875 Dr. Maria Uloko:

Melinda Wittstock:

Coming up on Wings of Inspired Business:

Maria Uloko:

instead of teaching doctors how to do this, why don’t I teach patients about their own healthcare, about their own vulvas, if you have poor vulvar health, it leads to conditions like recurrent UTIs, chronic vulva, vaginal pain, pain with sex, chronic vaginal infections. Utilizing AI, what I created my company around, is essentially democratizing gynecologic care through technology, so that now when patients come into the doctor’s office, they’re not getting gaslit. I wanted to be able to arm women, people with vulvas, navigating the healthcare system with very individualized information about their (bodies, how to get diagnosed, how to get treated, make sure that you’re getting the right care, and so that you can also advocate for yourself in the doctor’s office.

Melinda Wittstock:

It’s crazy to think how little women know about our own bodies… worse still, to learn that most gynecologists don’t know much either. We trust doctors and yet most women are experiencing sexual health issues as they age – for no good reason. Dr. Maria Uloko, a world-renowned urologist, is going to blow your mind on this episode as she shares her research, her treatments, and how she’s using AI to change the game for women’s health.

Melinda Wittstock:

Hi, I’m Melinda Wittstock and welcome to Wings of Inspired Business, where we share the inspiring entrepreneurial journeys, epiphanies, and practical advice from successful female founders … so you have everything you need at your fingertips to build the business and life of your dreams. I’m all about paying it forward as a five-time serial entrepreneur, so this podcast is all about catalyzing an ecosystem where women entrepreneurs mentor, promote, buy from, and invest in each other. Because together we’re stronger, and we all soar higher when we fly together.

Melinda Wittstock:

Today we meet an inspiring entrepreneur who is one of the world’s most renowned urologists on a mission to revolutionize women’s sexual health. Dr. Maria Uloko is the CEO and founder of VULVAi, combining innovative AI diagnostics with empowering education, as well medical and surgical solutions for all genders. An international award-winning researcher, Dr. Maria is known for her evidence-based, compassionate approach and advocacy for quality life improvement and healthcare inclusivity. Maria will be here in a moment, and first:

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Melinda Wittstock:

Today we’re talking about something most women don’t talk about publicly – our sexual health, and more specifically, our vulvas. As we age, we experience symptoms such as dryness, UTIs, and even pain with intercourse – and guess what? We don’t have to.

Melinda Wittstock:

Did you know some simple low dose topical hormones with testosterone as well as estrogen can make all the difference, even after menopause? Probably not because most gynecologists don’t know that either.

Melinda Wittstock:

That’s why I’m so excited to share this conversation with Dr. Maria Uloko, one of the world’s leading urologists who is redefining the standards of women’s healthcare and smashing barriers in the intertwining worlds of medicine and technology.

Melinda Wittstock:

Today we get into everything from demystifying hormone use to the role of AI in our health, plus the astonishing ignorance of most gynecologists, and the stark challenges women face in male-dominated sectors, including fundraising for our game-changing ventures and strategies for overcoming these systemic obstacles. So, let’s get our wings ready for flight with the inspiring Maria Uloko and be sure to download the podcast app Podopolo so we can keep the conversation going after the episode.

[INTERVIEW]

Melinda Wittstock:

Maria, welcome to Wings.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Hello. Thank you so much for having me.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, I want to know everything about VULVAi. It’s just such, the combination of those two things is just so intriguing to me.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Yeah. You know, this VULVAi was born out of really desperation, of trying to solve a really big problem. I am one of seven urologists in the world that’s able to take care of the medical and surgical sexual dysfunction of all genders. And I’m also a translational researcher in defining vulva anatomy, and I was one of the lead researchers on defining how many nerves are in the human clitoris. I’m a huge patient advocate. And, you know, I also created one of the first clinics in the United States that widely accepted insurance that took care of female sexual dysfunction. Because if you’re one of seven, you can kind of name your price. And so, I mean, I just for.

Melinda Wittstock:

A minute, one of seven in the world. Okay, so there’s something really wrong with that, that there’s only seven people who really know the clitoris.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Yeah, yeah. It’s so interesting. I really didn’t actually, when I even did the fellowship as a urologist, it was kind of like, looked down upon of like, well, why would. Were the men’s health sexual health field? Why would you want to do women’s sexual health? That’s not our thing. That’s gynecology. And really, I actually got into it just from a marketing standpoint because I knew that if I were going to be coming into a competitive job market, I wanted to be able to, like, put myself above the rest of the other urologists that only do men’s health. I wanted to be able to do all of it. And so, I ended up doing that fellowship solely just from a strategic standpoint and ended up falling in love with it and realizing how much history and politics and policy and fun goes into sexual health, and not just on the men’s side, but really on the female side of things and the vulvar side of things.

Dr Maria Uloko:

I’ve always had a heart for social justice and access and equity and, and getting. Making sure that healthcare is accessible for all. When I was graduating, I wanted to create a clinic within an insurance model. So as of right now, there’s not great insurance models for female sexual health. Many people think that gynecologists take care of women’s sexual health and vulvar sexual health, but in actuality, most gynecology training programs don’t. There’s actually just one program in the country now that has just started at Doctor Sarah Cigna, who’s a gynecologist, is the first gynecology program in the country that takes care of women’s sexual health and that trains gynecologists on how to do that. So that’s just like a really sobering thought and terrifying.

