marketing side but also in healthcare, and being now in Femtech kind of makes sense as a woman.
Speaker 2:So I'm 40 years old and I had this great opportunity that came from my CEO, who I used to work with 10 years ago in another company, and it's a kind of perfect timing and we just find ourselves working together and it makes totally sense. I don't see myself working in any other industry because there's so much to do in women's health and anyone who would like to join just please join us. There's so many things to do and fun things to do also on the marketing and innovation.
Speaker 1:That's good to know. I think a lot of us within the marketing space have been looking for a sense of passion and purpose, and so I mean I know I personally relate a lot to your story a sense of passion and purpose. And so I mean I know I personally relate a lot to your story. Fun fact yeah, I was my first year of college, was pre-med, I wanted to be a doctor and I, I mean, I fell in love with, but then also it was like a a two. It was a double-sided sword for sure. You know, it's like a love-hate situation.
Speaker 1:I was in healthcare for a number of years.
Speaker 1:I was a certified nursing assistant.
Speaker 1:I worked in the ER, nursing home, hospitals, psych office, all these different roles and there's a lot about like the systems and the things like that within healthcare that feel very like difficult and broken, but at the core of it is just this tremendous sense of humanity and desire to really help people and I think that's what I've always continued to love about it.
Speaker 1:And then, I agree, I kind of like, similarly, I did a year pretty bad, was struggling to kind of make things work, you know, with my student loans, and then decided to kind of take a hiatus and then found marketing and then, like you, kind of 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 the end of the day, like you know, it's that whole sense of like do no harm. You know, even though we never took the oath, you know, as doctors, there are ways that we can, you know, do the work that we love, which is marketing, and, you know, still fulfill that need of helping and supporting others.
Speaker 1:So I love, love love your passion for all of this and, you know, one of the things I wanted to touch on that was from the intro was this introducing certain things like painless IUD insertion devices. You know it's a challenge because I think you know, like I mentioned with the systems and healthcare, embracing change is a challenge. Right, they're a little bit archaic sometimes in their ability to embrace new tech, to evolve what they do, how they do it. So how do you approach marketing? You know something that is disruptive in places, that kind of feel more traditional.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's a very good question, so let me just also take a step back in presenting what our solution is.
Speaker 2:So the name of the company is Aspivix, which stands for Aspi for aspiration and Vix for cervix.
Speaker 2:So just looking at what is used currently, right now, when you get an IUD and I'll try to make it very short, at least you can that's one takeaway that you can get out of our discussion today. So when you get an IUD, basically you go to your OB-GYN and very quickly there's different steps. So they will place the speculum, then they will use something called the tenaculum and I will invite you to Google it so that way you can see how it looks like. I would say it's almost like a pair of scissors with two sharp teeth and that instrument will help grab the cervix, pull it and stabilize it, so that way they can measure the depth of the uterus and then insert the IUD Kind of four steps. The pulling of the cervix with these two sharp teeth is one of the most painful steps in the procedure and this instrument has been developed more than 30 years ago during the US Civil War, to extract bullets from soldiers, and probably some guy thought let's use it on women, why not?
Speaker 2:They don't know how that feels no and it became kind of the standard of care. So it's used in gynecology for this procedure and other procedures as well, like endometrial biopsies, hysteroscopy and others. So, just looking at that, when you think about zero innovation in 100 years when it goes to women's health and we know that it's painful, so I'm super glad to see more women Gen Z, gen X, gen Z, sorry more sharing their stories on social media saying it's, it's enough when I'm getting an IOD recording themselves. It's super painful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we have spent a lot of time at SPV as well, just educating. So everything starts with education and how. Even myself as a woman, I didn't know it was done like that until I joined ASPVIX. So how do we just empower women to learn more about their own body and how the procedure is done, so that way you can feel empowered to have a conversation with your OB-GYN and ask the right questions. So that's really what we are doing. Everything takes time in terms of changing mindset, practices and so on. So finding those early adopters, ob-gyn who are willing to change and willing to use innovation. So that's really where we are focused on and getting great evidence.
Speaker 1:And it's brilliant too, right, because I think it really speaks to those that you're trying to convince within the marketing and the systems to make those changes, that they might not. Be more apropos to do is if you educate 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 sense because that's what you want is them to move from that educational space to the advocating for themselves self-space. Because I think that is another place in healthcare where I just I wish there was a solution for this where there could be, and I think there are. In certain situations, right, if you've been diagnosed with something terminal, like you might get a patient advocate. But I just kind of wish all of us had patient advocates for us, because it is, it can be overwhelming, it can be confusing to kind of understand and know what things are happening.
