What we talked about
In this episode, you’ll learn why proactive hormone testing can be life-changing for women, and how it can give you more options, clarity, and press of mind for your future.
Svetlana Grinchenko, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer at Strawberry Health, shares her journey from a corporate career at PwC and leading a successful community startup for tech professionals to building a mission-driven health-tech company focused on proactive hormonal health for women.
Show notes
Svetlana Grinchenko discovered her own testosterone deficiency after five or six years of doctors attributing her fatigue to startup stress, having a child, and changing countries, none of which was the actual cause. That personal experience drives how she explains the central problem: regular gynecologists receive only a couple of hours of hormone training in medical school, which means the gap in women’s hormonal health isn’t a technology problem or a cost problem, it is primarily a knowledge problem.
What we covered
- One in every five to six US families struggles with infertility, yet most assume the problem lies with the woman. Svetlana noted that around 30 to 40% of infertility cases are connected to the male partner’s biology, a figure that stays invisible partly because women are the ones who most often seek testing first.
- The most common complaint Svetlana hears doctors receive from women in their forties is “I don’t feel like myself”, a description that gives a physician almost nothing to act on. Strawberry Health’s educational work focuses on teaching women to translate that feeling into specific, actionable symptoms: “I’m not sleeping as well as I did in my twenties, I have difficulty falling asleep, my mood swings more often.” That language change shifts a clinical conversation entirely.
- The at-home test Strawberry Health provides includes antimüllerian hormone (AMH), which measures ovarian reserve, how many eggs a woman has remaining. Women are born with all the eggs they will ever have, and that number declines with every menstrual cycle. Svetlana described Bay Area customers in their early thirties who ordered the test for general health reasons and discovered their ovarian reserve was lower than expected for their age, prompting them to freeze eggs earlier than they had planned.
- Testosterone in women is almost never tested by primary care providers, even though Svetlana describes it as “the hormone of energy and vitality.” Her own deficiency was missed for years while doctors explored iron deficiency and thyroid issues. Once she identified the root cause, she describes the experience as profound relief, “I wasn’t making things up in my mind.”
- Doctors are not ordering routine hormonal tests partly because they do not know what to do with the results. Strawberry Health’s approach is to give women the data and the language so they can walk into a medical appointment prepared, the goal is not to replace the physician but to make that conversation possible in the first place.
- Svetlana’s long-term vision is that every woman, from the moment she becomes fertile, tests her hormones at least annually and builds a longitudinal baseline, so that when she transitions into perimenopause, or when she wants to plan a pregnancy, she already knows her personal dynamics rather than discovering a problem at the point when options have narrowed.
About Svetlana
Svetlana Grinchenko is the co-founder and Chief Business Officer of Strawberry Health, a health tech company making at-home hormone and fertility testing accessible and actionable for women across the US. She is also a mother and an advocate for closing the education gap in women’s hormonal health.
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/svetlana-grinchenko
- Website: https://www.joinstrawberry.com
Episode 40 of the PreVetted Podcast.
Full transcript
Federico Ramallo (00:00) Welcome back to the Prevetted podcast, where we spotlight extraordinary people and remarkable talent reshaping our world. Our guest today is Svetlana Grinchenko. She’s the co-founder of Strawberry Health, a mission-driven health tech company that’s changing the game for women’s hormone and fertility wellness. She’s a champion for data-driven self-care, making at-home hormone tests feel accessible.
empowering and painless. She’s a passionate advocate for women’s health. She’s a mom and unapologetic croissant ambassador. Svetlana brings warmth and authenticity to everything she does. Hello, Svetlana, how are doing today?
Svetlana (00:50) I’m good. Thank you for having me Federico.
Federico Ramallo (00:54) Yeah, thank you for being here. I truly appreciate it. ⁓ I’ve been very interested to learn what you’re doing at Strawberry Health. I’ve been reading a little bit about, but ⁓ I think it’s important to hear it from your point. ⁓ What are you doing at Strawberry Health?
Svetlana (01:17) Yeah, totally. And you’ve put it together really well. yeah, so I’m the co-founder and chief business officer of Strawberry Health, where we help women take control of their hormonal health and fertility. And we do that through at-home blood.
Federico Ramallo (01:21) Thank you.