Dr Maria Uloko:

And so really, there’s just 50% of the population that doesn’t have access to affordable sexual health to care. And so, when I created this program, it ended up even as I was, like, shopping it around and doing my interviewing and kind of trying to convince urology programs about why this mattered. Only two programs understood it. Everyone else was kind of like, no, we do men’s health. Women don’t need help. It’s like, okay, and I know it’s bad. This is the world that we’re living. And so, when I created this program, it actually ended up going off like gangbusters, right? If you build it, they will come literally.

Dr Maria Uloko:

That’s a pun. So, it was this really robust volume of patients. I had almost like a year. I had a year and a half waiting list. I saw 2,000 patients in two years. And I got a lot of personal success and professional success. But it was actually really overwhelming because I realized that everyone in the world will have some sort of vulvar dysfunction. And yet there’s only seven doctors that are trained and a handful of gynecologists that are also trained that can take care of this issue.

Dr Maria Uloko:

And I think for me, I was at this, let’s talk menopause is a grassroots organization, and they were doing this, like, really amazing, fancy event on the Upper East Side in New York, and we were telling people about and teaching people about their sexual dysfunction, and especially in menopause. And so many of the women, we were just essentially riling them up and saying, like, you deserve access to healthcare, you deserve menopause care, you deserve all these things, and your sexual health should be important. And we got all this group of women riled up. And at the same time, I ended it being like, well, good luck finding a doctor. We are all overwhelmed and overburdened, and we just have way too many. Like, there’s just too many people. And so, I left that actually really disheartened, because as someone that loves to solve problems, I was like, this is an impossible problem to solve because, you know, I would spend almost every weekend trying to train doctors on how to do this work and to make this matter to them. And I realized that I was only training the same doctors because the people that care.

Dr Maria Uloko:

But in actuality, every doctor needs to know how to do this. And so, it kind of came to me as, like on a walk, as I was overwhelmed with kind of, what am I going to do? How are we going to fix this? Problem is I realized that patients are the ones that care the most about this issue. And so why don’t I, instead of teaching doctors how to do this, why don’t I teach patients about their own healthcare, about their own vulvas, about how their vulvas can lead to their vulva health, leads to healthy bladder, it leads to, if you have poor vulvar health, it leads to conditions like recurrent UTIs, chronic vulva, vaginal pain, pain with sex, chronic vaginal infections. And I could just teach that to them. But utilizing AI, and so that is what I did, and that’s what I created my company around, is essentially democratizing gynecologic care through technology, so that now when patients come into the doctor’s office, they’re not getting gaslit. That’s the one thing that was a constant story that I heard all throughout my life. My training and all throughout seeing patients was the constant gaslighting that would happen to women as they experience a healthcare system. And because they didn’t have access to resource or even understanding about their own bodies, they would just accept whatever would happen to them, even though a lot of what was happening was truly malpractice.

Dr Maria Uloko:

I wanted to be able to arm women, people with vulvas, navigating the healthcare system with very individualized information about their bodies, how to get diagnosed, how to get treated, essentially, be like your checklist. Make sure that you’re getting the right care, and so that you can also advocate for yourself in the doctor’s office, because a lot of doctors aren’t doing their due diligence to learn about women’s bodies. And so that’s such a problem because women are dying from this, and it’s terrible. And I wanted to be able to figure out a way to protect yourself through education and empowerment and community support and building.

Melinda Wittstock:

You know, most women go to the gynecologist, they’re not really being told what’s actually real. They suffer. There’s a lot of embarrassment. There’s no space to talk about it. And most of us are kind of ignorant, you know, about our own bodies. I mean, there’s such huge amount of education that has to happen. And so, when you go to the expert, and the expert is not actually an expert, what do you do? So, tell me about how the AI in this case works.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Yeah. So, it works in several ways. So, when I think about the way that I approach world war conditions and sexual health conditions, I think about it in two ways. I think about the history. I’m asking when I’m getting history, I always tell people, tell me what brings you in. And as people are telling me what brings them in, I’m already coming up with an algorithm in my head all day. All I do is play medical detective. But one of the things that you’ll realize is that when it comes to boulevard conditions and things like recurrent UTIs, chronic pelvic pain, recurrent vaginal infections, there’s only so many things that it could be.

Dr Maria Uloko:

When I’m asking you questions, I’m actually. I’m ruling things in, and ruling things out based off of that. And so, what I did is I created an algorithm that essentially does that, too. You. You come in, you say, what brings you into clinic or what brings you into the app? Because I’m not your doctor. This is educational tools. And from there, we then ask really pointed questions about your history and your symptoms.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Based off how you answer it, it teaches our model and trains the model to start pulling information about certain conditions, because based off of how you’re answering and how your symptoms present, is a clue as to what it could be. The other portion of it is, as we’re building out along our product roadmap, is that there’s the physical portion of it. So, when I do a history, after I get all the information, I already have kind of an understanding of what I think it could be, of what we call a differential diagnosis of. Okay, based off of your symptoms and based off of your history, this is all it could be. And then I confirm that with a physical exam and then lab work and all these things. And so, a portion of this AI and that we’re building out, is actually you being able to do your own exam. And so many. It’s actually really fascinating.

