The Weightloss Wonders

Now, would you trust your health to a pair of Gen Z? And they're not just any Gen Z, they're a, a young pair of female entrepreneurs who are tackling one of the key issues that we all face now globally, not just in the UK, which is around obesity. And you might have been following the clinical trials of the NHS program to sort of do injections on But actually you have to have some fairly harsh requirements. But my guests today have built a business and it's growing quickly and they're amazing entrepreneurs. They're going to tell us about the solution they've got for women who want to take control of their health before it's too late. Welcome Olivia and Chloe Farrah, who are joining me from a company called SheMed based in London. Welcome ladies.

Thank you so much. Thank you for having us.

Yes, very excited to be here today.

Well, I'm excited to have you here because Gen Z working in healthcare. You're tackling a big societal issue, even though, you know, you're still young enough to have not maybe even lived through some of those things. Although I think we're going to find out why you started SheMed and where the origin story is. And we're going to talk about the impact that what Chloe and Olivia are doing can make on the health of you, if you're listening to this, and either you or someone you know is suffering from some of the side effects of being overweight. Chloe and Olivia, who would like to go first and just tell us a little bit about the background of SheMed?

Yeah, I'm happy to start. So I'm Chloe Farrow and one of the co-founders of SheMed, also the chief growth officer over here. And yeah, so we just got started back in December was our launch and we wanted to create the first ever female-focused GLP-1 program in the UK. So medical weight loss injections for women, an actual program that embodies their specific needs. Um, and we wanted to start our program launch with a clinical study because there has never been a study done on women on GLP-1 medications solely to see how it affects female-focused conditions such as perimenopause, menopause, PCOS, and endometriosis. And so that was really our drive for launching SheMed at the time we did, and our big mission of wanting to create more research for women in this field. Um, and so we launched in December with this study, hoping to have 1,000 women join, and To our surprise, 16,000 people joined by the end of January.

Wow, that's amazing. Well, we'll talk about the study in a moment, but just for those of us that are not up to speed with the terminology, Chloe, what is GLP-1? Just take us through that and why it's important, because it's really important for, you know, for me and other people to know that you're not peddling drugs here. You're not coming up with some Kardashian solution, right? This is, this is a proven medical offering, but you're just taking a female-centered approach. I think it's really important to let people know. So just tell us about the role that this GLP-1 takes.

Yeah, so I know a lot of people probably know these medications maybe from that Hollywood world and knowing them as the Ozempics. They were originally created for people with diabetes, but then they have been relicensed and approved for medical weight loss. So these medications really just help to suppress hunger, kind of cancel that food noise a little bit, and really help people to be able to lose weight without all of these other factors that have come into play. For a lot of people, people struggle with circumstantial stuff, with genetics, and there's a lot of reasons that people might not be able to lose weight. One of those things might be a female condition like PCOS. And so we wanted to create a program that took these medications that are now highly renowned and be able to apply them to women in specific.

Back. Okay, Olivia, that was Olivia speaking, by the way. Now we've got two sisters here, uh, in their 20s. I won't, uh, obviously say exactly how, but they're in their 20s, out of university, who've started their businesses. Um, their family are all entrepreneurs as well. But, um, what was the PCOS, Olivia? Because again, be mindful that for those of us that are not in the pharmacology, uh, world, of course, what is that?

So PCOS is polycystic ovarian syndrome. It's a condition that a lot of women actually do face, and it does make it a lot harder to lose weight. There are a lot of other symptoms with it as well. I went through a big medical kind of journey growing up. It was one of the reasons that Chloe and I did decide to start a healthcare company. I went through what I say a lot of women have probably experienced in their lifetime in the healthcare world, which is if you were ever misdiagnosed, if you're ever underdiagnosed, if you were ever, you know, just your symptoms were pushed under the rug. That is something that I truly did face a lot growing up, and I was diagnosed with PCOS a little while ago. I started having symptoms about 10 years ago, so it was, it was definitely something that took a very long time. I started having symptoms 10 years ago, and I was really only diagnosed about a year ago, so it was something that took a lot of time, and we wanted to be able to be a voice for women. We wanted to be able to kind of listen to what they needed, and we wanted to create a program that kept them in mind.

