I Choose...To Talk About Sex with Cindy Eckert
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Hey there, Joel here with my buddy Matt from How to Money. Matt, summer's right around the corner. I know you got that travel bug. What adventures do you have planned? Oh man, you are going to love this. We're planning this epic road trip up the East Coast with the entire family. Just think lighthouses in Maine, monuments in DC, plus everything in between. That's amazing.

I'm jealous, but I'm thinking about stowing away in your luggage. But wait a second. How are all six of you going to take this road trip? Okay, so initially we were thinking about taking an RV, but I found some really awesome Airbnbs along our route, places with something for everyone. And what I really love is that with Airbnbs, we can always start our days with like a

A good breakfast at home? Like, it's our home away from home, and I love that routine. I don't know if you've ever tried getting a family of six out the door, let alone trying to find some breakfast in the middle of a city that you're not super familiar with. It's a challenge, plus it's a budget killer. Yeah, that's true. Sounds like chaos, to be honest. And you know, that's actually what makes hosting on Airbnb so special, right? You're giving travelers a chance to really live like a local. They even have the co-host feature, which gives you access to a network of high-quality local co-hosts

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to I Choose Me. This podcast is all about the choices we make and where they lead us. My guest today is someone who is a self-made serial entrepreneur and vocal advocate for women. Over a 25-year career in healthcare, she has built and sold two businesses for more than $1.5 billion.

She's the founder of the first ever FDA-approved drug for low sexual desire in women, Addi, the little pink pill. And I cannot wait to speak with her. Please welcome Cindy Eckert to the pod. Thank you. I'm having a pinch me moment. I need you to know this right now sitting here with you.

I really am. I mean, just sitting here with you and your whole I choose me, it just so resonates with this entire path for me. So thank you for having me. I'm so glad. I'm so glad that it works for you because-

It's such an important message and I'm so glad you're here too. Thanks for having me. We were talking before about how fabulous you look. Just need to reiterate that. I think before we dive into women's libido and that vast topic, I would love for our listeners to get to know you just a little bit better. Okay.

And one of the interesting things that I found in my research was that you, growing up, moved around a lot. And I was wondering what kind of impact that had on you, both positively or negatively. Yeah.

So positively, I still ask my parents if it was some kind of weird experiment to train me to be an entrepreneur because I was definitely the perpetual new kid, you know, so I didn't fit. I was always a little bit on the outside of the room looking in. I wasn't the jock. I wasn't the geek. But it also that's incredibly freeing because I was never sort of defined by anyone else's, you know,

sort of belief of who I was or their own terms. So that was the positive, the negative. Like I was in that regard also such a social misfit. I came back. I lived overseas and I lived in the Fiji Islands. There wasn't even television. Okay, that's not bad. It doesn't sound bad, but...

Come back in like the eighth grade and no, no, like cultural reference. You're pretty weird. But I look back on it and I'm so grateful for it at the time. You know, every 12 months kind of packing your bags and leaving your friends and saying bye. It was tough.

A lot of disruption, disruptor, lots of disruption. That's good. But I also kind of love the fact that you could just keep reinventing yourself. Totally. Like wherever you moved, you could just be whatever you wanted to be. I think it really made me a very open-minded thinker in the sense that, you know, there were all of these possibilities, all these different kind of points of view that I saw, different cultures, everything else that, you know, it's allowed me to not be confined in my thinking, even in my professional life now today. Yeah.

I love that. Okay, how does one go about co-founding a pharmaceuticals brand? Because I've got no idea. Had you wanted to do this since your whole life? Or is this something that just sort of came out of the blue? You know what I want to do? I wanted to be exceptional in business. I've always chased learning from people who are great at something. And so when I got out of college, I went to work for Fortune's most admired company, which happened to be a pharmaceutical company.

