Fast Company announces its Queer 50 list for 2023
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Welcome to The Most Innovative Companies. I'm your host, Yasmin Gagne, joined as always by my producer, Josh Christensen. Hey, Josh. Hey, Yas. Josh, we owe our listeners a big apology. Oh, God, yeah. We got something so, so wrong on last episode.

So we recorded last episode on Tuesday when the weather was fine. It was beautiful outside in New York City. We talked about how great summer was. We talked about going out and getting ice cream and hiking and everything we were looking forward to. And then obviously our show came out on Wednesday when New York became a smog-filled hellhole.

Oh my God. Yeah. Just everyone go out. It's summer. Go hiking. And now we're all now smokers. We've all I feel like I've smoked a pack of cigarettes. I've never done that before in my life. I've never been a smoker, but I feel like this must be what it is because it is brutal. Yeah.

Well, yesterday I saw some people who like were taking smoke breaks in the smog. Oh, I saw that too. I was like, wow, that's cool. You know, they say, I know they said, I watched all those commercials growing up. I was like, smoking's not cool. Smoking is cool. It's cool. We don't condone smoking on this show, nor at Fast Company.

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But that's why you don't listen to me for work life tips. Anyway, later on in today's episode, I'll be talking with Liana Guzman, the CEO of Folks Health, about affirmative health care. But first, Fast Company is announcing its Queer 50 list. And here to talk to me about it is Fast Company staff writer Pavithra Mohan. Hey, Pavithra.

Hey, guys. So as Josh mentioned in his very depressing keeping tabs on the podcast a couple weeks ago, LGBTQ rights are under attack. As you put this list together this year, what are some of the themes that emerged?

So just to give you a little bit of context on the list, this is an annual list that we put together of the most innovative women and non-binary folks in business and technology. And so it really covers a range of industries. And, you know, the last few years, I think we've seen, unfortunately, that what you just described has been a bit of a trend. And so this year, you know, certainly we're focused on folks who are fighting for trans rights. Abortion access and reproductive justice is another one that I think was

a main theme of last year's list and also this year, AI and VR and AR, of course. And I would say DEI and work culture is a big focus this year. And we have a lot of folks on the list who are really focused on those areas. And then there's a number of other people who are just doing some really interesting and timely work, like V Poppus at TikTok, Liz Jenkins at Hello Sunshine, and a number of other folks.

So before I talk about some of the people you've highlighted, I want to go back to your point about trans rights. There's been nearly 500 anti-LGBTQ bills filed this year in state houses. What can you tell me about what's going on in that area? I mean, I think there's, this is a trend we've seen over many years again, and I don't think that what we're seeing this year is new by any means, but I do feel like we're seeing this blow

only increase. And I think it's, you know, fair to say that as companies and as people who are really supporting LGBTQ rights become more vocal, we're just seeing, you know, a greater blowback. And so I don't think what we're seeing is anything different. I just think that people have been sort of emboldened by what we've already seen and by the legislation that has already passed. And I think you can kind of see that as a trend, not just with LGBTQ rights, but also with abortion rights, you know,

You know, I think the SCOTUS decision last year really did sort of encourage legislators who are focused on anti-abortion activism. So I don't think there's anything particularly notable about what we're seeing this year other than just kind of the volume of legislation that we're seeing. So I want to talk about the work of some of the people you highlighted. Let's start with Amber Hikes. Tell me a bit about them. Amber Hikes is really interesting, actually. They were formerly a community organizer, a

and then ended up working at the Office of LGBTQ Affairs in Philly. And this was when the city was dealing with a lot of racism within the LGBTQ community. And so Amber was kind of brought in to address that issue. And one of the things that they worked on was just sort of advocating for trans and LGBTQ folk

who were interacting with the police and, you know, with prison systems. And it was interesting to hear Amber talk about the fact that they thought of themselves as really radical and, you know, pro-prison abolition. And then they were kind of thrust into this position where suddenly they had to, you know, sit across the table from police officers and prison officials and kind of do the things that they didn't

quite believe in. And so that was very interesting to hear about. And, you know, from there, apparently when they took the position itself, they were like, I'm not going to last in this role for a very long time. And so after less than three years or so, Amber was like, I'm just really burnt out and need to do something different. And so ultimately they ended up at the ACLU. They kind of went in thinking about like, how do you address microaggressions in the workplace

So these moments that I think kind of add up for people who are marginalized, but may not be a huge deal in the moment, but it's just over time you start to sort of feel the burden of that. And it just kind of colors your entire experience in the workplace. And Amber was trying to think about how you address that in a way that's actually effective. And so they came up with this idea of restorative inclusion. There's a lot of talk of, you know, improving work culture and DEI and

It's hard to see that actually elicit, you know, real change. So I want to talk a little bit about some others on the list. Someone that I have been super interested in is V. Pappas. V. Pappas is sort of in the middle of everything right now. Yeah, exactly. A real shitstorm. I don't know if I should say that, but...

