"You need to have a problem that someone will pay to have a solution to" with Rachel Braun Scherl
Growth strategy consultant, marketing expert, and sought-after public speaker Rachel Braun Scherl is a trusted authority on leadership and entrepreneurship. She has passionately focused on driving the conversation on the business of women’s sexual and reproductive health. She works on femtech and sextech businesses from women “from the tops of their heads to the tips of their toes. Since co-founding SPARK, she has built an international client base that includes multiple divisions of Johnson & Johnson, Allergan, Pfizer, Merck, and Bayer among others. With her passion and commitment, Rachel has successfully launched, built, and revitalized companies around the globe and has been doing so for over twenty years.
Can you tell our readers about your background?
In my family, we have what is called a summary rule — which means that the retelling of a story can’t take longer than the actual event. Given that I have been working a long, long time, that gives me about 25 years to tell my backstory, but I will be brief.
When I graduated from Stanford Business School, my objective was to run J&J. My first job was in product management on the storied TYLENOL brand. I adored that job. I felt as if I was working on the crown jewel of the company. And I was quite certain that I was working in healthcare. In fact, I have worked for or with Johnson & Johnson and alumni from there for 20 years. The relationships I formed there have been foundational to my entire career in terms of mentorship, business-building, and clients, who have hired SPARK over and over as they move to new roles at other companies.
I moved from product management to consulting first for a large company and then a boutique — always parlaying the corporate relationships into client work. I learned a few core lessons very early on — I was great at building relationships, I loved to sell, and solving complex problems energized me.
I founded SPARK 20 years ago and built an international client base that includes multiple divisions of Johnson & Johnson, Allergan, Pfizer, Merck, Bayer, and Church & Dwight. And then a decade ago, I had the opportunity to buy a product that improved arousal, desire, and satisfaction for women. My partner and I raised venture capital, created a company, and a vagipreneur® was born. A NY Times journalist coined that term and since then it stuck to provide a great descriptor for a person in the business of female health.
What inspired you to start your business?
When I was working for a consulting company and worked on projects with Johnson & Johnson, I had my first child and traveled to Europe once a month for a week for 7 straight months with a baby at home. I remember thinking that if they were paying me $10M, the job still wouldn’t be worth it. I stumbled into entrepreneurship because I wanted to be more in control of my financial future. I wanted to have the choice to work only with people I respect on the content I like. And today, I still love the thrill of running my own business.
Where is your business based?
Tri-state area.
How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?
I became an entrepreneur because I wanted to be more in control of my financial future. I wanted to have the choice to work only with people I respected and on the content I liked. Today, I still love the thrill of running my own business.
Since co-founding SPARK with my longtime business partner, Mary Wallace Jaensch, over twenty years ago, I have built an international client base that includes multiple divisions of Johnson & Johnson, Allergan, Pfizer, Merck, Bayer, and Church & Dwight, among others. With passion and commitment, I have successfully launched, built, and revitalized companies around the globe, based on the belief that sustainable, profitable growth starts with a sound strategy and is continually driven forward by connecting with customers, building partnerships, and creating revenue.
A decade ago, my business partner and I had the opportunity to buy a product and create a company that improved arousal, desire, and satisfaction for women. We raised venture capital, created a company, and built a category in female sexual and reproductive health. A New York Times journalist coined the term Vagipreneur® to describe people building businesses in this space and it stuck – providing an easy shorthand and a great descriptor for a person in the space. Today, I still work with large and small companies that offer products and services for female sexual health, reproductive health, and women’s wellness solutions, from menstruation to menopause
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?
Building this business has been a combination of focusing on building relationships, having endurance, and finding creative solutions.
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
I believe that knowing what you might face and being prepared for it will be one of the keys to success. We are all too familiar with the stats about the percentage of investment dollars that go to women or the number of female decision-makers. And I think much of that is exacerbated when it comes to anything female-health related.
Eleven years ago, when I started speaking publicly about the disparity between access to advertising for men and women’s sexual products, people were aghast. They couldn’t believe that we had approached 100 media outlets – from network to cable, radio and websites, only to be rejected for over 95% of those. Obviously, challenges remain, but I am optimistic. I truly believe that a rising tide raises all boats. Hundreds of businesses in the space have been created in the past several years and many have raised significant funds. Numerous sources of financing, beyond traditional venture capital, have seen the value and the opportunity in these businesses.
