SME Today talks to Gloria Kolb, a passionate advocate for women’s empowerment and a trailblazer in the women’s health space. As the founder of Elitone, an innovative and non-invasive device to treat the problem of incontinence in women, Gloria is on a mission to break taboos, challenge biases in healthcare, and ensure women have access to safe and effective solutions for their quality of life and general wellbeing.
What is your business?
Elidah, maker of Elitone, is a US company that has developed a non-invasive, wearable pelvic floor treatment that is safe, trusted and effective for women who suffer from bladder leaks. We are on a mission to help women improve their health, their lives, and feel confident.
How did you get started in the female health industry?
I am an inventor with over twenty patents, and more than 30 years of experience in product development and commercialisation, mainly in the field of medical devices.
I thrive when I am creating designs to solve unmet clinical needs and that passion has led to me winning several prestigious awards in the US, including Boston’s ‘40 under 40; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Review’s ‘World’s Top Innovators under 35’ and Fortune Small Business’ ‘14 Hot Startups’.
After I gave birth to my twins, I realised there was a gap in the market for a user-friendly product to help women experiencing bladder leaks and there, my personal and professional life collided.
What is a working day like for you?
I try to exercise before work, catch up with some news and emails early, then the day is packed full of tasks. This could involve product development, building connections, accounting and marketing.
After dinner with my family, I typically get back at work until bedtime, which is fairly late, often 1am.
How did you come up with the idea for Elitone?
After I gave birth to 13 lbs twins, I started to experience incontinence issues. It was unsettling not to have control, but I quickly learned that I wasn’t alone and in fact, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence estimates that around three million women in the UK experience urinary incontinence, with many more experiencing some degree of it, and that it is a common condition that affects millions of people.
To help me manage the incontinence issues I was experiencing I started to look at what help was out there. To put it bluntly – there wasn’t anything and I felt appalled at the lack of available solutions. All the treatments I could find and buy over the counter were vaginal devices that require you to lock yourself in your bedroom and lie on your back for 20 minutes every day – I had a young child and baby twins; I did not have 20 minutes a day to spare! I wanted, and needed, something non-invasive that didn’t take up my time.
What challenges did you face?
Oh boy! Where to start? We had regulatory hurdles everywhere and clinical study hurdles. Then when we finally got regulatory approval we launched right before the pandemic hit, so we had to refocus solely on direct to consumer marketing which was new to us medical device executives. I think that the biggest learning curve was to understand that even though women struggle and our product works, our explanation of what it does and how it does it has to resonate.
What has been your career highlight?
Well this company is definitely my career highlight. I am so proud of our smart and nimble team. We have certainly won a lot of awards, but the highlights truly are the testimonials and emails that we get everyday from our customers sharing how Elitone has made a big difference to their lives, and how Elitone has enabled them to get back to doing things they used to love.
Who inspires you?
I don’t know if it’s a single person. I am inspired by other entrepreneurs’ success stories. I listen to Guy Raz’s podcast ‘How I Built this’ on my commute and feel inspired by the stories of incredible perseverance and how people have overcome struggles to build amazing companies. Those stories inspire me to keep growing as a leader, not only for our employees but as a trailblazer in the Women’s Health field.’