Menopause is Hot with Joanna Strober, CEO of Midi Health

What happens when a successful professional is dismissed by her doctor, given sleeping pills for severe perimenopause symptoms, and instead decides to launch a company to help change women's healthcare forever? In this conversation, host Sharon Kedar welcomes Midi Health’s CEO Joanna Strober, who shares her personal story of being dismissed by her doctor and her mission to fix the women's health crisis. Joanna and Sharon tackle the pervasive fear and misinformation about HRT and breast cancer. They reveal the truth and misinformation about the 2002 Women's Health Initiative study. Joanna details how Midi provides expert, insurance-covered care and is shifting the paradigm so women can proactively protect their bones, brain, and heart. This is an essential listen for any woman ready to age with power.What You’ll Learn from this Episode:The Care Crisis and Midi’s Solution: How Joanna's personal experience of being dismissed by doctors for symptoms like brain fog and anxiety led her to create Midi Health, a successful, insurance-covered virtual platform scaling expert care for midlife women.Dismantling HRT Fear: The truth about the 2002 Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study, revealing that there is zero correlation between taking estrogen and getting breast cancer (unless you have estrogen-positive breast cancer) and that women on the estrogen-only arm had a 30% less likelihood of breast cancer.Longevity and HRT: Why the golden time to start estrogen is during perimenopause or within 10 years of menopause, and how staying on it may be essential for long-term protection of your bones, brain, and heart.Connect with Sharon:On LinkedInOn InstagramLearn more about the Innovate and Elevate podcastSubscribe to Innovate and Elevate on YouTubeJoin the newsletter to receive the latest episodes in your inboxConnect with Joanna Strober:On LinkedInLearn more about Midi HealthAdditional Resources:The 2002 Women's Health Initiative Skip to the Good Part:(0:00) Introduction: Sharon's Advocacy and Welcome Joanna Strober, CEO of Midi Health (2:00) Joanna’s Personal Story: From Brain Fog, Anxiety, and Marriage Problems to Finding a Specialist (9:00) Finding the Right Care: HRT, Transformed Life, and the Bone Protection Dose (18:45) Solving the Care Crisis: Founding Midi Health and Scaling Expertise with Insurance Coverage (25:00) Midi's Word-of-Mouth Success and Dispelling the Breast Cancer Myth (33:00) Longevity and HRT: The Golden Window for Bones, Brain, and Heart Protection (36:30) HRT and Stigma: Why We Need to Talk About Hormones and Staying on the Patch Forever (39:00) The Financial and Family Case: Midi Patients Cost Less for Insurers (41:30) Midi's Mission, Funding, and the Future of Virtual Care (45:00) Conclusion and Thank YouPlease note: The information on this podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Please consult with a healthcare professional regarding your individual health needs.About Joanna Strober: Joanna is the founder of Midi Health, a virtual care platform for women, with a focus on perimenopause and menopause. Midi brings expert care, covered by insurance, to women nationwide. Before Midi, Joanna founded Kurbo, the first digital therapeutic for childhood obesity, which was scaled to help tens of thousands of children worldwide. The company was successfully sold to Weight Watchers in 2018. Before diving into digital health, Joanna spent more than 20 years in direct private equity and venture capital investing in health and consumer companies, including several notable consumer internet companies, such as Blue Nile, eToys, BabyCenter, HotJobs, and Flycast. Joanna is the author of the book Getting to 50/50, a primer on how women can succeed and thrive at work and home. She has spoken extensively to corporate and graduate school audiences on the topic of women and leadership. She was named to Forbes' 50 over 50 list of top Innovators, the CNBC Changemaker 2025 and Time 100 Healthcare Leaders.About Sharon: Sharon Kedar is a co-founder and partner at Northpond Ventures, a multi-billion-dollar science-driven venture capital firm. Her extensive career includes leadership roles at Sands Capital and McKinsey & Company, and she is a published author on personal finance. As the host of the Innovate and Elevate podcast, she passionately advocates for menopause care and HRT (hormone replacement therapy), challenging the silence around human health XX (also known as women’s health). She aims to help women navigate midlife and achieve longevity by aging with power. Sharon holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and is a CFA charter holder. She lives in the Washington, DC area with her husband, Greg, their three kids, and their dog Bo.This podcast is produced by Brave Moon Podcasts.