How Alloy Is Revolutionizing Menopause Treatment: Founders Monica Molenaar & Anne Fulenwider on Innovation, Purpose, and Impact
Monica Molenaar and Anne Fulenwider are the visionary co-founders and co-CEOs of Alloy Women’s Health, a fast-growing digital health company tackling one of the most overlooked areas in medicine: menopause. Born from personal experience and built with purpose, Alloy is on a mission to radically improve care for women in midlife and beyond.
Monica, a serial entrepreneur, entered surgical menopause at age 40 and faced a frustrating lack of answers. Anne, a longtime magazine editor and public advocate for women, shifted careers after losing her mother to a sudden heart attack, and meeting Monica made it clear that they could build something better together.
Since launching in 2020, Alloy has helped thousands of women access safe, science-backed treatment and support. And as recently highlighted in Femtech Insider, the company continues to innovate with new offerings like its weight care program tailored specifically for menopausal women.
Together, Monica and Anne are rewriting the narrative around women’s health by scaling access, smashing stigma, and ensuring no woman has to suffer in silence again.
What does “entrepreneurship” mean to you? How has your understanding of it evolved over time?
Anne Fulenwider: I used to think entrepreneurship meant having the courage to start something on your own. But now that I’ve become an entrepreneur, I realize that is really such a small part of it– like that was one day seven years ago– and that most of it is about existing in a dynamic, creative problem-solving state and making sure you are never not moving forward.
Monica Molenaar: Being an entrepreneur has enabled me to be really creative. I am constantly stimulated and challenged by learning new things every single day. There’s always something to solve, and no two days are ever the same. For someone like me, who is very curious about things and people, being in a position to solve a big public health crisis with a creative and sustainable business solution and an incredible co-founder and team is the opportunity of a lifetime!
Tell us about your first experience with entrepreneurship. What sparked your interest in building something of your own?
AF: When I was editor in chief of Marie Claire magazine, we started a conference for female entrepreneurs, and I was so inspired by this idea that if you didn’t like the status quo, you could build something to change it. There was such a sense of possibility and abundance mindset these people were living in and I wanted to participate in that world.
MM: After surgery put me into menopause and ended any discussion of having more children, I wanted to go back to work after a few years at home with my young children. The problem was that I had been in and out of the workforce between the age of 30 and 40, and I found myself in a position where I was too old and qualified to start at the bottom of something new, but not qualified to start at a higher level unless I created it myself, so that’s what I did. Alloy is my second entrepreneurial venture. The first was a specialty food business called Seed + Mill that started with a shop in New York’s Chelsea Market. While it was a completely different business, it taught me so many invaluable lessons that I needed to be in a position to start Alloy.
What is the origin story of your company? What motivated you to start, and how did those early days shape your journey?
MM: I went into surgical menopause in 2014 at age 40, when the information available about—and the environment around menopause—was a very different landscape than it is today. I found it completely impossible to find good care and answers to my questions, or even to figure out what questions to ask.
The only thing I knew for sure was that when I finally found my way to a prescription for MHT (estrogen and progesterone therapy) after six months of suffering without estrogen, I slept through the night and started to feel back to myself finally.
After five years of continually trying to navigate my way through menopause and feeling so alone and adrift, I knew this was something I needed to and wanted to focus on to solve for myself and other women. There was so much broken around menopause that the question was where to start.
After doing a lot of research, and in particular after hearing the author of Estrogen Matters, Dr. Avrum Bluming, a breast oncologist speaking about the misinformation surrounding estrogen for the last 20 years and the resulting harm to women, Anne and I knew that in order to really solve menopause, we had to figure out a way to change the narrative about menopause and hormones and give women access to fractal and relevant information, credible and empathic medical doctors, and convenient supply of the treatments, or else we wouldn’t truly be solving the problem.
AF: I had been in magazines for 25 years, and becoming editor in chief of Marie Claire in 2012 was the thrill of my life, but after my mom died of a sudden heart attack in 2016, I decided I wanted to make a more hands-on impact in women’s health and help women from the inside out.