Wow, okay, well, thanks for sharing. I'm sorry to hear about, about your condition, but I mean, it's very troubling that it takes so long for a condition like this to, or any condition, to be recognized.

Yeah.

And just as an aside, why does it take so long? Is it longer for women than a medical condition for men? Is there a bias of some kind you've discovered?

Absolutely, there is. I think obviously there's a lot of hormone aspects with being a woman, and a lot of times when you're kind of, you know, describing what you're feeling, people just brush under the rug thinking like, okay, that's you know, they're moody because of this, they're tired because of this, maybe this is why they miss their period. There's all these, you know, ways to kind of just ignore it. And I think that that is a lot of what we see in the healthcare world, which is very unfortunate. But yeah, no, I experienced all of that and got told time and time again, like maybe it's in your head, maybe it's an anxiety thing. And I knew for a fact that it was not. It took quite some time to really figure that out. But it's very common, like a condition like endometriosis takes about 8 years to diagnose. Diagnose. It's another female condition.

Well, well, you know, as a father of two daughters who are teenagers, then, then I'm grateful that you're raising this issue because it sounds like sort of a structural issue within the healthcare industry and that we're being quite dismissive of women's issues. I have three older sisters as well and two nieces. My whole family is populated by women. I am quite familiar with the conversations, but I had no idea that there was this sort of, if you like, structural prejudice inside the health system. I'm sure it's not intentional. I'd like to think it's not intentional, but the joy is that as young, dynamic entrepreneurs, you're here to change it.

Exactly.

Help us to understand what SheMed does. And by this is shemed.co.uk. Help us to understand how this is not sort of a fashion item. And I did, I did watch one of your videos with a young lady called Pooja, I think is how you pronounce her name. And, you know, her comment struck me. She said, you know, she'd wanted to lose weight. She was 3 sizes too large, but she couldn't go to the gym because she felt kind of self-conscious about going to the gym. So she'd been on your program, got down to a size where she felt she could go to the gym and, if you like, then get the health benefits. So can you just help us to understand the approach that you're taking, that this is not a cosmetic approach. This is really a wellbeing approach.

Absolutely. We definitely see this as a biological fix and not a cosmetic one. And exactly, Pooja's story is one of the amazing ones that we hear time after time again of the world isn't built for obese people. We have another one amazing testimonial about a woman who feels like the tube is not built for people with obesity and it's just all these day-to-day actionable items were not made for certain body types. And we always say this is a biological fix and not a cosmetic one because yes, you lose weight and that could come with more confidence, a higher sex drive, but it also comes with lower cholesterol. It also comes with helping comorbidities like fatty liver disease. And that's the point that we really want to target. And so the way that we make that loud and clear right at the start of our journey is with a mandatory blood test. We are the only program in the UK that requires a blood test before you onboard with us because we want to make sure that it is absolutely very safe for you to join. And we feel that the best way to do that is by understanding your entire health landscape with your bloods.

Okay, that's one, because I was going to ask you, as two young entrepreneurs about your medical background. Did you, did you study medicine at university?

No, we both actually studied communications. I did minor in nutrition and occupational therapy, so I do have a little bit of STEM in me, and it is something that I have been very passionate about. I think both of us really do love to do the research in the field too, so make sure that we're constantly up to date on any new findings and just kind of learning about the world in general of GLP-1s or weight loss or women's health.

