WoW Woman in Femcare | Vanessa Siverls, founder of BUPeriod
Interview by Amanda McIntyre - Chavis
Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Vanessa Siverls has experienced the curtain, the shield, the three-letter word. Now she has a blank slate to start all over again. She graduated with a BA in Theatre from Hunter and has performed multiple genres of theatre. In addition, Vanessa has had the rare opportunity to work for one of the biggest brands on earth, The NFL., where she found her passion for people through developing national training programs for youth, former players and women who wanted to get and stay connected to the game.
Vanessa decided to get her MBA, in 1 year, at Hult International Business School where she experienced 45 different nationalities, studied abroad in the Middle East and ultimately gained the courage to start her own business, BUPeriod P.B.C.
BUPeriod P.B.C, is an early-stage startup in menstrual health that will provide innovative products and educational services for women and young girls. The BUP Smart Pad is the flagship product to be launched in 2020. The goal of the pad is to not only provide a custom fit, but to alert women of potential risks such as saturation, and low iron levels. The company was born when original founder, Vanessa Siverls, decided to help women who were, like her plagued with uterine fibroids, have a better period experience. Since the company’s inception in 2016 BUPeriod has been developed in two startup incubators, 1776 and Futureworks, and was 1st prize winner of the Make It in Brooklyn Pitch Competition May 2018. BUPeriod just finished up as a research fellow at Pratt’s Brooklyn Fashion Design & Accelerator and has since secured a R & D partnership with Cornell University School of Human Ecology for the design of the smart menstrual pad product. BUPeriod is now in a prime position to create partnerships that will help accelerate brand awareness for MVP Beta production and provide monumental consulting services in menstrual health education. Measurement for the company’s success will be the increase of menstrual health awareness and management which will in turn affect the number of young girls who can stay in school as well as the amount of multiple uterine surgeries a woman has in her lifetime.
Vanessa volunteers her business services for three amazing and phenomenal non-profit teams of vibrant unapologetic engineers: We Build Black, Black Girls Code, and Technovation.
What is the main concept behind your project / product and how did you come up with it?
The main concept behind the BUP Smart Pad was to create a new period experience that would upgrade the lifestyle of women who have heavy period flow and may experience shame, stigma and taboo. I was one of those women. I was diagnosed with 4 uterine fibroids at the age of 26 after a routine blood donation drive went sideways. I was told I could not donate blood because I didn’t have enough blood to give. I thought that was insane and asked to try again and the iron test was so low that they sent me home. I had given blood for years and took pride in it. I was in my prime, looking forward to building a family with my now ex-husband and was in the best shape of my life…so, I thought. Then one by one different signs started to appear that someone was wrong. I was not able to conceive, my periods became a nightmare, staying awake at work became challenging due to period anemia and the worse part of it all was that my mom had fibroids and I never knew. It wasn’t until I told her about my diagnosis and my horrible periods that she shared, not only her, but my aunts did as well. Long story short, I refused immediate surgery and went on a quest of research and wellness practices to find out how to understand, manage and communicate my menstrual health with uterine fibroids. Ten years and four doctors later I became symptom free, had normal periods and basically starved the fibroids to death. I discovered the key to managing my menstrual health was lifestyle changes. I changed my diet according to my blood type and any allergies I had, I adopted a beauty regimen that was toxic and chemical free and I switched to more meditative and yoga practices. Stress reduction, diet, & toxic free consumer products eliminated my symptoms. The only thing left were the fibroids. So, in 2015 my trusted gyn, Dr, Bernadith Russell, removed 22 fibroids via a myomectomy. She saved my uterus. I was fertile and happy. But there was something still missing. I still needed help managing my heavy period flow which apparently was natural for me. There were no products that spoke to my unique period especially when I had the fibroids. The one size fits all approach didn’t work. I was against birth control as I was in my childbearing years and tampons were not an option due to toxic shock syndrome as well as they were uncomfortable. It was during recovery from surgery that I started to sketch out ideas of a new period experience that comprised of a pad that was more custom to fit, sustainable and healthy in material and, for added value, spoke to you by giving you information about the contents of your period. The BUP Smart Pad was birthed.
When did you begin this venture, and do you have other members in your team?
So, as I mentioned, it was during my six-week recovery from the fibroid surgery that I came up with the idea. But then I went back to work and was laid off 3 days later. Still healing from a six-inch C-Section cut, and on serious pain medication. So, the idea went into the closet until I could figure my life out. I was freshly divorced, just out of surgery and just freshly out of a job…or shall I say an 11-year career at the National Football League. It was my dad who said “you don’t have time to be depressed Vanessa, go out there and get your MBA…I did just that at Hult international Business School. It was at Hult that BUPeriod became a real work in progress business plan. My initial team was my classmates. We did the executive summary and pitched the idea and prototype. I was told by the judges P & G would destroy me. LOL. After receiving my MBA, I traveled to the Middle East, Africa and Europe to see who the game changers and leaders were in menstrual health and I started to notice the same pattern of stigma, shame and taboo. Lack of education, access and affordability for menstrual health management is global. I came back home to Brooklyn, NY and was accepted into various incubator and accelerator programs to help me flush out the idea and build the prototype. It was through the former Brooklyn Fashion and Design Accelerator of Pratt institute of Technology that I won an R &D partnership for the design phase of the pad with Cornell University. It was also then I acquired my lead technical industrial engineer, Aaron Trocola, of Three Form Fashion. And network, by network, panel by panel, hand shake by hand shake I now have a stellar team of engineers and Bio-Tech SME’s ready to dive in upon BUPeriod receiving full seed funding. They are mostly advising and pro-bono consulting at this point.
