Vaginismus! STI's! Puberty! PCOS! and all things Sexual, Menstrual and Mental Health!

In this episode, we speak with Achitha Jacob, the founder of Proactive for Her. A health-tech startup that's revolutionising women’s healthcare and creating a safe space for care without judgement.

Episode Structure:

1. Introducing 'Proactive For Her'
2. Achithas’ personal journey–her background, experiences, reason and passion for founding PFH as well as her learnings from the founding team, market and consumers.
3. Stories and personal experiences from consumers/friends/strangers that have greatly impacted the way Proactive For Her is set-up, communicates and delivers.
4. Shifting focus on the health-tech, fem-tech and sexual wellness market in India and globally.
5. Achithas' journey on running an early stage startup: the advice, most important hacks, PoV on hiring vs managing and more!
6. Diving deep into mental, physical health in the workplace and otherwise
7. Creating safe spaces: how can we empower and educate more women and also men? How can we have better conversations about gender, sex and sexuality? How can we allow for more diverse, inclusive spaces?
8. How is PFH a “Work in Progress”? What are people/things/books/talks that have inspired Achitha?

About Achitha and Proactive For Her:

Proactive For Her is an omni-channel women’s health clinic offering judgement-free, personalised, and confidential healthcare solutions. They address the health concerns of Indian women across their lifetime – from puberty to menopause and beyond. Their services are available online, at home, and at their Bangalore clinics. Be it spreading awareness about annual check-ups to include pap smears and cancer screening, cervical cancer vaccination (HPV vaccination), STI/STD screening or helping women take that leap of faith and book their first gynaecology consultation, they want to empower every Indian woman to take charge of her own health and wellness journey.

Proactive has helped 50,000+ women learn more about their sexual and menstrual health and access quality medical care. Young and old(er) women love that Proactive is able to provide them a safe space to address their sexual, menstrual & reproductive health concerns. They have done extensive work on extremely niche and taboo topics like vaginismus, a condition which is not very well understood in India.

An alumnus of IIT-Bombay, Achitha dropped out of Harvard Business School to build Proactive For Her. She has previously worked with Fortune 500 healthcare companies and healthcare startups.

“Accessibility should be a habit, not a virtue. And more importantly, we need to move from a space of sympathy to a space of empathy.” - Siddhant Shah

In this episode of Work in Progress, we speak with Siddhant Shah, an Indian Heritage Architect who specializes in designing spaces that are inclusive. Siddhant is a Stavros Niarchos Scholar and completed his Master's in Heritage Management in Greece from the University of Kent.

His journey began at home when he realized the difficulties his partially-sighted mother faced when trying to visit museums and public art venues. Siddhant also won a UNESCO and Archaeological Survey of India competition to make heritage sites in India disabled-friendly. These experiences motivated him to work towards making cultural sites more accessible for people with various disabilities and later, he was also diagnosed with tunnel vision.

After absorbing the wisdom of other countries through his study and travels, Siddhant came back to India and founded Access for All, a consultancy firm based in Mumbai that focuses on design-based solutions for Indian cultural destinations and monuments, rethinking accessibility and inclusion practices for all visitors. Siddhant has worked on several projects, including making Jaipur's City Palace more accessible. His work includes developing tactile replicas, audio descriptions, and other assistive technologies to make cultural sites more accessible to people with disabilities. He has also served as a Resource Consultant for the National Museum under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, and continues to work with different art galleries, museums, schools, and spaces in India and abroad.

Tune in to listen and learn more about from Siddhant's efforts to transform India's cultural landscape.

Guest Bio and Links:

‘Access for ALL’ aims at pushing the boundaries of physical, intellectual and social access through innovative, indigenous design and advocacy while fostering an inclusive experiential culture. The team focuses on access audits, interpretation & educational activities, inclusive outreach programs, sensitization & awareness program, braille-tactile kits, braille books and CSR based engagement programs.

Team ALL works in collaboration and partnership with museums (National Museum, MSMS II Museum), historical sites (Jantar Mantar, City Palace Jaipur), monuments, foundations, art galleries (DAG Modern), private art collectors, art fairs and other cultural organizations.

Siddhant Shah is a Heritage Architect and Access Consultant who specialises in bridging the gap between Cultural Heritage and Disability, through his initiative #AccessforALL. Shah, a Stavros Niarchos Scholar has finished his MA in Heritage Management from the University of Kent (Athens Campus, Greece) and his bachelors in Architecture (BSSA-NMIMS, India) along with a Post graduate Diploma in Indian Aesthetics.

“Dancing just created a space for me where I could do what I want and feel what.”

Our conversation with Devika explores the profound influence dance has had in her life.

From dancing to connect to herself, to dancing to lead others and create intimate spaces of trust. From dancing to shape and express parts of her identity to dancing to heal and fulfil––she takes us through the entire experience.

The episode begins by delving deeper into the start of her journey with dance. She shares with us what initially drew her to the Horton technique and outlines her journey to now becoming a certified Horton instructor and teaching classes at The Ailey School, The Ailey Extension and at the Dance Theater of Harlem and WRArts.

She then describes the feeling of connection, openness and accomplishment she's experienced throughout her life because of dance. A teacher who taught her what it means to lead. An NGO that taught her how to create intimate spaces of trust and moments of partnership. Her double major in data science which was easier to get through because of the rigorous focus she’s had to put on her mind and body.

She then very courageously shares the idea of freedom and release through dance and its impact on identity and expression of love. She shares her coming out to her family and sheds a light on how that journey has been.

We end by touching upon the work she does in dance therapy and immersive theater and how she hopes to do more of both. And we part with the thought that just like you can’t choreograph every movement in dance, you can’t choreograph every moment in life and at times the beauty in both life and dance is about the unfold.

Reading Notes and References:

• Horton Technique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11-SMRY2ON0
• True Love Forever, Third Rail Project: https://www.trueloveforever.show/

Devikas’ background:

• She is a certified Horton instructor and has taught classes at The Ailey School, The Ailey Extension, Dance Theater of Harlem and WRArts.
• Master of Science in Data Science at Fordham University.
• Worked with choreographers such as Francesca Harper, Adam Barruch, Andrea Miller and more.