Svetlana (01:40) testing which is pain-free, super easy, accessible to everyone and available everywhere in the US. We also provide actionable insights on top of that, like not just numbers that you look at and kind of like freak out, like you see the red zone somewhere and you’re like my god “what’s broken?” So yeah this is what we do and we also
lot of support from the community, so we have community events because for many women their health journeys and fertility journeys are very lonely. So this is what we do.
Federico Ramallo (02:21) Very interesting. ⁓ I was going to ask further down the road, before we get into that, I wanted to ask you, why are you an unapologetic crescent ambassador?
Svetlana (02:35) ⁓
that’s a good one. And it’s a hard one because I’m just back from France where I haven’t been for eight years. And I think my ⁓ never-ending journey for the best croissants in the area is going to be even harder now because the benchmark is so high. I just love croissants and I think croissants makes everything better and especially things like events or get-together.
Federico Ramallo (02:39) You
Svetlana (03:05) Never dare to talk to people about anything without feeding them first. They will never open up to you. So if it’s like an event, always bring croissants. And whenever we host an event, we always try to bring croissants and obviously strawberries. So this is why.
Federico Ramallo (03:24) Interesting, interesting. ⁓ So I’m from Argentina. I moved to Mexico 17 years ago. And these are things that you get used to and become normal, right? ⁓ That you don’t appreciate until you don’t have them anymore. And I haven’t tried the cross sounds in Paris, so I cannot compare. But… ⁓
Svetlana (03:52) you
Federico Ramallo (03:53) The croissants in Buenos Aires, for me, are the best. And there hasn’t been any other croissant that would pretty much get close to it. Of course, this is very subjective point of view. But there is a part of me that it’s a flavor of nostalgia. But also the.
Svetlana (04:17) told with.
Federico Ramallo (04:21) There’s been a lot of people from Europe that moved to Argentina many years ago. So all the cafes has these high quality croissants ⁓ that in Mexico I couldn’t find. You can find some ⁓ similar croissants based, but they’re overloaded with sugar, so it doesn’t feel the same, right?
Svetlana (04:24) you
Yeah,
yeah, I’ve tried. But now it sounds like I am moving up the Argentina, like high on my list of the my next destinations to visit and you have to give me exact names of the places.
Federico Ramallo (04:57) Yeah, yeah, yeah, can give you a list.
⁓ I was there in June. ⁓
It’s, yeah, I mean, I know I’m not ⁓ objective, right? I’m biased, but the coffee, the chocolate, the croissants, the, ⁓ well, I call them sanguchito de miga. It’s, you know, it’s bread, jam and bread, ⁓ a ham and bread, but they cut the corners, so it’s only the innards of the bread, right?
So, it’s so delicious, you And then they toast it and and the cheese melts. ⁓ I love that, yeah.
Svetlana (05:38) Who’s ready for lunch? I’m sorry our listeners. If you haven’t been hungry, probably now you are.
Federico Ramallo (05:41) You
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was like a kid enjoying all those ⁓ traditional desserts and traditional food that you can find there. Yeah.
Svetlana (05:56) Yeah, I totally understand.
Federico Ramallo (05:57) Yeah. So anyway, going back to ⁓ Strawberry Health, what inspired you to start Strawberry Health?
Svetlana (06:04) That’s a great question. ⁓ Well, I’m a woman, I’m a mom to a daughter. I’m a daughter as well. And I have been frustrated by how little we know about women’s health. And I…
Got into this world of women’s health when I joined my co-founder who was leading a sustainable period care company to help her grow. And I just started listening to more and more about customers and I have heard like hundreds of stories and every woman I met.
had stories to share about how her concerns were dismissed, how she had to navigate complex things on her own, how she felt totally lost, how she basically knows nothing about her own health and she doesn’t get help from her doctor even when she’s asking questions. So that was the main motivation. This is something that still drives me to continue building Strawberry Health.
Federico Ramallo (07:08) Very interesting, yeah, yeah. I think that it became a status quo where ⁓ it’s normal for ⁓ women to get overloaded with hormones, right? ⁓ With fertility control, right? ⁓ All the load and the health hazards for fertility control goes to the woman and ⁓ it doesn’t have any weight on the men, right?
⁓ And that’s, you yeah. there are, well, I think there are starting to, but I haven’t seen one yet, a ⁓ fertility control for men, right?
Svetlana (07:41) Yeah.
