WoW Women in FemTech | Markea and Debbie Dickinson, founders of Thermaband
Interview by MarijaButkovic
Markea and Debbie Dickinson are the founders of Thermaband, a fem-tech company based in Florida aiming to reframe midlife and empower women to control their thermal comfort through the Zone device. This smart personal thermostat provides heating and cooling sensations, as well as digital health data. The product was co-created with their community of 600+ women, and Debbie had the idea after struggling to find relief for her experiencing debilitating menopausal symptoms. Debbie is an experienced Harvard attorney, focusing on employee benefits, and a serial entrepreneur. Markea has operations and manufacturing expertise in consumer goods, and recently graduated from Yale School of Management.
What is the idea behind Thermaband and how did you come up with it?
Thermaband's mission is to reframe midlife and empower women to control their thermal comfort through the Zone device. This smart personal thermostat provides heating and cooling sensations, as well as digital health data, and was co-created with our community of 600+ women.
At 51, my mom had her first hot flash and it changed the trajectory of her life. This idea was borne out of her frustration and personal experience with the debilitating symptoms. Half the population experiences a personal inferno that rages within as a hot flash either due to menopause or at medical condition. According to AARP, 93% of women prefer a discreet tech solutions, yet the current solutions are antiquated and undesirable. Out of the few tech solutions for hot flash relief that do exist, none were made for women by women - until now.
When did all start and do you have other members in your team? How long did it take you to be where you are now?
In September 2019, I was starting my 2nd year at Yale School of Management and trying to decide if I wanted to pursue the traditional post-MBA consulting path or entrepreneurship. My mom called to vent about this hot flash episode, and mentioned seemingly crazy idea to control your temperature through wearable tech. She discovered that holding a cold object (like an ice cube or cup of cold water) on her wrist during a hot flash provides relief in cooling whole body. Our first step was conducting research to validate the market, science beyond thermoregulation, competitive landscape and tested a rudimentary MVP with women. We spent the past year developing the product itself after assembling a team of designers and engineers with wearable tech expertise, building 2 prototypes – a “works-like” functional prototype and a “looks-like” 3D model. After several iterations through working with our community of women for feedback, our team combined both prototypes into a final product, and we’ve been conducting internal testing on the device. Our team expanded to include 5 members- an Engineer Lead, Electrical Engineer, Industrial Designer, Full Stack Developer, and a Community Manager. We’re excited to launch in 2021!
What was the biggest obstacle? What are the challenges of being an entrepreneur in the niche you are in?
The biggest obstacle initially was convincing key stakeholders that creating relief for debilitating hot flashes/night sweats was a real problem with a huge market opportunity. Our go-to-market strategy has always been focused on women with menopausal symptoms. We were told "menopause is too niche" and "nobody is going to care about menopause." Several investors and mentors early on strongly advised us to shift our market, targeting athletes or even spouses buying it as a gift for their wives.
Despite the objections, we were bullish on developing a product made by women for women, driving us to co-create the device with a small group of women. In our eyes, every major decision throughout the product development cycle needed to include the input of our target customer, especially as a much underserved and overlooked market.
What are your biggest achievements to date?
Our team developed a hardware product leveraging software and AI from an idea to a functional prototype in under a year for around $100K. If that doesn't inspire someone out there with an idea to "Just Do It"- I'm not sure what will! So many mentors advised that having too much money actually cripples some businesses- I have to admit I didn't truly get that until now! We were able to do more with less.
Bootstrapping a hardware product requires a level of creativity in approach, persistence in embedding lean and agile principles in every facet, and willingness to learn skills far outside your comfort zone as a founder. It required us to understand what we wanted to control (our core technology, a community of women, product design, etc.)- and outsource where needed to preserve time.
Another achievement on the personal side is betting on myself in taking the leap of faith to become an entrepreneur. Especially in the midst of so many crises happening all at once…I love how Brad Felds frames them- Covid-19, racial equity, financial and mental health crises. This journey is isolating and uncertain as it is, but with this backdrop - I'm proud of myself for pushing through and maintaining my sanity!
What are the challenges of being a female founder/entrepreneur?
Breaking the glass ceiling in our minds, before we can tackle the ones in society. The reality is that any challenges I face as a female founder are compounded by being a young black female founder in the male-dominated tech space. Working in corporate America for years, I'm used to navigating concrete and glass ceilings, with both gender and racial biases- but it felt different within my own business. My co-founder and I have faced overt bias from engineers we interviewed to join our team, one with the audacity to ask "Are you sure you’re ready to manage the budget and technical aspects of this project?” We've pitched to a few investors who have asked questions that left the lingering thought I'm sure many women can relate to - "I wonder if they would ask a male that same question."