Speaker 1:There's nerves that go into play, right. So when you're sitting there and you're talking about birth control options with your doctor, maybe make some people uncomfortable and then you're saying, okay, yes, I'll take this thing and you're going to insert it into me and, like you said, I have had an IUD and I had it removed after a couple of years. I didn't love it. The insertion and the extraction, both were not pleasant either, I will say, but they didn't describe to me what you just described to me why.
Speaker 2:It's wild, yeah, when you just take a look at the instrument, it's scary, it's medieval. It's really nuts, it's like a torture device, exactly.
Speaker 1:Exactly, it's medieval. It's really not. It's like a torture device.
Speaker 2:Exactly exactly, and that's really what we are changing in terms of bringing that into the discussion, with a more transparent dialogue between the physician and the patient. And we have one site in Indianapolis, which is IU Health, which is currently they're currently using the device and it becomes part of the conversation. So when they explain the different steps, they show the speculum, they show our device called the CareVix, because we care about the cervix and that's become just natural and just looking at the device makes the level of anxiety a little bit lower. Exactly.
Speaker 2:And that helps with just the full experience.
Speaker 1:Now, that makes a lot of sense, and I'm wondering too, like if you know, as you're trying to reach these different audiences patient who, patients who need solutions like this, doctors who want to provide them. I don't even know about the insurance companies who want to pay for them. That's a whole nother topic maybe, um, for a whole nother day.
Speaker 1: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 this patient kind of education and advocacy, like efforts and approaches, are there any other approaches that have worked for you in the ways to kind of get people to acknowledge, adopt or?
Speaker 2:get people to acknowledge, adopt or embrace new products like these in the market. In our own experience, we are at the very early stage, so right now we have started the commercialization in Switzerland. We're expanding to Europe. I'm about to launch a commercialization in the US. It's also very interesting to see how, at the end of the day, each woman is different in terms of pain tolerance, but at the end of the day, each woman is different in terms of pain tolerance, but at the end of the day, a woman in the US, a woman in Switzerland or in I don't know in any other country are the same. They will feel kind of the same experience.
Speaker 2:So what we have been doing last year is really focused on getting evidence, creating a community and an ambassador program with early adopters, with different type of institution, from the private office to the academics, and being able to have those users using 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 that we can use in our marketing strategy, both targeting B2B our healthcare providers but also in our conversation with women patients and just as part of the education. That's fantastic.
Speaker 1:And I love this because I think all of this is applicable to anyone in any other vertical. That's kind of struggling with getting people to kind of take on and adopt things either on the B2B or the B2C side Exactly, I think it's really really smart. I love that evidence and community. I think those are very big, big, big wins when you can kind of collect those data points and share and create and facilitate those kinds of things to like community. So I'd love to talk a little bit more about some of the challenges you're facing, because I know Femtech isn't always an easy sell, right, it's not at the top of everybody's to-do list. Um, what has been your biggest? How are we going to solve this marketing moment and what did you learn from pushing through it?
Speaker 2:um, that's a very good question and very broad question. Uh, I would say just to also be very clear on what is fintech People tend to get confused with fintech, which has nothing to do Interesting, right? Yes, Financial Exactly so.
Speaker 2:Fintech and woman's health needs, and that can really go from reproductive health, menopause periods, cardiovascular disease, pregnancy and so on. So the bucket is super, super large. So you can think of one of the challenges and one of the gaps that we have right now in Femtech is the lack of data. So that's why all the different innovators, companies, research centers are really focused on getting data and AI can help with that. Yes, because basically, when you think about the data we have, we only have around 30 years of data.
Speaker 2:Everything that has been done prior to that were clinical studies just used on men, white men, so we don't have the data about how the women's body will react to any medication and all that. So we are trying to fill that gap. So that way we have, so it's under research, underfunded, and to be able to get more investments, you need also to get those data. So we are trying to kind of accelerate and close this gap. So that's one of the challenges, and AI is a wonderful tool, if it's used properly, to really try to get quicker, faster data than we can. We can use for our product innovation, communication and so on.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I want to highlight that, the fact you stated there, because I mean, I think we've said it before on the podcast, but I don't know that everybody's heard this or realizes this pharmaceutical research in general, like clinical research, not until like what the 90s was done on women, and it's just wild to think about the amount, yes, it was all men and then, like you said, all white men and it's like so you know, our body chemistry is different, our physiological makeup is different and so so many of the medications that we even take today still don't have an abundant amount of research, with women kind of at the forefront of it, and that can be kind of scary and, like you said, between not being under-researched and underfunded, it makes it hard to do what you said earlier, where it's like you're building that evidence, you're creating that education, so then you can get to that advocacy and community. But I agree with you, I love, love, love AI for healthcare Again, having been worked within the systems and I'm also a patient advocate for my mom and so, like all these lived experiences, there's just there is so much data around our health and there's also a lot of misinterpretation, there's a lot of human error that you know. I think in a lot of ways that AI could actually help solve for and looking for and analyzing the data that we have to see instances in happenstance where we can't see it as humans. I nerd out just for a minute Ikram, because I have to give a little background.