Yeah, there are some companies who are building new things, but also their things just exist to date. And I’m still shocked with the fact how easily we just ⁓ put teenage girls on hormonal birth control.
without anything like testing before and sometimes they stay on that birth control for 10 years, 20 years without even knowing what is going on in their bodies and they only discover it once they get off birth control and they want to have kids ⁓ but you never know if you are even have that ability you are never doing anything to get better understanding of that so a lot of surprises are very unpleasant
A lot of people still get ⁓ pregnant quite easily, but many, feminists suffer because no one taught women what they are supposed to track, how they’re supposed to take care of themselves. It’s not common knowledge even now.
Federico Ramallo (08:59) Right, right. it’s lack of information and lack of tools, right, which is what you’re solving with Strawberry Health,
Svetlana (09:09) Lack of education, lack of support from medical professionals who are still not trained in hormones, like your regular gynecologist, OBGYN, how they’re called here in the United States, or your primary care provider, your doctor, knows almost nothing about hormones, if it’s not like a major disease, a major issue. They have about a couple of hours on hormone training during the whole medical school education.
So women have to go and Google symptoms. They find themselves on Reddit at 2 a.m. trying to find some scraps of information and trying to get some ⁓ information from those women who are eager to share their stories, like what was happening to them, what worked, what didn’t work, et cetera.
Federico Ramallo (10:03) Right, right. And ⁓ I was reading a study, I’m probably butchering the facts because I don’t remember it by heart, ⁓ basically there was a study that was describing how ⁓ hormone birth control has a deep effect in women’s decision to… ⁓
find a partner, right? ⁓ The perception of attractiveness of a partner ⁓ was affected by birth control, right? And we’re learning that now in this current age, right? And for how long has this been happening, right?
Svetlana (10:59) Yeah, totally.
Federico Ramallo (11:00) ⁓ So why do you think hormone testing hasn’t become a routine part of women health until now?
Svetlana (11:07) ⁓ I think the main reason is that it hasn’t been widely known that hormone testing ⁓ use any results that you can act on. ⁓ So as long as the medical professionals do not know what to do with your hormone levels that you get back when you get your results.
How do you know that you need to do that testing? So basically what is happening now is women are getting more and more control of their health through I don’t know devices like over in Apple watch. They started using ⁓ period tracking apps. ⁓ I think most of the women I know are now using some kind of period tracking. So they started paying more attention.
to their body, how things are functioning, they’re educating themselves. And this is how they basically have to ⁓ do the hormonal testing, even though the doctor says that they don’t have to do that, or basically they don’t need to do that. A lot of our customers come to us after being dismissed by their doctor.
They say like I’m 32 and I want to get pregnant maybe in the next three or four years. I wanted to have my hormones checked and my doctor said you just go try for a year or two. Don’t think about anything. So this is their response they keep getting.
And it is happening today when there so many solutions available, including Strawberry Health. So doctors are still not advocating for routine hormonal testing because they do not know what to do with those numbers.
Federico Ramallo (12:56) Right, right. the… ⁓
once you provide women with ⁓ more insights about their hormones then they can go to their doctors with more specific questions which, you know, if they don’t know the answers that kind of triggers the, okay now the doctor needs to, you know, do better,
Svetlana (13:16) Correct.
Correct. Correct. ⁓ First of all, they can go to the primary care provider or the GYN and they can show the, you know, like their own data, but also be able to, you know, explain the symptoms in a way that medical system understands. For example, we hear oftentimes from doctors that the most common symptom
in women like around 40s like don’t feel like myself what kind of symptom is that so if a woman is able to describe it like ⁓ I’m not you know like feeling as energized I feel like my mood swings more often I feel like I’m not sleeping as well as I used to in my 20s and I maybe like have difficulty falling asleep this is a totally different set of symptoms that doctors can actually act on versus just saying I don’t feel like myself
And this is a huge part of that is again education and we at Strawberry House do a lot of education through our website, our social media, trying to show women what to look for and what to monitor for and how you know like suffering shouldn’t be part of their life no matter how old they are. It doesn’t have to be part of their life whether it’s been like
menstrual cramps or you know
all kinds of things related to ⁓ midlife hormonal changes like fatigue, inability to sleep, inability to concentrate. ⁓ You can do something about that. That is what we are telling every woman we meet.
Federico Ramallo (15:02) Right, right, very interesting. Can you walk us through how the at-home hormone testing process works?