Dr Maria Uloko:

So many doctors don’t know how to do a vulvar exam. So, when we are taught in medical school how to examine women, quote unquote, in vulvas, we only learn how to do a speculum exam, how to look at your cervix, and that’s it. We ignore everything else it wasn’t until my fellowship, which is the only fellowship in the country, that is actively doing female sexual health, that’s when I actually learned how to examine all those structures and actually learn that they had names and importance, and there’s a whole physiology behind every single part of your vulva. And, you know, I actually teach the gynecologist about this, right. This is a really sobering thing, and I need every person with a vulva to understand that. Your doctor most likely doesn’t even understand your anatomy. And I can actually guarantee that because I’m the researcher still defining anatomy. We just defined how many nerves are in the human clitoris.

Dr Maria Uloko:

And my research team is still defining how most of the, like, a lot of the parts of the vulva work. And so that’s kind of a really sobering thing, is that many of the doctors that you’re going to see don’t even know what is normal anatomy, and what isn’t. Because of that, so many people are going to the doctor, they’re getting gaslit and telling and being told, everything looks fine down here, when in actuality, everything does not look fine, because I would then have patients come to me for second opinion, 3rd, 4th, 16th opinion. And I do my exams very differently. I never use a speculum because everything I need to see is on the outside of the body. And so, we do exams where you actually get to see everything either with a mirror or with a special camera that I have called a colposcope. During your exam, I’m actually explaining everything to you. I’m saying this is normal, this isn’t normal.

Dr Maria Uloko:

This is what it should look like. This is what it shouldn’t look like. Obviously taking into consideration everyone’s own unique anatomy, but I can essentially explain what is disease and what isn’t. And I wanted. And it was one of the most powerful moments because as a chronic pain specialist, it is so. It is such a powerful moment to tell a woman or a person that’s been experiencing pain for decades, you’re not crazy, it’s not in your head. Here’s a physical explanation of your symptoms and the number of times, over 2,000 times, I would see patients, diagnose them, show them what was actually wrong with them, and they would just start crying and saying, I wish I knew what to look for. If I had seen how red it was, if I had seen how scarred it was, I would have better advocated for myself.

Dr Maria Uloko:

So that’s another portion of the technology, is to be able to do your own examinations, because again, until the healthcare system decides to actually start teaching vulva anatomy. And I’ve tried to petition the AMA, American Medical association that controls medical education. Patients are going to be the ones having to advocate for themselves. And it’s an unfortunate situation. And I’m really hoping that as I am able to educate people about their anatomy, about all the conditions, they can start holding the medical institution accountable, because I’m only one person. But if we can get a whole collective movement of women and people with vulvas to feel empowered, to demand better care, better research, better training, that’s where we start the revolution. That’s what I’m trying to do. And then a big part of it is also community, community building.

Dr Maria Uloko:

So, there’s lots of community aspects as well.

Melinda Wittstock:

Well, just even being able to talk about it is a big advance. Right. I love the community aspect of it as well, like taking any kind of shame or embarrassment or anything like that, you know, away from this topic. I mean, obviously, you see all the kind of Viagra commercials, you know, tv.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Yeah. You know what I mean?

Melinda Wittstock:

Embarrassment for men as well around all of this. But it’s just more kind of acceptable, I suppose, and more investment in that area than there is for women. So, Maria, tell me about some of the conditions. Say, you know, women go through all sorts of things, you know, sexually, like they. As they age, you know, there’s going to be more dryness, for instance, or get UTIs all the time. Like, what are some of the things that are actually really going on there?

Dr Maria Uloko:

I’ve been in medicine since I was 17 years old. I started medical school at 17. So, I’ve been in medicine for 15 years. And it’s been really fascinating. I feel like the things that I learned the most was in the last three years after my fellowship. It made me realize that we are teaching medical education all wrong. I’m a urologist.

Dr Maria Uloko:

We learn a lot about UTIs. That is our bread and butter. It’s our domain. And even if we look at the UTI guidelines for treating a patient with recurrent UTIs, we actually don’t even understand, we don’t consider and take into consideration vulva health. So, in my research, I have found that if you do not have a healthy vulva, you cannot have a healthy bladder. And that then leads to all of these long-term effects. We’ll kind of just start and pull back even from there, is that your vulva throughout your lifetime is always changing. It is very dependent on your hormones.