Like it could have been anything. I went there, then I fell in love with science and actually making a difference in people's lives. Like I was so moved by it that I chased innovation. And, you know, I got into smaller and smaller startups, really doing the cool work, the innovation and thought, well, why am I going in and like cleaning up everyone else's messes? Like I'll just go make my own mess. It's my own fault. I'll have to fix it. And I think I had enough of a track record that I believed that people

people would write me a check. That's all it takes, by the way. Right. Belief in yourself. You have to. And like that, my first company was literally called Slate. So clean slate on my own terms. You know, sobering when you go out and actually ask people to write you a check and I don't fit the mold of what you would think of as a pharma CEO in any way. So that was an interesting journey. But the idea was there've got to be all of these other people involved

out there in this industry that like really are in love with the patient and the difference we can make in patients' lives. And that can be lost in, you know, big business. So what if I got those kind of people together against a challenge? What could we accomplish? And we built a really successful business, but you know, it's not...

And typical startup story, pharma is very expensive, all the clinical trials. So I had to figure out a way to raise a whole lot of money to get these products to market, but did get to do it on my own terms. That's amazing. You went out and raised all your own money too. Oh, absolutely. And was like ceremoniously laughed out of basically every room at the beginning. Like you, especially, are you kidding the pink pill? They were like, ha ha.

Like all the guys in gray suits were like, get out of here. Good luck. And, you know, what is your...

What feels like your curse becomes your blessing. You know, all those no's led me into rooms of people who were high net worth, family office, nobody. I didn't have a rich uncle, so I didn't know any of these folks to begin with. But I, you know, went into rooms and when I would meet people who believed in me, I would say, can you introduce me to five of your friends? And so now I have this unbelievable group who bet on me, who were just like private individuals who believed in the cause. And

And that was the blessing because this was such a rocky road to get this to market that as opposed to like a classic venture, you know, capitalists who would have said like, no way, the first time we hit a road bump, they stuck with me all the way through and they're still with me today. That's the persistence that it takes. Yeah. And you found your people. I did. I really found my people. I mean, I'm so grateful for it. Even, we'll get to this in the story, but when we, you know, sold the product and they never launched it,

That group of people had a great return, but they were like still stuck with me and said, go back and get it. We didn't do this for women not to have access to it. So they're true to the cause. And I really appreciate that about them. Yes. Yes. And then selling the business was such a huge decision, I'm sure. But part of that usually means letting go of what happens after you're gone. Was that hard? So I really...

Can't think of a period of my life in which I was more depressed. Mm-hmm.

It was your baby. Addie is me. I'm in so many ways like what it stands for, what it stood for to me. And to sell it was the dream come true. Like it's a little bit, you know, you have this beautiful baby, but if somebody else could raise your baby to its highest potential in the world, you say, okay, you know, like I want that. That's what I want for this baby. So it was arguably like the entrepreneur's dream come true. I sold the business. They were going to

get it to women everywhere. And then when they didn't do it, it was soul crushing. Like I was so, I not only lost part of like what this was all about for me, but I felt like I'd let everyone down.

I'd let all the women who were counting on me down, all the doctors who'd stood there next to me at the FDA, I'd let them all down. And that was really hard to wrestle with until I like kicked myself in the ass and said, nope, not on my watch. Like you fought to get this far, put the gloves back on. And then I went, you know, and I fought big pharma and I got it back.

Yeah, you ended up selling the company for a billion dollars. And then that's an incentive. Yes. And then ultimately you got it back. What made you choose to step back up to the plate? Just that it was your baby and you had so much passion for it? How in the world can a company, we fought, men had 26 FDA approved treatment options before we ever got one, even though more women struggle than men do. And then a company bought it and they never changed.

gave women access to it. They shelved it. When was this? That was in 2015, 10 years ago. They bought it, you know, so big week. I got this product, the first ever in the world approved, you know, sell the company a billion dollars cash. Oh my gosh, people are going to care about women's health. We're so excited. And then literally it never gets launched.

They like put it on the shelf in no way, like absolutely not. Like we fought so that women could have access to it. I, even to this day, you know, whether women take Addy or don't take Addy, that's not what this has ever been about for me. What it's been about is that you deserve to know it exists. You deserve to talk about this and have equal access to medical treatments for medical conditions. Absolutely. Okay. Okay.