I think what's interesting is, unfortunately, we weren't able to actually speak with V, which, you know, you can understand why that is. They have a few other things going on. But...

V is interesting because they came from a really senior role at YouTube. And I know at the time that they took this position at TikTok, it was a real risk. I mean, TikTok had like just debuted in the U.S. This was like 2018 or so. And I know from previous interviews and reporting that they were told by a lot of people that this was not a good idea and that they should not go there. Nice.

But of course, ultimately, they ended up going to TikTok, eventually became COO. And then I want to say a couple years ago, they actually took over as interim CEO when they were searching for a permanent CEO. And so they've really seen it through this wild period of growth and also just a lot of pushback, right? And TikTok has really become...

I don't know, the center of like geopolitical tensions between China and the U.S. and all these other things. And one of the things they are focused on is figuring out how to like monetize and sort of compensate creators on the platform. So I know they were behind the creator fund, which they're now expanding actually into another program. But, you know, the objective there is just to find a way for people to actually make a career on TikTok.

They do believe creators should be compensated, which I guess I also believe. So, yeah, you know, that's something. Yeah. So first, I want to talk a little bit about Jen Wong from Reddit. She's interesting. I will say, unfortunately, I have no details on the IPO. Reddit filed confidentially, I want to say, December 2021. If you have any details, slack them to me. It's insider trading, but I'm fine with that. I'll get right on that.

But this was, Gen 1 was on the list last year and that was like this IPO information has been like so guarded for so long. I know. Reddit's a fascinating company overall. I'm obsessed with not going on Reddit so much as just how Reddit became what it is.

Yeah, it's been interesting to see them actually become a real company because for a long time, Reddit was just this place people went on the Internet and they weren't making any money. And then they brought in Jen Wong to kind of turn them into a real business. And so I think she's been doing some interesting work with obviously drawing in advertisers. But one thing she mentioned is that they're now trying to figure out other revenue streams.

beyond advertising, which is a good time to do that given the current state of the economy. But they're thinking a lot about how to do that, how to kind of allow people to make money on the platform. And then, of course, thinking about generative AI, as we all are. Yeah, when I agreed to host this podcast, I was like, this is such a smart move for me because I'm going to like AI improve my career. Oh, man. So actually, I've been meaning to talk to you. We've got a new host.

Her name is Alexa. Her name is Yaz2. So the last person I want to ask you about, and I want to ask you about them because they're not super well known, is Layla Sturdy. Layla's name came up a couple years ago. She hadn't really done much press, but she's at Capital G, which is Alphabet's $4 billion growth investment fund.

And she has been behind some of their really big deals with Duolingo and Stripe and more recently, Chief. So she's kind of quietly been pushing these really smart investments. And she recently became the managing partner of CapitalG when...

the former head of it stepped down. And so it's kind of a big deal because, you know, the VC world has had issues with diversity for years. And it's really rare for somebody to be promoted from within like that. I think most women and underrepresented folks

in venture capital end up starting their own funds for this reason. And so I would say Layla's kind of unique in that regard. And I think sort of an inspiration to a lot of the other people in the industry who are hoping to maybe follow a similar path. But yeah, they said that, you know, it's obviously been a tough year for

the VC world, but they're still investing in AI, of course. What a surprise. I know. And other recession-proof industries like cybersecurity. So, yeah. Thank you. Obviously, we hope you'll check out the whole Queer 50 list. Shout out to my girl Liz Jenkins, who I interviewed, but obviously plenty of other great names, plenty of other people you should know. We're going to take a quick break, followed by my interview with Liana Guzman from Folks Health.

Hi, everyone. So we have a really exciting guest today, and I am going to ask them to introduce themselves. Hi, everyone. I'm Liana Guzman, and I'm the CEO of Folks Health. Tell us about yourself and tell us about how you came to run Folks Health. And Folks, for listeners, is spelled F-O-L-X.

