Halle Berry knows what you think of her. The first (and so far unique) black woman to win a prize of the Academy for the best actress, the exmodel and usual figure in the lists of the “most beautiful people” is very familiar with being known for their performances and their physique. But these three words, shouted in the Capitol in May 2024 surrounded by a bipartisan group of senators (all women), could change that: “ I am in menopause! “.
“For a long time they have cataloged me as a sexual symbol,” says Berry. “For someone like me, talking about menopause, which has been so stigmatized, if I can say: ‘Hey, it is sexy to reach this stage of life, it is actually a privilege aging’ … I hope to be giving them (to women) the courage to plant and accept that we do not have to stay eternally 30. That is, who wants to stay forever 30?”
In his sixth decade, Berry is completely dedicated to female health. It is a defense and entrepreneurship mission that began when Herpes was erroneously diagnosed in perimenopause and realized the great need for doctors and patients to become aware of this crucial stage (and, for those who live enough, universal) of life.
Berry’s vehicle is a response, originally a well -being and exercise website that founded in 2020, but which relaunched this February as a medical care company focused on menopause. With less than 5 million dollars in investor financing, including Khosla Ventures, Respin is still in the beginning (Telesalud consultations were launched in July and revenues are practically incipient), but feels revitalized by the task of growing and climbing their startup.
“This is my greatest achievement,” he says. “And I never imagined that it would be my greatest achievement because I think, as women, we have been afraid to age.”
Read more: the technological tycoon behind Trump’s social network had previously domains domains
How to Halle Berry became the new face of menopause
Berry is one of the 200 entrepreneurs, driving change and leaders of the fifth annual list 50 Over 50 of Forbes, who have come to see their age as an advantage instead of a disadvantage. Produced in collaboration with Mika Brzezinski, co -expressed of Morning Joe and its “Know Your Value” initiative, the 50 Over 50 list stands out to women who are generating a significant professional impact on their sixth, seventh or eighth decade of life (to see the complete list, visit here).
Re-spin.com began as a website that offered home training (Berry launched it during the pandemic), exercise equipment such as elastic bands and ropes to jump, and a community of women with related ideas. Today, the company has a double aspect. On the one hand, it sells community memberships (for $ 149 a year, users have access to private chats with other women in menopause, live question and answer sessions with doctors and anticipated access to Berry’s favorite well -being devices) and, through a collaboration with the JoyLux female intimacy company, offers lubricant gel for intimacy for 21 or 45 dollars Red light – to help with vaginal dryness and the functioning of the pelvic floor – for $ 495.
In Respin Health, women looking for answers to their symptoms of menopause can reserve a 30 -minute telesalud consultation with a doctor or nurse specialized in menopause for 55 dollars. Ally Tam Tumasova, co -founder and Executive Director of Respin Health, explains that women can also answer a detailed questionnaire to receive a personalized lifestyle ($ 20), registering in group coaching sessions to help them follow that plan (45 per month) or pay 100 for an individual session.
Frédérique Dame, GV general partner (previously Google Ventures) and one of Midi Health’s first investors, Respin Competitor and founded by Joanna Strober, a 50 Over 50 alumnus, states that there is currently more demand for medicine for menopause than available professionals. In the United States, 1.3 million women enter menopause every year, while less than 2,500 doctors are certified in medicine for menopause.
Worldwide, the market – which includes hormonal replacement therapy, medications with and without recipe, dietary supplements and nutritional advice – was valued at 17 billion dollars last year and it is expected to reach 24,000 million dollars in five years, according to Grand View Research. “It’s a huge market,” says Dame.
And a broad definition. That is why Berry points to a broad spectrum: “We try to be your comprehensive reference point for everything related to menopause, because what I have learned in this path is that each woman experiences menopause differently.”
This article was originally published by Forbes Us.
You may be interested: Trump’s approval index sinks at 40%, the lowest of his mandate: Reuters Survey