Before we get into Addie in all its glory, tell me about the pink ceiling. Yeah. Why is that something so important to you to get involved with firsts?

that healthcare first that are for women by women. Yes. Well, you know, having an exit like that, it was my second, but like it was, you know, big, lots of news media around it. I think in that intervening period, as I was so sad that my baby wasn't being launched, I also thought to myself, like, you have a responsibility to help other women get there quicker than you did.

Like, how do I help this not happen to anyone else? How do I help them achieve their dreams? And how do we continue to push for first? Like, we can't have these massive discoveries in women's health for them to be shelved.

And so I thought, well, then I'm going to start putting money behind it and see the things that I want in this world come to life. And, you know, it's been so fun to do. And it's had a variety. Like I stick to my lane of health. But, you know, everything from a woman in Texas, she's a brilliant engineer. She created basically like a stud finder for the spine so that women's epidurals are easier. Okay. Yeah.

amazing, right? Like as opposed to like going like, I think this is the right spot and like sticking a needle in, you know, she's got an actual device. It's like, no, this is the right spot, put it in. And you know, those kinds of things, Bobby, the infant formula company, like talking, you know, working with Laura there as they were going through some FDA, like, I feel like that's my lane. Like I understand when it's regulated, but just have loved to be behind these products,

for women that might not otherwise ever make it to market. You said, I got a billion dollars. Heck yeah. What am I going to do with it? Success for me has never looked like money. It's looked like impact. And like, you know, money is a conduit for a lot of good in this world. It can be a conduit for bad. Right. You choose, right? How are you going to use it? And for me, it's been a responsibility to, I think, help other women achieve their dreams. And I would like...

a billion more exits, if you will, for women. That's so admirable. I love the idea of women building other women up. There's just nothing like it. No doubt. I love that. So part of choosing ourselves, and there shouldn't be any shame around this topic, is choosing to acknowledge that we as women are sexual beings. Right. We have desires. And that's healthy. Yes. But for some reason...

Society doesn't encourage us to talk about that. And so when we experience dips in our libido, certain times in our lives, we tend to not talk about that either. And oftentimes internalize that and

feel bad about ourselves because of it, but still no talking. Right. So filled with so much shame and stigma. And I, you know, I really think about like our desires as transcendent, even of the bedroom, like in this conversation, right? Like what is our, what brings us pleasure?

Maybe it's in the bedroom. And I think if you become in touch with that, it comes out. It's in the boardroom. It's all of those things. But this entitlement that women deserve, women deserve to be in touch with this part of themselves. And it's so weird to me that we...

It's such an obvious truth for men, but for women, it's like the silent unspoken. It's wild. I have a game that my fiance and I play. Not that kind of game, but we can talk about that offline too. When we go to cocktail parties, it's like I live a social experiment every day being in this business. So when we go in...

At some point in the night, it comes to that conversation with like, what do you do? What do you do? And he always looks at them and he's like, buckle up. So just wait for it. So I start telling. And if it's a woman and a man, a couple, the woman will immediately lean back from the conversation and the man will immediately lean in and he'll be like, can I take it? And I'm like, what I'm watching right here is...

actually all social conditioning. He understands he's entitled to it. He's entitled to a great, satisfying sex life. It's part of who he is. And she's worried she shouldn't talk about it. Now, by the end of the night, I'm in like a cluster of women and we're all talking about it. But it's not, it's still like that social conditioning. It's fascinating. It sounds like that's the why.

Yes. Breaking that down, like, why shouldn't we get to live life on our own terms? Why shouldn't we ask for the things that we need? None of us would be here without sex. And this is true. Hot take. I know this is going to, we're going to break the internet with this. This is revealing information. But if that's true, then it is a part of how we go through this life. And it's part of our overall wellness. Yes.

Yeah, because if you have a good sex life, something that brings you pleasure, I can see how that would transcend into all the parts of your life. Absolutely. Because the endorphins and all the chemicals that come from a good sex life. The most delicious cocktail. Our body releases the most delicious cocktail of hormones when we have good sex. And it really does, like your, and mental wellness. Like I always describe sex.

