We were lucky to catch up with Sophia Yen, MD, MPH, the co-founder and CEO of Pandia Health, the only women-founded, women-led, doctor-led birth control delivery service, recently and have shared our conversation below.
Sophia, appreciate you joining us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?
I realized that as a woman of color that what we were taught in medical school works for white women who want to bleed every month. However, for Asian people, Black people, and those who don’t want to bleed every month, there are better options to start with. So I came up with a better algorithm for birth control pill prescription (more on that below).
Sophia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I grew up in the Bay Area (with one year in Irvine, CA) since kindergarten before I went to MIT for four years and froze my butt off. But I loved what they taught us there: It’s not the answer that matters but the process to get there. All exams were open book. It’s not about memorization but utilization of the information. I then graduated from UCSF Medical School (one of the best in the world). I loved the teachers and fellow students there – they were all so smart and wanting to make patients’ lives better. I then did my residency at Children’s Oakland and am thankful for my colleagues and teachers (attending physicians, nurses, and residents above me). I then did my Adolescent Medicine Fellowship at UCSF where I also loved the teachers, the program, and the education. I received my MPH in Maternal Child Health at UC Berkeley. I then started working at Stanford Adolescent Medicine in the teen clinic, then the weight clinic. I’m a mother of two future SheHeroes, a wife of a feminist and have very supportive parents and brothers.
I love people and science, so I chose medicine. I want to make a difference, make the world a better place, and most importantly, to help people.
Pandia Health is the ONLY doctor-led, women-founded and women-led birth control delivery company. We provide asynchronous telemedicine visits for low-risk recurring medications for women and provide expert, cutting-edge, evidence-based care. We bring expert, academic level care to women wherever you have internet and a mailbox.
We originally created Pandia Health to make sure “no one runs out of birth control on our watch.” We’re here to prevent “pill anxiety”, a term I coined to cover the stress that those with uteri go through every month worrying about running out of birth control pills and worrying about having to get to the pharmacy to get the pills.
The level of care (we have a rating of 4.9/5 on Google), the expertise, and the fact that we are led by a doctor (someone who has taken the oath of “Do No Harm”) is what sets us apart. Our algorithm has resulted in an 82% retention vs. the standard 55% for new users of the birth control pill. We will always tell you what’s best for your health even if it doesn’t benefit our bottom line. We are here to build “The Online Health Brand Women Trust” and are here with you from your first period to your last breath while bringing academic rigor and expertise to the for-profit telemedicine world.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I started as a physician, then became a Clinical Associate Professor at Stanford Medical School teaching future doctors. I then opened the ONLY doctor-led, women-founded and women-led birth control delivery service in the US with five other co-founders. My friends and I saw a problem and thought women should solve it and lead the industry.
Startup life is a roller coaster with many ups and downs. For example, one investor commits. And then in the next email another investor rejects your baby that you have been working on and growing to make women’s lives easier. It’s so much rejection, but you just need a few funders who see where you are going to make the company run.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
I have found Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups by Jason Calacanis, The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Anthony Granger, and Who by Geoff Smart and Randy Street particularly helpful.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.pandiahealth.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pandiahealth/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pandiahealth/videos/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pandia-health/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/pandiahealth
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/pandiahealth
Image Credits
Condom Bag: www.becomebeseen.com Laurie Bell Bishop Photo with stethoscope: Nicole Scarborough