Future of Fertility_Kate Morton: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Future of Fertility_Kate Morton: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Abby Mercado:
Hi, I'm Abby Mercado, an IVF mom, former VC investor, and CEO of Rescripted. Welcome to the Future of Fertility, a podcast dedicated to shining a light on the entrepreneurs and innovators who are changing the face of family building. With billions in funding over the past few years, we'll introduce you to the people, the ideas, and the businesses that are changing the fertility industry and in turn, millions of people's lives. The future of fertility is bright. Now let's get into it!

Abby Mercado:
Kate Morton is the CEO of Funk It Wellness. Funk It Wellness is a mental health company founded by Kate, a registered dietitian. Funk It sells products relating to food as medicine and seed cycling, and is a safe, nutrition-packed space for anyone struggling with hormone imbalance, with a goal of making sure women everywhere can honor their cycles and bodies. Kate is probably my coolest CEO friend. I think it's more than the fact that she's based in Austin and is always wearing the latest threads. It's because, it's cool to be smart, and Kate is so smart and so inspiring to boot as she breaks down barriers, .... understanding how our bodies work. Thank you so much for joining us today, Kate, I am thrilled to have you on the podcast!

Kate Morton:
I'm so excited. Thank you for having me.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah, Yeah. So how's Austin today? It's snowing here in Denver.

Kate Morton:
It's cold. So, like, it's, okay, cold for me. It was like 40 this morning when I went on a run, which, like.

Abby Mercado:
That's cold, that's cold.

Kate Morton:
For here is cold. I have, like, my giant jacket, but I'm indoors, so, like, I don't have it on, but I'll actually, like, I know our cold is, like, fleeting, but you guys have snow right now, right?

Abby Mercado:
We have snow. We have snow. And like, like it usually snows overnight and is like, bright and sunny during the day. So anyway, we're talking about the weather. Let's talk, let's talk about, let's talk about you. So, first question, tell us all about Kate. And we'd love to hear just one fun fact about you as you kind of conclude the introduction to Kate.

Kate Morton:
Yeah. So my name is Kate. I'm a registered dietitian. I live in Austin, Texas. I love food and periods and gut health. And talking about everything that people never want to talk about is usually my goal. So when it comes to nutrition, I have a really different approach than a lot of people. We go completely food-based, but on top of that, I, was like something that's not really to my career. Let's not just talk about my career, Let's talk about me.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah, where like, where did you grow up?

Kate Morton:
So I grew up in Alabama, which is like kind of random. Not a lot of people. I don't meet a lot of other people from Alabama, So I grew up there and then I went to school there. I was actually an art major to start, and I'm not good at art. Like I need everyone to know that I went in so confident, and I got into my first art class and was like, just because my mom's an artist doesn't mean that I am. And then I like.

Abby Mercado:
But you can also tell by your branding, by .... that you have an eye.

Kate Morton:
Yeah, my co-founder is responsible, she's so talented. She does like all her branding and she genuinely is an amazing artist, and she's one of my friends from high school, which is really cool. And so yeah, I grew up in Alabama. I went to college there, I got into nutrition, and I really fell in love with nutrition and it came from a really personal place. I am really open about how much I've struggled with disordered eating, eating disorder from the age of like 12, so really early, really young. And, you know, I fell in love with nutrition because I learned how much it could support our bodies. And like I'm a really goal-oriented person. And so, like, I fell in love with food because it was like, okay, if I feed my body and I nourish myself, then I can accomplish all these goals, which might be a little bit of toxic productivity thrown in there but yeah.

Abby Mercado:
We're founders and CEOs, it's fine.

Kate Morton:
I know.

Kate Morton:
There are a lot of other founders and CEOs listening to this, so.

Kate Morton:
And I worked as a pediatric pulmonary dietitian, which was amazing opportunity and I loved that. Working in pediatrics was always my dream, and then I got an opportunity to move to New Zealand. I never thought I would own a business, I don't have a business degree, but I moved to New Zealand, and I didn't want to pass up that opportunity. But I also couldn't be a dietitian over there. So I had to completely reframe my identity and I worked at Lululemon. I did some really cool stuff with them and I learned about marketing. Then I went to work at a startup and vowed I would never start my own company after seeing how hard it was. And then I got off birth control and then I fell in love with food as medicine and like healing through food. And it started out like this wasn't supposed to be a business, it started out as something out of my kitchen, and I was making it for friends. And then everybody was like feeling as good as me. And everyone was like, you have to just like, make this a business, and here we are.

