The Startup Story Behind Girls Get Off and Women’s Sexual Empowerment

The Startup Story Behind Girls Get Off and Women’s Sexual Empowerment

What happens when two female founders decide that women’s pleasure deserves the same love and design as kincare and refuse to let stigma or shadow bans stop them? Today, we have Viv Conway, co‑founder of the sexual wellness brand Girls Get Off, to unpack how a “taboo” idea became a fast‑growing, community‑driven business across New Zealand and Australia. This is a candid, funny, and deeply empowering conversation about sex, leadership, entrepreneurship, and why sexual wellbeing is health, not a guilty secret. Let’s dive in! Key Takeaways: * Find out how two founders turned a lockdown idea for a sex toy brand into a fast‑growing sexual wellness business without relying on paid ads * Discover why Girls Get Off’s most devoted customers weren’t the 20‑somethings they first imagined, but time‑poor women juggling kids, careers, and long‑term relationships * Learn how Viv used organic Instagram content, Sunday Confessions, and community‑driven storytelling to normalize sex toys on people’s feeds * Find out how they navigate digital censorship, code words, and shadow bans while still growing a vibrant, engaged online community * Find out what really happens behind the scenes when you try to source sex toys from overseas manufacturers and the expensive mistakes Viv would never repeat * Discover the shocking gap between how terrified most women feel asking for what they want in bed and how enthusiastic most men are to be “given the answers to the test” * Learn how stigma shows up in unexpected places—from influencers afraid to work with sexual wellness brands to banks refusing to open accounts and how Girls Get Off turned that into media wins * Find out why Viv believes we stand on the shoulders of generations of women who fought for our rights and why it’s an embarrassment not to use that freedom boldly Resources: Viv Conway: LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/viv-conway/] Girls Get Off: Facebook Group [https://www.facebook.com/groups/girlsgetoffuncensored] | Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/girlsgetoff/] Girls Get Off: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/girlsgetoff] Girls Get Off: https://girlsgetoff.com/ [https://girlsgetoff.com/] Maaike Steinebach LinkedIn [http://linkedin.com/in/maaike-steinebach-8a3a304] Website Femtech Future: https://www.femtechfuture.com [https://www.femtechfuture.com] Instagram Femtech Future: @femtech_future [https://www.instagram.com/femtech_future] This episode is more than a founder story, it’s a lens into how changing the conversation about pleasure can change women’s lives, relationships, and even how we see our own power. Together, we can move sexual wellness out of the shadows and into everyday self‑care. If this conversation made you laugh, think, or feel just a little bit braver about your own pleasure and power, don’t let it stop at your earbuds. Like it and leave a review, so more listeners can discover these powerful stories. See you next week for another episode of FemTech at Work, where we keep amplifying the voices reshaping women’s health and wellbeing.

How GonGlobal Is Reinventing IVF Drug Delivery in Australia

Infertility affects 1 in 6 adults, but what if hundreds of IVF injections could be replaced by a non-invasive, connected drug delivery platform, designed by a daughter who became a “human pin cushion” and the father who spent 50+ years in non‑invasive drug delivery? Today, we chatted with Ellen Gonda, co‑founder of GonGlobal, a pioneering Femtech startup on a mission to radically transform the IVF journey. After enduring cycle after cycle of injections and describing herself as a “human pin cushion,” Ellen turned to her father, a leading expert in non‑invasive drug delivery, and asked a simple but life‑changing question: “Is there a better way? Tune in because she’ll take us behind the scenes of preclinical R&D, IP strategy, fundraising with doctors and pharmaceutical executives, and navigating the “Valley of Death” between preclinical work and commercialization. If you’re interested in IVF, femtech, non‑invasive drug delivery, or the realities of building a mission‑driven women’s health company from the ground up, this conversation will give you both a deeply human story and a front‑row seat to a game‑changing innovation. Key Takeaways: * How Ellen’s personal IVF journey and “human pin cushion” experience sparked the idea for a non‑invasive alternative to hundreds of injections * Why infertility isn’t just a woman’s issue and how male‑factor infertility contributes to around half of all cases * Learn how GonGlobal’s connected, non‑invasive drug delivery platform could transform the IVF patient experience and improve treatment outcomes * Understand why Australia—especially Victoria—has become a powerhouse hub for women’s health, IVF innovation, and early clinical research * Find out how Ellen leveraged accelerators and pre‑accelerators to transition from corporate communications into a biotech founder role * Learn how IP strategy, licensing, and preclinical R&D shape the future of a femtech startup like GonGlobal * Understand why doctors, pharma executives, and IVF patients themselves are backing this innovation with capital and conviction * Find out what stigma and silence still surround infertility and how Ellen’s candour is changing the conversation Resources: Ellen Gonda: LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellendgonda/] GonGlobal: LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/gonglobal/] GonGlobal: https://gonglobal.com/ [https://gonglobal.com/] Maaike Steinebach LinkedIn [http://linkedin.com/in/maaike-steinebach-8a3a304] Website Femtech Future: https://www.femtechfuture.com [https://www.femtechfuture.com] Instagram Femtech Future: @femtech_future [https://www.instagram.com/femtech_future] This conversation is more than a founder story—it’s a glimpse into a future where IVF is less painful, more personalised, and truly centred on the patient. Ellen Gonda and Gon Global are showing what’s possible when lived experience, world‑class science, and a relentless mission to serve women come together. If this episode moved you, be part of the movement: share it with someone on a fertility journey, like it, and leave a review so we can keep amplifying the voices of the builders changing women’s health. And see you next week for another episode of Femcheck at Work, where we spotlight the founders reshaping the future of care.

