1Please provide us with a brief bio of yourself.
I'm Theresa Neil, Founder of Guidea, a product design consultancy specializing in strategic product design for clients in Digital Health and Cognitive Sciences. I've authored two influential books, “Mobile Design Pattern Gallery” and “Designing Web Interfaces,” and currently have another exciting project in the works.
Throughout my career, I've had the privilege of working with leading organizations in healthcare, including Cigna, Humana, Amgen, Novo Nordisk, Bristol Meyer Squibb, Roche, and Johnson & Johnson. Our collaborations have been recognized with international prestigious awards that highlights our innovation in AI/ML within population health insights, as well as awards for the Most Innovative Digital Health Platform and Best SaaS Enabled Digital Health Platform.
I'm passionate about making a positive impact, which is why I've partnered with notable non-profits and institutions like Johns Hopkins, Oxford, and the Yale School of Medicine, as well as RxOutreach. In 2022, I launched the Femovate UX sponsorship program, aimed at supporting early-stage FemTech founders. To date, we've provided over $1.5M in funding, and I'm proud that our efforts have been recognized by Women of Wearables and the WomenTech Network for fostering innovation and diversity in technology.
2Please tell us more about your organization.
Guidea is an award-winning, women-led UX consultancy with extensive design expertise for medtech, IoT, wearables, population health insights, digital therapeutics, healthcare software, and femtech. The team is a trusted partner to 20 Fortune 100 companies and dozens of innovative startups. Products designed by Guidea are used by more than one billion people worldwide.
Femovate is a UX sponsorship program for early-stage femtech startups. Launched in 2022 by Guidea, acclaimed for their expertise in UX design and product strategy, Femovate aims to elevate founders in a sector that has been woefully underfunded. Femovate has contributed over $1.5 million of UX and product services to more than 50 early-stage startups since its inception.
3Congratulations! As the winner of the TITAN Women In Business Awards, what does it mean for you and your team to receive this distinction?
It is an honor to be recognized along with many other amazing female business leaders and executives. I was looking at some of the other honorees and was so impressed with their accomplishments.
4How has winning an international award help promote your organization?
Winning an award like TITAN provides us with another opportunity and platform to discuss the pressing need to improve women’s healthcare and provide them with a full range of tools to stay healthy and well.
5What are the challenges of developing / marketing your winning entry(ies)?
Honestly, it was not that challenging. One of the parts of my job is getting in front of people and talking about what we are doing with femtech and design. It’s something I enjoy about the work. When assembling the entry, I tried to tell our story clearly and compellingly with plenty of examples.
6As a business owner, please tell us more about your ideation process.
Good ideation is good collaboration. A good idea by itself goes nowhere. A good idea shared with others, who can often help improve it, can change the world.
7What is your own definition of a successful team / organization / business?
While every company wants to succeed financially, success ultimately is using your talents to make something in the world better and serve others. In our case, we are trying to make women’s health care more equitable.
8What led you / your organization to become successful within the industry you are currently in?
Our passion drives us. We've crafted a program aimed at tackling healthcare inequality for billions of women, ensuring equity for all.
9How has the country, you are based in, helped move your industry forward?
Our country needs to do much more. One of the reasons we founded Femovate was because traditional avenues in healthcare were not helping women get the care they need and the attention they deserve. I hope the United States will prioritize healthcare equity as we move forward.
10What have you found to be a hindering factor, for your business, during the entire course of the pandemic, and how did you overcome that hinderance?
While digital tools and platforms like Zoom make it easy to work virtually, business and collaboration also need a periodic human touch. Being unable to see or meet people in person occasionally can make it difficult to foster authentic connections. I genuinely like seeing and spending time with colleagues.
11What are the current trends in the business industry that you are most excited about?
We’re so excited about the new at-home screening products for everything from endometriosis, to menopause, breast cancer, STIs, and even cervical cancer. Empowering women with affordable, non-intrusive kits will result in earlier detection, diagnosis and treatment.
12What resources would you recommend to someone who is searching to improve their business prospects and organizational success?
The best resource is a strong mentor. Identify and seek out someone you admire in business or your company and see if they will guide you. Learning to be a strong leader is the best way to cultivate business prospects and build a strong company.
13Where do you see the evolution of the overall business industry in the next 5-10 years?
Women will play a much larger role in developing the technology changing our world.
14Who inspired you in your life, and why?
My mentor and co-author Bill Scott inspired me to become a design leader, writer, and speaker. His intense curiosity about anything and everything and his unfailing ability to see the full potential in everyone are the attributes I aspire to daily.
15What is your key to success? Any parting words of wisdom?
I thought when I was younger that my success stemmed from hard work, perseverance and luck. Now I realize another attribute has been just as important in my success, curiosity! If your curiosity is flagging, it might be time for a break or a pivot to find something that sparks your curiosity again.