Svetlana (15:10) Yeah, totally. So our customers go to our website, they share their basic information like name, date of birth, email, and they order the kit that comes to their ⁓ house. That kit contains the blood collection device that they put on the upper arm.
It is absolutely painless collection of the blood sample. So they get the blood sample, they take the tube, put the cap on, put it in the prepaid envelope that we provide, drop it off at FedEx or they schedule a FedEx pickup and it goes to the lab.
A couple of days later, they get the full results and not just numbers, but explanation what it means for your health, for your fertility, for your life goals, what are your next steps, if there is something you need to discuss with your provider, with your doctor. We point this out. And they feel totally prepared to act on their data and not just…
Get it and do nothing.
Federico Ramallo (16:27) Right. And what kind of insights could women expect from the test results?
Svetlana (16:33) ⁓ One of the major insights that is oftentimes a surprise is the how many eggs they have left. A woman is born with all the eggs she will have throughout her whole life. And with each menstruation, she is losing some eggs. And actually that number that we have, we are testing for antimullerine hormone that shows how many eggs she has left.
And that is the number that is extremely important for fertility, especially if you’re looking to get pregnant slightly later in life, where your bearing reserve can.
diminish faster and you might be thinking, ⁓ like I’m ready to build my career for the next five years and then I’m going to think about kids. But if your baron reserve is lower, that’s a signal that you probably need to reconsider your plan and maybe look into other ways to structure your life for the next five years. Maybe freeze your eggs now and build your career. Maybe have kids slightly earlier so that you have that ability to have kids. ⁓
That is one of the ⁓ main insights, the fertility timeline that each person has and that is based on the hormone levels that we measure including antimullerine hormone. Another thing is how do your other hormones look like, example, adjuvant, progesterone, testosterone.
and that is a way to decode some symptoms. example, testosterone, which is almost never tested in women, but it is such an important hormone for women’s health. It is the hormone of energy, vitality, and you might be doing everything right. Like I am deficient in testosterone myself, and I only found this out after about like five, six years of… ⁓
⁓ testing blood for everything by my doctor except for testosterone. So they were trying to think it’s a…
iron deficiency or my thyroid issues but it was my testosterone so I was feeling tired more tired than I usually am and they would come up with all kinds of explanations like of course because you have a business and a kid like of course because you are a founder of course because you have changed countries but I know this is not right for me I know that this is a very different kind of being tired versus just you know take a break and have a proper rest for a
of days been tired and I found out my testosterone is too low so that is that was such a
An important insight, I finally felt like I found that root cause and it gave me so much mental clarity and just I started with relief. Like I wasn’t making things up in my mind. Here is my data and it says that I’m deficient in testosterone. Even if I boost my testosterone, I’m gonna get my energy and my life back and this is what is happening right now. So.
That is another important marker that we are testing for.
Federico Ramallo (20:03) Very interesting. ⁓ I mean, this is ⁓ another, a story related to this, but I think that there is a paradigm that is broken with doctors where they basically do a work operate under limited information, right? And they make this generic, and I’m giving a very broad brush to all doctors, so it’s not.
Svetlana (20:11) you
Federico Ramallo (20:33) all like that, the dynamic of you go to doctor, you get some studies that they send you only when they find that it’s reasonable enough ⁓ to pay for those ⁓ tests, But so many cases that they don’t ⁓ troubleshoot correctly, right? Because they’re not deemed worthy from that criteria. And… ⁓
Because they don’t have that, they will operate under limited information. And then even if they do a study, they do a study once a year or every once in a while. So they don’t have any other snapshots. And then when they review your case again, it’s been so long and they only have two numbers to compare or even one. So it’s hard for them to.
to actually know what is going on with you and your body, right? ⁓ being able to ⁓ have the empowerment to make your own studies and have your own insights and being able to connect the dots and come back with the doctor with those insights, I think that new paradigm is very powerful, right? ⁓
And I think that’s game changing because it’s breaking this traditional paradigm that we used to have. ⁓ Then on the other… go ahead, go ahead. I was going to say that on the other hand, I’ve seen people with the Apple Watch on fitness tracking getting obsessed by the rings or getting obsessed by the metrics, which I don’t think that’s healthy either, right? But…
Svetlana (22:07) Absolutely. And we are so glad to see… Yeah, sorry. Go ahead.