In the words of World and Olympic Champion figure skater, Scott Hamilton, “I calculated once how many times I fell during my skating career — 41,600 times,” he said. “But here’s the funny thing: I got up 41,600 times. That’s the muscle you have to build in your psyche — the one that reminds you to just get up.” I really try to live by that idea. We all invariably face setbacks, adversity, challenges, pain, trauma – to name a few. The difference between success and failure is what you do when you “get up.”
How do you stay focused?
I have tried a number of different strategies, and have received great advice from many people I respect. Here are a few that I find meaningful:
1. Make and keep a schedule;
2. Set daily short-term goals, including exercise;
3. Don’t spend time thinking about when life will return to “normal.” It is impossible to figure out and wastes important time and mental energy;
4. Spend as much time as possible outside;
5. Make progress on the list of items that you always said you would get to “if you had the time.”
6. Lean on your personal and professional network for inspiration and encouragement.
How do you differentiate your business from the competition?
I have a few fundamental principles that I hold dear and which I like to believe define my behavior:
· Relationships are the cornerstone of building a business. I try to nurture and strengthen them.
· Say what you mean and what you say. This enables people to trust you and avoid surprises (which I never enjoy in a work setting).
· Deliver what you promise on strategy, on time, and on budget.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
I still continue to share interesting articles on a range of aspects of female health. But with Quotes from Quarantine (my series on Youtube), I find that I am using social media to entertain, inform, and be inspired by the people in this space. And there is a bit of cheerleading thrown in – sometimes I am leading the cheer and often others are.
What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
To start with, you need to have a problem that someone will pay to have a solution to—or at least a better solution. You can have all kinds of great ideas, but if you can’t demonstrate that someone is willing to pay for the privilege of buying or using your product or service, then it’s not a business. You need validation that your product is of value to someone.
What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?
My favorite is Waze. I am quite geographically challenged, so I literally barely go around the block without having Waze leading the way.
My favorite blog – The Broadsheet from Fortune – the articles are focused on business and women in business – which reflects an integration of my interests. The stories are unique, interesting, well-written, relevant, and irreverent. I feel as if I am having a conversation with a really smart, funny, well-informed friend. My favorite book is Prince of Tides, a beautifully written saga of family drama, mental health, mental illness, expectations, and love. There are so many useful life lessons – about the impact of key familial relationships, adversity, resilience, and identifying one’s true talents.
What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?
I love being a part of the Springboard network, which is described as a place where influencers, investors, and innovators meet to accelerate women-led companies in technology and life science. The people and the organization are great sources of information, recommendations, and collaboration.
Who is your business role model? Why?
That is an easy one. I worship Oprah.
In fact, one of my favorite articles and one I speak on often was titled, “How To Find Your Leadership Voice Because Oprah’s is already taken.” Sure, she is extraordinarily successful and self-made. She has single-handedly revived entire industries and companies. She persevered through a childhood fraught with traumas and tests of will. But above all else, what I truly adore about Oprah is her ability to fit her content to her context. Oprah takes her real self everywhere she goes — and she goes to a lot of places. She was and is just as authentic celebrating birthdays with her famous friends on their yachts as she is sympathetically hearing the painful stories that people share with her and an audience of millions, or as she is when she is opening a school in South Africa and changing the lives of girls, or sharing her lifelong struggle with weight. She has the Midas touch because she is insightful, smart, courageous, driven, and so totally human.
How do you balance work and life?
I think this might be a trick question, right? In all seriousness, I think the misnomer is the idea of balance as if there is a point where your life – on all fronts – is running smoothly. I like the concept of work/life satisfaction – which seems to acknowledge and responds to the realities, complexities, desire for flexibility, and the general unpredictability of life.
What’s your favorite way to decompress?
I love to read. Normally I like to rotate a novel with non-fiction (business or history). Once I get into a book, I read it ravenously from cover to cover (often in the middle of the night). Not surprisingly, during this new reality, I have tended to only read fiction, mostly gripping personal stories of strength and survival. The two I just finished which really fit the bill are The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni and An Unorthodox Match by Naomi Regan. Both focused on characters of amazing strength, who fight for what they believe in and conduct themselves with integrity, honesty, and a strong mind. In addition to the important people in my life, I find the protagonists in these books great models for handling adversity. I think I am a few weeks away from non-fiction in this current environment.
What do you have planned for the next six months?
I’m on a mission to contribute to the effort to normalize the taboos we have around the conversations of women’s health, sexual health, and sexuality as well as to continue to create opportunities for women to ask personal, historically deemed frowned-upon questions without fear of stigma. And I believe that entrepreneurs, educators, and health care practitioners will be critical to creating that change. Imagine what that kind of world would be like!
How can our readers connect with you?
https://www.facebook.com/rbscherl