By Or Harel, elvy.ai Co-Founder & CMO
Undoubtedly, if you’re a woman entrepreneur in a sleep-tech startup - March is your time to shine! The 8th is women’s day, the 15th is sleep day, I feel like it’s my birthday! Oh wait, I actually do celebrate my birthday in March… should I go full-kitsch and consider it as a sign? You tell me, I don’t tend to be kitschy usually.
I figured this is a good opportunity to share my perspective as a woman entrepreneur in the sleep-tech field, and maybe even confess to my complicated relationship with sleep.
In the beginning of my path as an entrepreneur, one of the most surprising things I learned was that most people practicing this field of interest (product developers, treatment developers, medications developers), are men. This trend goes much wider and much deeper, the main testers for new treatments are usually men, the reference group is men… it’s the same with the seatbelt in our cars, which is designed for men. Did you know that the whole algorithm of diagnosis and treatment of a heart attack is based on the presentation of this pathology among young men? It is a very discussed issue among the medical community, as heart attacks of women and elderly patients are considered “atypical” by definition. Something to think about…
In the light of these findings, one of my choices is to include a woman's perspective into my doings, as at least half of my potential clients (and not necessarily solve a problem related to women in particular).
Consequently, one of the first things Alex taught me is that women tend to have difficulties achieving quality sleep, and suffer from the results of sleep deprivation. This definitely guides @elvy.ai as all of our trials from the very first one include women as testers, and we make sure our product ends up suiting women’s expectations, needs and achieving the same effect for both genders.
Day-to-day speaking, I see every day as an opportunity to bring another perspective to the table and add new points of view (especially in the interactions with other paralel companies, where the table consists mainly of men, creating my own voice, reflecting a holistic state of mind.
I made up my mind to embrace the point of view through glasses of opportunities, rather than those of challenges and struggles. This choice allows me to leave behind the narrative of things being harder for women, and focus on my goals and actions towards them. I believe this is how reality can change for the better… After all, we are the choices we make, and I’m aiming to be simply excellent (and not excellent even though I’m a woman).
My own sleep journey
One more thing, I still owe you an explanation about the complicated relationship I have with sleep… Well, before elvy.ai I wasn’t even a great fan of sleep quality, I knew it has an impact on my life based on some extreme sleepiness experiences, but nothing deeper. It’s actually a funny story, I remember myself crying non stop after 3 days without sleep, just from being tired and not being capable of my typical cognitive function. Later when someone asked me why I was sad I answered that I’m actually fine just lost my variety of facial expressions… Needless to say that even this experience didn’t change my sleep approach and I kept treating sleep as a waste of time (I mean, I can be awake and much more vivid, no?) and chose to sleep the bare minimum that my body needed, given that I only have about 100 years on this planet - I want to make the best out of them and not waste a single moment.
When #my_elvy_journey began, I discovered the power and magic of sleep. It’s a period of time in which my body does efficient and positive things for my own benefit of tomorrow. I’m still not one of those massive sleepers (you won’t find me sleeping 12 hours) but I’m pretty sure @Liri shared insights about the negative effects of over-sleeping so that I’m definitely on the safe side. Yet, now I take very good care of my sleep hygiene - I put my phone away (in its Elvy Charger of course) long enough before sleep, ventilating my bedroom during daytime, spend time outside, practice meditation and timing my meals accordingly.
This article is hardly about me telling you what’s best, I mean, who said I’m the one to teach anyone what’s best? These are mainly my insights about my own path, with my own interpretation and through my own eyes. One might find some of these insights useful, while another may come up with new ways and approaches. I feel that the most meaningful thing we can do is share our journey with each other, to empower the doing itself, regardless of the specific road we choose to walk through.
