Hello! I’m Judith
Nearly two decades ago, the foundational blocks of my budding career at a Pac 12 University were falling perfectly into place. Freshly out of college, my husband was working as an entry-level bookkeeper and trying to get his singer-songwriter career off the ground.
To paint you the full picture, we were a young married couple with a newborn baby who lived in the caretaker quarters at the local carwash, so we weren’t exactly rolling in the dough.
Soon I realized it would cost us more to enroll my infant in childcare than I was making at my job — in total. I knew in my gut I had to quit my job and come up with a different solution for our family, but it was scary and we didn’t know how we would make it without my steady income, despite how modest a salary it was.
I hesitated for my entire maternity leave. In the middle of the night, I would be up working on plans, putting pen to paper, running numbers ad-nauseam, trying to make everything that was comfortable and known work out. But, by the end of my maternity leave, I knew I had to create a new way forward that worked for me and my family.
From business idea to acquisition: How I scaled my “femtech” company on my own terms as an entrepreneur and mother of three.
I knew there was a way to write my own story. I just didn’t know exactly how.
I looked around to find examples of women who were running their own businesses on their own terms. The woman who taught my childbirth preparation class was doing just that, and as far as I could tell, she was thriving. I loved everything about the birthing experience and knew that by becoming a healthcare educator I could make a difference for moms and their babies.
A fire was lit inside of me. I knew at that point I had to let go of everything that was safe and known and become an Overnight Entrepreneur.
I needed to go out on my own for two reasons: One, I had to generate income for our family. Two, I love to work! Always have. But this time, it was important to me that how I spent my work hours was on MY terms. I needed a schedule that worked for me and my baby. But most importantly, I wanted my innate gifts and talents to make a radical and necessary impact on the world. Out of the gate my chosen path was to teach childbirth education classes in my local community.
Fast forward. We were poor and on welfare with three kids aged four and under, and one child with a debilitating undiagnosed debilitating health condition. My husband was working extremely long hours at a technology startup, while also going for his MBA 45 minutes away from home in the evenings. Every day had its own hurdles we had to overcome.
But somehow, despite all those challenges, that fire within me helped me build a six-figure services business in maternity care. and this is precisely where my journey to building a paradigm shifting health tech company began.
Here’s What Happened Next…
Now I’m using my talents, tools, and experience to make a difference by showing ambitious women how to remove the barriers to taking their companies to the next level, fulfilled by joy and without sacrificing their health and families along the way.
i realized what i had to offer needed to expand far beyond my local reach.
I founded a healthcare technology company called iBirth at the start of the 2008 recession.
I went through the dark night of breaking up with my co-founder.
Everyone told me I couldn’t do it. They laughed at me. They told me to walk away. In fact, my own mother begged me to quit.
I got one true Believer on my side.
I became really focused.
I built a strong revenue generating company and was approached for acquisition.
I went through the ALL-ENCOMPASSING due diligence process.
In June 2018 I sold my company.
I joined the new vc funded company and I took my work for moms and babies to the next level by partnering with global corporations.
In 2020 I TRANSITIONED OUT OF the new co and a new fire started in me...
Professional Bio
I began my career as a hands-on healthcare practitioner, which led to pioneering a technology product in the early days of the FemTech industry, which in turn led to my health tech company’s acquisition….
Looking for a way to scale the intimate, interpersonal care I was delivering as a childbirth educator and doula, I co-founded iBirth, a patient care companion app designed to support healthier outcomes for moms and babies around the globe.
As the company’s CEO, I built the platform from the ground up with no outside funding. In 2018 iBirth was acquired by Babyscripts where I served as the Chief Growth Officer to expand the impact of our virtual maternity care platform focused on deploying fully-risk stratified connected care models to Payers and Providers, and remote patient monitoring.
As a successful member of the male-dominated tech field, I’ve become a strong and passionate voice to women seeking to build a legacy of their own. Awarded the distinguished 40 Under Forty recognition in Boulder Valley, I’ve been a featured presenter focused on women in healthcare technology, speaking at Women Who Startup, Boulder Startup Week, Longmont Startup Week, the AABC Annual Conference, and Startup Health Festival Main Stage at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, among others; as well as authoring a monthly column in Thrive Global and featured articles in Forbes Women, MM&M, US News & World Report, Inc., and others.
In addition to founding, growing, and selling my health tech company, I’ve co-directed maternity skills trainings for refugee and immigrant women in Denver, mentored female business students interested in entering the health information and technology field at the Leeds School of Business, and am a designated Entrepreneur Mentor with the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado, Boulder.