IAM051 – Entrepreneur Launches Company to Help Women Who Suffer from Pelvic, Vulvar Pain

Tara suffered from Endometriosis and had many pelvic surgeries beginning at the age of 11. After creating a device to help with my Vulvodynia, a condition that causes painful intercourse, Her and her business partner and started a company based in Sarasota, Fl. dedicated to helping the estimated one-in-seven women in the US who suffer from pelvic, vulvar pain. The VuVa Magnetic Vaginal Dilator has been clinically proven to relieve pelvic pain and sexual discomfort and has improved the lives of women seeking sexual normalcy. They have helped over 10,000 women in the past two years.

• CEO Hack: The Secret (Book & Movie)
• CEO Nugget: Think outside of the box for a solution to the problem
• CEO Defined: The freedom to do what I want and when I want. Helping others to get to where you are.

Doctor's Can Say The Darndest Things About Pelvic Pain [VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6v_EWPAwgo
Website: http://www.vuvatech.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PelvicPainPro
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vuvatechllc/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pelvicpainhelp/?hl=en

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Transcription:

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:27

Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Tara Langdale of Vuva Tech. Tara, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Tara Langdale 0:38

Yes, I'm very excited about this opportunity today.

Gresham Harkless 0:40

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, before we get started, what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Tara. So you can learn a little bit more about her and hear about all the awesome things that she's been able to accomplish Tara suffers from Endometriosis and had many pelvic surgeries beginning at the age of 11.

After creating advice to help out with Vulvodynia, and condition that causes painful intercourse, she and her business partner started a company based in Sarasota, Florida, dedicated to helping the estimated one in seven women in the United States who suffer from pelvic and vulvar pain. The VuVa Magnetic Vaginal Dilator has been clinically proven to relieve pelvic pain and sexual discomfort and has improved the lives of women seeking sexual normalcy. They have helped over 10,000 women in the past two years. So Tara, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Tara Langdale 1:30

Yes, I am.

Gresham Harkless 1:31

Awesome. Well, the first question I have is if you can kind of maybe delve a little bit deeper into your CEO story and what led you to start your business.

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Tara Langdale 1:37

So is one of those businesses that you're not planning on starting, I didn't think that I'd be selling vaginal dilators for a living, I'm happy that I am. But I just suffered for so many years. And then I found out that I had another condition on top of the enemy tree osis, which is actually they can be related, but it's more unrelated, and the vulvodynia which causes unexplained nerve pain during intercourse. So after doing a lot of research, I found that it was the same type of condition as fibromyalgia, it's unexplained nerve pain.

So a light bulb went off in my head. And I saw fibromyalgia and vulvodynia in the same sentence in a paragraph. And I was like, Well, my mom used neodymium magnet therapy for her Fibromyalgia back in 1996 when nothing helped her, so I'm going to try to do that for me. So I call my husband and I said, Listen, we're gonna put magnets and dilators and see if this works.

And within two weeks, the pain was reduced by about 60%. And then I had an idea let's use the dilators right before intercourse, and that they reduce the pain by about 90 to 95% then and I couldn't believe it. And I said I have to do this. I have to I have to help women, we have no choice but to help women because they don't have anything that the doctors aren't even diagnosing them correctly. So So that's, that's how the business was started.

Gresham Harkless 2:53

Okay, okay, well, obviously sorry to hear you. There's any type of pain and discomfort that obviously that you've had, but to be able to be, you know, a true entrepreneur and be able to not just have the issue, but also to be able to solve the issue to help yourself not just yourself, but also so many people are phenomenal for it and you deserve much respect for doing that. So I wanted to delve a little bit deeper into your business and get a better idea of exactly how you kind of help out these women.

Tara Langdale 3:16

So we have dilators here we have magnetic vaginal dilators. You can buy them singly, you can buy combo sets, or you can buy a full set. Some women don't need all the sizes. If you have vulvodynia, your muscles might not be tight as somebody with a vaginal isthmus, which is another condition dilators are used for. So you might not need all the sizes. So we've kind of broken it up or you couldn't get single ones combo sets, or the full set, we wanted the women to have options so they didn't feel like they needed to just purchase the whole set, you know and that would save them some money.

So we also, what we do is we provide a lubricant with dilators because a lot of lubricants that women buy in the store just over the counter have harmful ingredients that actually are going to irritate their pelvic pain condition even more because the skin there's skin issue going on down there a nerve issue and they have citric acid and things so we provide a very safe water-based lubricant with about four or five ingredients in it as well.

But what makes Vuva Tech different from I think other dilator companies which there are actually aren't that many is we actually talk to our customers, we let them vent we point them in the right direction we help them find pelvic floor physical therapists, which not a lot of women don't know exists. We help them find vulvar pain specialists, and pelvic pain specialists because not a lot of companies will take the time out of their day to search a half an hour to find a doctor in Australia. That is something that we do because we have to stick together me being a pelvic pain patient. I didn't know who to go to for four years and I still didn't go to a pelvic pain specialist I went to one but he didn't even give me a diagnosis.

