Across all sorts of different industries, we’re now seeing more and more female founders who defy gender biases and turn public health challenges into profitable global powerhouses. These companies initially start out as a specific solution for a specific problem, usually covering gaps in healthcare, like nutrition and wellness, but as they progress and gather influence, the businesses on this list have successfully shifted conversations around subjects specific to their fields that are underrepresented, like gut health, for example.
These entrepreneurs have successfully recognised gaps in the market to create products that work effectively and resonate with consumers, long before they even became mainstream topics. After identifying that consumers were searching for better information and better products relating to these markets, their businesses provided the goods – in some cases, literally.
Today, we’ll be looking at companies that operate in a variety of sectors, from gut health to women’s health and wellness products, and their female founders who have spearheaded the development of solutions that have resonated the most with consumers all over the world.
Ida Tin and the Evolution of Women’s Health Technology
Ida Tin realised that there are a lot of women out there who want to understand more about their reproductive health. But not just in a fluffy, potentially patronising way. People wanted a more data-driven approach that could be presented in an accessible, easy-to-digest way. The tools and apps on offer at the time were sloppy and lacked depth, not to mention accuracy.
All of this led to the creation of Clue, an app that made it not just possible, but straightforward for women to track their menstrual and reproductive health. Clue allows women to accurately track their cycles and fertility indicators in a well-designed app that feels intuitive to use.
Similarly to Biotiful, the timing here was key. The app was launched at a time when consumer demand for personalised health tracking had just started to become popular, and also when the taboo around menstrual health showed signs of finally lifting. Soon after its release, Clue’s popularity snowballed both domestically and internationally, and Tin’s work drew attention to the commercial viability and potential of health technology aimed at women specifically.
Natasha Bowes and the Growth of Gut Health Awareness
Natasha Bowes is the founder of Biotiful, one of the market leaders in the functional dairy and kefir industry. She started the business in 2012 after seeing more and more people becoming interested in improving their digestive health; Bowes recognised that there was a clear opportunity to introduce a brand new product that most shoppers in the UK were relatively unfamiliar with.
In the early 2010s, awareness of probiotics and gut health as a whole was low but gaining some traction. Bowes started the business at a time when potential customers were becoming more conscious of the connection between their digestive health specifically and their overall health and wellness, while kefir itself remained a niche offering. At the time, nobody outside Eastern Europe knew where to buy kefir.
Bowes launched Biotiful with a clear mission of making high quality kefir products accessible to customers in the UK and beyond who are looking to improve their health and wellness. But Biotiful teaches us that launching a new product requires more than just a cursory glance at a Wikipedia page and some competitor analysis. To be successful and reach the largest audience possible, companies need to educate themselves properly on their market and the niche properties of their products in order to effectively build trust, while also focusing on major retailers to ensure the brand gets maximum visibility.
In the past five years or so, consumer awareness has exploded, and demand for probiotics has gone through the roof. So what did Biotiful do? How did Natasha Bowes react? Well, she didn’t just sit and let the money roll in. Biotiful adapted to these shifts by expanding its portfolio to have a broader range of kefir drinks, available in different flavours, as well as yogurts and other cultured dairy products that are designed to be affordable and simple – easy for modern consumers to understand and slot into their diets.
Now Biotiful is one of the UK’s leading kefir brands; its success tells us that identifying and emerging health trends at the right time – just before it explodes into the mainstream consciousness – and creating products based on well-informed research, before responding with more products that fit the lifestyle of the core demographic, is a recipe for success.
Tania Boler and Solutions for Everyday Women’s Health Needs
Pelvic floor health has affected millions of women for years and years, yet the only ‘solutions’ traditionally on offer have lacked convenience. One day, Tania Boler realised that some major technological advances could help improve the user experience, so she founded Elvie.
Elvie is a pelvic floor trainer that brings together specialist healthcare knowledge and technology to create an interactive product that customers actually enjoy using, as it feels like a trustworthy, practical way to boost pelvic health. The product gives its users real time feedback and guided exercises via a mobile app.
After finding initial success with this product, Tania didn’t just rest on her laurels. No she used her own line of thinking from the success of her first product to imitate its success, this time with breast pumping tech that is designed to be more convenient and practical, that slots more easily into daily life.
Boler’s success is one that you can find in business 101. She identified a gap in the market that aligned with recent technological innovations and became one of the first to fill it by prioritising user experience and design. As a result, she created a popular product that customers enjoy.
Jessica Alba and the Demand for Honest Consumer Products
We all know Jessica Alba as a Hollywood actress, particularly popular during the 2000s with films like Sin City, The Fantastic Four, and Into the Blue. So it might come as a bit of a surprise to learn that the same actress, previously known mostly for her beauty, is a shrewd and successful businesswoman in her own right.
Her success in business came about when she recognised that a lot of people sought more transparency about the products they used around the house and put into their bodies, as ingredient awareness was on the rise – especially in families looking for wellness products for young children.
So she launched The Honest Company and never looked back. This business was all about transparency – that’s its main USP. Its products are all related to personal hygiene, baby care, and household products that clearly communicate their ingredients. The primary market was initially just parents, but as the demand for more ingredient awareness further increased, The Honest Company diversified its product range to also appeal to a broader audience who wanted to make a more informed purchasing decision.
Alba’s journey as an entrepreneur is emblematic of one in which a frustrated consumer becomes the solution. With her finger right on the pulse of her target demographic, Alba was able to create a product line that answered the prayers of a core consumer base.
Closing Thoughts
The women in this article have all created successful business empires because they knew something before the rest of us. One of them identified how modern technology could solve a long-standing problem, while another felt the taboo around women’s health and the menstrual cycle was lifting and gave them a great way to understand themselves even better. In many ways, these are businesses that only women could have founded, and now the world has them to thank.
Author
Darcy Fowler
Also read:How to Build a Culture of Active Inclusion for Women CEO
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