How long did it take you to be where you are now?
2 years.
What was the biggest obstacle?
This whole experience. Having an MBA has NOTHING to do with starting a business (laugh
). I initially approached my startup like it was a case study and threw all my savings into it and hired all my MBA friends…. WITHOUT A PRODUCT! Eventually they all got real paying jobs…but still support in spirit. I tried to get a co-founder but I was already too deep in the weeds and it ultimately didn’t work out…but they are still very supportive as well. Would have to say overall the biggest obstacle is selling the vision without cash resources or a final Beta product for immediate testing. But when you are dealing with vaginas…you can’t rush anything…we have been exploited enough…it’s time somebody took their time to properly design think. The world is not flat neither are our vaginas. So why are pads?
What are your biggest achievements to date?
It was such an honor to win the Make it in Brooklyn Female Founders pitch competition in 2018. In addition, being selected for the R & D partnership with Cornell University was massive. In addition to building the BUP Smart pad I also consult and educate on best menstrual health practices for young girls ages 7 – 17. My first workshop contract was with Black Girls Code and I was elated. 1 out of 3 black women in America has, had or will have uterine fibroids in their life that may disrupt their menstrual health…so this was an honor. I also got a contract at the NY HALL OF SCIENCE for adults and that was a great experience. Although there are more accomplishments, being selected for the National Science Foundation I-Corps program was massively valuable as they sponsored me for the SXSW 2019 conference where I was able to conduct over 40 interviews of my target market and begin my own database of information that will go into building the Smart Pad.
What are the challenges of being an entrepreneur in the niche you are in? How about being a female founder / entrepreneur?
Some of the challenges of being an entrepreneur in this space, outside of continued stigma, shame and taboo, is that this space is becoming very crowded. The formally “Feminine Hygiene” space now appropriately deemed the menstrual health space was dominated by four or five consumer good giants. Now there are about 100 new young startups in this space and specifically in the fem tech space, players are putting themselves in position to add value in this space… and BUPeriod is one of them. The good thing is we are entering this market focusing on women who need menstrual health insight to inform them of their bodies if they are at risk of being having unique and unmanageable periods. This is the best time, I believe, for being a female founder as the numbers are out of how little we get funded and now the numbers are rising of how many want to invest in us.
Is the #WomenInTech movement important to you and if yes, why?
The #womenintech movement is very important not just to me as a platform and sisterhood, but as a potential tool to pipeline young up and coming innovators who need to see that sisterhood and that we are real.
What is the most important piece of advice you can give to all female founders and female entrepreneurs out there?
The best piece of advice that I can give all female founders and female entrepreneurs out there is USE YOUR CARDS. Play them ALL. Don’t hold back. Apply and submit and pitch and network and shake hands and kiss babies with EVERY entity that has an interest in uplifting, mentoring, advising, funding and growing women in business. We have not arrived, in my opinion, where we can say what we do without including that we are women at what we do because every little girl with a dream is watching. Until the pay, funding, startup, decision making gaps are filled we have a responsibility to own our womanhood whatever shape or form that may come in for the future generation of girls and women…locally, nationally, and globally.
What will be the key trends in the fem tech industry in the next 5 years and where do you see it heading?
I believe the fem tech industry will be flooded with amazing women who will build innovative solutions based on issues they may have gone through or experience others go through. I think this young industry will blossom and flourish and ultimately help connect the gaps in women’s health. Period. Technology such as ML and AI and even Nano may play a big part in this field as well. My concern is that we actively listen to the women who we are looking to help so that we get the fem tech right… especially since 1B has already been invested.
Who are your 3 inspirational women in fem tech?
My top 3 inspirational women in fem tech are:
Suzanne Sinatra, Founder and CEO of Private Packs… she fought cancer through her startup journey and never gave up. Her story is personal. Women are usually thought to be a sponge for pain. Especially black women. Suzanne inspired me to continue with my passion that I have for women’s health regardless of my personal health.
Crystal Etienne, Founder and CEO of Ruby Love… she stayed under the radar and bootstrapped 10 million until recently being funded 15m million publicly. Her main competitor is THINX ( a pioneer in this space) and she held her own in being innovative with period wear for all walks of life.
Emily Sauer, Founder an CEO of OHNUT… she thought about women in a way that women aren’t usually thought about when it comes to design thinking around our vaginas and sexual experiences. She incorporated cooperation from men/or penetrators to assist with the use of her product to help women who experience painful sex. She didn’t put it all on ‘us’ to just deal.
Website www.buperiod.com
Social media handles:
Twitter / Instagram: @buperiod
Facebook: BUPeriodBrand
This interview was conducted by Amanda McIntyre-Chavis, Women of Wearables Ambassador in New York, USA. She is the CEO and Founder of LegendFactory, a interactive brand management company and two new tech initiatives: Muzaik, a social media aggregator and Myndfull, a wearable tech company. She is also an active mentor, arts advocate and supporter of various social causes. Based in New York, Amanda is a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), the National Association of Black Female Executives in Music & Entertainment (NABFEME), National Association of Professional Women (NAPW), the ELLEVATE Network and Women In Music. Follow her on Twitter @AmandaMcChavis.