Speaker 1:My husband's a former university professor who does like biomedical research through mathematical modeling. So like I watched and seen how he can literally take something like building up something with, you know, a little bit of AI, a little bit of computer programming, to model clinical research without the use of humans and animals and it's accurate and I'm like just that's just mind blowing. That's really going to help us get ahead or at least get caught up really, maybe more than anything, get up exactly, exactly I love it, so yeah no, it's all very critical.
Speaker 1:I'm excited to see what ai does for health care. I'm not. I'm not in health care as much anymore, obviously, um, and I'm kind of curious, like just quickly, sidebar question is like how much are you know? Is the health care industry embracing it? What's your sense of it?
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, I get to be within the healthcare community in Femtech, which is kind of a small community, and you get to see so many innovations coming our way. We just need to get the funding. But also, just broadly, I sit into a different committee to review some of the innovation coming our way in terms of mental health, in terms, like, different things not specific to women, and it's just amazing like everybody's really embracing ai. So, if you like, feel like you're not in it, like, yeah, you probably need to right now that's good.
Speaker 1:That makes me very hopeful because I do think I could remedy a lot of different things in like, the sense of like, even like misdiagnosis you know, misdosing, and I've dealt with all of these issues as a family and I'm like, oh, we've got to find solutions for this, so love it All right.
Speaker 1:So this next question I really like because it's really about evolving our thinking and, you know, looking back over your career which you know, like you're saying, you've been here for a minute Are there any marketing approaches that you want to swore by that you would completely abandon now and or maybe are sort of like slowly walking back as far as what you're doing and working within women's health and marketing?
Speaker 2:Not necessarily one, because I also, like most of my career, was really targeting. Well, in terms of marketing, I was really targeting B2B, so healthcare providers, pharmacies, different type of doctors. I would say that probably it's things that have changed, but that comes also with technology. So it has been interesting to see also the evolution of marketing over this for my career over the last 20 years, absolutely coming from europe to the us.
Speaker 2:Uh, when we used to be, even if you are targeted, you used to have the same messaging to everybody. Yeah, because we didn't necessarily 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's health, one size doesn't fit all, so you need to be also very personalized in the way you are reaching out to your different audience within the same targets. So being able to have right personalization AI can help with that being able to also get the right data so that way you can be even more personalized in your communication. So I would say that the way we use marketing back then is like targeting and have the right, the same messaging to all of our customers and now being able to be very precise and specific and that you can see that with the data it's like yeah, it increases engagement. All of that we were not able to track at that time. It makes me feel super old saying that.
Speaker 1:No, I get it. I'm there with you. I'm pretty sure we've tallied out the same number of years. I just stopped counting. Yeah, I should probably do that After 15,. I was like, yeah, 15 plus sure, but you know, we've got to own it. Right, we've got to own it because it's all valuable experience.
Speaker 1:I'm kind of curious too. This is another fun side question. You know I've also lived and worked outside of the US and have worked with some international companies as well and within healthcare and with consumers in general. Obviously regulations are different. So I'm kind of wondering, wondering too like with that like how, how has your experience been? Sort of an approach sort of shifted between like europe and the united states and the ways in which you either can or could or should market?
Speaker 2:okay, so health care is very regulated everywhere. Uh, having said that, it depends also on the type of product or service you're offering. In my case, right now, we have a medical device. I used to work in pharma, so the regulations were very different. Also, in Europe and in the US, the way we are targeting is very different. For a medication, you can have TV ads here in the US. That's something you will never, ever, ever see in Europe. It's like just myself coming to the US like, oh, that's interesting, they have ads for this treatment. I was like okay, so that's one of the difference.
Speaker 2:Being in a medical device space, it depends on the classification of your device and who is your purchaser. In our case, it's a medical device class too, so the one that can purchase are the healthcare providers. Having said that, our device can be purchased by patients in other regions or countries, so you need to be mindful of that, because that also impacts your marketing strategy and the way you will be targeting them. That also impacts your marketing strategy and the way you will be targeting them. For us here in the US, we are targeting healthcare providers with clinical data, evidence studies 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 more educational content that we develop for them.