So there aren't that many out there that actually know what they're talking about physicians, unfortunately about all these pelvic pain conditions, they keep lumping them into this category of menopause and endometriosis or one or the other. But there are other things going on besides those two conditions that everyone, you know, is quite aware of. So we just kind of go beyond the extra step. And we really listen to people and give them advice. And it's fun. It's really nice helping people, you know, on a different level than just providing them with the product.

Gresham Harkless 5:29

Yeah, absolutely. And I imagine that when you know, people have nowhere to turn, or they're so frustrated by everything that's happened, and even their doctor who may not necessarily be versed in exactly what might be the issue or be able to provide the right solution to be able to turn somewhere and be able to actually get a solution to the problem, but also know that somebody has also gone through the same issues probably definitely, you know, helps out a ton in that now I wanted to touch on and you might already touch on it before but it kind of like your secret sauce or kind of like your differentiator, do you have something in additional? Or did you already touch on what kind makes your organization unique?

Tara Langdale 6:03

I kind of touched on it like we go that extra mile. But I think part of that is the reason why we do that, which I can touch on a little bit is that I actually have the condition, I have a couple of the conditions that these women have. So I understand I'm not a man trying to sell a woman device for pelvic pain, that man doesn't know how it feels, I know how it feels, and I'm minute to help people I created something that is safe and has no side effects, I'm not going to try to steer you as you could call me. And if I don't think you need dilators, I'm going to tell you if I think that you need to see our physician first. Because maybe I don't think you have one of the pelvic pain conditions, I'm not going to tell you to buy my product. I'm not in it for the money, I'm in it to help people.

So I feel like if you're really in it to help people, then the monetary rewards will come. It's you know, Karma is a real thing. And I believe in it. And you know, we've had a lot of success. And I think it's because our patients and not they're not our patients, I call them our patients, but our customers, you know, really feel like we really care, which is very important.

Gresham Harkless 7:06

That's the tune and then like I always used to say myself, it's like kind of givers gain. And when you do something good for the universe, and you put good out there. I mean, as you see, as you mentioned, you're not necessarily you're trying to help at the end of the day. So however best you're able to do that, whether that be a connection with somebody who actually is a doctor that might know exactly what it is that they're going through, and you can prescribe the right thing, or your product itself definitely helps out at the end of the day you're trying to help.

So I think that definitely does come back, you know, triple-fold or fourfold sometimes. So now I want to just switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this CEO hack could be an app, it could be a book or it could be maybe an app, or maybe a habit that you have that you lean on on a regular everyday basis that makes you more effective and efficient as a business owner.

Tara Langdale 7:50

So the one it was a book and it was made into a movie and a lot of people are aware of it. But there's no book that I can talk about that I love more than the book The Secret because whatever you put out into the universe, you're gonna get back. So if you're constantly in a mind frame, I was in this mind frame, when I thought these dilators I'm going to make this happen, I have no choice. But to make this happen, I am going to to this appointment, because by the end of these couple months, I'm going to have a mold made, I'm going to have to pick the color of the dilators, I'm going to have the website finished, you have to set goals.

And every day you have to work towards those goals. You put it out into the universe, I'm going to have a dilator company, I'm going to help women, I have no choice, I'm going to do it. If you're constantly focused on every single day, what you're going to do to get to your point B or your point C or your point D, then every action that you make those days are going to help you get to know, where you want to be. So the secret is really what you put out into the universe you get back. I mean, I believe it works 100% You know, if you just every day, just write on your wall, put reminders, put notes on your desk, like I'm going to do this, it really helps.

Gresham Harkless 9:04

Exactly yeah, definitely echo that. And that is a phenomenal book and a movie as well. And being able to kind of speak things in existence and saying I want X, Y and Z or I'm going to have XY and Z and actually have that come to fruition is very true. It is awesome to hear that that has definitely manifested itself in your business and in your life it sounds like.

Tara Langdale 9:21

It has it's really been helpful.

Gresham Harkless 9:23

Awesome, awesome. Now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this CEO nugget can be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice that you might have for other entrepreneurs and business owners.

Tara Langdale 9:31

So my golden nugget for business owners is a lot of people want to do things that have a lot of competition. So they want to sell T-shirts, they want to open a restaurant they want to do the things that they see other people doing that are very simple. You have to think out of the box you have to look at things that don't have a lot of competition, you can sell T-shirts, but at the end of the day, you might make $5 profit off each one. Well, you have to sell a lot of T-shirts to make money to pay your start paying your bills you have to think outside the box something that people want and that they need or a solution to a problem. A T-shirt is not a solution to a problem.