It took me a while to figure out what shape that would take, but when I met Monica Molenaar in 2018 and heard about her struggles going into surgical menopause at 40, and the universal struggle women everywhere were having trying to find menopause relief, I decided to join her in the quest to improve women’s post-reproductive life.
What motivated us to start was that we couldn’t find the perimenopause or menopause medical care and support that we were looking for ourselves. It turns out no one else could either, and in building the solution to our own needs, we built something that was badly needed and widely adopted.
What do you wish you had known when you started? If you could go back, what would you do differently?
MM: It’s difficult to answer this question because I’m really happy with where we are right now as a business and a team, and I believe that you can’t ever change anything without having unintended consequences somewhere else, so by that reasoning, I wouldn’t change anything because then we would be someplace else than where we are right now!
That said, we have definitely made some mistakes along the way, but ultimately I’m proud of the decisions we have made with the information we had at the time and everything is a learning.
AF: I wish I’d fully believed in myself sooner, fully understood the extent to which the status quo and all the incumbent players were not serving our customer, and that I had spent a lot less time listening to what others thought the solution should be. There are a few partners and vendors I wish we’d parted ways with sooner, but in the end, there was something serendipitous about our timing, so maybe they served us in ways none of us intended.
Has there been a pivotal moment or a game-changing decision that defined your growth as an entrepreneur?
AF: We spent almost a year trying to work with an established company that would have served as our backend technology, linking doctor, customer, and pharmacy. The contract negotiation process was arduous, and the company really did not understand what we were trying to build or how we wanted to serve our customers. But they had been doing this for much longer than we had, and we thought they knew things we did not.
After 11 months, we decided to cut the cord and break up the agreement, even though it meant building the tech ourselves, with the one engineer we employed at the time. It was the smartest thing we ever did, not only because it meant we ultimately owned the technology as well as our customer data, but also because we ultimately were the only ones who understood what we wanted to build.
That decision, which seemed drastic and a little reckless at the time, taught me to trust my gut more quickly, act decisively, and that when you are building something that’s never been done before, chances are there is no roadmap, so A) don’t waste time looking for one and B) don’t believe anyone who tells you there is.
MM: I have always been interested in entrepreneurship, but didn’t dive in until I was “forced” to. By the time I was 40, I had been in and out of the workforce for 10 years while managing my young family, and never really found my passion or my strengths professionally.
When I had my ovaries and it was clear I wouldn’t be having more children, I felt it was time to go back and focus on my career in earnest, but it was impossible to find a spot that fit where I was in my life and my interests without creating it myself. That required me to start speaking with everyone I came across about what I was interested in doing and my ideas, which previously would have made me feel vulnerable and exposed, or protective of my idea, but I realized quickly that business is less about unique ideas than skillful execution.
The pivotal moment was when I met my first business partner, someone who was in a similar stage as I was, who had been an entrepreneur before, and I decided to just “jump” and see what would happen. I have never looked back.
What does “success” mean to you, both personally and professionally?
AF: Professional success means building something that has a meaningful impact. Personal success means building a life I find meaningful with people I love and being able to enjoy it.
MM: At each phase over the last 6 years of thinking about and working on Alloy, there have been many different measures of success, and to still be here to tell the tale is definitely one measure.
I think that personally and professionally, I will feel that we have been successful if Alloy is objectively considered a trusted solution for women and their health for years to come, and from a financial standpoint, proves that women’s health is not only societally necessary, but also is a great investment.
Share your boldest dream for your business and the world. What’s your plan to make it a reality?
AF: It is not just my dream but my conviction that within a decade or two, no one will have to suffer from menopause symptoms, not due to lack of knowledge, recognition by the medical community, or access to expertise and solutions.
Alloy is leading the way in using technology to amplify the expertise and deliver solutions to the tens of millions of women currently suffering needlessly from the more than 34 sometimes debilitating symptoms of menopause that are not just a quality-of-life issue, but, if not treated, can severely impact longevity and health span.