Dr Maria Uloko:

When you are born, your vulva looks like a little baby, and it stays that way until puberty. At puberty, you have this huge surge in hormones which then leads to sexual maturation. Then the thing that they never told us about or taught us about, and I think every person needs to know this, is that as you age and as you start losing hormones, your vulva literally starts to change. It literally starts to shrink, become red, raw, painful. The PH changes, which then changes the healthy bacteria. Now bad bacteria comes to all of the glands that you need for healthy lubrication. Without hormones, they’re not going to work. So now you have vaginal dryness, you have itching, burning pain with sex, recurrent UTIs.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Because as we said, a healthy vulva is a healthy bladder. These are the very, very common things that happened to women and people with vulvas throughout their lifetime. And it’s an interesting thing because when I went through training initially, it was just like, well, this is just accepted. This is just what happens. This is a normal part of life and you’re just going to have to deal with it by treating them with antibiotics and antibiotics and giving them some vaginal lubricants and moisturizers. And that’s all we can do. When in actuality, there are ways to prevent all of this. There are safe, low dose vaginal hormones that prevent all of these things from happening.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Because if I use a garden analogy, if you make sure that you give your garden water, nutrients, sunlight, your garden is going to thrive. One thing I did not know up until 2021, when I finished my fellowship, is that your vulva does not have to change. You can have the same vulva at 20, at 104. There’s no reason why we are like, allowing all this.

Melinda Wittstock:

It’s amazing.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Okay.

Melinda Wittstock:

I just want to stop there.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Okay. Yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:

That makes a huge difference for every woman on the planet.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Yes, yes. And they are low dose, like, they’re safe, effective, cheap options to prioritize your vulvar health. But as a medical community, it’s an interesting thing because I get to take care of all genders. I get to see the benefit of medical sexism and also the terribleness of medical sexism, because on a male level, we advocate for them. We are urologists are known for being a ‘quality of life’ specialty. We want our patients to do well and live a long, happy, healthy life. And we know that sex is a really important part of that.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Because of that, we have excellent funding, excellent access to research, industry, all these things. And I would just be, I just kind of almost laugh at the idea of, if I were to say, yeah, men, your penis is just going to shrink and shrivel up, and it’s just a normal part of aging. Good luck. That would never happen. That is just not even taught in our medical training, and yet it is so permissive. It’s just allowed to happen to women. It’s this conversation that’s just like, yeah, that’s a normal thing. I’ve had many gynecologists refer a patient to me, and they’ll say, yeah, their anatomy is normal.

Dr Maria Uloko:

I was like, no, they’re not normal. This is disease. We have to start thinking of these states as disease states and not just like, oh, this is just a normal part of aging. It’s like, yes, it’s a normal part of aging, but it shouldn’t be an acceptable part of aging. And that’s how they’re training doctors. They’re training doctors to see these changes and just be like, yep, that’s aging.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh, my gosh.

Dr Maria Uloko:

When in actuality. Yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:

Because it’s actually in men’s interest. Their self-interest. Right.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:

Sexual partners and whatnot in women, for women to not have these issues, you know?

Dr Maria Uloko:

Yes, yes. Oh, my gosh.

Melinda Wittstock:

In their own self-interest. Do you think there’s some education there to be done? Like, look, your partner, it’s not that she’s not into you, it’s that she. It’s uncomfortable for her.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Right.

Melinda Wittstock:

But this can be solved.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Absolutely. So that’s actually been one of my superpowers, is being able to talk to all genders about these things. Right. And so, I had a couple’s clinic as well, and I would have so many men come in, and it’s really. It’s been a really fascinating thing as, like, being a surgeon. I’m also kind of a psychologist and therapist for a lot of my patients. And so, it’s really cool to see a lot of my male patients. Their insecurities are tied to their ability to satisfy their partners, and they then internalize their inability to satisfy their partners as part of their low self-esteem.

Dr Maria Uloko:

And it really affects the way that they go through life. And so, it’s been really awesome to, when they come in for Ed or whatever, and we start talking about it, and they’re like, all I want to do is satisfy my wife. I probably operate less on male erectile dysfunction than my peers, because then I’ll have a conversation with them of, like, well, you know, I’ll explain to them, like, what their wife, if they have an age match cohort, you know, a similar age wife. I’m like, this is what she’s experiencing. And also, she has no one to take care of her, so it’s really not you. It’s the system in her body, and her body is changing, and there’s no one to support her. Like, I’m able to support you. And it just frees them up so much from all this shame and all of these, like, you know, potentially getting a penile implant because they’re like, I really want to rock hard erection because it’s going to please my wife.

Dr Maria Uloko:

And it’s like, no, that might actually not please your wife. And let me tell you all the other things that could please her. And also bring your wife to me, and I’ll help manage her sexual health issues. And that’s, like, a really great thing because so many urologists will do all these, like, crazy surgeries, which I love. These are some of my favorite surgeries to do the penile implants. And no one’s ever addressed the wife. And so, it’s like we’re. We’re essentially creating a bionic penis for you that you can’t use because no one’s actually helped your wife.