Over time, like my probably greatest privilege is how many women have shared with me this struggle. Like, you know, behind the closed doors of their bedroom, something that they don't, they've revealed that to me. And what I can tell you is that

to a person, different walks of life, different ages, everything, they feel disconnected. They feel disconnected from themselves and like that inner moxie, you know, that we have with our sex drive and our sexuality. And they feel disconnected from the person that arguably they want to be most connected to in this world. You tell me that restoring that doesn't

make it's like life comes in color. I watch it. Like I feel with friends who, you know, are sort of living in this gray world. They've sort of shrunken back in themselves, everything else. And then like the lights go on and they're just, they're transformed. That's so beautiful. Wow. I love that.

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You already know Square from your favorite neighborhood spots, and the folks who run things behind the scenes know that there's more to Square than meets the eye. What started as the point of sale at your favorite coffee shop, deli, and salon is capable of so much more. These rapidly scaling businesses are breaking ground on new locations, building loyal followings, covering cash flow gaps, and setting their teams up for success. All with Square. Wherever your business is growing, Square meets you there.

Go to square.com slash go slash iHeart to learn more. It's Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and Macy's is celebrating it in a really cool way. When you shop at macys.com or in-store, you can choose to donate to APIA Scholars. Your donation will help get students the resources they need to become innovative, authentic leaders in

especially for first-generation college students and young people living at or below the poverty line.

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Hey, this is Joel and Matt from How to Money. And you know, Joel, I am looking forward to summer this year because I'm taking a road trip up to the Northeast. That's exciting. Where are you headed? Yeah, we're taking the kids on this like ultimate American history adventure. We're talking D.C. for the Smithsonian, then Boston for the Freedom Trail and Paul Revere story, as well as heading up to Acadia up in Maine for some serious hiking, maybe a little bit of craft beer as well. And actually planning this trip got me thinking it's so smart to have your place on Acadia

Airbnb while you are away. With the co-host feature, you can hire a high quality local co-host to do the work for you. Find a co-host at Airbnb.com slash host.

Okay. Tell our listeners about Addy, the little pink pill. The little pink pill. This is what we've been talking about. Yes. So Addy is, this is our biggest sex organ. So we're brain flow, not blood flow. Okay. So Addy works on the brain. It's a non-hormonal pill that women can take that increases their sex drive. It was discovered as a mood drug.

So actually, if you think about like all of these products, most of which women take, which are around, you know, depression, anxiety, what's their number one side effect? Typically, they decrease your sex drive. So the scientific thesis was simple. If we work on dopamine and serotonin and we cause your sex drive to go down, could we also work on dopamine and serotonin and cause it to go up? And the answer is yes. That's what Addy does.

And so when I'm in, you know, perimenopause and I'm starting to have mood disturbance, sleep disturbance, libido disturbance, that's really how Addy's working and what's going on there on dopamine and serotonin. So the media, you know, over time has called us the female Viagra. How do you feel about that? It's crazy.

We're so much more interesting. Yeah. Right? This is such a bigger... This isn't directed blood flow. This is about like igniting the sex center of the brain so that you are responding to cues. And, you know, this is what I love. So...

who respond, I should say, no medication is a panacea, right? No medication is perfect for everyone. So I always want to say that. But when I see women who've responded, what's so fun is that at the very beginning, they talk about like, ooh, I had the best sex dream. Or, you know, I was watching a movie and I was like, wow,

wow, I'm really turned on. Like, let's go do that. And they're like, I can't remember the last time I had a woman come up to me at a medical conference who's a physician. She's on Addy and she's like, I sent my first nude. I'm like, okay, don't show me. But,

And like, those are the stories that delight me because they actually reveal exactly how we are wired biologically and how it's working. And I think like it's as if female sexuality is so mysterious. And then you're like, no, like this is right here. And when things go off kilter,

It's not surprising. We don't think about it. We're lying in bed. We're doing our to-do list. I gotta do this, this, this. And like, you're not in that place or that headspace for sex to ignite. So that's how it works. And it makes sense because women are emotional beings. And you, you know, men can just...

Get it going and do it anytime. I feel like. You know, men, interestingly, I will say, like, men don't get an erection unless they have desire. So, like, there's a very connection with, like, mechanics, if you will. Same with us. Like, you know, arousal, lubrication. Like, if you look at all of the models in sex, like, if I can get the engine started in that part of that brain, like, yeah.