From Stigma to Standard Care: How Aunty Jane Is Rewriting Abortion Access in Australia

Abortion is legal across Australia, so why are so many women still turned away, forced to travel hours, or pay hundreds of dollars for essential care? In this episode, a registered nurse and co-founder of Aunty Jane, Alison Lima, pulls back the curtain on Australia’s abortion system, the quiet gatekeeping happening behind clinic doors, and the tele-abortion model rewriting what compassionate, accessible abortion care can look like. Care should never be one-size-fits-all. Whether it’s using AI to bridge language gaps or leveraging abortion funds to ensure no one is left behind, we’re exploring how to center the human experience in reproductive health. At the end of the day, Aunty Jane exists to fill a gap and our greatest dream is to one day see that gap closed for good. Let’s dive in! Key Takeaways: * Why even after decriminalisation, Australian women still face so many legal, geographic, and systemic barriers to abortion care * How a rural emergency nurse became the co-founder of Australia’s first nurse practitioner–led tele-abortion service and why this business was born from urgent need, not ambition * How Aunty Jane’s no-scan protocol safely removes mandatory ultrasounds and in what ways has ultrasound historically been used to gatekeep abortion care * Why only a small percentage of GPs and pharmacies in Australia provide medical abortion and what that means for cost, access, and equity * How tele-abortion works step-by-step at Aunty Jane from first consult to 24/7 nursing support and a 14-day follow-up focused on both clinical and emotional care * How abortion, fertility, periods, and menopause are deeply interconnected and why siloing abortion outside women’s health conversations reinforces stigma and shame * How clinicians in abortion care protect their emotional and physical safety while still using storytelling and social media to de-stigmatise abortion as routine healthcare * How AI triage tools and translation could transform support for people having abortions without replacing the human care that matters most Resources: Alison Lima: LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alison-lima-b4727425a/] Aunty Jane Health: LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/aunty-jane/] Aunty Jane Health: https://www.auntyjanehealth.com/ [https://www.auntyjanehealth.com/] Maaike Steinebach LinkedIn [http://linkedin.com/in/maaike-steinebach-8a3a304] Website Femtech Future: https://www.femtechfuture.com [https://www.femtechfuture.com] Instagram Femtech Future: @femtech_future [https://www.instagram.com/femtech_future] Your body, your story, your choice. You deserve more than gatekeeping and whispers. If Alison’s story changed how you view abortion care in Australia, don't let the conversation end when the audio stops. Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it. Start a dialogue in your own circle. Help us move abortion care out of the shadows and into the heart of healthcare exactly where it belongs. This isn't just a podcast; it’s a call to treat reproductive care as the routine, compassionate service it is. We stand with the women and clinicians who refuse to wait for permission to do what is right. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time!

