10 Questions with ChickRx Co-founder Stacey Borden

Co-founders and Rock Health alumnae Stacey Borden, Meghan Muntean, and Kendrick Taylor recently launched their personalized social women’s health and wellness website, ChickRx, which strives to make women’s health information accessible, relatable, accurate, and fun.  We caught up with Stacey at the Rock Health offices in San Francisco.

When and where were you when you thought up ChickRx?
While I was in business school, Meghan and I were discussing a “friend’s” health concern and we realized that existing health sites weren’t attracting our peers or addressing topics that mattered to us.

What makes ChickRx different from other women’s health websites?
First, it’s fun and meant to deliver important information in a funny, relatable way.  Second,  it’s meant to be relevant to your everyday health concerns, not just medical problems, although we cover that too.  Every day, women enjoy discussing topics relevant to their health–things like skincare products, workout tips, healthy foods, and their relationships and sex lives.  We want ChickRx to be the place where these conversations are happening online.

What’s your favorite part of working on ChickRx?
It’s a blessing to be able to devote my time to something unique I think the world needs– and that’s my bar for anything I do with my life.  Day-to-day, I love working with our professional comedian who helps us present our content – she cracks me up and makes life fun.  Our CTO Kendrick is an amateur comedian in his own right.

What’s your vision for the future of ChickRx?
Our focus right now is making a great web product for our users, and developing our mobile app.  Our goal is to build an enduring, influential women’s health brand that is trusted, cool, and fun.

What were you doing before ChickRx?
Before I went to business school, I was working for 85 Broads, a global women’s network.

What was the most helpful thing you learned in b-school?
My favorite classes in business school were the ones on business ethics –a lot of the concepts resonated at the time, but I think they are only internalized through relevant experiences.  I think that working on a startup is so different from other types of roles – an input of a certain amount of hard work does not necessarily equate success.  You have to give it everything you have, but at the end of the day your principles and your integrity are all you control and the greatest asset you have.

Did you always know that you wanted to start and run your own company?
No, although I always wanted the opportunity to work toward a vision I really believed in- that is why Meghan and I are doing this.

How did you meet your co-founder Meghan?
We met during college at an internship at 85 Broads.  We’ve been close for a long time – we’re like family at this point.

What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs interested in health and wellness?
Think about what you can build that is needed and adds value in a unique way that you feel well-suited to execute. I also can’t thank Rock Health enough – the program has made such a difference for us.  Being embedded in a community of other people that are passionate about this space has been huge.

You are originally from SoCal.  What are some of your favorite San Francisco spots?
Hotel Biron, Alamo Square Park, Domo Sushi, and Miette bakery in Hayes Valley