The quality improves. We actually in our clinical studies, we had to prove that not only that we wanted to have sex, but when you had sex, that it was satisfying. And that's that's really the correlation. So just such good stuff.

It's very, very fun. Sex ed for adults. I need it. I love it. I'm not often so open about talking about sex, but I feel like this is such important information that all women need to have access to. Because you know what? Like, as you said, it's true that we are emotional beings and that's important, right? Talking about that. But I think what happens in women's health all too often is we end there, right?

you're just emotion. So when you come in with medical symptoms, I first pat you on the shoulder and I tell you, just relax. You're just freaking out. And like that shows up when, if you're having a heart attack, if you have PCOS, if you go on and on and on. And it's because like,

We are, but that's not our full picture. And maybe similar for men, like we immediately think men are all bio, men are biology. Like they have a problem, fix it. Like we can, we're going to fix it. We're going to give them a solution. And for women, like for too long in medicine, our solution is take a bubble bath. That's your prescription. Yeah.

I mean, I will take that prescription, but I want more. That's right. Like that's, that I think is exactly it. Not biology to the exclusion of all of that conversation, right? Like self-care, you know, all, all of those things, scheduling date night, making it, all of those things are very valid, but they can't be the full picture. Right. That's, that's really, I think at least from my standpoint, my crusade and I'll, I'll,

I say this to audiences today because I feel like everyone's talking about GLP-1s or weight loss medications, ozempic, manjaro, et cetera. And I'm like, what is that actually, what's the takeaway? The takeaway is for so long we've told folks who struggle with weight,

Work out more. Eat better. Do this. Do that. And a little bit we're like, I know that it places blame. You're like, oh, but I'm eating. I'm trying. I'm doing this. I've done this fad diet and this fad diet. And then all of a sudden a medication comes along and we're all like, wait, it's genetics? Yeah.

And like, it's such an obvious truth. How could we have missed it? It doesn't mean don't eat well, exercise, do all of those things that are important for your lifestyle. But again, like, let's be kind to everybody by acknowledging they are a biological being and they may be struggling with something for which there is a medical solution. Okay. So specifically, tell me what are the positives you will see from taking Addy and what are

Are there side effects? Yes, for sure. Let's talk about the details. Everything has side effects, whether it's a supplement or an over-the-counter or a medication. What I like most about medications, we know what they are because we've done the extensive research and studies in them. So let's start there. Side effects common to Addie are sleepiness, dizziness, nausea. Those are our top three. Mm-hmm.

Less than 2% of women in our clinical trials discontinued due to any side effect. Less than 2%. Less than 2%. That is well tolerated. You know, like I said, we're not all one size fits all. So some women might not tolerate it. Another woman will. It's why you take it daily at bedtime. So that's really the key. It's not for everybody. If you have liver impairment, you're not right for Addii.

You know, it's not common in our age band, but that's like a patient type that they would look out for. And doctors, of course, know all this for prescription.

What should you expect? So if you take Addy, it's building in your system over time. Remember, we're working on neurotransmitters. So it's building. So it starts to come alive with exactly like I told you, those spontaneous thoughts or little fantasies. There's an OBGYN out of Ohio. I love listening to her speak because she says she had a patient come back in and she's like, I can't stop thinking about LeBron James. Yeah.

And she was like, are you a basketball fan? And she's like, not really. No. But, you know, and who knows? Who knows who yours will be? But I think it's, again, it's that like that place in the brain waking up, percolating, responding to sexual cues. I think that also is receptivity to partner that might have been missing. Mm-hmm.

You know, you might have been like going to bed early just to avoid this, avoiding sex, avoiding this. Staying awake while they're, when they go to sleep, staying awake. Yes, I hear it all the time. So it's receptivity, even initiation, like you're feeling you're sexy. So I think that's really like, it's a waking up of like an inner drive, right?

It's sex drive, right? So that's what you can expect from it, I think, is to feel that. And because of how it works, you know, because it's working on, you're getting sort of that daily dose of dopamine, we'll hear from a lot of patients about mood. Mm-hmm.