As a black woman, when these experiences happen, I often wonder which part of my identity is driving these reactions. However, I've learned to pivot my focus towards reframing things that I'd been internalizing through these interactions and others throughout my life. I reframed these realities as motivation to change the narrative.
What are the projects you are currently working on?
We’re always juggling several balls in the air- but here are the top three we’re excited about:
Partnering with top menopausal experts and professors at the University of Florida to test our device efficacy through a clinical trial
Strengthening our sisterhood of women discussing health, wellness, and menopause through a private FB group here. The goal is to destigmatize menopause and normalize the conversation across generations, so women 25+ are all welcome to join!
Working with a group of early adopters (women with menopausal symptoms, specifically moderate to severe hot flashes/night sweats) for device and app prototype testing. If you’d like to be considered- please reach out via our website contact form (www.mythermaband.com) or reach out directly to founders@mythermaband.com!
Is the #WomenInTech movement important to you and if yes, why?
Yes, bridging the gender gap, in general, is crucial, but I think we should reframe the #womenintech movement a bit. It's deeper than encouraging more women to pursue STEM. The number of women in STEM is important, but I prefer to focus more energy on the context and conditions that create an ecosystem for women like myself to thrive.
Reflecting on my own journey into tech, I remember trying to avoid any STEM classes in college and high school outside of my core requirements. Why? Fear of failure and messing up my GPA. In hindsight- I think I internalized gender stereotypes and really believed that I'd never be "good at math" and should just focus on what I'm good at. Fast forward to today- I've finally been able to scale that mental hurdle- and am currently managing the product development for a hardware device with a SaaS component and learning as I go.
What helped me in that journey was seeing other women who looked like me in positions of power in tech (representation is key!), having mentors and sponsors who view my success as their success, and the ample amount of free resources online to learn. When many male investors initially struggled to understand the true value proposition of our product, since they hadn't experienced it themselves, it was invaluable to have the encouragement of mentors who were women in tech and seeing the success of Femtech founders!
What is the most important piece of advice you can give to all female founders and female entrepreneurs out there?
Explore the other side of your comfort zone, and reflect on what you've been internalizing that could be holding you back! I was shocked at the progress and traction once I was willing to venture far past my comfort zone, by leading a team of engineers, scientist and a developer through the product development process - without any tech background. It's tough to lead a team without confidence, a clear vision, and sense of direction.
What will be the key trends in the health tech and fem tech industry in the next 5 years and where do you see it heading?
I'm most excited about digital tech continuing to accelerate personalized, preventative and predictive healthcare. We need more equitable healthcare in general, and I believe entrepreneurs in this space can help fill the gap by creating solutions to democratize access, and partnering with larger companies for scalability. People should be able to monitor aspects of their health from home, with digital analytics and personalized insights that empower them to act. To monitor holistic health- I'm excited about trends in data related to nutrition, hydration, sleep and blood pressure to name a few, moving far beyond using "steps" as a proxy for health.
Who are your 3 inspirational women in health tech and fem tech?
I find so many women in this space inspiring, especially those who are transparent about the adversities faced throughout the journey. Here are a few I admire:
Jewel Burks Solomon- Head of Google for Startups- she's been so pivotal in transforming the face of tech for black women. I'm SO inspired by how she navigated from corporate America, to launching and exiting a tech company (without tech background), to starting her own fund and leading Google for Startups. She's been so public about her journey, and lives one of my values to "lift as we climb." One of my favorite stories is that she sold her first company to Amazon in her twenties, and the opportunity came from her elevating a woman on her team!
Jill Angelo from Gennev- paving the way for fem-tech companies focused on menopause and midlife before it became mainstream. She's openly shared the uphill battle she faced educating investors about the space and why focusing on menopause matters. Because of women like her, we have less "why menopause" questions and more about the solution itself. Also, I've never met her, but she seems like the kind of woman with a "rising tide lifts all boats" mentality. She recently said "competition is good when you're in a space that people know nothing about because it raises the profile for everybody." Couldn’t agree more!
Arlan Hamilton from Backstage Capital: As the only black queer woman to have built a VC firm, her impact in changing the face of entrepreneurship is incredible. It's not just enough to have women founders with great ideas and execution, we need an ecosystem that supports these women with resources and funding. Arlan has provided that and more through founding Backstage Capital, and by serving as an unfiltered voice for black women. Also, with her "it's about damn time" fund for black women, she's addressing the elephant in the room that I'd long internalized, that less than 1% of VC funding goes to black women.
Find out more about Thermaband on their website.
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This interview was conducted by Marija Butkovic, Digital Marketing and PR strategist, founder, and CEO of Women of Wearables. She regularly writes and speaks on topics of wearable tech, fashion tech, IoT, entrepreneurship, and diversity. Follow Marija on Twitter @MarijaButkovic.