When She Founded

Jill Angelo is the CEO and Founder of Gennev, a company on a mission to give women more control over their health, especially for those in their second half of life. Gennev prides itself as the first-ever online clinic for women in menopause that also provides telemedicine access to OBGYNs, Primary Care Practitioners, and Registered Dietitians. Before starting Gennev, Jill spent 20 years in the tech industry, of which 15 of those years she spent working at Microsoft in executive roles such as Chief of Staff to the CMO, Director of Global Media, and Product Management for Emerging Markets. Jill is also a regular speaker on topics related to femtech, women’s health, and entrepreneurship and sits on the Board of Directors for Special Olympics of Washington.

Today, Jill joins me to share her passion for helping women and the services Gennev offers. She describes why menopause is a taboo topic and how she wants to change society’s perception of it. She explains why the second half of a woman’s life isn’t all bad and discusses some of the challenges she overcame when she became an entrepreneur. Jill also shares advice for female founders in any industry and why there’s a great need for a service that specifically caters to menopausal women.

"Our mission is to empower women to take control of their health in the second half of life, starting with menopause." - Jill Angelo

Today on When She Founded:

• How Gennev helps women in their menopause stage.
• The need for a service that specifically caters to menopausal women.
• Why being in menopause isn't completely negative.
• Jill's background and what led her to start Gennev.
• The effort they put into building Gennev and what it was like during the first few months.
• The biggest challenge Jill encountered when she was just starting out.
• When they started growing as a company, who they hired, and where they are now.
• Why telehealth is a difficult endeavor to take on.
• How their clients are finding their company.
• Why menopause is considered a taboo subject.
• How their pricing model is structured.

Connect with Jill Angelo:

• Gennev
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Instagram

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Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of When She Founded with your host, Somer Hamrick. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe and leave a rating and review.

Don’t forget to visit our website, connect with Somer on LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes across social media.

Maxim Cramer is the technical coach and consultant who helps women entrepreneurs create world-class software. With her ability to erase the gap between the technology and business, she’s worked on apps that have seen a million downloads on the first day and been featured in Apple retail stores around the globe.

Maxim has worked as a technical consultant, UX designer and software engineer. She was integral to the team that developed Swiftkey, a keyboard app that saw over a million downloads on its first day and whose success was profiled in the New York Times (Microsoft has since acquired the app). She has also been a developer for fine arts collection app Artsy, and a technical consultant for IT firm Hewlett-Packard. Today she works as a principal design technologist at Autodesk on a software product revolutionizing the film and gaming industry. Maxim has also been invited to speak at multiple conferences, including events for Google and Facebook in places from London to Japan.

As founder of MENNENIA, Maxim empowers female founders to leverage technology and make their biggest impact yet. Repeatedly called out for her ability to turn technology into everyday English, flattening communications barriers between technical teams and visionaries, she’s taken on the audacious goal of securing a digital future for women by doubling the number of female founded tech businesses worldwide.

Maxim joins me today to discuss the pivotal moment in the industry that things changed for Maxim as well as in the industry. She talks about her start developing for the iPhone in 2009. Her desire for diversity in the type of products and services that were offered and wanted the developers behind them to represent the users. She tells us about her podcast, Cutting Through Tech, and all of the great tech tips that are available on it. We learn about how she helps evaluate the feasibility, desirability and the viability of a product idea. And which one is the most important and often overlooked. Listen and learn as Maxim makes tech strategies easier for beginning entrepreneurs.

“Because it's your business. And it's such a big part of what you're trying to do, you can't leave that in its entirety in the hands of others, you have to steer the ship.” - Maxim Cramer

Today on When She Founded:

• How getting a computer at the age of five helped Maxim spark her fascination and curiosity of technology and how it worked
• How female founders can think through and develop their tech solutions
• Why Mockups are so valuable to pitching your ideas to others
• The different types of pricing models and how to decide which option to pursue
• What one thing a business owner should consider when factoring customer acquisition costs and customer lifetime value
• Trends in tech especially in augmented reality
• Good strategies for B2B and B2C business models
• The number one pitfall when beginning their business, the one thing NOT to outsource completely

If you would like to connect with Maxim:

She is on Instagram @Mennenia and her website is: mennenia.com

Maxim’s podcast is called Cutting Through Tech

In the introduction here is the link to the Forbes article that Somer referenced: https://www.forbes.com/sites/allysonkapin/2020/01/15/why-women-make-better-venture-capitalists/#7bebc9254faf

Subscribe, Rate & Share Your Favorite Episodes!

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of When She Founded with your host, Somer Hamrick. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe and leave a rating and review.

Don’t forget to visit our website, connect with Somer on LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes across social media.

Mary Ellen Beliveau is the founder and CEO of Knowledge to Practice (K2P), an education technology organization specializing in providing educational development to medical providers so they can combat skills gaps, provide high-quality care, and perform at “top-of-license.” Prior to founding K2P, Mary Ellen served as SVP and Chief Learning Officer at the American College of Cardiology, as well as a variety of leadership roles at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. Before entering the medical space, Mary Ellen was an executive at firms including Arnold Worldwide and Hill Holiday.