Abby Mercado:
Okay, like so, so many questions. So I was going to, you know, obviously, I'm digging through your LinkedIn, and like, it's my job to become like a Kate and a health and wellness superfan before, before my podcast with you. So I think one of my observations was that you have this perfect balance between like somebody with an eye, somebody with an eye for design and what a, what a certain demographic to see, what they like to consume, like visually. And you also have marketing experience. And you also know the science, like you are the actual person who is creating this stuff, like, you know how the science works. You two know how the stuff is going to make an impact on our body. So that was, that was one of my, my observations about your background. So, like, what were some of the things that you're making for your friends? Like ....

Kate Morton:
I was like making seed cycling kits in my house. Like I was going, this was like during COVID first off, let's talk about that. So like, like it was, I quit my, I moved to us back to, move to Austin, back to the US, and I was like, What? What could I be good at to make money? Because this is going to sound so silly as a CEO, I am like never anyone who's cared about making money. And I have always just like been really privileged to be able to just be like, I want to try that and been able to make money through those avenues and support myself. But I can live off very little. Like I, that is just something like, I've always been able to do. And so for the first time in my life, when I was moving back to Austin, I was like, I need to make money because I want to start this business. And so I moved to Austin and I got a job in tech selling software, and so I saved all that money. And that's actually how I started Funk it, which I can't remember. Yeah, okay, so then I quit that job in February, like end of February.

Abby Mercado:
Oh, yeah. Fun time, fun time in the world, February 2020.

Kate Morton:
2020. And so I was like, I'm in. We're going all in. I'm quitting this job and I'm going to do, Funk it. And then, supply chain and the pandemic and everything blew up.

Abby Mercado:
No toilet paper anywhere.

Kate Morton:
Toilet paper.

Abby Mercado:
Any grocery store.

Kate Morton:
Eating canned, exclusively canned foods. And so.

Abby Mercado:
Like, ....

Kate Morton:
That I bought like Rice-A-Roni. And my husband was like, we don't even like, he's like, this is going to hurt your stomach so bad. I've got like a very finicky stomach when it comes to packaged foods. So, like, I'm allergic to, like, a bunch of preservatives, which is like a blessing and a curse. But it like, genuinely there's so many things you can't eat. But yeah, so I quit my job and then I was like, you know what? Well, I got to make this work because this is what I'm passionate about. And so I ended up working, I was working at UT, in, University of Texas at Austin in the nutrition MBA school. I was like working in between those two schools to help people start nutritionally sound businesses and like further their continuing education program. I was doing marketing and nutrition consulting. I was running my own practice again and then I was working on Funk It at night and it's funny, it was such a stressful time, but I really actually do look back on it with so much fondness, like it was such an, it was like work, helping manage Airbnbs. I was doing all this random work to pay the bills, and that's kind of just how my life's always been. And I look back on it now and I'm like, wow, you know, that was actually like really cool that I got to do that. But, so then I was making the seed cycling kit and my kitchen and like a hazmat suit.

Abby Mercado:
Oh my gosh!

Kate Morton:
And like sending them to my friends.

Abby Mercado:
Because it was COVID?

Kate Morton:
Yes.

Abby Mercado:
Okay. Okay.

Kate Morton:
Because I .... I had to like, get the state of Texas to come, like, certify, like, look in like, make sure that I have like a good space and like I did. And so that's how it started. And then we eventually like it was not feasible to do that anymore. And then we got a co-packer. But that was like the very beginning, which not many people actually know that story.

Abby Mercado:
That's, well, So I think like, my one observation from that is that like I'm a, I'm a firm believer that like, whatever your passion is, you can figure out how to make money, like doing your passion. Like.

Kate Morton:
I agree.

Abby Mercado:
So that's amazing that you, you've been able to do this. OKAY, So tell us, we've had a handful of direct consumer companies on the podcast, but like, I don't think anyone's ever talked about like getting a co-packer. Like, what does that mean?

Kate Morton:
Oh yeah.

Abby Mercado:
I know what that means because.

Kate Morton:
It's crazy.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah. What's like.