So mood, I feel that sleep, sleep is a side effect for many women. That's really getting disturbed right now. Like I talked to so many women, when's the last time you had a good night of sleep? So all of those, so important. So I think those are realistically what you can expect from the medication. It's not zero to 60. So I do think sometimes because the media like to call it

Of course, they had to call it the male drug, right? Female Viagra. I'm still waiting for them to invent a male Addy because I think men should have a male Addy. They should. Ignite some neurotransmitters. That's exactly right. But, you know, I think like you're not going to take it and swing from the chandeliers tonight. I just want to set that expectation with everybody. I can't remember my first press interview. She's like, but what if Channing Tatum comes to the table? Like, are you going home with him? And I'm like, actually, no.

Probably not the first night. Like it's, it's not. It takes time. Yes. I think it's, it's much like so many products we take, you know, for medical conditions. Like it takes a minute to like your system to adjust. It's bringing you back to that place. It's just like you wouldn't take an antidepressant tonight and become euphoric. You,

you'd be restored back to a place you once were. And it takes time. It builds. Whereas the Viagra is more than- On demand. Yep. It is. It's an instant situation. It is. We're not on demand when it comes to sex. And I love that about us. I do too. I actually love that. Even in our market testing, women love that about us. I love that we do. We are very well aware. So taking something daily,

And finally, like the kids are asleep or it's date night or something like it. It's there, right? Like it's the, it's on board. It's on board. I'm a little confused. I read on your website that Addie is not asleep.

for menopausal women? Okay, so I'll tell you that distinction. So we had to study pre-menopausal, pre-peri, right? And post separately. We are at the FDA now for post-menopausal. So that's great. They're reviewing it right now. We're already approved in Canada for post-menopausal. But today in the United States, our indication is for pre. So up until the time you go through menopause. But the data is already published in menopause. Oh, I love this because yeah,

So perimenopause can last for years and years and years. And that can really affect your relationship when you have no sex drive for those perimenopausal years. That's right. But then also when you're menopausal, Dr. Haver told me that menopause lasts for one day. Yes.

And then after that, you are post-medical. Yeah. It's like a single day in your life. It's one day. You're like, that's that day that you haven't had your period for 12 months. I want longer to celebrate it. That's great. Yes. But yeah, so then you have the rest of your life, basically. For sure. And if your sex drive doesn't come back or doesn't kick in, then it's not going to work out for you in a great way. There's so many weird possibilities.

things in women's health. I know you'll know this and they're far too vast to go into for the whole audience, but it's a little unusual we had to study women separately pre and post-menopausal because it's brain chemistry.

It's not hormones, right? Addie's non-hormonal. So it's a funny thing, but we're really excited about the review of our data right now because we would be the first ever FDA approval for that too. So keep your fingers crossed and I'm coming back on the day that we get it approved. I love that. I mean, I'm so, I have all of my fingers and toes crossed. Thank you.

Okay, specific. Can you drink alcohol? So you can't, yes. Short answer, yes. Because Addie makes you sleepy, you think about anything else that might also make you sleepy, combining it. This is good common sense advice. So our language actually looks like Tylenol. Addie, if you have three or more drinks, we say skip the dose that night. If you're going out to party with the girls, just skip your dose that night. And it's really about like,

compounding effects basically so would it make you extra sleepy so doctors know that language for us if you're out on a bender the answer is no but yes you can safely use if you're having a couple glasses of wine with dinner and you know take an adi as directed at bedtime okay yes at bedtime that helps with the sleepy part yes

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Okay, what I love about this conversation is that so many of us know about the little blue pill that we talked about for men. People talk about it so openly. I think that all women out there should be talking about this little pink pill just as much because we deserve it. We deserve to have good sexual health. And I think that we are so predispositioned to somehow forget that or not allow ourselves that. Yes.

I know. I think it's rooted in pleasure. I think it's rooted in like so much shame around sex for us. Like we are told we are here for reproduction. That is reinforced our entire life. We are only sort of taken seriously if pain is present. Like we'd never enter into the realm of the pleasure realm.

Conversation so messed up. It's so messed up. I mean, I really do every audience I get an opportunity to speak This is my first question by a show of hands. How many of you know that there's a little pink pill for women and you know Thankfully more hands are starting to raise but for years It's almost no hands in the room and then I say well then I have to ask the obvious next question How many of you know, there's a blue pill for men?

