Jamie Norwood is ending stigma around women’s health and reproductive rights at Stix

Jamie Norwood has been a leader in reducing stigma around women’s health and reproductive rights since she co-founded Stix in 2019. The co-CEO has handled the health company’s brand and experience efforts since she started it with Cynthia Plotch, also co-founder and co-CEO, who came up with the idea to create the brand after having an awkward encounter running into her boyfriend’s mom while buying a pregnancy test. She relayed the incident to her friend Norwood. See all of Ad Age’s Breakout Brand Leaders here “At the time, I was having a lot of UTIs and we were talking about how terrible those products were,” Norwood said. “And then we just had this moment where we were like, ‘Huh, we could probably do this better.’ I don’t think there was ever a moment where we were like, ‘Let’s quit our jobs and start a company.’ It just kind of happened.” Stix has since helped countless people gain access to health products and critical information on reproductive issues. Norwood’s primary focus this past year has been an education campaign for emergency contraception. Stix launched morning-after pill Restart ahead of Roe v. Wade being overturned in June 2022. Norwood led an out-of-home campaign to ensure people knew they still had a right to buy emergency contraception no matter what their respective state laws were around abortion. Meet Restart™, our new morning-after pill — NOW AVAILABLE for purchase! No one should feel judged for choosing to prevent pregnancy. We all deserve to be confident and in control of our own futures. Order now: https://t.co/8k1jPD13Xj pic.twitter.com/GiXPuJkq2R— Stix (@getstix) June 21, 2022 The campaign included billboards with supportive messages for reproductive choice stationed next to so-called limited-service pregnancy centers, which pro-choice advocates allege use tactics to pressure women to not seek abortions. Norwood also set up the Restart Donation Bank, which had raised more than $328,000 as of December 2022 to give emergency contraception to women in need. Those billboards were also set up around college towns, where Stix has focused a lot of “guerrilla grassroots marketing,” Norwood said—including sending care packages with Restart pills, pregnancy tests and condoms to sorority houses, and distributing on campuses free condoms with QR codes that direct students to various sexual health resources. Stix’s “Real Talk” Instagram page—with its slogan “Where nothing is TMI”—is also a wealth of sexual health information targeted to college-aged people. Norwood said all of Stix’s marketing efforts prioritize education. Looking ahead, the company is gearing up to launch an over-the-counter birth control product in 2024, which Norwood will be building a major educational campaign around. “There’s going to be a lot of misinformation about it. A lot of questions about it,” she said. See all of Ad Age’s Breakout Brand Leaders here Which entrepreneur do you admire the most and why? Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx. She followed her own timeline, built a household name brand and she lifts up female entrepreneurs whenever she gets the chance. I have always admired her. What’s currently on your bedside reading list? Personally, I am on a romance novel kick. I just finished—and loved—“Seven Days in June” by Tia Williams, and just started “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” by V.E. Schwab. At work, we are book-clubbing “Glossy” by Marisa Meltzer, about the rise of Glossier. What is the best career advice you’ve gotten? Don’t work with assholes. A mentor told my co-founder and me this when we first started Stix. One of the most amazing parts of starting your own business is that you get to decide who you work with. I think about it often—in hiring, fundraising, partnerships and more. Name one brand, other than the one you work for, that you admire. August. I love everything they do to normalize, destigmatize and remove gender from period care. What is your secret weapon for business success? Efficiency and time management. I fit a ton into a single workday, which allows me to be off and chill when the workday is over, get enough sleep and unplug. See all of Ad Age’s Breakout Brand Leaders here

Jamie Norwood is ending stigma around women’s health and reproductive rights at Stix

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