I Saw Things I Imagined: On Building a Digital Health Solution That Centers the Needs of Black Women

One of my favorite songs by Solange Knowles is super short, and simple, yet profound. The song simply says, “I saw things I imagined.” And it’s a song I often play when I am in my creative mode or when I need some inspiration to keep envisioning the world I want to see. Today’s funding announcement for Health In Her HUE is one of the many things I imagined, and now can see.

I’ve been trying to be better about prioritizing my first love — writing. I’ve also been trying to be better at chronicling this journey of being a Black girl turned woman from the Bronx, NY, building a digital health startup for Black women. So today I pause to celebrate the milestone of raising $1 million for Health In Her HUE, focused on connecting Black women and women of color to culturally sensitive healthcare providers, health content, and community. I’m not celebrating this milestone for vanity reasons. I am celebrating this milestone because 1) fundraising is hard as hell, and I did that. And 2) I know how important it was for me to see headlines about Black women who raised $1Million + for their ventures. Seeing those headlines turned my lofty dreams into actionable goals, and led to today, a moment where I am literally seeing a thing I, at one point, only imagined.

I’m not really sure what eloquent and profound things people typically say when they raise a round of funding for their companies, but this medium post is what I have to say. I did not come to this work wanting to build a company outright. I came to this work wanting to solve a problem — a problem that was burdening me so much that I could not shake it off. And while working on an approach to solve said problem, I saw a business opportunity.

I am committed to giving all of my expertise, perspective and ingenuity to addressing this problem of racial health disparities in only the way I know how, and that is in and with community. I have a huge vision that not everyone will understand, and guess what? I am 100% ok with that. Because I already know that I will attract the people who are supposed to partner with me on this journey. I am grateful for my brilliant co-founder, Eddwina. I am grateful for the team who has supported Health In Her HUE to-date. And I am grateful to have mission aligned investors and advisors who believe in the vision, and, more importantly, who believe in me and the team I’m building to execute on it. This is something I don’t take lightly. Capital is one thing, but having the right people on your team is even more critical to success. I am grateful to be in a space and moment where I truly believe I have the right people alongside me to help Health In Her HUE grow.

I often get asked why the focus on women? And why the emphasis and focus on Black women? The answer is real simple, I am a Black woman who was and still is personally burdened by the racial disparities in health outcomes for Black women. I am a Black woman who experienced the insidiousness of institutional racism in prominent healthcare institutions firsthand. I am a Black woman who also experienced a significant difference in the care I received when I was seen by a doctor who looked like me. All of those facts and experiences are why I am building what I’m building.

Every time I was tempted to shy away from focusing on women’s health, and shy away from saying I was building a solution that prioritized the needs of Black women, I was reminded of the moment that brought me to action and I could not dishonor it (a post for another day). But in short, I realized I felt too burdened by this problem to not do anything about it. I had to channel the rage and frustration I felt into something constructive. I had to take the ugliness of my experiences as a Black woman in healthcare and turn it into something beautiful. Health In Her HUE is a culmination of my experiences and my dedication to racial equity, health equity, Black feminism, and my Christian faith.

Now, if I can keep it entirely real with you (and I will), I am tired of people constantly talking about Black women’s poorer health outcomes, but not seeing the value in tailoring solutions that meet our specific health and healthcare needs. I am tired of Black women not being seen as worthy enough to have things designed and built for us. My fatigue with the state of affairs for Black women’s health is what gave me the strength to get to work. As difficult and challenging as this journey is, I am committed to proving the value and benefits of tailoring solutions for those who are most marginalized.

Capitalism would want us to believe that there’s only one company that can get this right and “win.” But racism in healthcare is a problem that cannot be solved by any one company. I’m proud to have raised capital to address a problem I am deeply burdened by, and in a way I know I am uniquely positioned to address it. However, I am cognizant of the trappings of over-optimizing for winning at the expense of true impact.

Now, let me be clear, I am a very competitive person by nature. Health In Her HUE will thrive as a business, and it will drive impact. But, I don’t think success and impact have to be mutually exclusive, especially if you’re prioritizing the latter. I refuse to approach this work solely focused on winning. I am focused on being differentiated in our approach and partnering with companies that can support our growth and our mission. A zero-sum mindset in healthcare is problematic, and will ultimately perpetuate the same problems we claim to be focused on solving.

I am grateful to have connected with digital health startup founders who are collaborative. These are the founders I respect and celebrate even if there may be overlap with our companies. As the CEO of Health In Her HUE, I welcome accountability. I welcome healthy critique. I welcome the challenge of building something as a tool to dismantle the status quo. And I know in order to get it done right, it can’t be done alone or in silos.

I intend to stay focused on the work I’ve been called to do, which is to build a solution that Black women and women of color continue to find valuable. I believe it is important to have solutions that center the needs of women who are at the margins, not only because it ultimately benefits everyone, but because it is necessary.

So as I build, I’ll continue to imagine…

Gone are the days when Black women’s stories and experiences are used to catapult the success of solutions that don’t reach them, or effectively meet their needs. Gone are the days of people not funding research on issues that disproportionately affect Black women. Gone are the days of people questioning the market size and business opportunity to develop solutions for Black women and by Black women. A new day is coming.

This milestone is motivation for me to keep imagining a world and a healthcare ecosystem I want to see. The responsibility of this vision is one I gladly bear, because my own life, and the life of women I love and care deeply about literally depends on it.