Revolutionizing Women's Wellness

The women's health aisle is getting a much-needed makeover, thanks to Winx Health's pioneering approach to vaginal and sexual wellness for Gen-Z. Co-founders Cynthia Plotch and Jamie Norwood are disrupting the $169B over-the-counter healthcare market with their innovative product development, customer-centric experience, and commitment to health education. In this exclusive interview, we explore how Winx Health is destigmatizing women's health issues, democratizing care, and cultivating a community-driven culture of innovation that's reshaping the industry.


Winx Health is reimagining vaginal and sexual health for Gen-Z. What does innovation mean to you in this context, and how does it drive your approach to product development and customer experience?

The women’s health aisle at pharmacies is in desperate need of a makeover. The $169B over-the-counter healthcare market has seen little innovation in the last half-century. The products used to treat urinary tract infections, vaginal health problems are dated, and don’t address a key problem in the industry: women don’t know WTF Is going on down there!

Innovation at Winx Health means bringing a much needed update to this category. The women’s health aisle has long catered to the male gaze - with countless options for vaginal washes, hair removal and more, without innovating on options that actually solve real problems for women’s health.

We’re answering the (sometimes literal) burning questions women have about their health, and answering it with 21st century, intel-backed solutions and free education. Our innovations bring digital solutions to a category that has long relied on confusing unclear tests, to bring confidence and accuracy to critical health tests. We are reimagining the customer experience by creating accessible, discreet, non-judgmental solutions to uphold our 3 core pillars for our customers:

Accessibility and Discretion: We’re committed to providing health solutions that are discreet, accessible, and tailored to our community’s needs. We ensure privacy and ease, delivering peace of mind right to your doorstep.

Empowerment and Confidence: Winx Health embodies this spirit by empowering you to make informed, confident decisions about your health. Our goal is to destigmatize women’s health issues through no-nonsense, medically accurate education, providing a judgment-free space where everyone feels supported and understood.

Connection and Trust: Winx Health aims to establish a deep, trustful connection with our community, where you feel seen, heard, and valued. We're not just a brand; we're a companion on your health journey.


Your team has created a unique system with scannable, digital results that connect users directly to board-certified physicians for treatment. How did you generate and refine this innovative idea?

Winx Health’s UTI Test & Treat is bringing a much needed refresh to the $11.3B urinary tract infection care industry - a problem which drives more than 81M visits to healthcare providers each year. Current UTI tests require confusing color matching, long waits for doctors, and pricey co-pays for after hours care.

As people who had chronic UTIs, and understood the frustrating lack of options on the market, we saw the opportunity to do better. Our UTI Test & Treat is the first over-the-counter access to instant, objective digital test results with Rx treatment. The test solves for the major pain points that previously existed in the market. The test makes UTI care and treatment accessible, approachable and easy to understand. Unlike confusing tests on the market that require color matching, Winx Health’s UTI Test & Treat has a scannable QR code that lets you upload a photo of your test to clearly read for a yes or no answer for the presence of a UTI. Beyond that - it connects you with a doctor for immediate relief for the needed prescription.

These at-home diagnostic tests are also democratizing care for the under or uninsured. What could have been a costly visit to urgent care, is as low as $15 to test and diagnose the issue. The typical cost of UTI treatment without Winx is nearly $310 with the test, visit, and antibiotics. With Winx Health, it starts at just $15.

Building a half-million strong community while reaching profitability is impressive. Do you have any specific rituals or processes for fostering creativity and innovation within your team?

We keep in close contact with our customers to see what they actually want and need from the women’s health aisle. On top of that, we have a team of amazing advisors, from board-certified OBGYNs, to retail execs, to women’s health advocate and actor Kerry Washington. This allows us to gather multiple different perspectives and keep the energy up and mission clear. We also do all of our creative in-house, which allows us to keep things very authentic.

The sexual health industry is rapidly evolving. How does Winx Health identify trends and gain consumer insights in this space? What resources does your team use?

We deeply understand the Gen-Z customer because we are her. Gen-Z is savvy, and knows the difference between being talked at by a company, versus being a part of the conversation. Our open dialogue with our community stands behind ethics, something deeply important to this demographic, while providing free resources on our sex-ed site Real Talk. We work closely with strategic partners - who are often other influencers and voices in this space - to better understand the needs of our community and work with them to build these solutions.

Destigmatizing sexual care is a significant challenge. What has been your biggest hurdle in innovating within this traditionally sensitive area?

We want to be everywhere women need us! Breaking through at retail locations is a major part of that. We already sell at a number of retailers, including Giant, GoPuff, Doordash, and more. As we continue to grow and transform the women’s health category, accessibility on-shelves is a key component of this. As two female founders in a crowded space, the market is competitive - often meeting with buyers who might not personally experience these issues, and therefore understand the real need and intricacies of the category. The educational components of these conversations is the largest hurdle we’ve been facing, but we’re lucky enough to work with incredible female buyers and investors as well who firmly stand behind our mission. We're determined to keep pushing to help transform the women’s health pharmacy and retail aisle to provide the solutions people really need and want.

Has there been an instance where another industry or field has influenced an innovation at Winx Health? Perhaps in your approach to education or product delivery?

We launched our emergency contraception, Restart, in 2022 in the month following the overturn of Roe v. Wade. This life changing decision drastically changed the course of women’s health for years following, and we’re still fighting for reproductive justice today as a result. A large part of our innovation process is in response to listening to the needs and demands of society, through our customers, and being customers in this category ourselves.

We understand the needs of our community, because we are our community. We’ve experienced the stressed out, frantic buying situations at the pharmacy going down the aisle for pregnancy tests, UTI care of vaginal health - and the options on the market were lacking. We are filling a massive gap - both in products and education - for our community. Real Talk, our free education hub for sex-ed and reproductive justice, was born in response to our customer’s needs. After receiving questions from users about how to use certain products, the difference between UTI and a yeast infection, and others, we realized there was an education gap. We turned our Cx box of answering questions to a blog, and built upon this to have a real voice in the women’s health space.

Your FREE online sex-ed platform, Real Talk, seems to be a lesson in building brand loyalty. How do you cultivate an innovative culture that encourages such community-focused initiatives?

Real Talk is written by Gen-Z, for Gen-Z. A large part of the success is loosening the reins and allowing our team to move quickly, and capture moments in the cultural zeitgeist. Our social team is in tune with our audience because again, she is our audience. We tap into trends and speak up on the issues that matter to our community. Now more than ever, as women’s rights are under attack and on the ballot, empowering our community with education, and credible information is critical.

Looking to the future, how will Winx Health continue to be a leader in innovation within the sexual health industry? Are there any exciting developments on the horizon?

Winx Health will continue to show up for our community in any way we can. We believe that access to at-home, intel-backed care is the key to democratizing women’s health care. Over half of the counties in the United States don’t have an OBGYN, meaning many people are left without care. Our at-home tests, and library of free educational resources, can help fill this gap. Beyond vaginal health and UTI tests, we hope to keep innovating in this space for at-home tests.