Michelle Jacobs and Sally Mueller, Co-Founders of Womaness

Hot flashes, mood changes, and sleep issues are just some of the joys women can look forward to in their 40s and 50s. Our latest Beauty Bosses are Sally Mueller and Michelle Jacobs, Co-Founders of Womaness, a brand with a comprehensive collection addressing all things menopause.

After successful careers at well-known companies, Mueller and Jacobs drew from their experiences in business and their personal lives to launch their own brand. They saw a huge gap in the marketplace when it came to products designed specifically for those experiencing menopause and wanted to provide a fresh, modern perspective to serve this need.

We chatted with Mueller and Jacobs to learn about their backgrounds, what inspired them to create a brand centered around menopause, and their favorite products from their collection.

A variety of products from the Womaness collection

When was your brand founded and what's the meaning behind the name?

Sally Mueller: Womaness debuted in March 2021, but the idea - or hot flash moment, as I say - for Womaness happened over two years ago, after an appointment I had at the women’s health center at the Mayo Clinic in 2018. My doctor and I were discussing vaginal dryness and painful sex...two things I was all too familiar with, but I had no idea these were common symptoms of menopause.

My doctor sent me on my way with a curated care package of menopause products, but they were lacking. They felt dated, dusty, and depressing, truth be told. There was clearly a huge opportunity to educate women in their 40s and 50s and provide them with high-powered, well-designed products that would address major symptoms due to changing hormones, from dry skin head-to-toe (including v-zone); hot flashes; mood; sleep (or lack thereof); the list goes on and on.

When I was in NY a few months later, I relayed this story to Michelle (a longtime friend) over cocktails, and she agreed it was due time for a menopause brand makeover. Cue the beginning of Womaness.

Michelle Jacobs: As for the name, Womaness says it all to us - it’s the state of being a woman. We love all of the -ness words that describe our woman….fierceness, sexiness, agelessness, womaness.

Tell us more about your products. What makes them special?

SM: With Womaness, we created a whole menopause category - from head to toe (and everything in between). There are comprehensive categories for menstruation and maternity - but the market fell short when it came to menopause. Yes, there are brands that target incontinence, brands that target sexual wellness, brands that target menopausal skin concerns –but there wasn’t an overarching brand that offered a suite of solutions no matter what the symptom was. That’s what we do with Womaness.

Our focus is on the whole woman/whole body - from dry skin to incontinence, hot flashes to vaginal dryness -- versus a silo approach of only offering products or solutions in the skincare space or only in the feminine care space.

MJ: We don’t believe in the pause of menopause. We don’t want anything to stop us—that includes hot flashes, dry skin, and sleepless nights—so we set out to develop a suite of products that address the gamut of menopause symptoms.

Within Womaness skin and body care, we honed in on common issues that menopausal skin faces - think loss of moisture, more prominent age spots, and crepey skin. We formulated products that help address those points, vs. broader anti-aging products or regimens. We developed and formulated each product within our skin and body care line to particularly address the common concerns of women experiencing menopause -- and this was guided by dermatologists who specialize in patients experiencing menopause.

We stand behind our ingredients in that these are the right ingredients for this woman (we consider the line products with purpose), but perhaps more importantly, we’re having a conversation with our customer that no one else is having. It’s more of an attitude about this. We know there’s no magic cream to fully get rid of the wrinkles, that’s just life. But we have created products to ensure your skin stays healthy. Our products are made without estrogen, phytoestrogen, or added hormones. They’re also free from animal-derived ingredients, parabens, phthalates, sulfates, artificial colors, formaldehyde, and mineral oils. They’re vegan and cruelty free too.

Womaness Me No Pause and Active Glow Supplement Duo

Can you share more about your background and how you started your business?

MJ: Both of us have dedicated our careers to speaking to and supporting women at nearly every stage of her life—building brands, product assortments, and campaigns to serve her as she moved from first job to marriage, pregnancy to kids. We touched her life in every way and at every milestone, with one notable exception: menopause.

