Women In Wellness: Fahti Khosrowshah of Ceek Women’s Health on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
For me mental health is really important. I feel we live in a society where one way or another we suppress mental health and it impacts all of us at one point or another in our lifetime. I’ve gone through certain periods of my life especially after I had my 2nd daughter that I was extremely anxious. I also think finding good support when we need it is not easily available and accessible
As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Fahti Khosrowshah.
Fahti Khosrowshah is the CEO of Ceek Women’s Health focused on developing products that make the gynecological exam easier for patients. Before that, she worked for 15-years as a management consultant in the Life Sciences working across companies and disease states. She is the mom or 2 girls and lives in Portland, Oregon.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
Fahti is an Iranian American who came to the US to attend university. After getting her graduate degree, she started doing management consulting and loved it. She was working on challenging projects across different disease states and with different companies. However, after getting married and going through 3-years of infertility she became extremely passionate about women’s health. Realizing the inadequacies in the care women receive, she resigned from her job and started Ceek to first update the vaginal speculum and then introduce other innovative products that make the pelvic exam easier and more comfortable for women.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
About 3-years ago when we were very early in our R&D stage, I bought a copy of Time and gave it to my Chief Design Officer. I told her that I wanted our products to be in TIME as part of their annual innovation recognition. In December of 2020, we were featured in TIME as one of the best innovations of the year. The takeaway is to set your goals high and work towards it. As a little girl who was born in Iran amidst the Iranian revolution, I never ever thought that one day I would develop a women’s health product that would be featured in TIME.
Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
When I first started my work, I was eager, super excited to learn, and super excited to please. However, in my eagerness to learn and to please, I also allowed others to treat me like a doormat. It took me a few years to learn my lesson and pull myself out of it.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
However, after going through 3-years of infertility she became extremely passionate about women’s health. Realizing the inadequacies in the care women receive, she resigned from her job and started Ceek to bring innovative medical devices to frontline gynecological care.
People now based on a host of factors but the most important one for me is if I like them and if I can work with them.
Ok perfect. Now let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?
At Ceek Women’s Health we’ve developed a new vaginal speculum that is more comfortable for women and is easier to use by providers. Our Nella Nuspec is design to replace the existing metal speculum that was designed over 150-years ago. Most women have some level of anxiety before getting a pelvic exam and some women also suffer physically including having soreness after the exam, bleeding, and difficulty walking or sitting. Our device is designed to make the exam easier for women across all life stages and body types.
Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.
- I try to have balance between work and taking care of my family. It’s not always easy but it is important to me. If either is not going well, it impacts me.
- I try to go for a walk, exercise, or just get fresh air every day. It has a huge impact on me.
- I always make the time to speak to someone close to me every day — for me it’s either my husband, a friend, my mom or my sister. A 15-minute heart-to-heart puts my head back where it needs to be
- I drink plenty of water every day. I actually don’t like water but if I don’t drink it, I feel yucky. So I do it.
- I get dressed and put some minimal make-up on every day. It puts me in the right mood to start the day
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
- Drink water and go for a walk — every day
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me before I Started” and why?
- Be happy with who you are, really accept yourself both physically and intellectually
- Being shy or an introvert is a strength (not a weakness)
- Being different is okay and sometimes even cool
- Don’t be passive-aggressive and don’t surround yourself with passive-aggressive people
Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
For me mental health is really important. I feel we live in a society where one way or another we suppress mental health and it impacts all of us at one point or another in our lifetime. I’ve gone through certain periods of my life especially after I had my 2nd daughter that I was extremely anxious. I also think finding good support when we need it is not easily available and accessible
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
https://www.instagram.com/ceekwomenshealth/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fahti-khosrowshahi-5223265/
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
Women In Wellness: Fahti Khosrow on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.