I've spent my career in what I like to think of as deeply entrenched, heavily regulated spaces. So I started in the legal space and then moved over to crypto. And then I got a call asking if I would be interested in helping to take the lead at Folks Health. You know, for me, it was a two-sided excitement. So on the one hand, it was very much mission driven. I often say I took the call because of the mission and I took the job because of the business. So

you know, as a member of the community to be able to spend my days helping to create a better world for LGBTQIA folks was something that was just deeply motivating. But I often think, you know, you can have an incredible mission, but if it doesn't have a real path to

success. It's a little bit like a tree falling in a forest with no one around to hear it. And so it became very clear to me that not only was this a business with an incredible mission, but an actual opportunity to not only provide both affirming and expert care for our community, but I think also to change the healthcare industry as a whole in the process. I want to talk a little bit about the pandemic. What role did that play in launching folks?

Folks, the idea existed before the pandemic. What I think the pandemic really gave us was the opportunity to center our work on telehealth. So prior to the pandemic, the bar was much higher for the kinds of care that you can provide via telehealth. And for folks who are getting gender affirming hormone therapy and specifically testosterone, that is a controlled substance. And so it was incredibly difficult to provide that care via telehealth.

And what the pandemic allowed was for us to provide that care remotely. One of the things that I think maybe one of the few things that came out of it that I think is really positive is that we realized that a lot of what the incumbent healthcare system was telling us about the need to provide care in office and by only certain licensed professionals, we tested whether or not that was true. And what we realized was that it wasn't. And so when you think about a community like ours, which

has faced so much discrimination and even violence in a healthcare setting, to be able to access this care from the safety of their own home is life-saving. So I want to talk a little bit about the company's business model. So there's a B2B aspect to it. Tell me more about that. And also tell me about the company's funding and

and path to profitability? So I joined in 2022. So I want to say the end of 2020, we raised our series A and then we raised our series B in October of 2022. And in terms of our business model, we started as a direct-to-consumer brand

We did that really purposefully because we wanted to make sure that we never lost sight of who we were building for. And that we were always centering our members and our community when it came to product decisions and business decisions. And so we started as a D2C brand. That is still the bulk of our business today. But in addition to that now, we have started the move into working with employers. Mm-hmm.

We did that more quickly than I think we anticipated because we just had so much inbound interest from organizations who had spent so much time and energy and money, frankly, to build inclusive benefits only to discover that they were inclusive on paper but not in practice. And so what often happened is you had these benefits that were quote unquote inclusive, but you'd go to find

a provider who was affirming and, you know, ideally expert. And, you know, there was one provider in the entire state and the wait list was, they either had a long wait list or a six month waiting period. And so, you know, companies started coming to us and saying, you know, we recognize that we're not providing the care that this community so needs and deserves. And so that prompted us to sort of fast track our move into B2B. So I want to talk a little bit about

about folks' sort of enterprise solution. Chronosphere is a large tech company, right? They joined folks' enterprise solution, what, two months ago? How have you brought on sort of other companies to join in that way? So we're in really early days here. Typically when companies are bringing benefits like

this online. It's a pretty established cycle. So I'm sure many people listening, you know, have experienced this where open enrollment for them is, you know, January 1st or July 1st. And so, so there are some exceptions to that rule, but typically, you know, the, the process goes in one of two ways. Either we get a call from a client that says we've heard about Folk's

we recognize that we don't have the right offerings for our LGBTQIA members. Can we talk to you about what that might look like? And so some of the folks that we've brought on that we have not yet announced came in that way. Some of them, it's us reaching out to them and saying, hey, we actually think, you know, we're

When we look at the current D2C members, a number of them are actually from your company. So we know members of your team want this service. Let us tell you a little bit about us. And so then that opens up the conversation. And actually, I said two, but there is a third path.

path. The other way that we get inbound is from folks who are members on the D2C side who are members of their ERGs or just generally at their companies. And they reach out to their HR teams and say, I'd really like it if you could look into this.

You're obviously dealing with people's healthcare details. Can you reach out to a company and say, you know, we have X number of members from your companies using this? Do you have to reach out to them? I mean, to the members themselves? Like, how does that process work? Because obviously it's pretty sensitive information. It is. We are incredibly careful about the information that we share. And I should actually say, we don't share any specifics with anyone. You know, but I think the reality is one in 10 adults identifies as a member of

of the LGBTQIA community. That number doubles when you look at Gen Z. So for us, there are times when we're able to say, we know we have members from your company, but a lot of these companies are multinational companies with tens, if not hundreds of thousands of employees. And so there's no risk of them being able to identify who those people are.