Dr Maria Uloko:

And so that’s why I like taking a couple’s approach and a holistic approach to all of my couples and being able to provide care. Whether you’re in a heterosexual couple or a homosexual couple, I can do it all. And it’s been a really fascinating thing to be able to talk to everyone and get everyone on the same page.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, let’s get into the treatments that are possible for women. I mean, you know, it’s really through the aging process because it’s sort of like this idea that it’s inevitable. It’s all going to just shrivel up, and that’s it. And sort of like, you know, accept that, but doesn’t have to be the case. So, what are some of the treatments for women, particularly as they head towards menopause, you know, after menopause, all of that stuff to kind of, you know, keep us in good shape, so to speak.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Yeah, so I love that question. And I tell, so again, we’re going to use that, a garden analogy. Your vulva is a garden. If you water it, give it nutrients, give it sunlight, give it all the things, it will thrive. And I think this is one of the ways that I want to empower women and people with vulva is to be like, no, my very much like I care about the rest of my overall health. I want my vulva to be as healthy as possible. And one of the ways to do that is with low dose vaginal hormones. Your vulva desperately needs hormones.

Dr Maria Uloko:

It’s a secret to life. It’s what keeps it young and vital. Without those hormones, it literally starts to change, shrivel up, shrink, become red, raw, inflamed, infected, all of these things. I’m a big believer in preventative care. If we very much, like we started people getting their breast cancer checks, getting their colonoscopies, we should also be doing vulvar screenings and vulvar checks and making sure that we have people on low dose vaginal hormones. Everyone talks a lot about vaginal estrogen. Vaginal estrogen is currently what is on the market right now for options for the changes that happen during menopause, which is called genitourinary syndrome of menopause. Estrogen is a very important hormone.

Dr Maria Uloko:

I will never disagree with that, but I actually am really pro testosterone. Fun fact. A lot of the science that’s out there, that’s the other thing, is that a lot of the science around women’s health is wrong. It’s just plain wrong, or the way that it’s communicated is wrong. There’s actually been several studies defining that testosterone is an important hormone in all people. And if we actually look at testosterone in comparison to estrogen, women, the ovaries produce about 100 times more testosterone on an average time period than it does estrogen. And yet, for some reason, we only talk about estrogen when it comes to women and vulvas. And actually, one part of your vulva in particular actually needs a lot of testosterone.

Dr Maria Uloko:

And so, I’m a big believer in not only vaginal estrogen, but also low dose vaginal testosterone, or DHEA. So, the only thing that we have currently on the market is vaginal DHEA, which is then converted to estrogen and testosterone in the body. Whenever I talk about hormones, there’s always an immediate, like, clutching of the pearls, right. There’s so much fear surrounding hormones that just is ridiculous. It just cracks me up, because as urologists, when we train with men, we love hormones. We find them very safe when done safely. We have no fear around hormones. But when, when I started taking care of women, as soon as I mentioned hormones, there’s an immediate, like, knee jerk reaction of they’re not safe.

Dr Maria Uloko:

They could potentially cause cancer and all these things. And I’m like, where are we. Where are we talking about this? What study are we looking at? And half the time, when I question and challenge people, there’s not even real data or evidence. They’re just going off of a really poorly done study. The WHI study that set women’s research and health back, I would say, 50 years. And because of that, so many doctors and so many patients are terrified of hormones, even though hormones are so important and are so safe when done safely. And so, when we think about hormones, I think I’m talking in this context about vaginal hormones. I’m a big believer in systemic hormones for your menopause symptoms, your big menopause symptoms.

Dr Maria Uloko:

And that’s a whole other conversation. But if we’re talking about, just about vulvar health, low dose vaginal hormones are really where it’s at. And being on that every day for the rest, not every day, but being on that for the rest of your life, I think that’s another thing people forget. So sometimes people will come in having all these symptoms. We start them on hormones, low dose vaginal hormones, and then they stop when the symptoms stop. And it’s just like I always tell them, like, would you stop drinking water once you’re not thirsty? And they’re like, obviously not. And I’m like, that’s the exact same thing that needs to happen for your vulva. So, I always, I give, when I give a prescription for low dose vaginal hormones, I’m like, this prescription needs to be buried with you.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Like, this is what you take to your grave. Because if you want a healthy vulva and to prevent all of these infections and disease states, you’re going to have to be on this long term. So long term use of low dose hormones is safe, is effective. They’ve done so many studies looking at whether to use it in people. Even with people with breast cancer, they are actively taking low dose vaginal hormones. So, it’s a safe thing. Yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, is there a difference, though, obviously, between synthetic hormones and bioidentical hormones? How important? Bioidentical piece of this.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Yeah. So, when we think about bioidentical hormones, that’s a word. That’s a. It’s actually like a buzzword, um, and a marketing word. When we think about systemic hormones. When we think about hormones, think about it as different concentrations.

Dr Maria Uloko:

So, what you put in your vagina is a much lower concentration than, and it only works locally in your vagina and in your vulvar tissue. Versus the systemic hormones are the bigger doses. They’re much bigger, and they’re going to work all over the body. So that’s, I always like to break it into those two things. But when we think about bio identical, what? All hormones that you’re taking are synthetic. They’re made, right? They’re like, they have to be made somewhere, because we can’t just take hormones from other humans and inject them into you. Not yet. And I hope that sounds like a weird dystopian thing.