What is your entrepreneurial superpower? How has it helped you overcome challenges or seize opportunities?
AF: I think my entrepreneurial superpower is my age and experience and the fact that I am the customer. Monica and I are solving the problem we needed solved ourselves, and there’s really no one else who understands our customer as well as we do. (Except for everyone on our team, of course!)
As far as age goes, you can make calmer, more rational, less reactionary decisions when you’ve lived through a few crises and emergencies before.
MM: I am a relentless optimizer and a really creative person, so I’m always thinking about how to make things better. I have a gigantic network of people I have real relationships with at this point, from all the different chapters of my life, and I love to pull people into what I’m doing when it’s relevant.
So many of the people who have been a part of the Alloy journey as teammates, investors, consultants, etc. have been people I’ve gathered throughout all the facets of my life.
Can you share one of your proudest moments and one of your darkest days as an entrepreneur? What lessons did those experiences teach you?
MM: What I am most proud of is that we have been able to create a successful and sustainable business while also being extremely mission-driven. The main part of the mission, of course, is to correct the record on menopause and provide women everywhere with access to accurate information, empathic and knowledgeable medical doctors, and convenient delivery of the solutions women are looking for to solve their symptoms and help to maintain their long-term health span. What I am personally most proud of is that we have figured out a model where nothing that we do is at the expense of anyone else – women get the treatment that they need, doctors get more flexibility, good pay and a collegial work environment, our team is fully engaged and enjoys one another, and the business is growing exponentially.
AF: My proudest moments come in support groups, in customer testimonials, and in private messages, when we hear or read our customers say that we helped them get their life back, that they’re feeling better than they have in years, that they finally feel like themselves again, that their relationships have improved. Being privy to these moments day after day makes my heart swell. (See below for darkest moment, January 2023)
What personal values drive you as an entrepreneur?
AF: I am driven very specifically by the need to improve women’s lives.
Seeing my mother die too young, supporting my daughter (who is fine now, thank goodness) through her own health issues at an early age, and participating for years in a culture that told women that what mattered most was the way they looked on the outside—all of these experiences have culminated in a fierce desire to get women the tools they need to feel good on the inside [and to battle the profound institutional forces that have obscured some of the simplest and safest health solutions that can improve the lives of every woman in the second half of their lives].
MM: I love being an entrepreneur because I get to learn new things every day and challenge myself intellectually, but I also can surround myself with people who are experts in the things I’m not and let them shine.
I view what we are doing almost like elite team sport or an orchestra—we are working together towards a common goal, and everyone has their role to play. Anne and I are the conductors and are happiest to hire people who know way more than we do about whatever it is they do. Given my own experience as a young mother trying to work full-time and manage everything else in my life, I think it’s also important to respect people’s lives and offer them balance so that our team can operate at the highest level in all aspects of their lives.
How have those values influenced your company’s culture and mission? Can you share an example?
MM: Alloy has an incredible culture, especially for a fully remote company. This has allowed us to hire for talent, expertise, and cultural fit above location. We are currently in the process of growing our team to enable us to scale further, and, as I have heard from some of the new members, they were struck by the enthusiasm of current employees and the fact that the common refrain was that once people come to Alloy, they don’t leave because it’s the best team and culture, and we are making such a huge, positive impact on people’s real lives.
What’s it like working alone or with a team? How do you approach building strong partnerships?
AF: Having Monica as a partner, a Co-Founder and Co-CEO to bounce ideas off and constantly check in with, is invaluable. You get the power of two brains, two networks, two time zones (in our case), and you get someone to commiserate or celebrate with no matter what the circumstances of the day.
As an editor-in-chief, I had a very collegial and cooperative team, but there are competitive scoops to get and advertisers to please, and at the end of the day it’s just your name at the top of the magazine. So, I have a huge appreciation for the co-founder dynamic.
