Andrea Ippolito, CEO and Founder of SimpliFed, a virtual breastfeeding and baby feeding support provider, is my guest this week on SHLTMM. Just wait till you hear her stories about her mother, Mary who worked at NASA after completing her masters degree program at Cornell University. Mary was an electrical engineer and taught her daughter at a young age how to solder circuits and so much more.
I feel that I got an up close and personal invitation into the life of a female pioneer who because of her own accomplishments, worked alongside other fearless women who broke through barriers. So when your mother sets the bar super high, what do you do? One follows suit apparently.
And that's exactly what Andrea Ippolito has done. As I mention in my introduction, she has a very impressive background. Both mother and daughter are engineers and their lives/personalities are very much intertwined or "tangled" as Andrea says.
In this episode you'll hear stories of Mary working with female astronauts redesigning the first female space suit so it's anatomically correct for a woman. That's something significant that never crossed my mind until I heard these stories.
Andrea says that her mom is still an inspiration to her. "Mom raised us to stick up for ourselves" recalls Ippolito. Andrea says her mother was always there for her, she encouraged her to experience different things and situations. Mary says, "she taught me that we need more women innovators at the table designing the next generation of women's health products with their own lived experience whenever possible."
About Andrea:Andrea Ippolito currently serves as the CEO and Founder of SimpliFed. Prior to joining Cornell, Andrea served as the Director of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Innovators Network within the VA Center for Innovation and served as a Presidential Innovation Fellow based out of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and General Services Administration. She was the Co-Founder of an innovative application that improves access to care called Smart Scheduling (acquired by athenahealth in 2016). She also previously served as the Co-Director of MIT Hacking Medicine, as an Innovation Specialist at the Brigham Innovation Hub and Product Innovation Manager at athenahealth. Ms. Ippolito completed her MS in Engineering & Management at MIT and engineering degrees at Cornell.
About SimpliFed:SimpliFed is changing the narrative on infant nutrition and democratizing access to choices parents can feel good about as they feed their babies. SimpliFed's team of IBCLCs (International Board Certified Lactation Consultants) provides breastfeeding support via a telehealth platform, so to meet parents where they are at, from the safety and comfort of their homes. We begin working with parents during pregnancy to establish goals, manage expectations, provide education and preparedness, then continue the trusted relationship postpartum through weaning.
IG: @simplifedbaby
Or Text SimpliFed At 888-458-1364 for more information
Linkedin: Andrea Ippolito