12: Get a Massage, from Your Pumping Bra

An Interview with the Founder of Lilu, the First Massaging Pumping Bra

In this Episode of Express Yourself, Tu-Hien and Maggie sat down with Adriana Catalina Vazquez Ortiz Co-Founder of Lilu, and Dionna Chambers Founding Member turned Marketing Team Member  for Lilu. In today's episode we dive into the intersection of technology and maternal health, discuss women designing technology for other women, and where we go from here.

Lilu is the first and only hands free pumping bra with built in massaging technology. Adriana takes us on her journey to meet the women in her life, and hear from them what they found most difficult when it came to breastfeeding, returning to work, and pumping. Join us as we chat with these women and learn what was the driving inspiration behind this piece of femme tech!

What we covered:

• The creation of Lilu, and the company's vision.
• What inspired Adriana to make a massaging pumping bra. 
• The effect gentle breast massage has on your body. 
• Why Dionna went from user to team member.
• Femme Tech and why it's so important.
• Postpartum support.
• The future of Lilu.

Lilu's Links

Lilu's Website
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook
Adriana's Twitter
Dionna's Instagram

Adriana's Bio:

Adriana holds a Masters in Integrated Product Design from UPenn and a BSc from MIT in Mathematics and Computer Science. She and her co-founder are YC and NSF I-Corps fellows and their patent was recognized as Philadelphia’s invention of the year in 2019. She has been named one of the top 30 Femtech Healthcare Influencers in 2019 and has won awards such as the SheKnows BlogHer competition (2019) and the AlphaLabGear Hardware cup (2018). She has represented Lilu at SXSW, and TechCrunch Battlefield, and the Anita.B Org 2020 PitcHer where they took the audience choice award. In her spare time, Adriana loves to run, cycle, and attempting to snowboard.