MM: For me as an entrepreneur, it’s important to have a partner to keep me disciplined and feeling accountable, and Anne has been incredible to work with. We didn’t know each other for very long before we started working together, but she has become more than a friend and more than just a business partner.
Being a serial entrepreneur, I have found that the most important element to building strong business partnerships is respect, trust, and then of course, competence. Anne and I have had to evolve our work responsibilities over time, but we each trust that the other will deliver on whatever task is at hand, so there is no micromanaging or second-guessing.
We are open in our communication with one another, keep the other apprised of things that are happening, and work through tough situations together without inserting ego or personal negative energy into the equation. We have applied the same criteria to our team – generally speaking, there is a “no a**hole” rule.
What role has mentorship played in your journey, whether as a mentor or a mentee? Share a story that highlights its impact.
MM: When building a complex business like this, I think it’s important to find mentorship in many different ways from different people, because there is no roadmap when you are creating something completely new.
What’s lucky about starting a business in your forties is that by that point, you have picked up a lot of people along the path of life to draw from. I think in terms of Alloy, the most critical mentors have been our early investors, Ankur Jain and Alex Fiance, from Kairos HQ, who continue to believe in us and support us.
AF: As one of the more experienced members of our team, I have appreciated the chance to share what I’ve learned from my experience when helpful.
But I would say the more valuable lesson to me—starting out on a new career in an entirely new (to me) field at 47—was to reach out to my network to tap into experts in various fields to learn anything from the basics of digital marketing to the science of user experience to the shifting landscape of telehealth privacy law to basic business school lessons. I have learned so much from those I found through my network and also from the people we’ve hired along the way.
What excites you most about the market or industry you operate in? How are you navigating its challenges and changes?
MM: The most exciting part about the menopause space is that it is completely wide open – there is so much to fix and change that there are almost too many opportunities to pursue, and so the challenge is to remain focused and not get distracted.
The biggest challenge, of course, has been the misinformation around menopause since 2002 that has truly harmed women and their health outcomes unnecessarily which is a real shame (every health stat for women has gotten worse over the last 20 years since the release of the WHI, including incidence of breast cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, Alzheimers, diabetes, and the list goes on…), and the entrenched parties that have an interest in slowing change. But the great part is that women have gotten the message and are collectively feeling so much better when they get the information and the right treatment, so we will certainly persevere.
What’s one daily ritual or practice that keeps you grounded and focused?
AF: I wake up an hour before anyone in my family, make coffee, tend to the house in simple ways, check on the garden, and feed and walk the dog. It’s everything.
MM: I have a bunch of rituals that keep me grounded. I am lucky to be living in Europe and working in the US (where I’m from), so that gives me most of the daytime hours to do things for myself that would otherwise be harder. The most important daily ritual is walking my dog for an hour every morning, usually with my husband, which is great for my mood, keeps me moving, and gives us an hour together to talk about whatever is on our minds.
In addition, I have fully embraced the fact that midlife is a critical moment to prepare yourself for all that is to come — getting strong and building/maintaining muscle mass, eating well (don’t forget to add fermented foods into your diet!), trying to sleep (very hard!), finding time to relax, getting acupuncture for my tight shoulders, etc.
We called the company Alloy because the definition of an “alloy” is a combination of elements for strength and protection against corrosion, which is a perfect metaphor for what we believe and offer. While menopausal hormone treatment is the key that unlocks everything else, it’s certainly not the only thing women need for optimal health in and around menopause, so I’m always experimenting with other forms of self-care to add in.
Share a moment when your resilience as an entrepreneur was tested. How did you push through, and what did you learn?
AF: One Monday morning in January of 2023, one of our major vendors emailed to say they had run out of funds and would cease to be operational by the end of the week, and that we had seven days to get all of our data from their servers. I think I can safely say it was the most terrifying moment of our entrepreneurial journey to date.