And the entire audience raises their hand. And I'm like, well, you couldn't have missed it because it was the cover of Time magazine. And we have three times as many patients' worth of data. This women's product has more science.

So how has it not been the cover of every magazine? We need to get you on the cover of Time. Let's do it. You and this little pink pill. I am here for it. Just all little pink pills, right? Yep, yep. When women think about low libido, they kind of associate it with aging and that it's just a natural thing that happens and there's nothing you can do about it. Not true. Not true. Not true. And...

Also, I think people think about it for Addy and you'd be surprised. This is pretty indiscriminate across the age bands. So across all of our clinical trials, not necessarily our indication, you know, as FDA gives you a narrower band, we studied 18 to 80. And, you know, your distress is high. Like I can get stopped outside of the, you know, when I'm going to some of my teams, like when

wedding showers or, you know, the bridal showers and like young women are stopping me like Cindy, Cindy.

you know, I was struggling like with dating because I really have such a low sex drive and I'm so like, you know, it's making me not get out there socially. And I, I mean, I love that. So it's not like, this is one thing. If I had one wish, we're going to make so many things happen out of this podcast, time magazine, we have so many things, but let me put this out there to everybody.

If we could change one word in women's health, we would quit telling women things that they struggle with are normal. And we would say they are common. Because once we acknowledge it's common, we continue to explore what we might do to solve it. As soon as we tell her it's normal,

Yeah. You just walk away. It's normal. Deal with it. Like it's not normal. Like actually losing your sex drive is not normal. It's common. Common. And there are things you can do for it. Many things you can do for it. But I think that's crucial. And so I give that even to the audience as a watch out that if, if you're in a medical office and you're talking about something you're really struggling with, that maybe you even are embarrassed to be discussing and they tell you it's normal.

You have to push through. You have to. Like you're your own advocate. What happens? What should we say when the doctor says, oh, that's normal? You should say, I think what you say to them is, is it normal or is it common? And what are the biological issues that might be going on? Because what they're doing is they're saying emotion, normal, move on, good luck,

And you just have to say normal or common. Because I've read there's a lot of women who struggle with this. What are my options? Again, nothing. If it's too complicated for them to figure out, you know what's not complicated? For them to tell you what solutions there are for it. That's not complicated. It shouldn't be. Yeah. Yeah.

So interesting. Okay, where can women go to get Addi? Do they go to their gynecologist? And is it covered by insurance? Great questions.

So to get Addy, first I'm going to say go to our site, Addy.com, because we have a list of doctors in your area. So you'll know that you're going to somebody who is passionate about this. Because I feel like so many women run into their doctor and run straight into a brick wall because they're not trained. They don't know about it. And actually that's true of OBGYNs too. So while we have wonderful OBGYN champions, of course, of Addy,

They're actually trained in reproduction and fertility. We are reproductive beings for them. So pleasure is often not asked. Like I ask, how many of you have been asked by your OBGYN, how's your sex life? They're at the front end if they're asking you that question. They're going above and beyond to become educated. What I find fascinating is that so many women walk into the environments in which like a med spa like environment where they're talking about vulnerabilities.

they're talking about maybe it's the GLP-1s, maybe it's hormone replacement therapy, maybe it's just mitoxin or whatever that might be, you've kind of let your guard down. So we're seeing a lot of adoption of Addy in that space. But the simple answer really for the audience is,

Find somebody on our website because I will tell you for sure, doctors are not educated on this. And I don't want you to be met with resistance or a blank stare back at you because there are physicians that are really passionate about this. Yeah, I think it was so interesting when I had Dr. Haveron and she said that she was a terrible gynecologist for many years. Yeah.

