A Brief But Spectacular take on revolutionizing women’s health care

Joanna Strober, Founder, Midi Health:

When I was in my 40s, I had a big job, and things actually started falling apart in my life. I was angry a lot. I wasn’t sleeping. I was having hot flashes. And, honestly, I didn’t know what was going on in my body, and I didn’t really have a lot of models to tell me that I was experiencing perimenopause and that I should be doing something about it.

Our physical and our emotional lives are actually very tied together. If you’re not sleeping, if you’re having anxiety, when you go to work the next day, it’s really hard to perform. And the statistics are actually staggering and really unhappy when you read that over 50 percent of women are not applying for a raise at work because of these menopause symptoms, and 10 percent actually leave their jobs because of menopause symptoms that are 100 percent treatable.

When I actually found a provider to help me, which took about a year to get into that provider, they had a six-month waiting list, within two weeks, I was on a selection of medications and my entire life got better. I’m just really sad that it took me so long in order to get the right care.

I really feel strongly that menopause care is an issue of equity. I really believe women have the right to expert care. Midi Health is a national virtual care clinic for women to take care of all of the issues of perimenopause and menopause.

We have hundreds of providers around the country, and we give women access to those providers with visits covered by their insurance. The most rewarding thing about running this company is how grateful people are. When we first started the company, our engineers used to laugh. They said, I thought we’re a medical company, but when I read the reviews every morning, the women all say, I was seen and heard. Someone listened to me and paid attention to me and acknowledged my symptoms and wanted to address them.

They feel like they have complained about their symptoms and the doctors have just said to grin and bear it, that it’s just a normal stage of aging. And what we have realized is that women don’t need to be told that anymore. They need to be told, really good care is available.

I recently launched something on my Instagram called Menopause With My Mother, where I interview my daughter and I interview my mom. And the reason I bring this up is I think these conversations have to be happening everywhere. They have to be happening at home with your mothers and your daughters. They have to be happening at work. They have to be happening among your friends.

This is not just a women’s issue. Men care about the women that they love. And when those women are frustrated or sad or not sleeping or having anxiety, it impacts the entire family.

My name is Joanna Strober, and this is my Brief But Spectacular take on advocating for better women’s health care.