Megan Capriccio is the CEO & Co-Founder at FemTech Collective. As an entrepreneur, product manager, and business strategist, she has dedicated her career to ensure that women have more control over their realities i.e. health, education, and career.
Megan’s various roles have helped gain her recognition as a champion for positive change for women. After her first company’ success that supports women’s careers and education in the wine and spirits industry, she wanted to dive further into researching women’s roles on the international horizon. She went on to complete Masters of International Relations with a focus in Feminist Theory from the University of Sydney where she became frustrated with the conclusion that women’s health can never be a substantial priority in a world where most countries and companies are led by men. Despite the shortcomings of healthcare systems and governments, Megan turned to technology as a solution for women’s empowerment and equity.
In 2020, Nicole Dahlstrom brought Megan as a Co-Founder of FemTech Collective to commercialize the business and develop the FemTech industry on a global scale. Through FemTech Collective, she is currently working with and consulting for FemTech companies, investors, and partners to grow the global ecosystem, offer additional support for women to manage their health with the help of technology, and re-educate the public on how healthy women create a healthy society.
FemTech Collective is the world’s largest network for entrepreneurs, innovators, and professionals in women’s health technology. “Our mission is to catalyze quality innovation by providing strategic opportunities for the FemTech ecosystem and amplifying the acceleration of products and services for women’s health,” says the company.
In an interview with CIO Look, Megan Capriccio shared her vision for improving women health globally through advance tech innovations and what steps she is taking to bring this cause into a reality.
Below are the highlights of the interview:
As a business leader, what is your opinion on the impact of the current pandemic on the IT & Services Industry and Digital Economy in general?
The pandemic has accelerated the digital economy, which in many cases is a positive move towards a more flexible workforce encouraging work/life balance, especially for women. As a society, we have learned that a remote workforce, of course depending on the industry, can be successful.
In the healthcare space, we’ve seen significant improvements and acceleration that allow patients to access their providers digitally. We may not have seen these improvements as quickly without a pandemic.
In the case of FemTech Collective, we are a fully remote team, with staff around the world and yet we remain tightly connected through digital means. We have seen FemTech as an industry creating more accessible products and services for women, and users quickly becoming adopters of the technology because it offers the support that otherwise wouldn’t be available.
What is your thought on the necessity of a positive work culture? In what ways do you implement it at your organization?
A positive work culture breads innovative thinking, encouragement, support, confidence, empathy which leads to a happy staff, and ultimately greater production.
At FemTech Collective, we foster a positive environment by being flexible and understanding with staff, engaging often, and encouraging innovative thinking and ideas. Our team is committed to our vision and supporting the members to help them achieve their successes.
What is your opinion on the necessity for businesses to align their offerings with newer technological developments, especially when it comes Digital Transformation?
The pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation, and we are seeing that in healthcare from digital appointments, to at home prescription delivery, to personal monitoring and tracking applications and devices. It’s unforeseen circumstances like the pandemic that make digital transformation in healthcare all the more necessary.
Newer technologies are always interesting to see and exciting to evaluate. However, new developments will greatly depend on the audience to which they are targeting, the acceptance, and the level of market saturation. Before the pandemic, patients were quite wary to receive care in a digital environment, but when it’s the only medium possible, they quickly adapted. Because of this, digital healthcare is going to be a major component of the new norm.
How do you bring your management skills in establishing strategic direction and delivering results globally?
My achievements and experiences have shaped my leadership style just as much as my failures have; it’s important to recognize this in your team as well. I think the most important thing a leader can do is take the time to understand how their team ticks and to learn what a priority is for them. This has become an easier skill for me to develop; the more I understand myself and my own priorities.
The more I took the time to reflect on myself, the more enthusiastic I became for the things I decided to devote my time to. Great leaders are able to do this for themselves and also take the time to understand it in others. It allows you to see your team or community for the humans they are while allowing them to bring their full selves and potential to work.
Thus, from there, it is just finding a team that shares your enthusiasm and motivation for the work ahead.
In what ways have you contributed to the community? If given a chance, what change would you bring in providing growth opportunities to Women.
The ethos of FemTech Collective is such that we want to amplify the success of innovators and founders in the women’s health technology industry. As a predominately, female led ecosystem, we see it’s our responsibility to support the unique needs of leaders in the space. May that be through strategic partnerships, mentorship opportunities, coaching sessions, or otherwise, we take our cues from the community itself. We provide career development opportunities through our internal roles, and provide company accelerating programs to strategically support the global industry more broadly.
As an established business leader, what would be your advice to the budding women entrepreneurs aspiring to venture into IT & Services Industry?
My advice to anyone, women and men, looking to venture into IT and the Services Industry is: do your homework, do the research, know your audience, connect with other entrepreneurs to learn from their journeys, learn from your victories and mistakes and do not give up when it gets hard. This is a journey, enjoy the experience.
How do you envision on sustaining your company’s competency in a cutthroat and volatile world of business? Where do you see your company in the next five years?
In the future, I see FemTech Collective as the leading business support service and strategic global network for entrepreneurs, innovators, and professionals in female health. There’s so much room for new technologies, and we’re still highlighting the gaps where innovation is lacking to support women’s health journeys. FemTech Collective is creating the foundation for the next generation of entrepreneurs in this space, and catalyzing innovation to ensure personalization and further accessibility in women’s healthcare products.