Okay, so, so that will lead me on to the question that we've got. You've got this blood test, which is great. So you're going through the due diligence to make sure that you're not just taking orders and shipping drugs, right? So that's great. But when you're building the brand, you've talked about this survey, which you've got 16,000 people to apply for. I'd like to talk to you about that. But before we get there, how are you overcoming the The question that I've got, which is, well, you're not medical people, you're, you know, you're communications people, but you built a medicine business. How are you overcoming what must be, I guess, skepticism from people? Well, you know, who are you to ship out drugs that pharmaceutical companies should be sending and doctors should be prescribing? So how do you overcome that? And I think, Chloe, you're going to answer that.

Yeah.

To make things clear, we are not doing any of that. We have an amazing team of GPs, clinicians, nurses that are overviewing all of that. Olivia and I are not medical professionals that take no part in reading any of the blood tests, any of that. We have an amazing lab partner. None of that is done by us too, and that is how it should be. We are here to really just create the program itself because unlike other online pharmacies, we do not just prescribe the medication. We have this holistic program that comes with meal prep plans and exercise plans and holds you accountable for how much weight you've lost every week. And we have weekly check-ins where you go face to face with somebody and step on a scale and can ask them questions there. And so we really just create this program, create what we need to see in the app, um, talk to the women on our program to see what do they feel like they're lacking, whether it's education, whether it's support in one realm from maybe other providers they were with. We're here to listen and make sure that the needs of women are actually onboarded, but we will never be the ones touching any of the prescriptions. And we have a wonderful, wonderful team that handles all of that.

Okay, Chloe. And I think, you know, from an entrepreneurial perspective, that's brilliant because you have worked and the company, it says here is eMed Healthcare UK, and you have a superintendent pharmacist, Yvonne Nina Irogu, if that's how I pronounce it properly. So the fact that you're giving reassurance by not trying to become experts in pharmacology, obviously you know what it does and how it functions, but building the communications-based program around it really makes a lot of sense. And it sounds as though one of the largest problems in the market has been for women to, to be heard, and therefore it is a communications challenge. Is that right?

Yeah, absolutely. And there has been this gendered health gap forever, and that is why our research is so important, is because you can't learn and be more educated around these female-focused conditions if there's not studies on them. And that's where Olivia and my passion comes into play, of just helping women, listening to women, and making sure that in the future it becomes much easier to diagnose PCOS, endometriosis. It becomes much more talked about when it comes to menopause and perimenopause. And there's actually ways that we can combat some of these symptoms and help women.

That's wonderful. I think, um, let's talk about that research project that you said originally wanted 1,000, but 16,000 women. Yeah. And have taken part. Tell us about the research, but really from a perspective of getting noticed, because, you know, this show is, uh, really about how as entrepreneurs you're crossing the chasm from, you know, introducing a product or service to getting an early adoption, then getting mass adoption. So do you want to just tell us about the survey? Not too much about the results— I mean, top line yes— but more about the role it's playing in helping to take SheMed into the market?

Absolutely. I think that the clinical study is really something that set us apart from our competitors. Yes, we're doing it because we truly believe in closing that gender health gap in research. But at the same time, it did get a name for us out there. That is what we launched with, and people were very excited to hear that we were doing something for the better good of the society. And so when we created this, I think it did stir a lot of, you know, attention towards us. So it was a great business move, even though it was really meant to be, you know, on the realm of doing something for research and for the medical world. Um, I definitely think it set us apart and it made us unique.. And I think that now I think people are probably going to be looking to us as, as like one of the leaders in women's healthcare in terms of the GLP-1 world. So that is an amazing accomplishment to have. Our study is ongoing. It'll be ongoing for a year, so we won't have results until 2026.

Okay. And that's at she-med.co.uk. Uh, there's a clinical study. And just if anyone's interested, on my YouTube at Jim James, you can see I'm doing a screen share, but you're talking here about 1% of all healthcare research funding is allocated to female-specific health conditions. So it's just 1%, and obviously we don't have 1% of the population is female. So they're structurally the source of your prejudice, I suppose, isn't it, that we're allocating such a small percentage of our research to female-oriented illnesses? And you've got 25%, uh, of women— or rather, women spend 25% more of their lives in debilitating healthcare problems than men. So you're really uncovering some very uncomfortable truths here, aren't you?

