Summary
On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Natalie Shew, Co-Founder of FemHealth Founders, an innovation hub catalyzing and supporting women-led companies that offer solutions to women’s health-related issues. With over eleven years of experience in nonprofit and for-profit management, Natalie is also the Founder and CEO of EmployWell, a healthcare engagement platform on a mission to take better care of the people taking care of us. Throughout the episode, James and Natalie discuss FemHealth Founders’ first accelerator, the struggles women entrepreneurs face and why Bentonville is the perfect location for femhealth companies to launch, build and scale.

Thanks for tuning in!

‍Show Notes
Timestamps in this blog are for the audio-only version of the podcast; video timing differs.
(0:53) Introduction to Natalie
(1:45) About Natalie
(2:28) About EmployWell
(8:52) About FemHealth Founders
(11:47) FemHealth Founders’ Partners
(17:49) FemHealth Founders’ First Accelerator
(20:42) Scaling with FemHealth Support
(23:11) Accelerator Challenges
(27:21) Making Women Led Companies More Profitable
(34:41) Navigating Work-Life Balance as a Woman
(39:29) Why Bentonville Should Be Considered for Companies
(45:50) #BecauseBentonville Story
(50:52) Advice to Women Founders
(52:02) Closing Questions 
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‍Links
JAMES BELL‍‍
‍BENTONVILLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT‍‍‍
‍NATALIE SHEW
FEMHEALTH FOUNDERS
EMPLOYWELL
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Quotes
“FemHealth Founders was birthed out of this need for a more curated experience to the women’s health market, to the women’s health issues, and then also to this third piece of women founders trying to grow and scale companies and accessing very little of the capital that’s out there.” – Natalie Shew, (10:38)

“We have this beautiful cohort of not only impactful women, but brilliant, intelligent and motivated people who are solving women’s health issues…I was skeptical about how this whole peer-to-peer mentorship would go, but it’s been the best thing the founders have benefited from.” – Natalie Shew, (19:11)

“One of the challenges is there’s not enough time. The hope is that we would be able to provide support to these founders over the entire lifetime of their business, that’s why we’re building relationships here, not just companies.” – Natalie Shew, (23:12)

“…[Northwest Arkansas] is an inspiring place because of this entrepreneurial ecosystem. I’ve never experienced anything like this in my life, and I’m not sure there is another place like this in terms of a community of people who will rally around you.” – Natalie Shew, (40:13)

Building Fifty Women-Led Companies in the Heartland with FemHealth Founders
On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Natalie Shew, Co-Founder of FemHealth Founders, an innovation hub catalyzing and supporting women-led companies that offer solutions to women’s health-related issues. With over eleven years of experience in nonprofit and for-profit management, Natalie is also the Founder and CEO of EmployWell, a healthcare engagement platform on a mission to take better care of the people taking care of us. Throughout the episode, James and Natalie discuss FemHealth Founders first accelerator, the struggles women entrepreneurs face and why Bentonville is the perfect location for femhealth companies to launch, build and scale.

Breaking Femhealth Barriers
Female founders of early-stage startups in the women’s health and wellness industry are collectively experiencing a lot of the same pain points. These include inaccessible funding, lack of mentors, relocation requirements for accelerator programs, childcare obstacles and more. To counter these hurdles, FemHealth Founders is working with its partners to create a welcoming ecosystem for femhealth founders in the Heartland.

“FemHealth Founders was birthed out of this need for a more curated experience to the women’s health market, to the women’s health issues, and then also to this third piece of women founders trying to grow and scale companies and accessing very little of the capital that’s out there.” – Natalie Shew, (10:38)

FemHealth Founders cultivates innovation, validation, mentorship and investment, and aims to launch fifty women-led femhealth companies in the heartland by 2030. Northwest Arkansas was chosen as the perfect place to launch FemHealth Founders because of its already flourishing entrepreneurial ecosystem, its low cost of doing business, plus it being home to multiple Fortune 500 companies, a tier 1 research university, the Whole Health Institute and more.

FemHealth Founders’ Inaugural Cohort
FemHealth Founders partnered with StitchCrew to launch the first FemHealth Accelerator program in which participants are addressing fundamental women’s health issues across gynecology postpartum, trauma-informed care, pelvic floor dysfunction and fertility. The accelerator provides non-dilutive grants, legal support, business coaching and mentorship from industry executives.

“We have this beautiful cohort of not only impactful women, but brilliant, intelligent and motivated people who are solving women’s health issues…I was skeptical about how this whole peer-to-peer mentorship would go, but it’s been the best thing the founders have benefited from.” – Natalie Shew, (19:11)

Five startups participated in the inaugural eight-week program: Bunnii, Between, Function Feedback, Partum Health and WellMiss. All are working towards creating a symbiotic force for good in women’s healthcare.
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Get Connected!
‍Thank you for tuning in to this episode of The Bentonville Beacon! Join us weekly for more stories from entrepreneurs and business leaders who are sparking the rise of Bentonville. If you are interested in discussing whether your business should have a presence in Bentonville or would like to discuss this podcast, please contact James Bell. You may reach James at JBELL@GREATERBENTONVILLE.COM or (479) 273-2841.