Speaker 2:So it really depends and I like the fact that even sometimes it feels like, oh, marketing healthcare it seems very boring. It feels like it's so regulated that you cannot do pretty much. No, you get a chance to be also very creative, just also being mindful of the regulatory landscape, but you can still make an impact and have a marketing. So I've done very diverse type of marketing and I just love it because you get to make an impact and have a marketing. So I've done very diverse type of marketing and I just, uh, yeah, I love it because you get to make an impact I agree.
Speaker 1:I agree I always kind of felt like, um, sometimes those regulations, you know, where they feel like barriers and obstacles, I always saw them as 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 really interesting here stateside how it is like you know these brand name drugs constantly and people just go to the doctor and ask for it, but then at the same time I'm like but it's kind of like as it squeamish, as it makes me sometimes I also have to also acknowledge and realize that like they're, in a way, they're advocating for themselves, they might hear or see something and be like well, I need to talk to my doctor about this, or at least know that there's options right For a certain type of medication that they maybe didn't even realize. And again, depending on the doctor, mine's great, I like him. That's why I haven't fired him.
Speaker 1:He'll be like well, these are all your options. Like here's what is being, like this is the big name that everybody's putting out there, but here are the side effects, here are the watch outs, here's the ways it might interact with you and anything else you're taking. And then here's other alternatives, which I appreciate. And if your doctor doesn't do that for you, ladies, maybe consider finding a new doctor, just exactly exactly, exactly, 100% yep, yeah.
Speaker 1:So yeah, it is. It's, it's interesting dynamic and I'm sure, working between the two um you know continents, it definitely creates like a whole nother level of complexity at times but you know it's fun.
Speaker 1:yeah, I was gonna say like those challenges are why you keep going right, more things to kind of figure out as you go, exactly all right. So there's this, you know this. We've talked about evidence earlier and there is like persistent idea around the fact that medical marketing should be all clinical device and technical specs, usually kind of might say, maybe more on the B to B side, very sterile, very formal, very formal. I'm kind of curious, and I'm guessing in astrofix you might see things a little bit differently and if so, what is your take on that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you need to have the foundation, and the foundation is making sure that you have the right data, you have evidence, because if you want to impact and make a change, you need to get the buy-in from those stakeholders.
Speaker 2:So if you don't get the buy-in from the healthcare providers and if you don't have any clinical data, there's no reason and no way to make anything towards patients Because, at the end of the day, the healthcare providers, who are the buyers, won't buy your product.
Speaker 2:So, making sure that you have those data and making sure that you have data from different regions of the world as well and they're critical that helps with building the brands and the credibility and you can present them those data with leaders in the area and making sure that you have exposure in conferences and so on. You need to have that first to be able then to start talking to patients like, oh, there's an option out there, this is how it works, so that way, they have the healthcare providers have enough information. Not everybody will buy it right away, but if you have those early adopters, they can become your ambassadors. And then, when women will start having the conversation, then the gynecologist is like oh, I've heard about it, oh, I've used it and then it's a total different discussion. But you need to have this foundation first with technical data clinical data.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I agree it's not safe to start without it, but I love that too and I'm kind of curious, like FDA approval. I'm sure it was like a big, big part of that and hurdle and work through for you all too. I need to remember to connect you to one of our, one of my connections. She was a member for a while with Together Digital, melanie. She is creating a medical device for women, different than what you all are doing, but she is like flying solo on this. She's gone through I think I can't remember the name of the Y Combinator out in California, a big accelerator, and I think she's close to having her FDA approval, and then she needs to hit the ground running with marketing. So I should set up a chat with the two of you. Yes, I would love that Cause. Yeah, it's super, super awesome what she's working on.
Speaker 1:I know I'm hella excited for it. I don't need it quite yet, but I know in my lifetime and that I will. So I'm like I'm like, oh, for this. I'm like, how can I help you? So we, we check in with each other every so often. Then it just as you were speaking. It's so funny, I left this out. I was working at a pharmaceutical research company at the front desk when I kind of learned I came from a small town, um, and our guidance principal, or guidance counselor, was like you can be a nurse, not a doctor, a nurse, a teacher, a lawyer or a wife or something like that was his like reply to me. When I asked like about career options, I was like, bro, I think I should be a guidance counselor because I'm probably better than you're doing right now.
Speaker 1:But anyways, just to kind of give you that context, I we moved to Chicago after I got married and I was working at a pharmaceutical research company and I kind of fell in with the CMO there. She had seen some of the things that 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 with this? Like clinical research study, like campaign that we're doing? It's for GERD, which is like the gastroesophageal reflux disease, but in kids, and like here's like what we need.
Speaker 1:And I mean I had no clue what I was doing. I think I laid it out in word and then I made a little logo. I still remember what it looked like. And then the day they created candy jars to go on the desks of the doctor's offices, cause the kids would be like candy, and then the, and then the parents would be like, oh, brochures, what's this for, you know? And so I had my little logo on the jars and I remember taking that out and being like, look, I made this. I don't even think.
