November 2025 STEM Grant Awarded to Cirdia PBC

Video Transcript

Marcia: Welcome to a chat today with the WomensNet business-specific grant winner for November 2025, Mary Camacho of Cirdia PBC, which stands for public benefit corporation. For November, the business-specific category was STEM companies or those in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

I’m Marcia Layton Turner and I’m a member of the WomensNet advisory board, and I have the great opportunity to speak with our winners every other month. Thank you, Mary, for making time to chat with me today. I know you’re very busy.

So, let’s start off with an easy question. Could you tell everybody a little bit about your company and where the idea came from to start it?

Mary: Sure, thank you, and really, thanks for the opportunity. So, Cirdia is women-first, privacy-first wellness wearables design for midlife and beyond. And this idea started when I realized something most people don’t really think about all that often, which is that our biometric data, you know, our heart rate, our sleep patterns, our stress signals, all of these things are being collected and controlled by a handful of big tech companies whose real business is advertising. And the reality is our medical records aren’t treated this way, so why are we okay with all of our biometric data being treated this way, like clickstream analytics, that sort of thing? That question and my background sent me down this rabbit hole because, as a woman in midlife, I kept seeing how poorly the devices were actually serving us. And the more I learned over the process of starting this, the clearer it became.

You know, women weren’t even required to be included in U.S. medical studies until 2016. We live longer than men, but our health span, the years we’re healthy, is actually shorter. And that’s because the data behind most health tech, behind most wellness tech, just simply isn’t about women. And so Cirdia is really my answer to that.

It’s a device built for our physiology, and it’s for our privacy. And it’s also about aesthetics, right? Because it’s a device that looks like something I want to wear on a small wrist, not some giant thing that looks like I’m always working out. And because of that, it comes with a night device too, something that’s a lot more comfortable. Then, while one is charging, the other one you’re wearing. So, it’s a two-device system for day and night, and it meets our sort of biometric, rhythmic, circadian rhythms of life. It isn’t trying to be one thing that’s kind of like this aggressive fitness device. And when fitness isn’t even half the point at midlife and beyond, it’s about longevity, wellness, and health. And so we’re creating something that’s actually addressing the needs of this group.

Marcia: Love it, and you’re so right. I used to wear my Apple Watch to bed to be able to track my sleep cycle, but it was uncomfortable, so I stopped wearing it.

So, let’s talk now about, as you were getting started, or even as you’ve learned along the way, what was a resource that you found really helpful in starting or building your business?

Mary: Well, I’ve been a woman in tech for going on 30 years, to date myself. And so there are so many resources that I can’t even begin to express in terms of my background of building up decades of understanding how technology works and how business works in these spaces. But really, the most important resource is people and being bold. There are a lot of things out there, especially as you’re moving into something new, that are available. Research is more accessible than ever, right? But you still need to take the time to make sense of it.

And what changed and what continues to change everything for me is reaching out to experts and people who have an affinity for what you’re doing. And these people are often on LinkedIn or in research communities and other women’s health spaces. And the thing is, people are so much more willing to engage with you than you expect. This is why I say people and being bold, right? Because one conversation turns into another. That network becomes a force multiplier. Suddenly, you’ve got these amazing people reaching out to you and giving you insights that affect what you are doing and making a difference for women’s health together.

I think about this, and I end up talking a lot to new founders and younger women in tech. So, I say, “Start building your network day one and keep building it.” And it’s not about pitching. It’s not about selling. It’s about learning and connecting. Be somebody worth knowing and truly be genuinely interested in other people, because that is the thing that makes this work.

Marcia: I love that. Thank you. Thank you for sharing and for encouraging everyone else to just go check out the community. For anybody who’s watching, we have a Facebook community of… I think we’re over 27,000 members of women business owners, so I hope you’ll come check us out and become part of the conversations that are happening there.

Well, let’s talk a little bit about marketing, because that’s really one topic that small business owners are always trying to get better at. So, has there been a particular marketing strategy or tactic that you found really works for your business and that you might recommend other business owners look into?

Mary: Yeah, I’ll start at the top level of it. We’re going where midlife women already spend their time online, which is LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. And yes, are there a thousand other places online? Perhaps. But you don’t need to be in a thousand places when you’re starting. You need to keep it focused.

And our strategy is pretty simple. The tech stack is not, but the strategy is. The strategy is to tell the truth about how wellness tech ignores women and show them how our product and Cirdia are different, and invite them into shaping the product with us, because we are not building it in a vacuum. We’re building tech for people who actually interact with humans, and it has to work and solve problems that people have, and it has to give them what they need.

Beyond that, I think it’s really interesting. One of the things that we’ve done early on is that we did a lot of market testing. We market-tested language, imagery. We put out a survey that very early on, from just a quick early signup list, we got 1,250 surveys filled out, which was amazing because it let us know where the pain points were. It didn’t solve all of our UX questions down the line, but it got us off to an amazing start.

And so that’s really where we’re leaning in, which is how do we keep engaging in a way that people want to. And I tell you, midlife women, they want to tell you things, so come tell us. And over time, it changes, right? This is early-stage.

Marketing shifts based on the kind of company you are and what stage of company that you are, where you’re selling, and all of that, so we know we’re going to expand into partnerships and influencers, PR, retail, all of that sort of thing. We’re just not there at this stage.

But I will say one thing: marketing has moved into high tech. And so your martech strategy, your marketing technology stack, really does matter. Having people who know how to automate your marketing and make it really work and not be so mechanical, but actually really work in the ways that humans want to be engaged with, that really matters a lot. So, if that’s not your sweet spot, be sure to find somebody on your team who can fill that sweet spot.

Marcia: I really love that you pointed out that there are so many places you can be. Focus on one or two or a handful, because then you’re just spreading yourself too thin. That really makes a lot of sense to me.

To wrap up, what is one thing that the WomensNet community could do to show support for your business from afar? Is it following you on social media, signing up for a newsletter, or buying a product? What’s one thing?

Mary: We’re building with real-life, midlife women, and so we really want support in terms of participation. Women answering questionnaires, joining focus groups, sharing their lived experiences. All of that happens by signing up at our website, cirdia.com.

In January, we’re going to be opening up a limited 100 founding member spots, because we’re very early stage too, and that is going to be offered first out to people who are on our waitlist. So, sign up on the website, and you’ll find out about it right away.

Marcia: Excellent. Well, thank you so much for sharing your amazing and intriguing stories with us, Mary. And congratulations again on being our November business-specific grant winner.