So you want to pick things that are lightweight, that are easy to ship that have high markups on them just not worth some businesses, a lot of businesses that people try the obvious ones, but they're just not worth it anymore. They're not with the cost of you know, everything, the cost of goods, everything that's going up, you really have to think outside of the box in research and find something that is not what you just don't want to do what everybody else is doing. There's no point to it, there's too much competition out with the internet out. So the end, then things you know Why sell water? I would never want to sell water. Do you want to know why it costs so much to ship because it's one of the heaviest things?

So somebody that's selling eyelashes for $15, a pair that costs 50 cents to ship. That's what I want to sell. So you know Why sell water when you can sell feathers for the same markup, you know, but less shipping, you really have to weigh the pros and cons of something that you pick and think of everything down to shipping and packaging. And really price every piece of that thing out from the time in the morning where you go in and you turn on the lights what that electric is going to cost you that day to your water machine. I mean, people don't think of the everyday little things.

And then when they start paying all their overhead, they're like, Well, I'm not making any money. So well, it's because you said decided to sell T-shirts and make $4 a pop. You know so that's what I could go on all day as my tidbit

Gresham Harkless 11:33

I love it, I love it, you know is it's how to speak said like knowing your numbers and knowing exactly what your margins are especially and understanding that just because so and so is doing this type of business doesn't mean that you want to continue doing that you really want to inspect to kind of look and see why and ask yourself why exactly you're doing it and what is kind of like your end result or your goal. And how does that help you to get there?

Tara Langdale 11:55

Exactly.

Gresham Harkless 11:55

Awesome, awesome, as well. I love that, that CEO nugget. And now I wanted to ask you, which is my favorite question, which is kind of like the definition of being a CEO. And we're hoping to have different types of CEOs on this show. And be able to ask them exactly what it means to them. So what does being a CEO mean to you?

Tara Langdale 12:11

Being a CEO, what it means to me is the freedom to do what I want, when I want but you can't take that to your advantage. So you do have to work hard. And I put three years into this company where I worked night and day when I every breath was put into Vuva. Now I get a little bit more time now it starts to get a little bit more fun. And I have a little bit more free time for myself. But it's just that freedom to do what you want and to help others. And being a CEO and being a successful CEO means to me is helping other people try to get where they are.

So sometimes when you're so busy, it's people who come to you. I mean, as we're speaking now I get a text on my phone, I have a website can you look at it, can you give me your opinion, but it's hard because you're so busy that your time is precious. But you have to stop and realize that I didn't get to this point without asking 10 to 20 other people the same questions that I was just sent in a text. So I like to help others become CEOs as well. So share your knowledge and how you got there and then help other people become CEOs around you.

Gresham Harkless 13:18

Awesome. I love that definition and idea of the kind of paying it forward in learning like where you got the opportunity to get to where you've got you have that you've achieved that the point that you achieve as kind of because somebody also paid it for it as well. So I appreciate you for obviously taking some time out of your schedule to kind of speak with us and helping us to be better CEO. So I wanted to pass you the mic so to speak to see if there was anything additional you want to let our readers and our listeners know and how best people can get a hold of you.

Tara Langdale 13:44

I really appreciate the opportunity to do this anytime I can get the word out about the pelvic floor conditions that we're talking about. I like to take it because unfortunately, it's really hard to do marketing for our products because of what it looks like even though it is a device that helps women you know cervical cancer, dyspareunia, vulvodynia, vaginal asmus vulvar vestibular neuritis, you know, we don't get a lot of time to talk about it anywhere because unfortunately, people are interested in it or not for they think it's you know, taboo.

So I do appreciate it. One thing that I like to tell women and listeners is there's very important there are actually pelvic floor physical therapists so pelvic floor physical therapists are trained for women's health. Um, you can find one by going to the APTA Women's Health section on their website. We also if you go to our website, which is www.vuvatech.com, or you Google Vuva magnetic dilators, you'll find us we also have a resources page where you can find a pelvic floor physical therapist, pelvic pain specialist or physician, so a lot of women I mean, I didn't know that until a year after I created the dilators. I'm like, wow, there are pelvic floor physical therapists and they're the ones who use dilators the most so they're not going to put on these medications with harmful side effects that give you bad thoughts or make you gain weight. It's a muscle and nerve tissue.

So they're gonna do physical therapy inside your, vaginal canal and do manipulation and maybe it's being caused by a tight hip muscle. That's, you know, pulling your pelvic floor. So there's a lot of things you know, a doctor is gonna sit there, do a pap smear, and then write you a prescription for an antidepressant. And that's just not okay anymore. So I just like to throw that out there that there are actually pelvic floor physical therapists that are very helpful.

Gresham Harkless 15:31

Awesome. Well, thank you so much. I truly appreciate you for all the awesome things you're doing to help people out that are feeling so much pain and discomfort and for every kind of piece of advice and word of wisdom that you gave to us today. So I truly appreciate and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Tara Langdale 15:00

You too. Thank you so much for being a male and caring about this enough to let me come on your podcast and create some pelvic pain awareness. So I appreciate that.

Outro 15:55

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co

I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless Thank you for listening

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