Speaker 1:I have one I should have kept one of the jars right, but that was it for me. I like ditched that job, went back to school, started working at a graphic design firm next door. It was wild, but yeah, I was literally in the midst and the throes of health care, working at a pharmaceutical research company, debating. I'm like, do I want to be one of these 20 somethings that like has like all these like Delta points and miles Cause they're just going around schlepping drugs all day, every day? And I was like no, I don't think so, but this marketing thing is pretty sweet.
Speaker 2:I love your story. I love. Sometimes it's a yeah. It just takes, um, just takes one comment from someone that makes you think about what should I do next and maybe try something new. And here we go, absolutely yeah.
Speaker 1:I don't know if she's known it, Deb, I've mentioned her a couple of times on this podcast probably, and I might've reached out to her on LinkedIn at one point or another, Like we're still connected but we haven't caught up in forever. But yeah, I mean I do give her a lot of credit for giving me that opportunity and that inspiration to just go off and try something completely different.
Speaker 2:So yeah, yeah, became marketer, amy, instead of Dr Amy, which is all good.
Speaker 1: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, very popular. If you guys want to go back and take a look at some of the past episodes, um, how did? We talked a little bit about how it's evolving, like the healthcare industry, but I'm kind of curious how I might specifically change the game for femtech marketing, especially when it comes to sensitive topics that might need more of a human touch, because we are talking about some pretty, you know, private things for some people Me I'm like whatever.
Speaker 1:We can talk about IUDs all day long Same.
Speaker 2:Right now, I feel like AI becomes, as I was mentioning, a key tool to help us accelerate our innovation, the way we reach out to our community, 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 different innovation, developing apps and devices and different kind of services to help women throughout different health conditions or just throughout their health journey throughout different health conditions or just throughout their health journey. So I've seen so many amazing things where we can also correlate different type of data. Right now, there's many different hot topics. Iud insertion is a hot topic. There's anything related to menopause. Suddenly, we just discovered that, oh my God, every woman will go through menopause. So everybody's talking more openly about menopause. And there's so many things that are coming our way in the market with um apps that can really help you with um, URA brings, uh like monitoring your cycle and just going back to the way that women have hormones and they fluctuate quite a lot and that means a lot. So if you can predict the variation of hormones, then that way you can be able to take care of yourself and take ownership of your own health. So being able to get those data as a predictor and that way you can have the right advices, symptoms conversation then with your healthcare providers. So many great things coming in the market, so we just need the funding. Also, more on the marketing side so many ways to use AI.
Speaker 2:When you think about I was talking about personalization we can even take it to the next level with hyper personalization See collaboration with other industry why not? You can be creative and say, okay, we have this data. If you can maybe combine it with other companies. More on the fitness, sport, diet, nutrition and get something that can really help and bring a solution. And engaging the audience with, uh, right content at the right time to the right people. Uh, smart education ai can really help with smart education. Um, what else? Social listening there's so many conversations, so it's really about opening the conversation, creating the community, being able to, really about opening the conversation, creating that community, being able to really monitor and have those data that you can use and that 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:Yeah, I love it. Yeah, I was thinking a couple of 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 right now?
Speaker 2:Not right now. It's something we are looking at.
Speaker 1:Okay, I want to introduce you then, to Lauren. We just had a masterclass and she broke my brain on our Together Digital Masterclass on like AI marketing with your bot. And because here's the thing, ikram, what I'm hearing and seeing and this is anecdotal, so I don't have a whole lot of data on this, but and also a little bit of case study in one is that I am seeing and hearing that people are almost more comfortable asking uncomfortable questions to AI. It's kind of like a Google search.
Speaker 1:Right, you don't want nobody to see 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 easier for you to ask the hard questions that maybe face-to-face you couldn't ask. So, if you're up for it, I would love to introduce you to. Lauren at Mongoose, that's what they do. Definitely up for it.
Speaker 2:Yes, please do.
Speaker 1:All about connecting and I I was like when we went through that master class, I was like whoa, there's just so much that they've seen like a ton of lift and like actual conversions and engagement when they are just really well fine-tuned, well built bots that don't feel like bots at all on the back end or on the front end to the consumer.
Speaker 1:And then I loved what you were saying about apps too, because you know, as women who obviously need to advocate for ourselves in an abundance of places, you know, in the doctor's office is another.