Right. And we certainly would never share that information. You know, you just talked about telemedicine earlier and the fact that the pandemic sort of accelerated everyone, including yourselves, realizing what telemedicine can do. The DEA extended its telemedicine policy by six months. But

But if the Biden administration, so the current administration, decides to reinstate in-person prescription requirements in November, that's six months from now, what does folks plan to do? I will say I feel incredibly hopeful about the fact that the DEA is really taking the comments very seriously. You know, the bulk of those comments have

been to make it clear that an in-person requirement is unnecessarily cumbersome. For folks, you know, you think about care deserts, right? A lot of folks don't live near a practitioner or don't have the financial means to secure travel to a practitioner. And so I

I think it's a really positive sign that they did introduce this six-month waiting period because I think it made it clear that they are taking these comments seriously. That being said, the initial perspective that they shared was that folks would need one in-person visit. Got it. From that point onward, they could get

ongoing care via telehealth. And so the way that we are in the midst of finalizing partnerships with some national providers across the United States that would allow us to provide care via their brick and mortar footprint. And so we can satisfy that one visit need that way. We've also created documentation to allow people to go to existing practitioners

and have them fill out the referral form into our practitioners, and then we can take over as a telehealth provider. There are some exceptions to this. You know, there's a bill currently working its way through Florida that would actually require in-person visits on a regular basis. And with Florida, we have created a team internally that is, you know, working to figure out how we can provide in-person care should that bill pass. You all also have a referral program with Planned Parenthood. Tell me what that looks like.

So you can go into a Planned Parenthood as, and this is sort of part of the conversation that we're having in terms of national provision. So, um, it's an opportunity for us to leverage their brick and mortar footprint. And, you know, in some cases they're practitioners who have training in providing affirming and expert care. Um,

But then taking over that care so that the patient is not then subject to incredibly long wait times or the need to have to travel into an office on a regular basis. And so I think it's a really mutually beneficial partnership where, you know, we're able to play to each other's strengths. And so they're able to kick off that care in person as may or may not be required by law. And then, you know, we can take over ongoing to make ongoing care, you know, easier for members.

What does a full year of cost look like? Yeah, so it really varies. I will say one of the things I'm really proud of is that we're very transparent about our pricing. And so if you go on the website, you're able to understand what the cost will be for you. It's anywhere from $59 for someone who has been on hormone therapy in the past

and is just looking for a maintenance relationship, it can go up to over $300 depending on complementary medications that you want to have. So, you know, Finasteride for hair loss. So there are different, you know, complementary medications that we're able to prescribe that can bring the cost up. On average, it's about $130 or $40 a month. For virtual care, it's on a per visit basis.

And in terms of how you make money, I mean, I understand, obviously, that people pay money for prescriptions. Some of that goes to paying doctors. Some of that would go to buying the medication. But where do your margins come from? We don't actually take margins on medication. So, you know, that is a pass-through cost. So our...

membership fee includes medication, but it also includes the ability to see our practitioners. And then we surround our practitioners with care teams. And so when you have a need, we're able to direct that need to what we call type of licensure. So if it's something that is logistical, it might go to our member navigator team. If it is something that is related to medicine, but doesn't

quite need an NP or an MD. It might go to our medical assistant or RN teams. And so we're able to build what is a deeply personal, engaged experience, but in a way that is able to capture margins so that we can continue to provide this service in the long term. And do you take health insurance or how did you sort of figure that out? So we don't today. We are a cash pay business, but we have started the

process of signing with different payers throughout the country. So we expect that on July 1st, we will have significant healthcare coverage or partnerships in place that will allow us to take insurance. That's a big announcement. It is. We're really excited about it. What was that process like? You know, it is, um, like the word Byzantine comes to mind. It's, uh,

This is a, you know, like all of my other roles, you know, deeply entrenched, heavily regulated. Right. And so it varies from payer to payer. So, you know, some payers have been harder to build relationships with than others. But we've actually had incredible success in a way that I think is significant.

speaks to the realization that payers have that this is a service that they don't offer today and that they need to. And so I've been really heartened by the excitement that a lot of these payers have shown around wanting to provide this expert and affirming care to this community. I think it's, you know, one of those glimmers of hope in what can often be a landscape that is pretty difficult.