Beyond Tracking: How Charli Health Turns Women’s Symptoms into Real Answers

For years, women were told, “It’s just pain.” What happens when that pain is turned into hard data that doctors can’t ignore? In this episode of FemTech at Work, we have Samantha (Sam) Costa, nurse practitioner, midwife and founder of Charlie Health, a clinically designed women’s health platform built in Australia for women across the reproductive lifespan. Sam shares how years of working in fertility and women’s health clinics, from tertiary hospitals to remote Indigenous communities in Cape York, exposed the huge gap between what period and fertility apps promise and what women actually experience. That frustration and award‑winning research into cycle‑tracking apps sparked the idea for Charli Health- a hybrid model that combines a powerful cycle and symptom tracker with access to real clinicians via a virtual clinic. For listeners, this episode is an invitation to know your body better, track your health before there’s a problem, and be part of closing the gender health and pain gaps one data point and one conversation at a time. Key Takeaways: * Find out how a nurse practitioner’s frustration with popular period apps led to the creation of a clinically designed women’s health platform * Discover why turning “it’s just some pain” into longitudinal data can change how seriously GPs take women’s symptoms * Learn how Charli Health’s hybrid model (app + virtual clinic) is redefining access to women’s health care across rural, remote and metro Australia * Understand how ring‑fenced, women‑specific AI and local clinical guidelines make Charli Health different from generic tools like ChatGPT * Discover why well-women, not just those with diagnoses, should be tracking their cycles, pain and hormones from their teens onwards * Find out how data from Charli Health could help with earlier recognition of conditions like endometriosis without relying solely on invasive surgery * Understand how Charli Health is working to be culturally safe and relevant for First Nations women and diverse language and education backgrounds * Discover what most founders get wrong when they start with tech instead of a real clinical problem and how Sam avoided that trap Resources: Samantha Costa: LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-costa-1564b662/] Charli Health: LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/charlihealth/] Charli Health: https://charli.health/ [https://charli.health/] Maaike Steinebach LinkedIn [http://linkedin.com/in/maaike-steinebach-8a3a304] Website Femtech Future: https://www.femtechfuture.com [https://www.femtechfuture.com] Instagram Femtech Future: @femtech_future [https://www.instagram.com/femtech_future] Your body has been talking to you for years. Are you finally ready to listen? Press play now to hear how Charli Health is transforming women’s pain, periods and fertility journeys into powerful data, real diagnoses and life‑changing care and to discover what’s possible when women refuse to be dismissed. If this episode moved you, be part of the movement: share it with a friend who needs to hear it, hit like, and leave a review so more women can find these stories. See you next week for another episode of FemTech at Work, where we spotlight the founders and innovators reshaping women’s health.

Rewriting Pelvic Health: How Pelvy Is Transforming Care with Founder & Physio Amelia Godfrey

In this episode, we’re joined by Amelia Godfrey, the pelvic health physio and founder of Pelvy, who’s rewriting the rules of care. Too often, issues like leaking, pain, and postpartum recovery are dismissed or hidden in shame, but Amelia is changing that narrative. We dive into how Pelvy uses thoughtful tech to bridge the gap between evidence-based education and real-world results. From breaking "poo taboos" to simplifying rehab, this conversation is an invitation to rethink what’s possible when clinical advocacy meets innovation. Key Takeaways: * Discover how a pelvic health physio became a global FemTech founder, and what gap in care Amelia sees that made Pelvy non‑negotiable to build * Learn why pelvic health physio is considered first‑line treatment and how it can transform outcomes for leaking, prolapse, pain, and constipation before surgery is even on the table * Find out why up to 30% of pelvic health appointments get cancelled and what this reveals about shame, overwhelm, and the “too hard basket” in intimate health care * Understand how Pelvy turns forgotten advice into daily action and what the in‑session clinician workflow actually looks like for patients inside the app * Discover how personalised cues, timing, and breathwork matter and how a single well-chosen cue can change the way someone uses their pelvic floor * Learn why cultural background and family norms shape pelvic health and what surprising practices from Eastern traditions actually align with modern evidence * Find out how Pelvy supports men’s pelvic health too, and why men often suffer in silence, and how the app is designed to include them * Understand the sacrifices behind a bootstrapped FemTech startup and what Amelia gives up—financially, personally, geographically to keep Pelvy alive * Discover how clinician feedback reshapes the product in real time and how a simple “template” feature radically increased usage and impact * Learn what myths about “normal” pelvic function Amelia wants retired and how challenging those beliefs could change someone’s quality of life today Resources: Amelia Godfrey: LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/amelia-godfrey-0a9406142/] Pelvy: LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/pelvy/] Pelvy: https://pelvy.app/ [https://pelvy.app/] Maaike Steinebach LinkedIn [http://linkedin.com/in/maaike-steinebach-8a3a304] Website Femtech Future: https://www.femtechfuture.com [https://www.femtechfuture.com] Instagram Femtech Future: @femtech_future [https://www.instagram.com/femtech_future] Your pelvic health doesn’t have to be an afterthought, a taboo, or a lifetime of “this is just how it is.” It’s the silent foundation of how we move, love, parent, age, and show up in the world. If this resonated with you, be part of the movement, share this episode with someone who needs it, like and review the show so more listeners can find these stories, and join us again next week for another powerful conversation on FemTech at Work.