Speaker 1:I'm 43, I'll be 44 next month and I know I am premenopausal, but I'm also kind of shit about keeping track of my cycle, but I know it's not regular, so I'm like why bother, because it just comes when it wants and I have hot flashes and I have insomnia and I, you know, then I feel fatigued and brain fog, but then my, again, my male doctor is like nope, you're too young. But again, if you have, like you said, that data or you could be kind of having those things more easily tracked, I know people love like this aura rings and things like that, um, whether it's devices or other apps to help you track, like again, like you said, that information is power, so that you can be like yo just look at the data buddy tell me exactly I'm not premenopausal because I can't lose weight, also like, and I'm having hot flashes, but I'm on a pill like you know.
Speaker 1:Be like.
Speaker 2:Oh, that is strange exactly, and that's the scary part. Even open guy you know they have a very short amount of time in their education. You know the curriculum to really cover menopause. So even your doctor doesn't know that much about menopause. So right now we are like getting this data and learning every day.
Speaker 1:Um, so the more data the better but still like even with your physician, I'm sure that there's so many things he doesn't know, yeah, well, and then to be fair, not to just throw him under the bus. But my female rhino said the same thing to me. She did. I was really shocked. I was like and here I thought we were sympathetic she's like no it just seems too early and I'm like then explain the symptoms.
Speaker 1:Then what is happening to my body 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 of remind, as we get to our last few questions, our live listening audience. You are always welcome to drop into the chat and ask any questions that you have for us. As we kind of get towards the end of the session, I want to pivot for just a moment into the amazing work that you're doing with Inspiring Girls USA. I would love for you to tell us a little bit about who they are, what they do and then you know what, like you know a lot of us within this kind of industry.
Speaker 1:We're kind of workaholics, we do love what we do and we work hard. But it often feels like we can't bring our whole selves and our professional expertise um, as well as our lived experiences um to help advocate for better solutions. So I'm kind of curious, like one about Inspiring Girls USA and then two, this kind of feels like a double question now, um to like how, how do you work through the balance personally. So let's start with inspiring girls, USA, and then more of like how you're navigating and managing the balance of being able to bring your whole self to work.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay. So inspiring girls, um, I've always been. Um, uh, okay, I'll just say, take a step back quickly. Uh, it was probably 15 years ago. I had one of my manager. He was a man and one day he told me like I was like working very hard, uh, getting great results. He was very happy then when he was asking me oh, what do you want to do next? And then I told him oh, I want to be a manager. He basically kind of laughed, laughed at me. He's like no, you cannot be a manager, you're too nice, uh, like, you're too kind. I was like no, you cannot be a manager, you're too nice, you're too kind. I was like yeah, you cannot say no. Okay, interesting, then just coach me. Then I think he just didn't believe in me.
Speaker 2:A year later, I moved to another company. I had my first leadership experience 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 10 years both in Europe and in the US. I've built marketing teams and I'm glad that I had also that type of feedback, because that really drove me and that helps me being who I am right now. Having said that one way to also give back was how I can give back to others, because that's something that is very important to me. So, giving back to my team, I'm very proud and very grateful to be able to be to sit in that position and to have mentored others. Yeah, uh, some of them even took my position, which was like the best reward ever right exactly is right, exactly.
Speaker 2:So. Joining Inspiring Girls was an extension of that. How can I also help with my experience and help other girls? Because I wish I had someone during that time who could have been a great mentor and help me navigate that type of feedback and situation with all the self-doubt that you can have, feedback and situation with all the self-doubt that you can have. So Inspiring Girls was a great opportunity to join a team of women who have been successful in different industries and bringing that experience back to young girls from the age of seven, eight and showing them that we look alike. There's women who have been successful in finance, in healthcare, in sports, and have those conversations.
Speaker 2:So different type of formats we have webinars. We go to schools and explain what is our leadership journey, the challenges we have faced, and we have also kind of a dating networking session where they can get to ask their question and it's super empowering and super cute in some ways to have those young girls, eight years old, very like, impressed, yeah, and and at the same time, very open and very curious to ask questions how did you get there, what, what is it a? What is a surgeon doing and how can I get there and seeing women who look like you also is very inspiring. So that's really about, uh, the mission we have, so finding those role models in different industries.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it. That has to be so fulfilling and satisfying and I love thank you for sharing your story about that, boss, because I'm sure all of us have kind of been in some similar situation and I just all I could think Ikram was like who's laughing now. You know, like just all I could think Ikram was like who's laughing now. You know like who's laughing now. Like she's been a leader now for like 15, 20 years. Who's laughing? And then I always joke and say like the one way to get me to do anything is to tell me that I can't do it right because.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna be like watch me.
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly, I'm the same way right, gotta prove them wrong.
Speaker 1:And I do feel like something like this where you can find the time, space and opportunity to volunteer. I think there's like this volunteer fatigue that has happened over the last like five or six years, just because, again, the world's gone through a lot. But I think I love that you're still doing this, because I think there's so much that you get back. It's not just about the giving you like you receive so much right, because I I coach girls soccer. I've done.