It's interesting.

Yeah, it's interesting from a marketing point of view. Why did you start the research? Because someone else in your position might have done product trials and reviews and, you know, sort of a PR roadshow and trying to get into hospitals and doctors. And yet you've taken a very different approach, which while I wanted to have you on the show because you've taken an education and a market engagement approach, which is very interesting. What led you to take this approach then, Chloe and Olivia?

Yeah, I think that that is what we felt was really needed, was this educational piece. When you talk about something as huge as closing the women's health gap, closing the gendered health gap, It sounds like a very intimidating task to take on, but it doesn't need to feel that way because it really can just start with spreading correct information and getting rid of all the myths that are out there. And we just felt like that was something that we can absolutely start with and take on, and that hopefully people would resonate with it and it would grow. And that did end up being the case. One of the things that we do is when we send members their first box, we give them a digital educational booklet. So it's about the size of a business card. It just has a QR code on it and it describes a lot of female-focused conditions and different health problems, whether it's menopause or UTIs or yeast infections, just everything that's in the women's health lens so that just one page on each thing and many books and podcasts that you can listen to to further any questions or engagement on the subject. And we really made it so people can send it to their friends, to their family, and just get information out there as widely accessible and freely as possible.

I think too, from like the business side of things, it's really knowing your market is knowing, you know, we're tailored towards women and women. We have like this innate you know, want to help each other and to support each other and to create something that's going to be meaningful. And so I think that that was really another driving factor of why we thought a clinical study would be so important and so impactful and really would get, you know, women, women's attention and get women to want to partake. So I think it's definitely about knowing, knowing your, knowing your field and knowing your demographic and kind of pinpointing maybe something else that others aren't doing, don't necessarily follow in suit. Of what all your competitors are doing or what would be the norm. So we tried to find kind of that, that unique piece.

Yeah, no, I love that. And from a PR point of view, you know, when I had my agency, we'd often recommend to clients that they initiate a study because it creates a position of authority, doesn't it? You've got 16,000 people taking the test and it says on your website that the program will be complete early 2026. So we've still got some time. You've already got 16,000 people taking it. So How are you getting people to take it? Are you, are you sharing it somehow? How are you getting people involved in, in the research?

In the research? I mean, so part of our whole program too with this clinical study is we have women pretty much share their anonymous data with us throughout their time on our program. We check in with them weekly and then we also have a clinical review every single month. So we're getting, we're getting them a lot of attention and we're getting a lot of valuable information from it and just learning about other associated conditions that they might be having, including, you know, the perimenopause, menopause, PCOS, whatever it may be. So we're pretty much just collecting all this data anonymously. And then in a year from now, we'll be able to read it and kind of find some hopefully very valuable findings from it.

Oh, I see, Olivia. So the data is coming from your existing client base as opposed to being sort of a general inquiry. So your, your existing customers know they've signed up and their data is anonymized, but they are contributing to the body of expertise within the organization. Is that right?

Yes.

So we have multiple programs. We have our clinical study program, which is our adherence program. And then we also have our insights program. So the clinical study is closed. You can no longer join the clinical study since now it's ongoing research that we want to get published, as you said, early next year, 2026. But we also just have a normal standard program where we are not collecting any of their data. And to go into your question of how are we getting them to take the blood test, because that is still mandatory, we're not doing anything with the data from those blood tests, but we still require them to ensure that our program is safe and correct for you. And the way that we get people to take those is just by letting them know that they exist. I think a lot of people are scared to start a medication that they know that they have to inject themselves once a week. And it is a major lifestyle change that takes a lot of work and a lot of willpower. And it's a scary first step. And so I think although we make them jump through the most hoops out of any other program out there, people really like that because they're looking for that reassurance and that safety to know that what they're doing is the right move for them.