Dr Maria Uloko:

So, all hormones are synthesized, and what they started using was bio identical, meaning that when they synthesize it, it just closely mimics what your body was already producing. That’s really all that bioidentical means. And it’s actually kind of this, like, buzzword that a lot of people use to exploit the consumer to be like, oh, it’s bio identical, so it’s safer. And it’s like, well, in theory, not always. Bioidentical does not always mean that it’s safer, and synthetic does not always mean that it’s bad. I mean, there’s definitely natural ways to get estrogen, which is like, you know, through plants, but they still had to create it. You know, they still have to create it. And so that’s the term.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Bio identical, to me, is always just kind of more of a marketing ploy than an actual health and safety thing.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right, right. And so, obviously, there’s only one of you, and you’ve got this AI, and. But say a woman needs this prescription. How do they get that if they’re not, like, in the same city as you?

Dr Maria Uloko:

Yeah. Yeah. What I love about sexual medicine is that it’s all. It’s political.

Dr Maria Uloko:

It’s much bigger than me. It’s much bigger than my clinic. Right. So, you know, that’s the thing. Like, when, if you come to see me, you can easily get these prescriptions. I’m like, yeah, I absolutely believe you. Yeah, I’m doing the research. Yeah.

Dr Maria Uloko:

I think you should get a quality of life, because I strongly believe that everyone deserves a quality of life and do it safely. The hard part is, is that 90% of doctors actually are not trained in menopause care. And so that is wild. 90% of doctors just don’t know how to do menopause or, like, treat hate people once they hit a certain age. Right. And that’s unacceptable. And so, what I wanted to do with vulva AI is to, when you go on the app, you learn all this information. You then take that information and work with your doctor to come up with your own treatment plan.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Right. Because. Although. Just because the doctor’s ignorance is there does not mean that you don’t have a right to health care. That is something I strongly believe. And so, the idea is that when you go into the doctor, they cannot gaslight you. They can’t say, well, you could start it, but it’s not really worthwhile or it could potentially be dangerous. These were, these are things that I heard so much from my patients, is the medical gaslighting that happens and truly just malpractice.

Dr Maria Uloko:

And so, what my goal is, is that that woman or person with a vulva that’s going to their doctor is like, no, I actually really want this medication. This is why I want it. There are guidelines saying it, and you’re actually not up to guidelines. And there’s actually terminology that you can use to advocate for yourself at a doctor’s office. I think there’s. I don’t think people understand how powerful they can be when they are educated. And there are actual ways to navigate the healthcare system to get the thing that you want. Because what’s been happening is that, you know, this is something I see a lot in women’s, is that women blindly trust the healthcare system like you really shouldn’t, and they trust whatever the doctor says, even if they know intuitively it’s not correct.

Dr Maria Uloko:

I’ve talked to so many people and I’ve even had this experience, or I’ve left a doctor’s office, and, like, that was wrong, right? I felt that felt wrong. And it wasn’t until after I went and researched it and looked it up when I was like, yeah, that was absolutely wrong. And then I went back to the doctor and said, hey, based off of my research, this is what I think should happen. And we were actually able to have a dialogue. And from there, I was able to get what I wanted. And that’s what I want to do for everyone, is to empower them to start having these conversations and to start challenging a system that refuses to learn about you and hold them accountable 100%.

Melinda Wittstock:

This is so important.

[PROMO CREDIT]

Wings of Inspired Business is brought to you by the new podcast, Zero Limits Business Growth Secrets. Join me together with Steve Little – serial entrepreneur, investor and mergers & acquisitions maestro – as we explore the little-known 24 value drivers that spell the difference between a $5m business, and a $50mm even $500 mm business. That’s Zero Limits Business Growth Secrets, produced by Podopolo Brand Studio at zerolimitsradio.com – that’s zerolimitsradio.com and available wherever you get your podcasts.

Melinda Wittstock:

And we’re back with Dr Maria Uloko, CEO and Founder of VULVAi.

[INTERVIEW CONTINUES]

Melinda Wittstock:

So, Maria, I can only imagine your journey hasn’t been easy for all women entrepreneurs who are pioneers in this. I mean, you have so much education to do. You have a whole, like, you have a whole market to educate. What are some of the biggest challenges along the way, and how have you navigated those?

Dr Maria Uloko:

Yeah, well, I guess it’s from a business standpoint. I mean, I think one of the most fascinating things is, I say, I left one racist, sexist industry for another racist, sexist industry. Being a urologist I’m 0.02% of black female urologists, and you feel it. And then when I went into the world of tech and fundraising, you know, I was kind of, like. I was. I had this idea that it’s like, okay, well, I had this, like, groundbreaking research. Like, I have more groundbreaking research coming, and, like, no one else is really in the space or even truly knows what they’re doing, because, again, a lot of this. A lot of what is already out there is wrong.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Like, no one’s. They’re just. I’m. I’m going to raise money easy. And I was like, wait a second. No, that’s what I thought when I.

Melinda Wittstock:

Kind of moved into tech, too. Like. Like, I have all this expertise.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Yeah.

Melinda Wittstock [00:36:55]:

Like, I know what I’m doing… Unsupervised machine learning, the beginnings of AI. I’ve been doing it since, like, 2009. I mean, you know, surely that expertise should count for something, but, like, no, you know, you still ask questions like, you’re a girl in the hardware store. It’s just. It’s mind boggling, right. AI, which is so male dominated. It’s so much of our future, and there needs to be more women in this space just to make sure that the AI is ethical and actually represents women.