Speaker 1:There's a local community here called um innovation girls that I've helped to support and I honestly I know that they get big eyed, starry eyed when, like, we walk in. But I get just as psyched when they walk in because they're just so brilliant like they don't even know it yet, but they're just so brilliant and they're still very uninhibited, which they love. You know the world's not beating them down and made them pessimistic. So I do highly encourage you all. Yes, if you feel like you're lacking like that sense of connection, purpose, self, like just getting out there and community with others and volunteering is such a great way to do it. So I love, love, love that you're doing that, ikram. It sounds like an amazing group likewise.
Speaker 2:Likewise, I love it and that's uh. Going back to your second question, sometimes it's difficult to balance because you have your full-time job, you have your family job, you have also other commitments here and here. I'm the kind of person who likes to be I'm very curious, so I love to learn every day something new. I love to network with people, get to know other inspiring leaders and being able to find some time also to volunteer. But that's the kind of activity where you just get out of it and you just feel fulfilled. Oh yeah, it just makes you feel super good and it kind of rebalances all the things going on in your life. Like, okay, I'm doing that, but I'm definitely seeing some impact and just planting a seed early on and maybe this young girl will be an inspiring leader and that's something I will be kind of very proud, kind of like a mama.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh, no, exactly, I believe that I agree with you. Every time I volunteered, I consider it a form of self-care, I consider it as just for me as for anybody else because, like what you said, when you walk away feeling good about it. My daughter was, he was 11, he was in a bit of a slump in the fall and just feeling kind of powerless. Um, that was the first thing I thought of was like what volunteer activity could I sign her up for, or could? We do as a family.
Speaker 1:That might make her feel like she can make a difference, she can make an impact, she can make a change. So, again, you know, I know so many of us we're talking about healthcare and regulatory and like clients and all these things Like it can always feel like it's no, no, no, no, no, barrier, barrier, barrier. But like things like this are, you know, not just opening up doors for yourself, but definitely opening up doors and you perspective for others. So, thanks again for doing that work. I love that you do it likewise. All right, cool, well, we're at our power round questions. These are fun, like lightning round type of questions. Um, I wanted to know is there a specific marketing metric that you think matters more in women's health than other industries in particular, or one that people might be overlooking?
Speaker 2:Not necessarily specific to Femtech, although I would probably think about metrics around patient experience score things, where we can also capture how the patient feels more comfortable and respected when they engage with your brand, and then you can use different points to measure that the engagement on social media, having surveys sent if they are going to their physician to see how was the experience, but being able to have some kind of patient experience score that you can really highlight also to healthcare providers and so that it's working, you're making an impact and overall it's helping the women.
Speaker 1:Yeah, testimonials are far overlooked across all industries, I think. For how many reviews we like to rate and that are out there, yeah, I'm just as guilty. So, yeah, totally, let's see. I know that reviews we like to rate 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're on the marketing side. I'm not sure how close you are to, like you're like, you know the gaining capital and fundraising and things like that. But you know, I feel like when I have talked to women in any kind of femtech space overall, um, it's often dubbed as like too niche for too much for much of the investment. Never mind, we're 50% of the population and 85% of the buying power in this country, no big deal. So I'm sure you've heard this too. But what are some ways in which you've tried to, or that APOVEX has tried to, respond to that kind of classic notion that femtech is too niche?
Speaker 2:oh my god, you have no idea how many times we've heard this. I'm also helping with the fundraising for the company and when you pitch to investors, most of the time investors are men and it's heartbreaking in some ways to see we are 51% of the total population, so definitely not a niche market Getting only two percent of the total VC fundings. The potential of Femtech is huge. That's one of the fast growing sector in healthcare right now. So that's why we need more money, we need more innovation, we need more talent joining. We need to talk more about everything we are doing. I'm starting hearing less and less this market niche Good.
Speaker 2:I don't know if it's finally changing, but at the end of the day we are not getting all the investment.
Speaker 1:So still work in progress.
Speaker 2:I'm hearing it less and less. Maybe one of the reasons is that we are also getting more women joining the VC world, so investing themselves, so they can understand, they can relate and they can understand why is it important to invest.
Speaker 2:So I will encourage more women to join and also just men overall. Just going back to the educational piece, it's really about education. That's something they won't have to go through this type of contraception, all the different conditions we might have or challenges we have as a woman but educate them. They all have wives, sisters, daughters in their life that at some point might need to go through any of that. So I love doing during those pitch, having just a conversation and being a little bit controversial in the way I'm presenting the device.
