Phone It In: Midi Health Founder, Power Up Speaker On How Digital Healthcare Is Changing Access For Women
Joanna Strober, CEO and co-founder of Midi Health, at a recent media appearance.
“Your phone could be the perfect place to get healthcare.”
Joanna Strober, CEO and co-founder of Midi Health, a virtual care platform for women in perimenopause and menopause, says years ago she had the realization that each phone carries the potential for better health. Strober is speaking on the panel, The Audacity to Thrive: Women Claiming Midlife Health & Power, at Take The Lead’s Power Up Conference August 26.
“Your phone could be the perfect place to get healthcare,,” says Joanna Strober, @MidiHealth cofounder, CEO, who is speaking at #PowerUpConference @takeleadwomen #WomensEqualityDay. ”
Read more on Power Up speaker Sophia Yen MD
“It is so hard to get in the car,” says Strober, 58, who also founded Kurbo, the first digital therapeutic for childhood obesity, that she sold to Weight Watchers. And it is so easy to get on the phone.
Read more in Take the Lead on telemedicine
Her path to becoming an entrepreneur in digital health was filled with hints, pivots and successes along the way.
The daughter of a doctor and travel agent, Strober says she grew up in Pal Alto, California, with her two sisters, and after graduating from University of Pennsylvania in 1990, she went to law school at University of California-Los Angeles.
“I hated it, and was a terrible lawyer,” says the 1993 graduate. “It just wasn’t interesting,” she says.
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Then she worked in private equity and venture capital and found her way. She invested in health and consumer companies including BlueNile, etoys, Babycenter, HotJobs and Flycast.
Read more in Take The Lead on healthcare advocacy
All were personal interests as she got married and had three children, leading her to be co-author of the 2013 book, Getting to 50/50: How Working Parents Can Have It All.
The recently published 1st Global Women's Health Investment Report, shows more investors and venture capitalists globally are investing in women’s health companies. The report shows “roughly $1.55 billion in disclosed equity across 85 companies and declares the arrival of what it calls 'the Era of Scale.'"
This is true, the study shows, because of a new category that includes "metabolic health." Investment spread across more conditions and countries than in any prior year, including ovarian oncology.
Read more in Take The Lead on healthtech
Strober says women need more options for digital healthcare designed specifically to address their physical and mental health concerns.
Just this month, in the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI-06) and Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY-09) introduced Menopausal Workers’ Fairness Act, a bill to expand workplace protections for employees experiencing menopause.”
According to their release, “As the workforce ages and more women remain employed longer, menopausal symptoms affect a significant portion of employees. A lack of a comprehensive menopause-specific set of workplace protections could cause U.S. companies to lose billions of dollars annually due to reduced productivity, increased absenteeism, and premature loss of talent related to unmanaged menopausal symptoms. Beyond the direct financial impact, businesses will also contend with a loss of institutional knowledge, reduced innovation, decreased team cohesion, and a lack of women in senior leadership roles.”
“#Menopausal #Workers Fairness Act: “A lack of a comprehensive menopause-specific set of workplace protections could cause U.S. companies to lose billions of dollars annually due to reduced productivity, increased absenteeism, and premature loss of talent.” #Equity #workplace”
Read more in Take The Lead on women in healthcare
This awareness may lead to action.
“I felt a revelation and was very excited by the Internet and that we could use the phone to help address health issues,” says Strober, who son was in middle school when she crated Kurbo.
“My kids would say I walk around the house talking about my ideas; I talk to myself a lot,” Strober says.
In the case of Midi Health, Strober says, “I talked to my friends and asked them what are their issues?”
In 2021, when she was 53 and dealing with hormonal issues, Strober says, “I was able to get access to hormones,” but not every woman is.
“I believe there is a huge gap in the healthcare system for women, from post-baby until they are geriatric,” says Strober, who says women are often dismissed by their primary care provider for their symptoms.
“I believe there is a huge gap in the healthcare system for women, from post-baby until they are geriatric,” says Joanna Strober @MidiHealth. #women #wellness #healthgap”
Read more in Take The Lead on women in healthcare leadership
“Many don’t look at you as a woman, so they just need to fix that. We need to change the narrative, so that we are starting as a woman first,” says Strober.
Studies around the world reflect this gap in attention to women’s health needs at this phase of life. For instance, a research study in Nature, shows, “Approximately 13 million women in the UK are currently perimenopausal or menopausal, equivalent to around one third of the entire female population. A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis found that around half of postmenopausal women experience” significant oral health issues. No research shows any connection to dental symptoms.
Read more in Take The Lead on Power Up healthcare speakers
Speaking at Power Up 2026 on August 26 in Washington, D.C., Strober says her goal at the conference is “to help people empower themselves to take control over what they want to do with their lives. How do we thrive in these periods of time?”
“Goal of #MidlifeHealth panel @takeleadwomen #PowerUpConference: “Hhelp people empower themselves to take control over what they want to do with their lives. How do we thrive in these periods of time?””
Having more women and their healthcare providers aware of symptoms, outcomes and possible relief is urgently necessary. A new study this month in Menopause: The Journal of the Menopause Society “found that 42% of women aged 40-44 did not know if they were perimenopausal—despite being in the age range when many women experience severe perimenopause symptoms.”
Overall, according to Yahoo Health, “More than 1 in 3 (34%) U.S. women age 35 or older weren't sure of their reproductive stage at all, whether they were pre-menopausal, perimenopausal, or menopausal.
“According to @YahooHealth, “More than 1 in 3 (34%) U.S. women age 35 or older weren’t sure of their #reproductive stage at all, whether they were #pre-menopausal, #perimenopausal, or #menopausal.” #womenshealth”
She adds, “Very practically, what can you do to feel good and take control of your health?”
Being better informed, supporting access to healthcare and learning as much as possible about symptoms, treatments and available resources can all lead to better control.
Take The Lead’s Power Up Conference 2026, Audacity: Leadership In Action, features a diverse group of speakers and experts speaking on the importance of inclusive leadership and strategies to solve systemic and historical barriers across all sectors. Strober, Founder & CEO, Midi Health, speaks on the panel, Women Claiming Midlife Health & Power, along with Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, Executive Director, NYU Law; Emily Serebryanny, co-founder of Institute FLE; Dr. Rachel Rubin, Urologist & Sexual Medicine Specialist; and Davina Lyons, Resilience Strategist, Creator of the RISE Framework. Additionally, following keynote speaker Margaret Atwood, there are panels on the power of storytelling, AI, wealth, entrepreneurship, caretaking, investing and more. Learn more about other speakers and panels and register here.