We had just arrived in California to host a party to gather a group of influential women and educate them about menopause. We had to call our engineers and suss out the extent of the damage, figure out a way to save our own business, and also prepare to host this party with our game faces on. Thank GOD our engineers were up to the challenge. We negotiated two months of continued service, and somehow our engineering team was able to build the technology we needed and safely secure our data in record time. We are forever grateful to them.
I learned the importance of having a strong relationship with a strong engineering team, the importance of a collaborative and transparent culture, and also to vet startup vendors for viability.
MM: When we started Alloy, our primary thesis, after months of research, is that if you aren’t talking to women about estrogen around menopause, that you will never hit the nail on the head and close the health gap – currently, women generally live longer than men, but they also live 20% of their lives in poor health. Loss of estrogen is what defines menopause and the resulting chronic effects of aging, and no amount of exercise, supplements, or yoga will bring that back without supplementation.
It has been a multi-year effort to get people to understand this and change the narrative that something we have been told to fear for 20 years is actually the gold standard, safest, and most effective treatment for the vast majority of women. We feel like a broken record, but getting that point across, first in Sue Dominus’ game-changing cover story in the NYT Magazine in Feb 2023, We Have Been Misled about Menopause, and now so many other outlets, has brought many other voices into the conversation. I think that one of my biggest learnings has been how important it is to keep going when you see a wrong that so desperately needs to be corrected.
How do you manage the demands of entrepreneurship while maintaining your well-being? What strategies work best for you?
AF: I guess I would say that I have the benefit of having already experienced an all-consuming, highly stressful job that required my attention at all times and often took me away from my family and loved ones. I am a recovering workaholic, and after my mom died, I became very conscious that the work will always be there and that other things — like time with family, time in nature, and time out of one’s routine — are the most precious moments we can cultivate.
I have learned the necessity of absolutely turning off on a regular, daily basis. I wake up, feed the dog, make coffee, and go for a walk every morning, and try to wait until I get to my desk to check email, Slack, and Whatsapp. Most evenings I cook dinner and eat with my family. And I really take advantage of downtime on my weekends.
It doesn’t mean I don’t make the absolute most of my working hours, but the work will always be there, and those other things will not.
Where do you find inspiration to fuel your vision? Do you have any creative habits that help you stay innovative?
AF: I find inspiration in the health journeys of my mother, grandmother, sister, and daughter. I also find inspiration in hearing from, meeting with, and speaking to our customers.
How does your work contribute to solving larger societal challenges or helping others?
AF: It makes me very proud that we are at the forefront of solving a universal healthcare issue for all women. Menopause is an inevitable stage of life for 51% of the population. Not addressing the symptoms and cause can not only impact a woman’s quality of life, but can have serious health consequences as she ages. On the other hand, addressing her symptoms with the safe and effective solutions available today, especially within the first ten years of menopause, can significantly improve her bones, her heart, and her brain, and help prevent many of the plagues of old age.
What’s a problem that keeps you up at night, and how are you working to solve it?
AF: The problem that keeps me up at night is that there are tens of millions of women in the US suffering needlessly from perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms, severely impacting their lives right now and their ability to live long, active and healthy lives. There are simple, safe solutions that can improve their quality of life and their heathspans, but there is a giant access gap due to decades of misinformation and lack of training.
We built Alloy to bridge that access gap, using technology to amplify the scarce medical expertise and get women the help they deserve, delivered right to their homes.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to aspiring entrepreneurs about building and leading teams?
AF: I’d repeat the management consultant Peter Drucker’s famous quote “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” It’s easy when you’re moving fast trying to hit goals for a demanding set of stakeholders to just push, push, push, utilizing top-down management, but in fact if you take the time to invest in your people and your culture, both of which rely heavily on your ability to manage and communicate, you will develop teams who see the goals and feel invested themselves. If you don’t allow them to share in the vision and feel connected to your mission, you’ll have to work twice as hard to achieve your goals.
Do you have a favorite quote or mantra that keeps you motivated on tough days?
AF: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead
If someone wrote a book about your entrepreneurial journey, what would the title be?
AF: Pivot to Purpose
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