Federico Ramallo (22:26) If you have access to your own data of how is your body doing, then ⁓ without getting obsessed, you can have more knowledge and insights and come to a doctor with ⁓ better insights. And following the doctor to know which medicine should not go with which and getting ⁓ self-medicated, that’s another risk as well. we do need the doctors.
⁓ as part of this ⁓ solution but bringing the insights it’s a whole new game.
Svetlana (23:04) Totally, totally, yes. And ⁓ I was going to say, I’m so happy to see more and more doctors actually being more receptive towards the information that patients are bringing to them. So the doctors who are acknowledging, they might not know something because areas like women’s health or longevity is developing.
very fast right now and it’s just impossible to be on top of the things all the time. So we are always
telling everyone like you are the best advocate for your own health and no one is going to advocate for yourself as fiercely as you can. So it’s your responsibility to know your body, know what you want and come prepared when you’re talking to the doctor. And it’s an interesting thing you mentioned about being obsessed. I think this is another, you know, side of the coin. ⁓
⁓ and a lot of people I know have became obsessed with ⁓ different kinds of things during the pandemic. So those who were not, you know, baking bread were starting doing like ice baths, cold showers, ⁓ infrared saunas and all kinds of protocols without even, you know, like second guessing it. ⁓
Which is great on one hand, because you’re still doing something, but now we’re getting more data about like, okay, this is how it is helpful, and this is the type of people it is helpful for, or like this is where it’s more effective. And I was actually, it was really interesting to learn that most, not most, but like as soon as most studies are done on men,
a lot of things that we are considering healthy like ice baths or for example ketogenic diet are actually not really healthy for women. So this is a very very interesting ⁓ discovery and I highly encourage every woman who is watching this to follow Dr Stacey Sims.
on all things, ⁓ exercise and proper nutrition when it comes to women’s health specifically because women are not small men and we are kind of just like considering them to be small men for ⁓
the way we are anticipating the same results from the protocols that have been widely spread now for ourselves. yeah, it’s very different. And I’m so happy that we have more more ⁓ scientists and science-based influencers who are openly sure what works, what doesn’t work, and why.
Federico Ramallo (26:01) Right, right. Yeah, I think that embracing that our bodies are different, know, because with the push of equality is being this concept of we’re exactly the same, you know, and disregarding the differences between, know, biological differences between sexes, right? And I think we should, you know, strive towards equality.
but also embracing the biological differences that our bodies have,
Svetlana (26:36) Totally. And the main deal breaker is the hormones. So this is why understanding hormones is so important.
Federico Ramallo (26:41) Right.
Yes, yes. Do you think it’s also important for men to understand hormones for their own bodies or that doesn’t make many changes or it doesn’t affect as much?
Svetlana (27:01) ⁓ I think it’s really important for men to understand hormones when it comes to fertility challenges. For example, now most of the families I know, when they are finding out they’re infertile, they assume that something is wrong with the woman. But in fact, around 30 to 40 % of cases might be… ⁓
you know, connected with the man’s body, not the woman’s body. And also I think it’s for men, it’s really important to understand how testosterone works in their body, what it influences and how they’re to manage it as they grow older and start losing their testosterone.
Federico Ramallo (27:46) Right, right, yeah. usually there is a lot of guilt and shame when that happens, right? Whether it’s on the men is, you I’m not good enough. And then on the women, you know, I’m not good enough as well. But it’s different, right? It’s a different type of guilt, right? And that’s devastating, right? When you get to that point, it’s devastating.
Svetlana (28:13) Yeah, and I think we do not realize how many families actually going through infertility. I think in the United States it’s about one in every five to six families who is struggling with infertility. So this is…
Federico Ramallo (28:23) Right.
Svetlana (28:26) way more common, like say if you have you know 5 000 people on LinkedIn out of those 5 000 to 1 000 is probably struggling with its utility but we still do not share about that openly so we still assume that something is wrong with us and that is not so common and this is a very lonely journey.
Federico Ramallo (28:47) Right, right, and I can see how with Strawberry Health you’re helping women and couples to avoid getting to that place, right? Because they can prevent that by knowing their bodies, right?
Svetlana (29:04) Totally, totally. If they start testing slightly ⁓ sooner than they want to have kids, they will be much better prepared for what’s coming next. If they start testing, like if someone is listening to that and that is a woman, no…
age, the time to act is right now. Whether it’s your women’s health and understanding what’s going on in your body, decoding your symptoms or it is related to understanding where you are in terms of fertility, ⁓ you should test your hormones right now.