And that took so much courage, I think, for her to admit that. Agreed. And then to sort of adjust course. I know. I mean, there are people, I think Mary Claire has done so much to like just inspire other doctors to go back and get educated. Like you must be solving these challenges. I will share a story. It's a wonderful woman. Her name is Dr. Julianne Burt. She's an OBGYN in Atlanta, Georgia. Shout out. And she told a similar story to me where she said, you know, I had this

patient who would come in and ask me about this issue, about her libido. And I was always like, what? Like, you're good. It's normal. And she said, and one day she walked her out to the checkout and her husband was sitting in the waiting room waiting for her. And she said, this was the

most beautiful man she'd ever seen. She's like, wait, what? Like, what's going on? What's the problem? What's going on? And she actually really that patient inspired her. She's like, I cannot be doing this. I can't be going to Google. I need to go be educated. And she was so excited when Addie came out, but she'd lost the patient.

So she thought, I finally have something. I can help her with something. She was textbook for this diagnosis. And she said she ran into her at Costco. And she's like, I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I have something for you. And she said, oh, too late, Dr. Burt. We got divorced. Oh, God. And she said that sits with me every day. And I'm like, that is... Look, not all stories are going that way. That maybe is the most dramatic. However...

When we don't help women with the things they're asking for, like what is our responsibility in it? Here's what I love. This has been a long road for me, of course. It's my deep passion to change this conversation. Today, you can't be board certified if you're a family practice, internal med, OBGYN, or urologist without answering a test question on Addy.

Great. We're changing it. It takes decades to change medical establishment, but I really do. My niece just had a baby and I said, I'm promising her that like the world in which her daughter grows up, she'll think it's ridiculous. We didn't talk about this. There's just so many, so many fascinating, interesting, important developments in women's health happening right now. And it's, it's exciting. It is exciting. I think it's exciting. And I think the hero of the story are women.

Who just took charge. They don't give up. We just got fed up and said, stop. Give me real solutions. I want things studied in my body. I want things proven. And I think that we're actually causing the sea change. Yeah, definitely. Oh, I love women so much. Me too. Okay.

I asked you if it was covered by insurance. Oh, thank you. The answer is- I mean, obviously it depends on your insurance. If you have a great employer, the answer is yes. And it's actually a reasonable conversation for you to have with your employer if it gets rejected. Okay. Because I promise you they covered the ED meds.

I tell a terrible story. Again, oh my gosh, I'm Debbie Downer on this one. But last year, I had to close the door of my office and just scream. And my whole team was like, what's happening? And a doctor had sent me a rejection notice from Blue Cross Blue Shield that said they would pay for the woman's Addy, but first she needed to try marriage counseling. What? What? What?

What the actual... That is offensive. To which I would say, I'll give them my full proceeds of selling Sprout if they can show me one time they did that for an ED medication with the man. Oh my God. That's the trap, right? That is the trap. And that's even the trap for doctors. When they pat you on the shoulder, they're reinforcing being able to get away with that. So the answer is not always, but...

But it should. If it doesn't, ask your employer. And, you know, if you're too shy, at a minimum, we've got cash coupons through, you know, GoodRx and through med spas and stuff that you can at least get it. But you should fight. Like I, we fight it. We fight it every day. We, you know, I went berserk when that happened on behalf of all women, I'd like to think. And but I, you know, I need everybody to kind of do their own fighting, too, if we want to change it.

Okay. So I heard that on your website, you can do telehealth appointments. So you don't even have to go to the doctor. Yes. You can do this from home.

Absolutely. So honestly, when we set this up, I thought, I just want women to be talking to somebody who's educated about this, an expert. So you can, like if there's a blush factor for this, just go to addy.com. You'll talk to a doctor licensed in your state. You do it completely online. They check on the medications you're on, if you're appropriate for it or not, and it ships to your doorstep. So don't let shyness or a blush factor keep you from addressing this.

That was important to us too. Every way we can lift the stigma and increase access around this conversation. Yep. Okay. Before I let you go, Cindy Eckert, what was your last I choose me moment? Oh, I choose me having great sex last night. Okay. Yay. That's a choice because you chose to take your health, your sexual health in your own hands. Yeah.

And do something about it.

Like all of it, every step of the way. And I think, you know, today choosing me is continuing to get out there and get loud about this until it changes in the way that I think it deserves to. I love your passion. Thank you. I love your conviction. Thank you. You are very strong and inspiring. And I'm so happy you were with us today. Thank you. Thank you.

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