genneve is helping women feel awesome in midlife and menopause

I’d like to welcome Jill Angelo to share her community with all the women here wanting to know more about their health in midlife or menopause. Taking care of

your health can be really challenging, especially if it’s managing menopause hot flashes, dry skin or interrupted sleep. It helps to have a place where you can turn

for support and answers, but for this “third chapter” of a woman’s reproductive life, there haven’t been many such places. Until now.

Jill started genneve when she was in her 40s, taking a huge leap of faith after she left a long career at Microsoft. Here’s more about her journey to empowering women and genneve:

“I’ve always been passionate about women’s health, and an opportunity came up to create and run a company that made a line of feminine lubricants and moisturizers.

Given that our customers were mostly women in their 40s and up, it didn’t take long to realize there were lots of unmet needs for this population. I did studies, met with focus groups, and talked with women from all over the country. Pretty much all of them said the same thing: we need more. More solutions, more information, more help.

Our transition to all things menopause and women’s midlife

So I widened genneve’s focus from feminine dryness to All Things Menopause and Midlife Health. Now, our mission at genneve is to be the digital solution where women connect with all the resources they need to take control of their health at midlife. Here are a few of the resources you’ll find:

Healthcare professionals who specialize in women in midlife: How do you find a physical therapist in your area who specializes in pelvic floor pain and incontinence? And where else can you get a quick, 30-minute video call with her to get a sense of what you should do next?
Products designed for a mature woman’s body. What’s the right supplement for your hot flashes and where can you get it?
Community, conversation, and information: How can you decide which lube you need? Which sheets are better for night sweats, flannel or bamboo?

I started genneve because I want women to be empowered to take control of their health in midlife. We women often don’t have the information we need, and we’re taught to be too embarrassed to ask for it – and that can be dangerous.

The third chapter of a woman’s reproductive life can be challenging with erratic periods, hot flashes, insomnia, mood swings, anxiety, and a host of other issues make our bodies feel foreign and unreliable.

And because no one talks about it, we don’t have answers to our questions, we don’t have solutions to our problems, and maybe worst of all – we don’t even know how much better we could feel.

The truth is, women can feel great in midlife. In fact, with some education and help, the years of 40 and beyond can be the best, most vibrant years of our lives.

Women deserve better

Here’s an example of what the menopause experience is like for some women. We recently published a story of a woman who suffered years and years of painful, heavy periods that her doctor basically dismissed. Finally, after two episodes of bleeding so heavily it was like her water broke, she convinced a doctor to run more tests, only to find she had pre-cancerous cells and giant fibroids in her uterus. She suffered for years – almost until it was too late – because she assumed that was just how menopause went, and there was no one to tell her otherwise.

Women tell us again and again that not only do they need products and information, they need menopause to be brought out of the shadows and talked about. They crave open, honest, respectful conversation, no stigma, no taboo, no shame.

So we provide space for women to share stories and learn from one another. By sharing, we get the benefit of each other’s wisdom and experience, we contribute to the larger body of knowledge, and we make the topic as normal and acceptable as chatting about cures for the flu.”

You can check out genneve here.