Kate Morton:
So, like, I didn't know what it meant either, at all. And, you know, I think if like anyone else who started a business, like, you can relate to this, maybe too, like not being a first-time founder, there's so much magic in it. There's so much failure in it. There's so much failure like every day, but there's so much magic because ...

Abby Mercado:
... I say instead of failure, I say there's so many learnings.

Kate Morton:
There's so many learnings. I like, like I've really healed my relationship with failure and like, yeah, it's learnings. It's like there's so many learnings every day. Like you're new at something that is a big something to be new at. And I look back at the beginning with so much like I was like, wow, I was so confident and I was like, so just naive in the best way possible about like making things happen. I don't know why I went down that like little ....

Abby Mercado:
No, no, I love it. I like that. That is actually so astute. Like there is so much magic and being a frist-time founder. There's a lot of magic. Like you go in.

Kate Morton:
There's a lot of magic.

Abby Mercado:
And make blindly.

Kate Morton:
Yes.

Abby Mercado:
You go in blindly and you're like, ueah, of course I can do that. Then yeah, I think that's.

Kate Morton:
Oh, so getting a co-packer, that's why.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah, co-packer.

Kate Morton:
Okay! So I, like assume that you just go to a website and, like, book in with a co-packer. Okay, if you're listening, that's not how you do it at all. You call 300 people. I call 300 people. And actually, none of them got back to me. Not one. And I got so lucky. A friend I made early on who owned a granola company, I was just like, dude, how do you do? Like, I've been calling everyone, I've been and, I was calling like spice companies. Anyone who would have a grinder to, like, be able to make my product. So I was like the important part, a heatless grinder, like grinder that could process without any heat. She was like, you should talk to my co-packer. She likes to help women-owned businesses. And I was like, cool. So I ended up, that's how I found my co-packer. But it was a long process. Like with our seeds, I'll be like, oh, it must be such an easy manufacturing process, it's actually not. And we actually have worked on a proprietary process around it because you want to like, process them without heat, keep them as fresh as possible, ground and sent to the customer. So like we had a really complicated process. I was unwilling to compromise on any of my, like what I knew was important as a dietitian. And it took us from about March to August to get that all done.

Abby Mercado:
Wow. That's a frustratingly long time for a founder who is like trying to pay herself and her team, so.

Kate Morton:
Oh, I didn't get to pay myself. That's a whole other story we can talk about, like hang yourself. But I was I worked three jobs for the first, over a year. I thought I was going to just like, and then my house flooded during the snowstorm, it's a whole thing.

Abby Mercado:
You know, during the snowstorm. Got to love Texas. Crazy. So tell us about, there's one thing that you mentioned in your intro, and that was that you went off birth control.

Kate Morton:
Yeah.

Abby Mercado:
So, how about, ... that?

Kate Morton:
That was such an interesting. Yeah, I got.

Abby Mercado:
Why, why?

Kate Morton:
... I did my intro because the Amazon man walked in and I was like, huh. .... But so yeah, that's a great. So I got on birth control so young. My mom had an unexpected teen pregnancy and just, you know, it was one of those things where, like, she just really with the limited information she had, she was like, I just want to try to protect you from this. And, you know, we know so much more, but now about sex education, there's so much more being talked about. But like really, I mean, I'm almost 29. Like when I was starting my period at 11, there wasn't like a ton of that and it was kind of all hush-hush. So I have been on like every birth control because I had an allergic reaction to Yaz or Yasmin. I ended up in the hospital like, yes, bad, bad stuff, like, really.

Abby Mercado:
I was on that way back when. That was like the birth control to be on as a teen.

Kate Morton:
It was, it was like so cool and like, I had really bad, like, emotional reactions to birth control. And then I finally got on one that was seemingly working, but I was having my period like I was spotting every day for two years.

Abby Mercado:
Ow.

Kate Morton:
Which sucked. I felt.

Abby Mercado:
That sucks.