Really interesting. So in this sort of healthcare space that you're making the clients kind of do the work, yeah, is reassuring as opposed to sending them drugs and that are maybe cheap without a program. It's actually even more, more anxiety, uh, for them if they don't have that support you're creating. And this is, I suppose, a bit like if you have diabetes and you have to have a pen, right, uh, to inject. So people are injecting the GLP-1 as part of the program, and is that ongoing forever, or is that sort of something that then they do for a certain number of weeks, months, years, and you help them to transition off of that?

Absolutely. So we have, again, our entire team of clinicians that are reviewing them every month. So if they're, you know, losing weight too quickly or, you know, not enough, our clinicians will make the decision to be able to change their dose if they need to, give them some side effect medication, whatever it may be. So while we don't make any of the clinical decisions, we do have a team that will review all of our patients monthly. So we're not following any sort of specific schedule, specific anything. It's truly, truly just up to our clinicians because we are very science-focused, science-forward.

Okay. And it's, as you said, it's really client-centered. They've got the app and they're sharing the data through the app. To SheMed. And so they're getting really what we would call personalization at scale, right? Which is really in a way what the NHS is trying to do anyway, but you've taken a march on them, haven't you? Absolutely. Yeah. Okay. That's one. And then, so let's just move on to you as entrepreneurs and how you're getting this business noticed. You got the study. That's great. But that's existing customers. So SheMed, how have you been building the brand as young female entrepreneurs serving women. I can completely get the fit, but we all know, and you do because you're communications majors, that the big challenge is getting the word out. So how have you been doing that, Chloe and Olivia?

Absolutely. We have an amazing marketing team, and I would say that this is a pretty Gen Z answer, but we have really been targeting the online world. So it's been through Meta, through Google, through Reddit, through Pinterest. We've been taking every single angle to let people know that this offer is out there, because as I was saying before, that is really our biggest issue, was we are so new and we do have a very intricate program, but it's just letting people know that we exist. And so it really has been targeting all of those different online platforms so that people can see who we are. And yes, as you can see, if you're following along on YouTube, there's a screen share going on and one of the videos is actually Olivia making healthy recipes. As she mentioned earlier, she was a nutrition minor. And so we post a wide range, whether it's organic socials or on our ads, just to show people how we're here to support them. And if they do want to begin this medication, what we will be able to offer them.

Yeah, and this is on, for example, Instagram. It's SheMed_UK, and you've got some great videos of you talking, but also some really authentic videos of your clients. I've got Pooja already, for example. I've mentioned her, um, but you've got a number of women. Kalinda, for example, says she lost 37 kgs, and she says just a little bit of everything feels better. Yes. That must be the best feeling in the world, right? To have done that. So well done to you guys for doing that. Okay. So it's a Gen Z answer, but of course, completely appropriate as well, because that's how people get the information. Of course, it's also kind of private and safe, isn't it as well? Yes. If there has been in the relatively short amount of time, you've only had the business up and running since 2004, 2024, sorry. Um, if there's been one thing that hasn't worked quite as planned, uh, what would you, what would you advise me not to do?

Absolutely. So obviously, yeah, we are still very new. Um, I think one of our biggest things has been testing. There have been times where we have put, you know, money behind ads that we liked and we thought were going to do very well, but without proper testing, we aren't 100% sure if that's going to resonate with the people who we're trying to reach. So I think that testing has been a very, very big part of our beginning journey since just December of launching. I think that there's, I mean, probably a few different examples you could give of, you know, maybe it's colors. We actually, if you've been following us for a while since our start of in December, you might see that we kind of changed our image a little bit around. We were, you know, very bright. We're kind of going more towards those muted colors. We're just trying to find exactly what people do like that are going to be using this program because it's about them, it's not about us. So trying to find that perfect balance and just continuing to test and, and find that sweet spot.

Okay, now I was wondering whether your age group demographic is slightly older than you, isn't it?

