Skin in the game
When you have experienced something so painful that you are blinded to any kind of future past that trauma, it’s inconceivable that you take that pain and make it the driver to starting a business.
But actually very often that is what happens. When you’ve had skin in the game, who better than you to carry the mantel for helping find solutions so that others don’t have to go what you went through.
And so from your pain, you birth a business that answers a need, addresses a problem, or creates a safe space of support, advice and practical help.
That’s what my Brave New Girl podcast guest this week Lina Chan did after a stillbirth, a miscarriage & trouble conceiving.
The impact it had on her physically and emotionally was tremendous, so she founded Parla, a Femtech Start-Up platform & community by women for women that changes the conversation around fertility.
Women’s Health
Lina Chan’s business Parla was recently acquired by Holland & Barratt. It addresses these issues that are still taboo in the arena of women’s health.
Born and raised in Brazil, by Chinese Immigrant parents Lina learned about resilience, hard work and optimism by watching how they thrived through their hardship. She loved to travel, exploring new cultures, being outdoors & active. She got her education and worked hard through her career.
Then came her baby loss when she was 6 months pregnant. It was devastating, not least because there was no where to turn to, no one she could find to talk to who understood her pain. No community, no women's heath care support.
Lina's experience informed her next moves. She would create a platform that would provide the support, expertise, and community that she had found missing.
Her mission was to build a better health and wellbeing journey for women around the world. Her company Parla was born.
So much of women's health is shrouded in taboo which means women systematically have poorer health and wellbeing outcomes. There is so much we can do to close this gap and it is Lina's determination to do just that.
Now with two daughters she is even more motivated to created a better future for women and their healthcare. She wants them to grow up in a world that they don't have to be ashamed about their periods, infertility, miscarriage or menopause.
She sees courage as believing that you can do hard things! Trusting yourself and reducing the self-critical voice that can be ever present. Knowing that even if things don't go your way, you'll learn from it, you'll become stronger and more resilient!
Thank you so much Lina for sharing your journey of infertility & loss, and for making other women feel less alone, and helping them to see that from difficult situations you can find strength and purpose.
And thanks too for showing us that when we are empowered to have access to care & understanding of our bodies we can demand the help we need & we can create a world where there is better healthcare for women, at every stage of life.
You can find out more about Lina’s work at https://myparla.com/ and follow her on Linkedin @LinaChan
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