Kate Morton:
Gross. Like, I just felt disgusting and it was my early twenties and talk about, like a time of self-discovery and a time of like where you really should be, like, empowered on your body and your sexuality. And I was just so disempowered, so disconnected. And I actually tried to get it taken out. Was the implant in my arm called .... I tried to get it taken out and I went to the doctor and like I was in college and I was like supporting myself. And they were like, it's going to be like $500 to $1000 to get this removed. And I was like, I can barely afford to put gas in my car to even come to this appointment and pay my classes, like, let alone drop $500 to $1000 to get this removed, that's. I was like, I'm having such bad symptoms and like, I didn't care. And so I moved to New Zealand and I finally was like, I'm getting this out of my body. This is not serving me anymore. And I got it out and I was so excited. Everything got so much worse after that because I'd been on birth control for ten years. My cycle had never fully figured out how to regulate itself. I also, throughout that period had had a pretty extensive eating disorder. So like, really my body was just very out of whack. But that was the beginning, I truly believe in like my healing journey. And so it took about three years to get fully back on track after that. And that's what made me so passionate about this. Like when I say I never wanted to start a business because I saw how hard it was, I mean that, with like my whole heart and everyone listening like, it's hard. It's okay to say that it's hard.

Abby Mercado:
It's funking hard.

Kate Morton:
It's funking hard. And like, you are going to have to deal with every aspect of your trauma, your life, your existence to be able to run this business and show up every day. And like, I respect everyone who's doing that, like it's hard. Good for you. And that's what started all of this was like, I just got so passionate about it and was like, so hellbent that I really wanted everyone to have this information and just start talking to my friends about periods and like, I've never like I don't have a filter, which like sometimes serves me really well and sometimes gets me in a lot of trouble.

Abby Mercado:
That's fair.

Kate Morton:
I was like, I'm not a confrontational person. And my friends were like, you're not confrontational, but you're not going to hold back. And I was like, oh no, do I like? And they were like, no, it's not bad, just like you say how it is. And so that's like one of the things that I just couldn't not talk about this and it's like physically become my personality now that like I want everyone to know about how powerful the reproductive system is, how important it is to feel your best If you are listening and you have a uterus and you're a CEO, you deserve to feel good every day. Like people who don't have uteruses, who are running companies, they feel the same every day and like, yes, they have their own struggles. But like if you have PMS and painful periods, you feel bad half the month, that's half your life. It's not okay, like you don't deserve that. Like you deserve to feel good.

Abby Mercado:
Over half the work. Yeah. No, I mean, I'm like, you're amazing. But like, ... slightly over half the world's population is, has a uterus and ovaries and what have you. So, like, how many people have, like, bad periods, painful periods?

Kate Morton:
90% of people. Nine out of ten people who have periods, women, people with uteruses have, one at least one life altering PMS symptom.

Abby Mercado:
Wow. And what is deemed life altering?

Kate Morton:
That's the interesting part. So this is why I think it's probably ten out of ten is because life altering, like in the study that this is pulled from, meant you changed the way you lived your life to accommodate your cycle. And the crazy thing is, is so many of us were doing that without realizing it. So, you know, like, that means like, oh, I'm so, my stomach hurts and I'm cramping and I'm so bloated I can't wear jeans today. Like that doesn't sound life altering, but that is, like, or I can't actually go into work day or I can't give this presentation or, you know, also I think it's like, there's a significant amount of girls in the United States who can't go to school because they don't have access to period products, like there's so many different layers to this. But yeah, life altering just means you're having to change your life. I, I really like get into this whole if we truly want equality for people, if we truly want to close the pay gap and give people equal opportunities like we have to talk about hormonal health because so much of the burden is placed on women and people with periods to just take this on. And like quite literally, we can't further our society without uteruses. So like, we need to like, accommodate this. And I don't know, my thoughts are like a very all over the place on that, but it's like we need to be having this conversation because everyone deserves an equal opportunity at work, at school, in their social life and their personal life. And if hormones are getting in the way, we need to make that a forefront of the conversation.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah, of course. Cannot agree more. So tell us a little bit, you know, I think that there's something on your site that that really resonated with me. And you write that it makes sense to get your vitamins and minerals through food rather than pills. So speak to that. Speak to some of the science. I think that and I think we're we're supposed to be super candid and upfront on this podcast. Like I think some physicians are like, see, it's like, like, what is that? So all of that, tell us more.