I would have thought it is. Yeah, our age group, I mean, it honestly, we have a good variety on our program, but I would say majority between, you know, the 35 to 55 year age.

Yeah, because when they're sort of in their 20s, they're thinking they could probably exercise through it or, uh, or, or find other ways. But 30s and 40s, people are starting to really get concerned about it. Okay. Um, and if there is a, like, a learning, a lesson, a tip that as entrepreneurs— you've come from an entrepreneur family, said your dad's an entrepreneur, your brother's an entrepreneur, your mum presumably is also an entrepreneur— um, if there's a tip that you'd give any, anybody, or a Gen Z who sees problems in society like you've done and you've got the courage to tackle it, what would your advice be? Like for my daughters, for example, who are really struggling with how many things there are and jobs are not going to be guaranteed.

Yeah.

You two are showing the way forward for young women especially to build against their dreams and their passions. What would be a piece of advice?

I would say start with research. For sure. You have to really dive in and figure out what's already out there, what's missing, because there is a lot that we wanted to do in the realms of women's health that we felt it actually is getting some attention in other places. And once we did the abundance of research that we did do is when we realized, wait a minute, there is a huge gap here. And not only could we do this one thing, but we could also piggyback and do all these other things that we wanted to do, such as all the female-focused conditions that we've already named. And so I would say just an immense amount of research, going to everything, watching every podcast, going to every female conference that you can attend. A lot of them are free and open to the public. And just really talking to people around you in your community, finding a team that you feel really comfortable and strong with. I think that was a major part for us was finding advisors and finding people who could just give us some sort of mentorship on how we can actually start and how we can hit the ground running and make our dreams come to life in this women's healthcare world.

And as you absolutely have. Thank you, Chloe. Olivia, would you like to close out on a book or a podcast that you two I'm assuming you share what you read and listen to. We do.

Definitely do. I recently read The Hormone Shift. That was a book that it talks pretty much just about what women go through in their life and the different life stages specifically to do with hormones. I thought it was very interesting and there is a lot around that, you know, world of misdiagnosing, underdiagnosing and really trying to figure out what is best for you and kind of like how to get your voice out there in the medical world. So that's definitely a book that I would recommend to any woman because because they do go through all of the different stages throughout that book.

Okay, and presumably it's quite a thick book.

It's a pretty thick book. It's a good podcast.

Well, that's right. It's a good podcast name, The Hormone Shift. Ladies, thank you so much for joining me. If people want to find out more about you both or SheMed, where can they go?

You can always go to our website, shemed.co.uk. And then, yeah, you can always reach out to me, Chloe, on LinkedIn.

Yeah, my LinkedIn is just Chloe Farrow. Um, and you will see a big SheMed banner in the back, so you'll know you're at the right place.

You certainly will be. That's Farrow with a double R, by the way.

That's F-E-R-R-O. Yes, F-E-R-R-O.

Okay, perfect. Ladies, thank you for joining me, and you're creating an amazing solution for all women, not just Gen Z women, in fact. Uh, you've identified a big gap in our healthcare service. And you're solving it. So thank you very much for coming and sharing that.

Thank you so much.

Yeah. So we've been listening to the Faro sisters, Chloe and Olivia, who built a company called SheMed. It's just started, but they've already got amazing traction and have got a long way to go because they've identified a really big problem, structural problem, but they're solving it in a way which is really intelligent by being the communicators of the problem and bringing the solution to the marketplace, but relying on the trusted advisors, the medical team to actually deliver the backend. So the brilliant allocation of duties and make sure they retain the credibility and get the growth that she needs and that women really need in the UK and presumably all over the world. My name's Jim James. If you've enjoyed this, do please share it with a fellow unnoticed entrepreneurs. Your reviews on the podcast players are great, but I'm less worried about reviews and I'm more worried about entrepreneurs. To finding out from other entrepreneurs how to get noticed for what they do. Thank you for joining me.

Thank you.