Once a month, Amara Onwukaeme would experience dire menustral cramps, like many women the pain would make it impossible to complete simple daily tasks. The Howard University graduate turned her personal problem and painful experiences into a profitable business that helps other women. 
“When I was younger, I used to have really painful and heavy cycles and I would have to always take medicine and exercise. And one month I had a particularly painful cycle because I was stressed and nothing was helping” Onwukaeme said.
During that time Onwukaeme was taking several medications and she visited the doctor multiple times but she never felt like her pain was taken seriously.“When I went to the gynecologist, I never felt that I was truly being heard. I felt that they rushed to give me birth control and hormones and told me that I had PCOS. And I noticed that they never asked me about my lifestyle or diet,” Onwukaeme said.
“So after I took metformin and birth control, it changed my body, I hated them both. I said there has to be a way that people are managing their cycles because periods have always been around, generations before me,” Onwukaeme added.
Unfortunately, depending on the doctor wasn’t enough but Onwukaeme’s mother stepped in to help. “So my mom is really, really healthy. She takes health really, really seriously. And she suggested some herbs that she had gotten from the store. And so she made me this mixture and it got rid of my cramps,” Onwukaeme explained.
Thankfully, Onwukaeme and her mother finally found a cure for her severe menustral cramps and it didn’t involve medicine or additional doctors.
“My mom gave me a recipe and I was like, wait, this can work for me. If it works for me, it can work for a lot of other women,” Onwukaeme realized.
As a result, Onwukaeme decided to help other women by creating feminie products that can turn one of the most diffcult parts of the month into a time of ease.
She started her company, Femingist and began creating herbal, natural and authentic products including feminine washes and feminine oil rubs for pain.
“Femigist is a natural menstrual management and feminine care line I started in my kitchen after suffering for years of severe period symptoms. One of the most crippling symptoms of periods is dysmenorrhea, painful cramps in the legs, lower back, or abdomen that are often accompanied by other equally daunting symptoms such as sweating, headaches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and tremulousness during and after our periods,” Onwukaeme explained.
Nonetheless, Onwukaeme’s top priority was ensuring that all of the products remain natural. “Beyond creating products to help manage menstruation, we have created a line of feminine care products that address everyday feminine nuiances from razor bumps, ingrowns, discoloration and hygeine. But with this expansion we have not compromised our quality and dedication to improving feminine health.”
Unlike many entrepreneurs Onwukaeme didnt struggle with getting the investment needed to start her business. “It wasn’t super capital intensive, meaning that like a lot of these herbs and the ingredients that I’m using doesn’t take a lot of infrastructure or systems to build. It’s just about buying the ingredients and the ingredients are fairly reasonably priced,” Onwukaeme said.
However, Onwukaeme was concerned about keeping up with the demand and marketing of the products. In order to increase the viewership of her products and help as many women as possible, Onwukaeme used social media.
“I was able to leverage Tik Tok to get most of my customers. I would say at least 90% of my orders come from my audience (Tik Tok) because it was fairly easy to start and free. And all I do is post educational videos teaching about products, but women’s health in general. So I don’t just sell but I educate because there are issues that they might not know,” Onwukaeme explained.
As Onwukarme continues to reach success she is also focused on expanding. Femigist currently provides products on their webiste online but Onwakaeme is working to build and app.
“Where women can not only track their cycles, but are able to tailor their experience to their individual needs. So for instance, it will integrate with artificial intelligence to integrate their cycles with reminders that are complementary to their cycle,” Onwukarme explained.
In addition, Onwukarme said the mobile app will provide a safe space to learn about women’s health. “Femigist will to be a leading pioneer in #FemTech, on the app, you will be able to subscribe to our products, making it easier and more convenient than ever to restock on all of your favorite products without even thinking about it.”
Most importantly, “I want every girl to feel like they have a friend or a big sister or you know, in some cases a mother. Because a lot of women don’t grow up with the resources or the support. So I want my app to build a community and a support system for women to not just get through their cycles, but the entire feminine experience,” Onwukarme said.