Kate Morton:
That's why we're named Funk it. Because I got told so many times that people didn't care about this. And I was like, you know what? You're wrong and funk it because this is it. So here's the deal, and there's a few different ways we can look at this because real food, like, you have to think about what your body was designed to consume. And are we living in an ideal climate to consume food? No, that's a whole other story. And like we can talk about that too, but your body knows what to do with food, and there's such a nuance to food. Like when you eat an apple, it doesn't just have vitamin C, it has vitamin C, fiber, water, like it has all these other things in there. And what a lot of people don't realize, and I feel really lucky that I learned this through being a dietician is food, like the way vitamins and minerals are absorbed, they're not just like individually absorbed, it takes a whole team to work together to absorb these vitamins and minerals. So, for example, plant based iron, which is like non-heme iron needs vitamin C to be absorbed in the body and increase bioavailability. Fat soluble vitamins like vitamin E need to be consumed with fat to even be absorbed, period. So like our bodies are these intricate systems and I mean, like I'm like such a nerd. I was eating an apple in the car the other day and I was like talking to my husband and I was like, can you believe that a tree grows this apple? And then I eat this apple and then it's got all these things in it that are good for me, and then I can like go on a run and do whatever afterwards. And he was just like, I love that you think about those things. But

Abby Mercado:
I'm just like, oh, do I have to eat this apple right now? I can have a bag of chips. Okay, just kidding.

Kate Morton:
It's like, yeah, I love a good bag of chips, do not get me wrong. But like, that's the coolest thing about food is like nature was so smart. Like nature knew what was up and was like, these are the things you need and this is how you need to consume them. And true to human form, we're always trying to improve things, which I think is super cool about humans. But sometimes we create unintended problems like plastic bags. We're meant to solve one problem and they caused another one. And so when we think about isolating nutrients, there's totally times for it. If you're working with a physician and they're like, you are severely deficient in this thing, we're going to try this treatment. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the average person who's taking a multivitamin for no other reason than the fact that they think they should. And so my challenge is like, if we get curious and we learn about food and we learn about how food can heal us and we focus on good foods, which, you know, it's a tricky conversation in itself. Like all food should be good food, all food should be organic food. But we know that that's not how it is. And it's a privilege to get, to have this conversation, and I do like to recognize that. But just being very candid, like the reason food is good for you is because there's a nuance to food that we can never replicate or fully understand. And Whole Foods are a great option, so that's my.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah. So, that's my story. I know, I love your story.

Kate Morton:
I can leave now.

Abby Mercado:
So tell us about like, what are your seeds? How do you sell them? Like, tell me more about the business. Like if I am a consumer and I have a period which I do, I'm a consumer and I have a period. So what will I find on the Funk It Wellness site and how do I know what to buy?

Kate Morton:
Yeah, so this is a cool thing. When I was looking at solving this problem, it would have been so easy to just create a pill or make a protein powder. And I actually looked into doing those things and then I had to like gut check myself and I was like, this isn't what you believe in as a person. This isn't what you think is right. You would you wouldn't take this. So that's how I filter everything like. One, would I put this in my own body or recommend this to my friends. And so what seed cycling does, and I didn't invent seed cycling, I was introduced to it through my dermatologist and through a friend. But we did bring it to the commercial forefront. And so what seed cycling is, is you track your menstrual cycle, which if you're listening and you have a period that is like my, if you can take one thing away, if you can track your cycle with your business and just note down how you're feeling, it's going to release so much pressure from you because, in I luteal phase I used to like question everything I was doing and want to change my entire business. And like the second I started thinking my business to my life, like my cycle, it was like game changer, but track your cycle. Yeah, that's a whole, whole other thing. Track your cycle. But then too, we're going to help you sync your nutrition with your cycle because your nutrition shifts along with your cycle.

