Theresa Neil – Designing Healthcare That Actually Cares

Theresa Neil is reshaping the future of healthcare 🚀, challenging outdated systems 🧠, and championing women’s health innovation when it’s needed most 🌍 — reminding us that the stakes in design have never been higher ❤️.

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Episode Chapters:

00:00 – Why You Can’t "Move Fast and Break Things" in Healthcare  
01:15 – Welcome and Introduction  
03:03 – From Sous Chef to UX Designer  
04:55 – Early Lessons in Tech and Gender Bias  
05:22 – Mentorship and the Start of a UX Career  
08:41 – Designing Airline Kiosks (Sorry!)  
10:47 – Founding Guidea and Finding Her Differentiator  
14:09 – Becoming a Women-Owned and Led Company  
15:43 – On Becoming a Feminist (and Why It Matters)  
17:55 – Calling Out Oprah’s Menopause Awards  
23:38 – Why Menopause and Women’s Health Remain Taboo  
27:40 – How Sexism Shows Up in Femtech Investment  
32:35 – Why VCs Might Not Save Femtech  
37:33 – Lioness: Building a Smart Vibrator for Data  
43:47 – Empowering Women Through "Spite Tracking"  
48:53 – Fighting Medical Gaslighting with Data  
51:08 – Redesigning Healthcare Experiences with Empathy  
56:57 – Why Patient-Centric Design Is Still Missing  
59:55 – Designing for Accessibility and Dignity  
1:04:09 – Industrial Design + UX: A Match Made in Medtech  
1:05:19 – Why Theresa Believes in the Power of Collective Stories  
1:08:14 – Where to Find Theresa

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Who is Theresa Neil?

Theresa Neil is the Founder of Guidea, an award-winning, women-owned and led product design firm specialising in medtech and digital health innovation 🚀.

She has:

• Led UX for companies like Roche, Johnson & Johnson, and Cigna  
• Designed digital health solutions impacting over a billion users worldwide  
• Launched Femovate, a femtech incubator supporting 28 product launches and 14 clinical trials  
• Helped startups secure over $100 million in funding  
• Advocated globally for inclusive design and women's health innovation

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Find Theresa Neil here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theresaneil/
Website: https://www.guidea.co/  
Femovate: https://www.femovate.com/

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Hosted by Brendan Jarvis:

Brendan Jarvis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/  
The Space InBetween Website: https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/