WoW Woman in FemTech | Sophia Yen, CEO and co-founder of Pandia Health

Sophia Yen, MD, MPH is the CEO and co-founder of Pandia Health, birth control delivery.

She has a passion for making women’s lives easier, preventing unplanned pregnancies, and educating women about #PeriodsOptional.

With more than 20 years of experience in medicine, she is board-certified in Adolescent Medicine. She graduated with a B.S. from MIT, M.D. from UCSF Medical School, and M.P.H. from UC Berkeley in Maternal Child Health.

She serves as a Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Adolescent Medicine at Stanford Medical School.

Sophia is a Reproductive Health Specialist and co-founded 3 non-profit organizations/projects in her endeavors to improve the lives of women: The Silver Ribbon Campaign to Trust Women, SheHeroes.org, the “full” campaign = fffl.co = Female Founded, Female Led, a B2C campaign to get consumers to choose Female Founded, and Female Led, all things being equal.

Pandia Health birth control delivery is a digital health company making women’s lives easier by providing convenient, confidential, and reliable access to healthcare via telemedicine and medication delivery, starting with birth control. They bring healthcare to women wherever you have internet and a mailbox. They are the ONLY Doctor Led, Women Founded, Women-Led company in birth control delivery. They are building the Brand Women Trust with Their Health. They also want to educate anyone with a uterus that they can make #PeriodsOptional. Check out Dr. Sophia Yen’s TEDxBerkeley talk at the bottom of this page. 

Sophia, tell us a bit about your background and your projects so far.

As a doctor, woman, mother of 2 girls, I want to make women’s lives easier. No more “pill anxiety” = the fear of running out of your birth control. I live, breathe, eat, and prescribe birth control. We started with birth control because It's something that women use for 20-40 years of their lives. We want to build a long-term relationship with our customers.

If you have a prescription, just tell us where and we move it to our partner pharmacy, bill your insurance, and ship the medications to your mailbox with a FREE goody (like Hi-Chews, chocolate, tea, soap, lubricant, condoms, discounts off women-founded companies) and a PSA (Public Service Announcement) like did you know that Plan B and its generics do NOT work if your BMI is 26 or greater?

If you need a prescription, you can use our birth control expert doctors. Answer 20 questions about your health, the same as you would if you were to come into my office. Provide us with a government ID and selfie to prove you are who you are. Provide us with insurance information or your credit card to cover the medications. It’s just $20 once a year to have unlimited access to our birth control experts for 1 year. Free follow-ups because we don’t want anyone not coming to get their side effects/concerns addressed because they can’t afford the follow-up.

How did you get into this industry? Has it been an easy industry to get into or have you had many challenges?

My friend Perla Ni and I saw a problem. We saw a solution. We decided to fix the problem. We knew that the solution had to be Women Founded, Women-Led.

How long did it take you to be where you are now? What was the biggest obstacle? What are the challenges of being in the industry you are in? 

It’s been almost 5 years. Funding has been the biggest obstacle. Some investors believe that “only one company will win.”  However, when there are 17 million customers and the largest company has 350k, there’s room for competition. There should always be competition. There will always be at least 3 pharmacies. We don’t want monopolies. Competition keeps you on your toes and makes you provide better service.

The challenge for telemedicine is that the laws have not kept up with the technology. Also, as a doctor, I took a national test. I did not take a state-specific test to practice medicine. Doctors should be licensed to practice in all states and not have to sign up state by state. A person in Alaska should get the same care as someone in California or Florida.

What are your biggest achievements to date?

Putting together a passionate, dedicated team that provides 5/5 Google stars service. Raising funding for Pandia Health. Starting Pandia Health Birth Control Fund, to which people can donate and get a tax deduction and to which people can apply if they need help paying for birth control. Helping those with uteri make #PeriodsOptional. Educating people about the birth control pill, patch, ring, and de-stigmatizing birth control so that it’s not birth control but hormonal treatment for controlling your periods.

What are the projects you are currently working on?

We currently can deliver to all 50 states and are working so that we can prescribe to as many states as possible. We are building the Brand Women Trust with Their Health. We will soon be launching acne, menopause, wrinkle treatment, and delivering other chronic medications. Thus, helping women #SkipTheTrip to the pharmacy each month, because we have #BetterThingsToDo than to worry about running out of medications and running to the pharmacy.

Is the #WomenInTech movement important to you and if yes, why? 

We need more women developing technology. We need more women leaders and women at the table. Without the input of women, technology only serves 50% of the population.

What will be the key trends in FemTech and HealthTech in the next five years and where do you see it heading?

Telemedicine: more and more will be able to be done at home. My concern is whether or not insurance will cover it and whether there will be quality standards. Read Good vs. Bad Telemedicine our blog on how to make sure you are getting good telemedicine. 

What is the most important piece of advice you could give to anyone who wants to start a career in this industry?

Build your support group: fellow entrepreneurs, advisors, and personal (significant other, family). I’ve had the support of Springboard Enterprises, SheEO, Women’s Startup Lab, Stanford StartX, and so many women’s entrepreneurs’ groups and my husband and daughters, brothers and their wives, cousin who invested, and friends as well.

Who are three inspirational women in your respective industry you admire?

Pandia Health is the only Women Founded, Women-Led company in our field. However, in the B2C sector, I absolutely admire Christina Stembel CEO/Co-Founder of Farmgirl Flowers for her bootstrapping, dealing with COVID’s effects on her company, and her giving back to the women founders community, and Heidi Zak - co-founder and CEO of ThirdLove for making a great product and expanding from there.

Make sure to follow Pandia Health across their social channels:

Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tiktok, and Twitter.

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.