Like the sooner you start doing that, the better because you have more data, you have longitudinal data of how far your hormones are declining because they are declining with age and how your ovarian reservoir is declining because your ovarian reservoir is declining every time you menstruate. So you need to understand where you are and you need to ⁓ evaluate your choices, your strategies.
⁓ rather than just come like you know like find something out five years from now and to be faced with the only strategy to go through like IVF multiple rounds which are extremely expensive and it’s not easy on your body as well so just now to be prepared to act on your data and know your options ⁓ this is my
probably the biggest ask for every woman.
Federico Ramallo (30:45) the earlier they know, the more options they have available and as you mentioned IVF is an option but ⁓ the success rate is very low and it’s very expensive
Svetlana (30:51) Absolutely, of course.
Federico Ramallo (31:02) If, yeah.
Svetlana (31:03) It is very expensive indeed
and sooner you think about, sooner you understand what’s going on. Maybe you do a test and you understand that everything looks perfect and you can have that peace of mind for the next couple of years. I still ask women to retest their hormones every year because things may ⁓ start declining sooner and you never know until you get it tested.
And when it comes to such an important thing as building your family.
⁓ Somehow we anticipate that it’s going to happen magically once we are ready. And it’s another thing that is surprising me. Like if you want to go to college, you are not just praying that we’ll get into college and let things happen. We start preparing. We understand where we are financially, academically, logistically, and this is exactly what you need to do if you want to have kids ever in your life. Even if you don’t want to have them until like you’re
40 and you’re 25 now. You need to understand where you are because when time comes there might be very limited options for you and you might not be ready even either financially or logistically or you might just not have those years to try for a couple of years so they go through 8-10 IVF rounds.
Just test your hormones, understand where you are and go live your life full of beautiful things.
Federico Ramallo (32:39) Very beautiful, yes. I think that the biological ideal age for women to have children is under 20s, right? But ⁓ I can also understand that ⁓ modern life as it is now, it’s difficult to have kids at that age, And so I can understand women would prefer to push that further down the road, right?
⁓ But the risks increase in the 30s and the 40s, right? So ⁓ being able to…
Svetlana (33:14) And even for 20 years
old, now you never know what’s happening.
Federico Ramallo (33:19) Alright.
Right, right. So being able to make that decision with more information I think is important.
Svetlana (33:28) Absolutely. Absolutely. This is just my biggest pet peeve and my biggest, you ask for all the women. Just know your data. Don’t act on, you know, some myths or some vague numbers like, women’s fertility is declining after age 35. You might be perfectly fertile at 40 and your fertility might be decreased at 27.
You need to know your data, your own personal data that is as unique as your body is and act on that, not on some vague numbers. ⁓
Federico Ramallo (34:06) Right.
What is the most…
interesting testimonial ⁓ you heard from your customers, ⁓ anyone that you could share, right?
Svetlana (34:19) Yes, ⁓ I will not be sharing names of course, but a lot of our customers who are doing their tests and discovered they have lower bearing reserve. And we know that some are rethinking their life priorities and maybe they’re considering freezing eggs.
And they have never thought about that. They were thinking, oh, like I’m 32, I still have another maybe five, seven years of doing my thing. But they discover that their variance is always lower for their age. And they want to make sure they have options when they’re ready. Some of them do not have partners. Some of them have never thought about fertility. They wanted to do the testing only for their women’s health.
And actually our test results motivate them to rethink what they want in life. And they rush and start talking to clinics about freezing their eggs, for example. And they have much more peace of mind, know, continue building their career. So we have seen ⁓ cases like that, which are quite common here in the Bay Area. And…
A lot of them were like, my God, thank God, thanks God I discovered it. I was never thinking that is gonna be my case. I know people are doing that, but I was never thinking it is applicable to me. And now they’re like, feel so much better. I have done something for my future and I can continue building my life confidently. No matter what’s happening in my life, whether I have a husband, a partner, or, you know, like I’m just feeling like I have different options. ⁓
and it gives me confidence. That is a very powerful one.
Federico Ramallo (36:12) Wow, that’s amazing!