This is all too common, unfortunately. While this demographic has serious purchasing power and are the healthiest, wealthiest and most active generation in history, most marketers write off consumers at age 49. We know this from our own professional and personal experiences.

SM: I’m a lifelong Minnesotan and spent over two decades of my career at Target (the bullseye is based in Minneapolis), in various marketing and merchandising roles. Those 24+ years were formidable in shaping my passion for creating brands that were well designed yet accessible to many.

After my time at Target, I started my own business which helped me hone my entrepreneurial skills. I continued to build brands that were focused on helping women look and feel more beautiful. Most notably, I formed a partnership with Who What Wear and successfully launched the fashion line at Target stores and ultimately achieved international distribution. This led to a fantastic opportunity to join Clique Brands (the parent company of Who What Wear), where I was at the helm of the development of VERSED skincare, which gave me a deeper understanding of the beauty industry and how to put the right team together to launch and grow a brand.

Michelle started her career with traditional CPG and digital marketing experience where she helped companies understand the importance of the internet! She spent 10 years developing the consumer products business at Real Simple, resulting in one of the largest exclusive women’s lifestyle brands at retail. This experience taught her so much about product development, storytelling, and how to succeed at retail. She then spent the next five years developing a children’s brand called giggle and expanding The Joy Mangano brand outside the studios of HSN.

A lot of people may question why two successful C-suite executives decided to become entrepreneurs (during a global pandemic no less), but we were itching to do more -- and do it on our own terms. We wanted to build something that made a big difference in women’s lives and asked ourselves where do women in their 40s, 50s, and beyond go to find solutions and inspiration as they move into menopause? The answer was nowhere... which is ultimately why we created Womaness.

Do you have a hero product? What's your favorite?

SM: Let’s Neck. We’re all aware of the turkey waddle; the dry, crepey chest; the fact that everything south of our chin can become a wasteland with menopause. Let’s Neck addresses all of that. It’s cooling. It’s brightening. It makes me feel OK about wearing V-necks. Plus, I have to say, applying it (it goes on via a cooling rollerball) is like a form of ASMR. It’s nothing short of a miracle worker.

I also love our Me.No.Pause. supplement. I’ve spent years experiencing sleep issues (tossing and turning and staring at the clock) and night sweats. I had tried my fair share of supplements for some reprieve, but nothing seemed to help. Now that I’m in this business, I understand why. I’ve learned that ingredients like black cohosh are pretty much a placebo. We knew we had to formulate our Womaness supplements with clinically proven ingredients, which is why we invested in Pycnogenol®, our hero ingredient in Me.No.Pause.

Pycnogenol is a maritime pine bark extract from southwestern France that supports healthy blood circulation to help manage hot flashes and night sweats, insomnia, and more—without impacting your hormone levels. Let me say for the record: With the help of Me.No.Pause, I’m finally getting my beauty sleep.

MJ: My go-to product is The Works. I slather this on every AM and PM. We took first in-class ingredients typically reserved for skincare (think an advanced form of hyaluronic acid + niacinamide) and formulated with those for body care to create this uber-hydrating lotion that also targets crepey-ness and rough textures. Plus, it’s super lightweight and fast-absorbing so there’s no tacky feeling afterwards. It’s a nightstand essential.

Where are your products sold?

MJ: We’re available DTC via womaness.com, select Target doors and on Target.com, Ulta Beauty, Amazon, plus our supplements can be found at GNC.

What’s next for the brand?

MJ: The opportunities are endless. The statistics are astounding: 50+ million (yes - 50+ million!) women are going through menopause at any given time. We created Womaness so that anyone who is going through any stage of menopause has a place to go for solutions, sure, but also for education, inspiration and community. The message of #menopositivity has a long road ahead.

SM: We’ve got a full pipeline of product innovation; we’re in conversations about expanding our retail footprint; we’re going to continue building our incredible Womaness community on Facebook and Instagram.

Like Michelle said earlier, we don’t believe in the pause…this is only the beginning for Womaness.

[Images courtesy of Womaness]

Beauty Bosses: Sally Mueller and Michelle Jacobs, Co-Founders of Womaness