Today, Mary Ellen joins me to discuss her firm, Knowledge to Practice (K2P), and the personal reason she decided to engage in this type of work. She shares some of the reasons medical professionals have a difficult time recognizing and addressing their blind spots and how her firm helps physicians identify gaps and stay up-to-date on best practices. Mary Ellen also highlights the importance of continuity of care and knowledge, and the importance of gaining provider trust.

“Individuals going out and seeking out their own solutions drives discontinuity of care, which is one of the things that drives costs in healthcare.” - Mary Ellen Beliveau

Today on When She Founded:

• Mary Ellen’s early career and what compelled her to pivot into the healthcare education space
• What gets in the way of physicians’ ability to continue learning
• Problems Mary Ellen saw with the existing continuing medical education model
• Why Mary Ellen decided to start her own company
• Why professional development needs to be more than just a box to check off
• What differentiates K2P from other firms in the industry
• The three business models within K2P and some of the challenges faced with these models
• How K2P’s business strategy has evolved over time
• How K2P has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and what COVID-19 has taught the world
• How continuous professional development relates to continuity of care

Resources Mentioned:

• MindShare

Connect with Mary Ellen Beliveau:

• Knowledge to Practice (K2P)
• Knowledge to Practice (K2P) on Twitter
• Mary Ellen Beliveau on Twitter
• Mary Ellen Beliveau on LinkedIn

Subscribe, Rate & Share Your Favorite Episodes!

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of When She Founded with your host, Somer Hamrick. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe and leave a rating and review.

Don’t forget to visit our website, connect with Somer on LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes across social media.

The pandemic has severely impacted our lives and sources of income. It has paused many entrepreneur’s dreams of establishing their presence in their respective industries. But just because your business is taking a beating or is on hold doesn’t mean you can’t get anything out of this year. We’re living in different times now, and we have more opportunities to find success - even in the deep economic recession we’re experiencing today. Now is the best time to get your name out there and build your presence in the industry.

Today, I share my thoughts on the current state of the pandemic and what my company has done to ride the waves of this recession. I discuss what we can look forward to once the pandemic is over and how I expect the market to shift. I describe some of the reasons why your sales and marketing are doing poorly and the services I offer to boost them. I explain why it’s not just the big fish that will come out successful in 2020 and why now is the best time to up your marketing game. I also share what brings me comfort in a time of great uncertainty.

“If you're not messaging your solution to the right people and the right way, you'll never move leads from the funnel to your pipeline. Full stop.”

Today on When She Founded:

• Why the month of September is one of my favorites.
• What brings me comfort in these unprecedented times.
• What we can look forward to after the pandemic is over.
• How the new world will look for entrepreneurs.
• What my company did to adjust to the immediate effects of the pandemic.
• My advice for vendors and service providers.
• Why now is the time to ramp up your sales and marketing.
• Why the big companies aren't the only businesses that will survive this pandemic.
• How we can help your company find your market and close more deals.

Resources Mentioned:

• Launch to Leads Lab

Subscribe, Rate & Share Your Favorite Episodes!

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of When She Founded with your host, Somer Hamrick. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe and leave a rating and review.

Don’t forget to visit our website, connect with Somer on LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes across social media.

Jenn Halweil is an electrical engineer turned story engineer on a mission to amplify inspiring stories of individuals breaking ground in science, technology, leadership and beyond, to inspire a new wave of innovation in the process. Jenn is the Founder and Chief Story Engineer of #GoBeyond, a full service production and educational media company dedicated to uncovering stories that challenge what we as humans know to be possible. When she is not documenting VR for the USGA, digital transformation for EXL, or machine learning algorithms for Ferrari, she is focused on championing diversity and inclusion in STEM through a number of initiatives, including documenting Chloe Capital's #InvestInWomen tour to deploy over $1.5M in capital to female led tech startups across the country and this Forbes piece on the developer of the Brooklyn Bridge: Emily Warren Roebling.

Most recently, she directed and executive produced, Financially Naked, which broke 1M+ views online. Financially Naked focuses on financial literacy, following the journeys of six individuals as they work with their trainers to overcome student loan, medical, and credit debt. Her work has been featured in more than 100 publications, and her content has received millions of views, including features in Forbes, Scientific American, The Economist, and most recently a Marvel comic as a real life superhero.

"And so I think if we're going to shift viewing and trusting women as authority figures and society at large, this (STEM) is the place to start to really crack that ceiling enough that we can go on to the next level” - Jenn Halweil

Today on When She Founded:

• The mission and background of Jenn’s company, #GoBeyond
• The services that #GoBeyond provides
• Her childhood influences on her STEM future
• How to increase STEM literacy on the masses
• On how to NOT wait for permission to go do a thing or make a thing
• The three pillars of her advocacy through her company’s mission
• Jenn’s dreams for the future

Connect with Jenn and #GoBeyond - You can also connect with Jenn on LinkedIn or Twitter

For information on Somer’s April Webinar you can connect with Somer through When She Founded LinkedIn, Chanel Clinical LinkedIn, or Somer’s own LinkedIn

Subscribe, Rate & Share Your Favorite Episodes!

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of When She Founded with your host, Somer Hamrick. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe and leave a rating and review.

Don’t forget to visit our website, connect with Somer on LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes across social media. If you are a female founder who needs more support please visit and sign up on our Launch to Leads Lab website.