Svetlana (36:13) Yeah, and also a lot of women discover that their symptoms they’re experiencing is not something that is they’re making up in their head and this is actually the first signs of perimenopause. We have seen women who have been feeling depressed and they are being prescribed antidepressants for example.
is not helping as much as they wanted them to. So they think like they’re broken, something is not working. Or some women start to be like more irritable, snapping at their kids, at their husband. And then they do the testing and they are discovering that they are entering the perimenopause age, which means your hormones fluctuate a lot and it can bring all sorts of symptoms. So we direct them to providers who
actually help them manage perimenopause. During different strategies, whether it’s hormone replacement therapy or lifestyle changes, and most often it’s a combination of both, and they feel like their life is back. They’re back to themselves. They’re feeling the joy of life again. And that is another very, very powerful motivator for us to continue doing that. Because if a woman says, I finally feel like my life is back.
This is extremely rewarding to hear as a founder.
Federico Ramallo (37:40) Yeah, that’s amazing. I mean, you’re literally changing people’s life.
Svetlana (37:45) I hope so, yeah.
Federico Ramallo (37:48) the
⁓ So what has been some of the biggest challenges you had building Strawberry so far?
Svetlana (37:54) ⁓ One of the biggest challenges recently for us has been narrowing down our focus.
because we have so much demand from everywhere. And I think women’s health is so underserved that you have those signals from everywhere like, the clinics need it and people need it and that population needs this and that population needs that. ⁓ That is, it was challenging to stay focused on one thing and we’ve chosen fertility as our current focus because this is where we have seen the most impact currently.
But that has been tough. We also wanted to focus on like menopause and perimenopause and maybe we’ll do it as a separate direction of business slightly later. But that was hard to choose between like where do we focus.
Federico Ramallo (38:53) Yeah, it’s hard. as a founder myself, I know that struggle because it’s something like you have to be stubborn enough to ignore the signals, but sensitive enough to hear them, which sounds counterintuitive. But the idea is you have to choose, ⁓ you have to ignore the noise of, ⁓ this is not going to work or, you know, or.
we’re going to have this issue and this issue and this issue. There’s always problems with when we’re building something, there’s always problems, right? But also on the other hand, we need to listen to the world to see what’s going on to adapt what we’re doing to actually be helpful and impactful, right? And that’s a very fine line to navigate,
Svetlana (39:43) Totally. So thankful you’re understanding that.
Federico Ramallo (39:48) Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I try not to play the game of what if or what should I or could I, because we make the decisions with the limited information that we have. And then we learn maybe that was not the right decision. So ⁓ that ⁓ type of thinking actually drains our energy to move forward. So I rather.
Svetlana (40:17) Totally.
Federico Ramallo (40:18) accept that, we make a mistake on this decision, whatever it is, okay, now we’re going to correct course, now we’re going to move forward, right? ⁓ Yeah, which is easy to say, but hard to do, right?
Svetlana (40:29) Right, right. Especially when you think like, but those people, you know, like there’s a big market opportunity here. But, you know, staying focused is the only way to grow, I think, as a startup, as a smaller business. And then adding on like verticals or adding on other products.
Federico Ramallo (40:52) ⁓ So what are you looking ahead? What is your long-term vision for strawberry and for the future of fertility care?
Svetlana (41:02) ⁓ Our long vision is that every woman, as soon as she becomes fertile, will start doing testing, at least annually, to understand what’s going on in her body, and she will be able to make those informed decisions. And we are envisioning ourselves as her, you know, woman’s health bestie, where she can get support, she can get information, she can get all the resources she needs.
and also ⁓ get her own data ⁓ which is tracked over time and she has a whole like a blueprint of what was going on in her body in terms of hormones when she needs to act on that whether it’s like you know getting pregnant or transitioning into perimenopause and menopause she knows her baselines she understands her dynamics
and she knows exactly what to replenish, when to act, and she will not spend even a week in her life suffering from symptoms she doesn’t know how to decode.
Federico Ramallo (42:13) Very beautiful vision. Yes.
Svetlana (42:16) Thank you. I hope it will come true with all our efforts. should.
Federico Ramallo (42:22) Yes, yes, I think that what you’re doing is going to have a lot of impact on women, so I’m looking forward to hear more about what you guys are doing.
Svetlana (42:36) Thank you, Federico.
Federico Ramallo (42:39) Thank you Svetlana for being here today.
Svetlana (42:41) Thank you for a wonderful interview. It was very nice to share stories.
Federico Ramallo (42:47) Yeah, it was great to hear you and learn more. Yeah, thank you.
Svetlana (42:52) Thank you so much.