Kate Morton:
We have different hormones at play throughout the entire cycle. For the sake of simplicity, we're just going to focus on two right now, estrogen and progesterone. But these hormones are built inside your body, they aren't just something that exists. Like you need nutrition, you need all of these vitamins and minerals to build these hormones to, and food and fuel to be able to go through the cycle and think about your cycle like a relay race and you're handing off a baton, the hormones are handing off to each other, and we have that smooth handoff that's called hormonal balance. So period to ovulation, that's going to be pumpkin and flax seeds. That's going to have lots of omega threes, lots of phyto, estrogen, magnesium and zinc. Those are going to be very important for the first half of your menstrual cycle and prepping for ovulation. After ovulation, we're going to have sesame and sunflower seeds. That's going to have lots of B six, vitamin E, again with magnesium and zinc, but also selenium. Those things are going to help the second half of your menstrual cycle and progesterone. So, and they're going to address more of like helping to curb PMS symptoms. So the first half leading up to ovulation, we want to smooth handoff after ovulation to progesterone. Then with progesterone we're going to want to keep going throughout the cycle and ease PMS so that we can enjoy the second half of our cycle and not struggle through it. That's the basis of it, and it uses real food. So you want organic, ground nutrients, which we do all of that for you. We partner with Certified B Corp Farms, the US or Europe. Everything's 100% organic, no pesticides used. So like that was really important to us because quality of nutrition is going to be the key. High quality foods are where you get those nutrition. That's why we try to get them to you within 4 to 6 weeks because we want peak nutrition. Seeds stay good for 18 months, but do they nutrient degrade, nutrients degrade over time, which is like a whole. I could get to the science behind that, but that is like the synopsis. I'll breathe now. That is like the synopsis of what seed cycling is, how it works. I used to have ear to ear hormonal acne. I lost my period for six months, almost like a ton of my hair fell out. I had so many bald patches and I was just a miserable mess and I had really bad period pain. So it's one of those things that I thought it was BS until I did it and it changed, it quite literally changed my life. It's not even an overexaggeration.

Abby Mercado:
How do you, I mean, I've never seed cycle before and I just have a lot of basic questions, so.

Kate Morton:
Do it.

Abby Mercado:
How? Like what was even like, I was like 18. So I feel like it would be so hard to isolate. You know, let's say you made an observation of thing. You would you were testing everything in your luteal phase, but there's so many other external factors that could be acting like, are you getting enough sleep, are you exercising? Like how are you able to isolate, how you're actually feeling? And is that it can be attributed to your nutrition?

Kate Morton:
That is such a good question. And really, like the answer is, is all these things work together. Like I would love to tell you that like just seed cycle, you'll be just fine. It's going to fix everything.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah.

Kate Morton:
I find, when people start seed cycling like, it helps them tap into themselves, and then that's when they start to notice other things. Because here's the, here's the truth about my whole journey. I was under eating, over exercising, and this was even after I had done so much therapy, like under eating, most people are under eating, are not getting enough nutrition. They might be eating, but not getting enough nutrition. I was over exercising and I wasn't exercising and I wasn't sleeping well and I was drinking a lot. It was going out all the time. So when I started seed cycling, it helped me to slow down and you become a lot more in tune. So I recommend tracking your cycle for three months and noting down when you're feeling these things, because that's, over the three months, how you're going to be able to find patterns, because it could be that you didn't get enough sleep one month. But like if you're feeling the same way in the second half of your cycle three months in a row, you can identify that it's cyclical and probably related to your hormones. But here's the deal. You got to sleep because if you have a menstrual cycle, you do not reset every night. You are just recharging. You have an, like you are going on, your circadian rhythm helps you to recharge your infradian rhythm is the rhythm that's helping with your menstrual cycle. You're resetting every 25 to 35 days where a guy who doesn't or someone who doesn't have a menstrual cycle, they're pretty much resetting every night and have the same hormone cycle on a 24 hour basis. So a long answer for that is I think that it really takes paying attention for about three months and looking at the patterns, because you're right, it could be one night you didn't get enough sleep and your follicle journey, so your egg that you release this month is from like 90 to 120 days ago. So we really need to be looking at the whole picture, like what happens this period isn't just from this month.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah, so much knowledge. So tell me a little bit about, like, our different phases and how we're supposed to feel like naturally during, I love how this has gone very quickly from like a business podcast to not a business podcast.

Kate Morton:
But the great.

Abby Mercado:
... me about my body.

Kate Morton:
So this is the thing, is that if you have a period and you run a business, this is essential information because of, like even when I started this business, I didn't like fully understand myself yet. And so now that I understand myself, I'm like, no, Kate, like, it's just because this is what's going on, it's going to be fine. And so menstrual phase is like actually day one of your cycle. This is when your hormones are the lowest and our body's naturally a little bit more inflamed at this time. And so honestly, it's a really good time to reflect in your business because your hormones are low. And if you have really bad PMS, especially like for me, how I relate it is if you've ever gone out and like drank way too much and then like set a bunch of things you didn't mean and then you woke up the next day and we're like, who was, what?

Abby Mercado:
Who was that?

