From a First-Time Start-Up Founder: Why I Embrace Meltdown Mondays
As first-time founder and CEO of a healthcare start-up called Gastro Girl, Mondays have graced my life as “meltdown” Mondays when fear and self-doubt take over and I ask myself, “What the hell I’m doing and can I make my dream for Gastro Girl a reality.”
Gastro Girl is a patient-centric collaborative care platform for people living with a gastrointestinal health condition. Exclusively endorsed by the American College of Gastroenterology, our focus is on connecting patients to providers with the digestive health and nutrition expertise they need betwen office visits so they can follow their doctors’ treatment plan — and ultimately feel better.
For me Mondays are the days I worry most that my long-term vision supersedes my capacity to execute and that I will fail not because the idea was bad or I couldn’t infiltrate the market, but because I don’t have the resources to meet the demand. It is on Mondays that I usually wonder why I’m just not satisfied with a regular job with a steady paycheck and predictability. But it doesn’t take long for me to snap out of my wallowing when I remember how much I love what I am doing and that I will do whatever it takes to make Gastro Girl a success. I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Walking the Talk- Even When It Hurts
I’ve always admired stories of entrepreneurship, where a founder’s passion and belief in the product is so strong they will do anything to give their vision every fighting chance to succeed. As a first-time founder and CEO I am no different.
Like others motivated by passion and vision, I’ve given up the security of a full-time job I loved with great coworkers and health care coverage, moved my whole life from a vibrant big city that was my home for over 20 years to a smaller one where I’d never visited and didn’t know a soul because cheaper living costs will give my bootstrapped start-up more runway. I’ve learned to live with a whole lot less, eaten ramen noodles more times this past year since my college days, missed holidays with family and social events with friends. I’ve learned not to take it personally and toss and turn at night calculating the market and revenue models in my head each and every time I don’t get into a pitch competition or a potential investor asks “Why Gastro Girl,” and says the market is not big enough, the pain points just not powerful enough or tells me to come back when I have more traction.
Meltdown Mondays — Momentary and Necessary Reality Checks
I’ve come to embrace my meltdown Mondays as momentary and necessary reality checks which make me fight even harder for patients who are suffering from chronic gastrointestinal health symptoms and conditions which often cause them to miss out on life’s opportunities and joys. The market is that big and the pain points are that powerful. Just ask the 1 in 4 individuals in this country alone who have daily struggles with one or more of these common gastrointestinal symptoms like gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea or abdominal pain, also known as a condition called irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Growing up with an Italian grandmother, food was an expression of love, the heart and soul of Sunday dinners and holiday gatherings which were all day shared experiences not just routine meals. Bread and pasta were staples as was Noni’s constipation, which I learned from an early age determined whether or not she would have a good day. I didn’t realize then how much she suffered in silence or why she downed pink or brown colored laxatives like candy and spent such a long time in the bathroom on the days her face looked sad, her normally energetic and fun-loving spirit absent.
Years later, a personal trauma prompted my own digestive system to go hay-wire, leading to a 30-pound weight loss in a very short time. After a colonoscopy, CT scans and blood tests to rule out more serious gastrointestinal conditions like colorectal cancer or inflammatory bowel disease, I was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
I’m not alone.
IBS is a chronic condition that affects nearly 35 million people in the United States. Misinformation and a vicious cycle of self-treatment with futile attempts at trying to manage and alleviate symptoms on their own, leads individuals to suffer for years, sometimes decades, before seeing a doctor, according to the “IBS in America” survey released earlier this year.
The survey demonstrated that the symptoms of IBS are often so bothersome and unpredictable that they interfere with daily life at home, work and school, and many people suffer for years before seeing a doctor.
Studies Show Link Between Food, GI Symptoms Yet Limited Access to Dietitians with GI Expertise
Before taking the leap to pursue Gastro Girl full-time in October 2015, I spent six years with the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), where I learned more about the struggle patients faced in living with chronic GI symptoms and conditions as well as the challenges physicians have in managing these patients, due in part to the complexity of symptoms and the constraints of the healthcare system which don’t give doctors and their staff the time or resources necessary to support their patients between visits.
And while recent studies have shown a link between food and chronic GI symptoms and conditions like IBS, most gastroenterologists are not nutrition experts and do not have a registered dietitian on staff or access to one with the specific experience working with patients who have gastrointestinal health conditions.
Registered dietitians are key for implementation of complicated dietary interventions such as the low FODMAP diet, which studies have shown is more effective when a patient is working with a dietitian due to the complexity of the plan. As a result, many patients are on their own in following their doctors’ recommended treatment plan, which initially often involves dietary intervention. So patients often self-manage via online searches, experimenting with the latest health and diet trends reported in the media, trying over-the- counter or alternative therapies that may make their symptoms worse.
Chances are you know someone who worries about finding a restroom in time or missed an important event because their abdominal pain or diarrhea is so bad. Maybe you are the one who has called in sick due to digestive distress. Or maybe you are tired of trying to figure things out on your own. The problem is that big. That’s why I will continue to sacrifice and fight to make sure that Gastro Girl provides GI patients with the access to dietary and other expertise and support they need between office visits so they ultimately can feel better. And I will continue to appreciate meltdown Mondays as my weekly reality check.
Jacqueline Gaulin is the Founder and CEO of Gastro Girl, a patient-centric collaborative care platform for people living with a gastrointestinal health condition. Gastro Girl provides virtual care and support by giving patients access to providers with GI expertise (Clinicians, Registered Dietitians, Psychologists, and Certified Health Coaches) via a state-of-the-art, HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform where they can schedule 1:1 online video sessions or join group coaching programs that aim to improve symptom severity and occurrence. Patients can also access evidenced-based health information, expert insights and resources via an online support community. Gastro Girl completed the Relevant Health Accelerator in March 2016 and is currently one of six companies sourced and selected for humble ventures Grow Program.