Melinda Wittstock:

That’s a whole other podcast that we do. It’s a big, you know, theme for me because obviously, on Podopolo, you know, we’re innovating in AI as well. There are so many different applications of it, and so the fundraising piece is really, really hard. So, tell me how that’s going.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Yeah, their podcast as well. Yeah, no, it’s. It’s been this really interesting thing. Oh, gosh. You know, I think everything happens for a reason, at least. Well, okay, that’s. I don’t love that phrase. I think everything that happens has a lesson to be learned for me.

Dr Maria Uloko:

And I think I went into this with this idea of I want to change the world. I want to radicalize how we deliver gynecologic care, really stick it to the system, a system that doesn’t really give a shit about women. And it’s so hard to say that and see that, because I get to treat all genders and literally get to see the dichotomy. So, people literally cannot gaslight me about that. And also, I also kind of like, it would have been cool to have that tech Cinderella story of she had no, like, she just became a founder and now she raised this much money, right, because I would at least I love, I have loved what tech could potentially be, right, of seeing a problem and then actually fixing it. Because in healthcare, we see a problem and then we perseverate on the problem and then we don’t do anything about it. That drives me crazy. And so, I had this idea of doing these things.

Dr Maria Uloko:

And I think in every space that I’ve always been in is understanding, okay, what is the cool thing to do, and then what is the right thing for me? And so, I went into this really having a really, like, 15 years in this industry. I understand systems very well. I understand the healthcare systems, I understand what’s going to work, what’s not going to work in stem tech, I know what’s going to work clinically, and I know what’s not going to work. And so, I already knew. I had all these expertise and vision and all of this stuff, and it was kind of this really hard thing to go in and then try to convince people that this matters; that the thing that you have dedicated your life to matters, to sell that to them, and then be told it doesn’t matter enough. And I think I went in just so happy or so hungry for that success story. And actually, these rejections made me pause and stop and think of, okay, well, let’s say that I do meet an investor that’s like, I want to fund you, and I want your company to look this way. And, you know, and I think one of the things in funding right now is a term called pattern recognition.

Dr Maria Uloko:

And this is just what investors do. They saw that this worked, and we’re going to invest in other things that look like this. And I realized that I have a completely different idea than what is out there right now in Femtech, SexTech, all of the things. And, you know, I really didn’t want to compromise on that. And so, I think these rejections that I’ve gotten in the fundraising period where precede round or precede made me realize that, like, maybe non-dilutive is actually better for me. Because the thing I kept getting the feedback on was, well, why can’t you just be a healthcare company? Like, why can’t you just do telehealth? And I’m like, you clearly have never taken care of a chronic pain patient. You can’t do chronic pain, pelvic pain, telehealth. But it was that pattern recognition.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Well, she’s a doctor. So, she should do this. And I was like, you know what? No, I really want to stay with what I know, and think is going to work. And that has, that. Those “no’s” made me more solid in my. What I will accept as a yes. And I think it’s really hard if you’re a new founder, especially going into a new space, you do just kind of want that instant success potentially at the compromise of your morals or what, you know, could work. And so, I think these no’s have actually helped me to get really clear.

Melinda Wittstock:

This is so important. I think with the funding situation, is women, first of all, really knowing their own value. Right. I mean, psychologically, we’re bringing investment opportunities to people that will make them very, very wealthy. Okay.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Yes.

Melinda Wittstock:

Like, remember that they’re not doing us a favor. We’re doing all the work. We’re taking all the hits, all the knocks, all the difficulties of pioneering so that they, in exchange for writing a check, can, like, 10X their investment.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:

It’s so obvious, and yet it’s not to a lot of women. I mean, I think in just my own, over my five businesses, and just like, changing the psychology of that, how you go out and who you’re being as you’re doing that, and you still have all the other subconscious biases and things like that that you’ve got to navigate. But the other thing that’s occurred to me is a lot of the investors that you’re talking to aren’t necessarily the brightest bulbs in the room.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Right, yes.

Melinda Wittstock:

This credibility or that somehow, they know everything or whatever. They really don’t.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Yes.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, it’s a tricky thing to navigate sort of psychologically or on a spiritual level or energetic level or however we want to kind of look at that.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Right.

Melinda Wittstock:

I know that I’m on a mission because I think venture capital is just basically broken for women. And so, you know, how can we. And how can women in particular really step up to support each. Each other in meaningful ways? Like, what did it take instead of writing big checks to charity, to actually support female founders? Because especially companies that are doing that have a real social impact mission, as yours does, as mine does, as so many women’s companies do, that actually gets a return on that and improves the world at the same time.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Right.

Melinda Wittstock:

Like, what can we I mean, I’m just curious your thoughts on that. Like, what. What can we all do to really change the game?

