WoW Woman in FemTech I Chakameh Shafii, Director of the digital experience at TFP

Chakameh Shafii is a digital health leader and entrepreneur currently working at the TFP as the director of the digital experience where she and her team are revolutionizing women’s health care.

Back in 2015 Chakameh founded one of the first Telehealth products in Canada connecting people with psychologists via video.

TFP is an international group of fertility clinics and globally renowned IVF specialists. They have been providing their patients with the industry-leading expertise, care, and compassion that's made them market leaders across Europe for 35 years, with some of the highest success rates in Europe and the UK.

Today, TFP is building a range of exciting products including DIA. With DIA, Chakameh has the vision of empowering women to own their journey and better understand their bodies and their options. 

Chakameh, tell us a bit about your background and your projects so far.

My background only makes sense in retrospect. I graduated from university with a Masters in Mechanical Engineering, but I never really worked as a Mechanical Engineer. I started my career at General Electric (GE) in a leadership program in 2014. After a year, I left that role to start my own company, TranQool. At the time, telehealth was not well-known, but I knew that one of the ways to make access to mental health therapy affordable was through using technology. TranQool was one of the first telehealth platforms focused on mental health in Canada. In 2018, we sold the company to an employee assistance program and I moved to Berlin. In Berlin, I worked with insure-tech companies for a while before yearning to come back to healthcare. I joined TFP last May, just as the pandemic was beginning. I joined the company because I saw so much potential in digitalizing the women’s health sector. More specifically, I had the vision to empower women with access to their own data; that’s how Dia was born. 

How did you get into this industry? Has it been an easy industry to get into or have you had many challenges?

Fertility was not an industry I knew much about before joining TFP, however, like most health care sectors, it’s ripe for disruption. Although it has its challenges, the opportunity to help people who are struggling with infertility is very rewarding. In my opinion, the main challenge in fertility is the lack of education. We were raised with very little knowledge of our bodies and reproductive systems. I think most of us in this industry are working hard to provide a source of truth that people can trust when it comes to information about fertility. 

How long did it take you to be where you are now? What was the biggest obstacle? What are the challenges of being in the industry you are in? 

When I first joined TFP, a very successful healthcare company, my role was to mainly focus on building new products to help educate women and improve their experience with us (the Dia app being the latest example). But, it quickly became clear to me that in order to have success with our digital transformation, we needed to have a long-term vision that relies on a strong infrastructure. 

Digital transformations in healthcare are notoriously slow, although with COVID-19 lockdowns the adoption of new digital tools was no longer optional. When looking at digitalization in healthcare, we have to consider how every new process will impact our clinic staff, our patients, and the delivery of our services. With clinics in six countries, requirements can be very different and all equally important. My biggest challenge today is to balance innovation and immediate business needs in our clinics. This is one major difference between a startup and digital transformation in larger companies.  

What are your biggest achievements to date?

We have had various new launches at TFP but the one I’m most excited about is the launch of Dia, a mobile app designed to be a women’s health companion. At TFP we realized that education is the key to empowerment and we wanted to do what we can to support that. With Dia, women can track their health (periods, but much more), and even connect their wearables to automatically see how their sleep or other factors change during their cycle. Women get personalized educational material and are encouraged to use our Fertility Forecast to learn more about their fertility. What sets Dia apart from other apps is that women can take the next step, which is speaking to an expert right from their couch. Unlike other female healthcare apps, Dia’s content has been medically verified by actual healthcare professionals and users get a chance to speak to someone if they have any concerns. Existing TFP patients can also track appointments and medications directly in the app. Dia is constantly evolving and we are looking forward to providing more services for new users and for existing TFP patients alike in the near future. 

What are the projects you are currently working on?

We are just getting started with Dia. The app continues to evolve to improve health tracking capabilities for individuals interested in monitoring their bodies throughout their cycle. The personalized education content will expand into more interactive content targeted to women trying to start their families as well as women who are just curious about their bodies. Finally, healthcare would not be complete without the presence of medical staff. We are continuing to build more features that improve our user’s journeys regardless of what their family planning ambitions are.

Is the #WomenInTech movement important to you and if yes, why? 

Absolutely! I don’t need to share the numbers on women entrepreneurs and the percentage of investments going into female-led companies. I truly believe in the value women leaders bring to the world and it’s great to see research coming out to support what we have known for so long, female leaders improve company culture, increase investments in innovation, as well as improve the company’s bottom line.

What will be the key trends in your industry in the next five years and where do you see them heading?

I’m optimistic about the future of FemTech and female health research. In the next five years, we will see more companies focus on women as their customers; this will be personalized care, more mom-focused companies and companies addressing menopause. 

What is the most important piece of advice you could give to anyone who wants to start a career in this industry?

Just do it! We need more people innovating in the female health space. Surround yourself with people who believe in your mission and regardless of the outcome, you will have success. 

Who are three inspirational women in your respective industry you admire?

I don’t have three women just working in FemTech but I’m surrounded by inspiring women who are working every day to close the gap! This includes my team and colleagues. 

Find out more about The Fertility Partnership on their website.

Follow The Fertility Partnership on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Follow Dia on Instagram.

This interview was conducted by Marija Butkovic, Digital Marketing and PR strategist, founder, and CEO of Women of Wearables. She regularly writes and speaks on topics of wearable tech, fashion tech, IoT, entrepreneurship, and diversity. Follow Marija on Twitter @MarijaButkovic and read her stories for Forbes here.