Kate Morton:
Who was that? Like, that's what used to happen to me in my, like, the week before my period. I would just be like, so not in the right headspace. And actually your hormones interfere with GABA and serotonin in your neurotransmitters. So there is some science to that too. And so look at your period at the time to reset and reflect. What went well in your business in your last cycle. What do you want to improve? What do you want to change? Take time to rest. Some people feel like they can run a marathon on their period. If that feels good to you, do that. Do what feels good to you. For me, I really like to stay home and be cozy and comfy, and it's not because I'm in pain or I don't feel well. It's just I, my, emotionally, I'm a little bit more introverted. And then when you go into your follicular phase, it's going to feel like a new spring, like you're waking up, your estrogens rising, you're going to feel more social. I'm in that phase now. It's a great time to record a podcast. I went to a network event.

Abby Mercado:
... Scheduled for today.

Kate Morton:
It's perfection!

Abby Mercado:
Follicular Kate.

Kate Morton:
Follicular Kate. I went to a networking event last night and this morning I'm feeling social, I'm feeling excited and creative. This is a time when I really like to brainstorm, create. I do a lot of brain mapping and writing out in this phase. Then ovulation is like when all your hormones kind of peak and you get a testosterone spike. This is when your libido can be high. It's also when you're very magnetic, you actually smell different, crazy enough, and people are more drawn to you. If you're needing to close a big deal, do a big presentation. If you're talking to investors, if it's possible time it around your ovulation schedule and see what happens and let me know, because I have a theory on that. Like that is like a very like, I also think people like should record content at this time and it's just a time you're naturally going to feel better. But some people do feel excess anxiety in the ovulation phase. That can be an indication you might want to be looking at what's going on with your hormones. If you have ADHD, your brain can feel slightly more scrambled in this phase. I have ADHD, and so it's a phase where like I really have to like get up, go on a run in the morning, like exert a lot of energy, take breaks, like so know that ovulation can be awesome, but there is also, can be a little brain scrambling for people and it can also cause a little bit of anxiety, so tap into those. Then for the few days after ovulation, you still have, your hormones are going to feel high. Then you're going to cross into your luteal phase. This is a great time to look at all the things you plan in your follicular phase, hopefully to not over pack your calendar because you are going to be very angry if that's the case, and then you're going to want to tick these things off. I think for me personally, having lists and goals each day in the phase, of like how it feeds back into the things I planned is really nice because then I can like just shut off at five or six. Looks like I got these five things accomplished. This was my goal. I moved my business forward in this way and then I need to go home and like relax, like I take baths, extra yoga, these things. So then the whole cycle starts over again.

Abby Mercado:
Amazing. I feel like I know myself a lot better. I'm just waiting for, like female founders to announce a big funding rounds during their ovulation. That'd be, that'd be.

Kate Morton:
I wish it could just work that way. I haven't been able to time it that way, but we'll see what, when the next round is if I'm able to do that.

Abby Mercado:
Okay, so we're running short on time, so I'm going to just ask just a couple of rapid fire business questions. So speaking of funding, how have you built the business to date with money?

Kate Morton:
Yeah, So I'm really grateful. We, again, I was a first time founder. I didn't know there was even like a nuance to funding or that you're supposed to do it in these categories. So we just did small angel rounds as we needed the money. I will say I'm gearing up, we just closed a round and I do think we're in a place now where I'm really ready to like, finally say, like I'm ready to go out there, raise a significant amount of money and have an 18 month runway.

Abby Mercado:
Oh, yeah.

Kate Morton:
Really it is.

Abby Mercado:
Let's do this. Let's have VC.

Kate Morton:
Putting out there. So listen up. But that's how we funded the company so far.

Abby Mercado:
Awesome. So tell me to your, if you had to name like two other companies in the period space that you also admire, who do you admire?

Kate Morton:
Oh, that's so, okay, so.

Abby Mercado:
I've never asked that question before, but I feel.

Kate Morton:
I love this.

Abby Mercado:
I feel like this is such a cool, a cool space. And I love all the founders that I've met in this space.

Kate Morton:
Literally, I could list like all of them. They're honestly, just everyone, everyone in this space. I'm really grateful for you because we're doing really important work. So one that comes to mind is my friend Katie, who started Viv for your V. We met in person. We were internet friends for a long time. I really just admire her. She's really like just gone after it and she's like Gen Z and just like killing it. And I love.