Dr Maria Uloko:

Like after Nigerian independence in 1960, like, it was. It was just interestingly, I am Nigerian. The stories that my parents told me were just a lot about, like, government overthrow. I guess it’s just like, in my DNA. But I just don’t enjoy doing things that don’t make sense. Right. When we see, I think we were talking about this earlier offline of when women are left in charge. When you invest in women, they give you a return that is out of control.

Dr Maria Uloko:

It’s just a wild stat. And yet why is it that we are not able to get capital right? And so, when you start thinking about it like that, like, this really doesn’t make any sense. It really makes me excited to then start getting people fired up. Right. Just like, fine. If you from a. I think people love telling women what they can’t do. But one of my favorite things is data to then actually prove that we can actually do it.

Dr Maria Uloko:

And I think there is such a powerful thing of research and data. And I think the movie show her the money of actually speaking truth to power of these are things that female investors and female founders know to be true that we. If you give us. If you give us a little, we will. If you give us an inch, we will take a mile. Like, we will do more with it. Right? And so, these stories and these narratives are there, but I’m really excited about, like, a collective understanding amongst women of being like, oh, no, we got this. You know, like, this kind of, like, swagger about this.

Dr Maria Uloko:

And what that looks like is that community support of being like, look, we’re not going to take this anymore. Like, you should be so lucky to invest in us. And I think the numbers are going to be so exciting when we get there, when we are able to show, like, every female unicorn or someone that exits or does these things. I get so excited because it’s another data point proving what we already inherently know. And so. And the other thing is support is reaching. Like, I’m such a big believer of once you’re in that space, you reach back and help. I think that is one of the most important things.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Like, the fallacy of there’s only so many slices of pie when the irony is that women have been, quote unquote culturally relegated to the kitchen. And I’m like, ladies we can make our own pie. Like, we can always make more pie. The fallacy of there’s not enough slices of pie, it’s like, that’s bullshit. We can easily just go and make more pie. And I think if we have that mindset of being like, okay, well, I made it in, and who can I also help bring in is one of the most powerful things. And I really hope that we get to see that of we have the ability to choose to support each other, or we can, once the door is open for us, we close it. And I really hope that as a collective, we hold those doors open for everyone to come in, because my success is your success.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Your success is my success. So that it’s what’s worked for me in urology, and I think it’s what’s going to work again within this field, 100%.

Melinda Wittstock:

It’s thinking from a place of abundance rather than. And women have been. So, I don’t know, just our societal system has set up the conditions to keep women in that scarcity.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Yes.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right. And so, we really do have to meaningfully help each other. Like buying each other’s products, you know?

Dr Maria Uloko:

Yes.

Melinda Wittstock:

Promoting each other’s products, investing in each other and such. That is actually what will change the game. I’m 100% convinced of that. So, Maria, where can people find you and work with you? Because what you’re doing is truly groundbreaking.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Yeah. So, okay, so join the waiting list. That does help as many people joining the waiting list as possible helps with getting funding. Also. I think what I’m trying to do is, is I’m trying to cause a boulevard revolution. I’m trying to get women to understand that they deserve better within healthcare because there’s just a lot of women internalize. Oh, that was just a weird thing that happened, or that’s just me or I’m so weird. It’s like, no, no, no, you’re not weird.

Dr Maria Uloko:

The system is literally just doesn’t do science. And, you know, I want people to understand that this is not, I cannot, I’m not a magical human being. I am smart and I’m a hard worker. But it’s actually going to take a lot of help to get. Get to where I want to see. I really want healthcare reform. I want education, health training reform. We need to start teaching doctors about women’s bodies.

Dr Maria Uloko:

We need research funding. We need all of these things. If you’re in a place to give and you’re a place to fund, give, give of your time, resources, all of those things, join in the fight. I think that is something that so many people, I’ve been really surprised by just kind of like, yeah, go you. And I’m like, no, no, no, I need your, I need your help as well. Right? Like, this is not just a me thing. This is a much bigger than me.

Dr Maria Uloko:

This is systems we’re trying to take down and reform systems. So, any funding support, any support in building companies, mentorship, all of those things. If, you know, policymakers, you know, make those introductions, get involved, join in into this vulva revolution. I’m actually creating a documentary, too, around this topic of really understanding the history behind why women don’t get care. Because I think when you understand that these are systematic issues and systemic issues, you’re going to get riled up. And so, yeah, I want encourage people to join in the fight, whether that’s monetarily, resources, skills, please reach out. Would love, love, love to help because we could be preventing so much disease, we can be improving our quality of life, but it is going to take support because the system won’t do it. So, we have to do it ourselves.

Melinda Wittstock:

Wonderful. Excuse me. Wonderful. This is so inspiring. Thank you so much, Maria, for putting on your wings and flying.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Thank you so much for having me. And like I said, I was so excited. It’s funny. I saw you pitch. I was learning. I was, I was going into this new industry. I was like, I got to go to as many pitch competitions as I can to learn how people pitch.

Dr Maria Uloko:

And I watched you pitch, and I was like, oh, my God, she’s amazing. And then to be invited on your podcast later, completely separate, was just such a. I feel really honored to be here. So, thank you. Thank you, thank you.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh, my goodness. That’s a lot coming from you.

Dr Maria Uloko:

Thank you.