What should we look forward to next? I'm really excited about some of the partnerships we're building with payers and with employers. It really will help to shift, as I said, the broader healthcare space to see such big names really sign up and say, this is important and we need to focus on it and hope people will follow along for. That's great. Well, thank you so much, Liana. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Thank you.

All right, we are back with Pavithra and it's time to wrap up the show with our game, my favorite segment, Keeping Tabs. This is where each of us shares a story, trend, or company we're following right now.

So Pavithra, since you're our guest, what are you keeping tabs on? I am a little bit embarrassed to say this, but I think half of the country is keeping tabs on this. So my very lowbrow answer is Vanderpump Rules. I know what this is. Yes! Vanderpump Rules! I actually have not watched Vanderpump Rules, but I'm going to start literally tonight. I need to. I need to. It's like you have to get through like a...

120 episodes before you get to this scandal. What else do you have to do? It's true. It's true. I watched Floribama Shore from 2017 recently. I watch so much trash television. I watch so many Real Housewives. It's the best thing to watch. Then you definitely have to watch it. I actually weirdly have never watched Real Housewives, but I just got into this a few years ago. You've got to do Potomac in Miami. Potomac? Very specific. Real Housewives of Potomac is fantastic. Fantastic.

All right, Josh, what are you keeping track of? I am, okay, I'm going to keep with similar, although a different kind of lowbrow. I've had really, really depressing keeping tabs the last two weeks. So you know what? Something that brings me joy, something that sparks joy in my life is NBA basketball.

I love NBA basketball. I'm a diehard Boston Celtics fan. But even still, when we get to the NBA finals, I just love it because it's the culmination of a season. So I'm watching Heat v. Nuggets. I'm enjoying my life. I'm able to invest in something for two hours and then just walk away and enjoy a sport that I like watching to play and tune off from the—or tune off, that's not a word—and shut off from the world, which currently is on fire.

Like literally on fire right now. It's rough out there. Who is your favorite basketball player? That's Jason Tatum. But if we're talking historically speaking. Yeah, give me that too. I'm going way back. Said in a way that you don't care. No.

I have like a probably like a one in eight chance of recognizing the name, but give it to me. Historically, like my all time favorite player to watch is Kevin Durant. But like my favorite player right now is Jason Tatum because he's the best player on my favorite team. But yes, what's your keeping tabs? My keeping tabs is PGA Tour merging with Live Golf. I don't give a shit about golf. I do. I don't care. But I am kind of

fascinated by this whole thing. I think Saudi Arabia's weird endeavors to like be cool is like really upsetting and fascinating. Like I get sometimes I get Instagram ads for the like weird city they're building in the desert. Oh, right. That's so weird. This is so strange. I was literally just talking before we started recording with our associate producer Blake about this because he was like, have we? Could

Should we do something on this live golf thing? And I'm like, probably. Like, it's so weird. Yeah, it is super weird. And I don't really understand the specifics about it, but one thing I have been really curious about is also, like, player salaries. So I think about the fact that, like, players that Saturday we were recruited to play live golf probably make so much. How?

Have you seen the money? Have you seen some of these contracts? We're talking about like hundreds of million dollar contracts for some players. They're just throwing money at some of these big players. So then people on the PGA Tour like Rory McIlroy are just like, what? Oh, yeah. Rory McIlroy went like hard against Live Golf and the players that were abandoning the PGA for it was like...

Yeah, it was a whole thing. There's a whole thing with Phil Mickelson. I've been fascinated by this, too. It's wild. Yeah, we got to dig into it more. And any live golf stans out there, I want to talk to you. Yeah, this might make me care about golf. So yeah, that's what I mean. I'm like, let's not go that far. You're right. I'll take it back. But the politics of it.

Very interesting. Fascinating. So I think that's it. I mean, like, let's wrap up there. We may talk more about LiveGolf in a future episode. But for now, I'll just say that's it for Most Innovative Companies. Thank you, Pavithra, for joining us. Thanks for having me. And thank you, listeners, for joining us too. Obviously.

Our show is produced by Avery Miles and Blake Odom. Mix and sound design by Nicholas Torres. And our executive producer is Josh Christensen. Remember again to subscribe, rate, and review. And we'll see you next week.