Best friends receive £80,000 grant in mission to combat “dehumanising” experience of early menopause

After witnessing the gender health gap first hand in her day job as a nurse, Isla Telfer became frustrated with the ‘dehumanising’ experience most women who experience early menopause face. During this time, a close friend was diagnosed with a ‘life-changing’ early menopause in her mid-twenties, and Isla realised just how little she could do to help. That is, until the 28-year-old from Edinburgh founded her own start-up, named GLORIAH, alongside best friend Jessica Watson in a bid to make life easier for people living with menopause. The need for their products was evident when the company was unable to keep up with demand when its Liberation Oil, a hydrating vulva oil, sold out due to high demand. 

Now, what began as a side-hustle has received an £80,000 cash injection from Scottish Edge, the entrepreneur programme launched by Sir Tom Hunter to find Scotland’s next “unicorn”. As a result of the investment, production and new product development the duo are now able to make a difference for more people experiencing menopause. 

 “There’s been a lot of talk about menopause publicly, but next to no innovation or investment”, said Isla. “As a nurse I can only help one person at a time – that really hit home for me during the pandemic. Sadly, it falls to businesses like ours to tackle the lack of research, knowledge, and support when it comes to women’s health problems. GLORIAH is how we can make the biggest impact in terms of breaking down barriers and making it easier for people to get the help they need. When someone so close to me was diagnosed in her mid-twenties, it was life-changing. It hammered home how little I actually knew about the day-to-day realities of something more than half of the population will experience. That’s because of a lack of dialogue. We need to normalise conversation about menopause – particularly at an early stage. I don’t think I’d even have talked to my mum about it if we hadn’t started GLORIAH. It shouldn’t be that way.”

Jessica and Isla set out to create products to support body changes and needs that increase throughout the menopause. Rather than appearing as medical options or treatments, they are designed to sit alongside skin care, beauty products, and perfumes – something which the pair believe is sorely missing. GLORIAH made these design choices a priority to move away from the taboo associated with ‘atypical' menopause products. 

  “I can see first hand how medical the products are – and how dehumanising that can feel, especially for those who enter menopause early due to surgical, endometriosis, or POI,” Isla added. “Early menopause can be life-changing. Products which allow people to live as normal are sorely needed. We’re developing a full-range of products that will tackle the problems people face day-to-day in a more considerate and normal way. We knew there was a need for these types of products, but the demand has surprised even us. It’s been a frustrating time as we wait to ramp up production, but this investment will speed everything up and help us expand beyond the UK. It will allow us to improve the lives of many more people, which has been our motivation from day one.”

 In a bid to remove barriers, improve dialogue and create a conversation, GLORIAH aims to be a ‘safe and inclusive’ community that shares education and empowers other people through this key transition in life.