This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.
I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other’s stories – of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, my attempt is to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.
In the interview, Silvia shares how she is empowering women and couples by translating medical research into valuable information for family planning. She shares how the mission of her startup is also her personal mission, how similar leadership is to parenting, and the challenges of convincing investors as well as other stakeholders about what they are doing and why.
You can find Silvia at the below links
In the interview, Silvia shares
- When you’re struggling to conceive, it’s not just women who are part of the equation, but also men.
- Part of my life that led me here was wanting to be a mom for a long time.
- And you wanna have kids and then it didn’t work. And I was overwhelmed by that sense of urgency, that belonging, or that desire to have a child. Was so strong all of a sudden, and then realizing that you want something badly, then not able to get it. That like really sparked something in me and gave me the energy to do something about that.
- There are so many hundreds and thousands of clinical studies where issues regarding fertility diagnostics and fertility therapy are discussed. Are found great results, but they’re not made available to the people who really need them.
- Patients typically think that doctors should have all the answers. They should know everything, but that is an unrealistic expectation from my point of view.
- We have to empower women to make good decisions for family planning and for diagnosing fertility and addressing fertility issues.
- I wouldn’t say that it’s so niche because every sixth to seventh, a couple struggles to conceive it really depends on who, and how open your friends and family are.
- People just don’t open up that they’re doing IVF because they’re embarrassed. Very few couples share fertility struggles openly, or even with their family and friends.
- It’s impossible to know everything.
- When it comes to coaches the important thing is to not get a coach when everything is falling apart, but to get a coach way before and when you’re doing well.
- many people tell you no, you can’t do this. No, this can’t be done. No, you’re too early for this. No, you’re not the right person. And I think having a coach helps you navigate all the different responses from your environment and the different expectations from customers and the expectations from your team and how you grow with that and how you struggle with that.
- I see a coach like a mirror on the wall, really reflecting things and pushing back things to me and giving me things to think about. And to question not as somebody who’s giving me the solutions.
- Motherhood for me is challenging just like, for everybody, I would say it is very fulfilling. It is a lot of fun. I just love the directness and the honesty that you get from your kids.
- I struggle to be a mother and have a startup at the same time, I feel like I’m never doing enough on the one end and I’m never doing enough on the other. I always would like to have more time for my children more quality time. And I always have things for my startup at the end of the day.