Speaker 2:So just showing our medieval instrument that is currently used and just thinking about how would you feel if it was used on your body part yeah, and then we can have a conversation. So it has been amazing to see also 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 through that. And when you think about just IUD 99% of the most efficient contraceptive solution oh, yeah, but so many women are just afraid of pain. So it's really about changing that conversation on the patient level, but also from the investor side. It's like really understanding the potential, like if we can eliminate that the potential of the market just financially is also very important.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I agree. I mean it's a great call to action for our allies Put your money where your mouth is, like you 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 to women, 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 an investor. There are groups out there that are like social impact and, um, you know, angel investors and things like that. Um, actually, another person this is like me.
Speaker 1:I made a list now a group of all these people I want to introduce you to. I love it, and one of them is also a mentor and friend of mine, sue baggett, who's a part of queen city angel investors, huge advocate and proponent for, you know, helping more women get funding. She was a co-producer for Show Her the Money, which is a documentary they've been screening all across the globe, and so she's got some great connections too. That's why I want to connect you to her so she can connect you to her people that are specifically looking for femtech and healthcare, like feminine healthcare type of things to invest in. So I mean, if you guys are always like, constantly looking and raising, that's hard, that's another job on top of your job, you know.
Speaker 2:Exactly exactly. It can be exhausting, but at the same time I always take that as an opportunity to educate, to connect with other people, and you get to use marketing skills also in that setting, in a different way. So that's another kind of stakeholders and it's all, at the end of the day, when you think about the common thread, it's all about the story. So what is your storytelling and how do you create that connection, that emotional connection, so then people can remember you? So it could be through different ways, but I love this exercise as well.
Speaker 1:I agree it is. It is a good exercise because you're constantly having to pivot and you're having to take something that is intended for your target audience and then explain it to and simplify it and get the people to empathize that are not because, right, usually the investors, the people on the other side of the table when you're vying for capital, are don't look like you, and I've heard that from so many again. I've heard that from so many again. I've got so many female friends who are business owners within like tech and other places that it is, it's that same thing. You're sitting across the table and it's really hard to help them relate. But I think sometimes, like you said, getting a little controversial and being like would you like this used on yourself? No, on your wife, no, pretty much sold at that point at least I hope so.
Speaker 1:If, if not, I don't know, maybe there's something else we got to talk about. But all right, one last quick one. What is the most unexpected place that you have found inspiration for a campaign that you've done in the past?
Speaker 2:There's no one specifically. I would say just be very open minded and I'm very curious. I don't necessarily take a look at anything that is done within healthcare there's so many great examples but I'm always trying to be very curious and look at different industries. The sports industry is very interesting in the way that they are empowering also the sport leaders. So how can we use what they are using in our communication? Because at the end of the day, it's also about empowering women. So that's an industry I kind of like and I'm interested in looking at what they're doing, especially right now they're doing us, when you take a look at the last campaign with nike, really focused, finally, on women. So how, how do we, how do they tackle that and is there anything that we can learn from it or maybe something that they can learn from us too? But really looking at other industries and the way they're approaching and so on, I love that advice.
Speaker 1:That's fantastic. Yeah, I agree, I never loved that. Like what's your favorite campaign running currently within this industry or vertical? And I'm just like you, I'm minding my business. If I'm doing anything, I'm looking out to see what other groups and other industries are doing, because that feels more disruptive than just seeing what's already there and then trying to copy somebody else's efforts yes, love it such a helpful conversation, like again, so insightful, ekram.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much. I know our listeners are going to want to follow you and your work, um what is the best place for them to connect with you and learn more about APVIX?
Speaker 2:They can reach out to me on LinkedIn, so I'm easily fine. So you can just find me Very open to engage and network with any of you and ASPVIX they can go to. Maybe we can have in the chat the link. So it's ASPVIXcom A-S-P-I-V-I-Xcom, so feel free to reach out, ask questions and I'll be happy to answer.
Speaker 1: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 reach out to her on LinkedIn and then, as soon as I'm done clicking around on all the wrong things, I'll drop the website in there for you all, to everyone listening. I hope you've enjoyed the episode today. We'd love if you'd subscribe to the Power Lounge. It's streaming on all channels that you might listen to podcasts on. Most of our community does listen on Apple Podcasts, so you can easily find us there. And, of course, I hope that you join us together in digitalcom if you want to connect with more amazing women who are sharing their knowledge and lifting each other up in the digital space. This is the place. This is the place we do this all day, every day, and it's like the best feeling ever, so I encourage 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 much for being with us today, thank you, amy.
Speaker 2:It was a pleasure.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much thank you, take care everyone. Thank you, amy.
Speaker 2:It was a pleasure. Thank you so much. Thank you, Take care everyone.