Abby Mercado:
Call it out. Call it out.

Kate Morton:
Gen Z, she's awesome. And then another one who, I love so many people, who else is coming to mind? And then my friend Nadia, who started August tampons like.

Abby Mercado:
August is, just killed it.

Kate Morton:
Yeah. Like, I mean, they're both just like two women I really admire. And I'm just like, I'm so proud of you. And yeah, two. That's it. I could talk about that forever. I love everyone in this space. If you're listening, I love you all, you're doing great work.

Abby Mercado:
Okay, What's one risk that is the ... for Funk It Wellness and for Kate.

Kate Morton:
Wow. So many risks. I think the one that really paid off genuinely was just not listening when people told me no, like it, it didn't even feel like a risk, because everything just felt so right. Like in my heart, like I lead a lot with my heart, can get me in a lot of trouble, but can be really good and, I'm just grateful that I quit my job and then I went for it and that our team just rocks. So I think that just not the biggest risk was starting the company and not listening to everybody.

Abby Mercado:
Amazing. What is, what is the Funk It feature besides raising a big ass round.

Kate Morton:
The big ass round, VCs come on and come hang out with me. We have something really cool that's potentially going to be launching in the New Year that I'm not at liberty to give a ton of detail about, but just between.

Abby Mercado:
I check the site every single day.

Kate Morton:
Check our Instagram, check the site. But really, what's next for us is we've moved into doing more bite and ready to eat style food. So that's going to continue to grow. Or we have a menopause product coming out in the New Year, which I'm really excited about and like it's been very requested. And what's next is just keeping on tackling the stigma. Like I did a poll on our Instagram story and we had a couple of hundred people answer it that every single one of them has experienced period shame in their life, and it's unacceptable. So what's next is making sure the next generation never experiences that.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah, well, a lot of us get periods. Okay, last question, if you could ... another podcast, so it's not a unique question, but if you could rescript one thing about fertility at large, what would it be? And it has to be something new. You said a lot of things I think you would rescript, but, if you had, well, it can be something you've already said. But like, what's one thing that you like that, ... rescript?

Kate Morton:
Well, you know what? I was at a webinar today for like my CE hours for being a dietician. It was on fertility and I was so impressed by it, which is the first time I think I've ever said that about these things I've gone to. And I think if I could rescript one thing about fertility is that it's a partner conversation. It's not a one-sided conversation. I think a lot of blame, a lot of people who I talk to, they say, oh, it's my fault, it's something's going on with me. And I think that fertility is a two way street. We need to talk about both partners and we need more research on nutrition and fertility and for both men and women, because I just think it's, it's on the rise. And we need to be able to help people in the best ways we can.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah. Awesome. Well, that does it for the pod. So, Kate, where can we find you? Where can we learn more about Funk It? Give us all the info.

Kate Morton:
Yeah. So our website is FunkItWellness.com and our Instagram's Funk It Wellness, our TikTok's Funk It Wellness and from there my Instagram is carbsAndKate, I'm really passionate about eating a balanced diet like that's my Instagram and I also just did a TEDx talk and it's alive it's on period shame. So you can just Google it, Kate Morton Ted talk and it'll come up and I would love for you guys to listen to it and let me know what you think.

Abby Mercado:
Gosh, I cannot wait to watch that and listen to it. Well, Kate, this has been an absolute pleasure. I thank you so much for coming on today and I am sure we will talk soon.

Kate Morton:
Yeah. Thank you.

Abby Mercado:
Thank you for tuning in to the Future of Fertility. We hope you'll leave here feeling empowered about all of the exciting innovations taking place in the fertility space. If you liked today's episode and want to stay up to date on our podcast, don't forget to click subscribe. To find this episode, show notes, resources and more, head to Rescripted.com and be sure to join our Free Fertility Support Community while you're there.

Sonix is the world’s most advanced automated transcription, translation, and subtitling platform. Fast, accurate, and affordable.

Automatically convert your mp3 files to text (txt file), Microsoft Word (docx file), and SubRip Subtitle (srt file) in minutes.

Sonix has many features that you'd love including automatic transcription software, upload many different filetypes, automated subtitles, secure transcription and file storage, and easily transcribe your Zoom meetings. Try Sonix for free today.