Stephanie Monty, Founder of Ostique: “We develop our products with ostomates, for ostomates”
Meet Stephanie Monty, Founder of Ostique
1. Describe your startup in two sentences?
Ostique is a female founded and led health tech startup whose mission is to disrupt the $3.4 billion ostomy market and empower people with stomas to live their best lives. Our innovative ostomy products are the first to combine material science with beautiful aesthetics, which, together with our global, online community initiatives, provide unparalleled user benefits.
2. What gave you the inspiration?
I was inspired to start Ostique because of my two younger brothers, both of whom have Crohn’s Disease. Having witnessed first-hand their struggles with the disease, I began looking into how living with a stoma might impact their lives. I quickly found that despite a huge variety of ostomy bags on the market, many of them lacked the fundamental functional and aesthetic considerations to truly meet users’ needs. As a result, two thirds of ostomates experience functional problems and ¼ of all ostomates suffer from poor body image, depression, anxiety, and even suicidal inclinations.
As a product designer I knew I could try and do more. I believed that my brothers, and the millions of ostomates worldwide, deserved better. Ostique was born.
3. What has been your greatest success to date? And your greatest challenge?
I think our greatest successes so far have been two-fold. We recently received NHS approvals as well as our UK regulatory approvals (UKCA marking), allowing us to sell via the NHS in the UK. This was the culmination of several years of work and is a huge achievement for us!
In addition to this, I think a huge success (and part of what makes Ostique so fantastic), is the management team. Toni, Olivia and I all went to secondary school together and it is truly a privilege to work with them. I class this as a success because not only are they incredibly intelligent, passionate and hardworking but because I had been warned time and time again not to work with friends and the fact that we have been able to maintain not only a successful working relationship but also a wonderful friendship shows that working with friends, if done right, can be one of the most profoundly rewarding experiences.
At Ostique we have certainly come up against many challenges; from raising investment during the Covid-19 pandemic, to supply chain issues but my greatest challenge thus far is a personal one. I recently had a baby boy which has been one of the most enriching, yet exhausting experiences of my whole life. Juggling work and being a first-time mum is certainly challenging, but I have an incredible support system in not only the Ostique team but also my wonderful husband and family.
4. What kind of impact is your business having and how do you measure it?
Providing better products is only one piece of the puzzle. We’ve also built an incredible global community. Direct ostomate feedback and their involvement in our community initiatives is the ultimate way to measure impact. Whether it is at our in-person events (attended by +100 ostomates) which help ostomates build local support networks, or through our podcast, “Chatting Sh*t with Ostique” which has had +1000 listeners benefitting from real ostomate stories and experiences, or with our range of ostomy bag covers, which have sold in their hundreds.
"Ostique has created a safe, toxic- free space for us to be honest about the struggles we face having life changing surgery."
"I think you guys are awesome. I love how you give people a voice and a chance to directly help others as well. Best company ever.”
We develop our products with ostomates, for ostomates. The attendance and frequency of our focus groups and usability studies throughout product development has enabled us to build a passionate, engaged ostomate network. Their product feedback plus the fact that we’ve had a 500% increase in newsletter subscribers since 2022 and +500 bag sample requests, demonstrates the positive impact our products will have on ostomates’ lives.
5. How has Covid affected your business?
Covid affected us in several ways. Like many others, we had to move out of our office and work remotely which meant getting used to no office chit chats, no commute (perhaps a positive!) and no face-to-face team brainstorming.
Whilst I believe that face-to-face meetings and getting the team together is critically important to inspire creativity and team morale, we’ve adjusted to this new way of working and can see that working at home, sometimes in pjs, can be just, if not more productive and rewarding!
Our working relationships with NHS Trusts and patients were also significantly impacted. All non-critical work for NHS Trusts, understandably, had to be postponed. Furthermore, how we interacted with vulnerable members of our community had to change - which is predominately our entire patient population.
We had to modify a usability study that we were holding to ensure it could be done in the safety of participants’ homes as opposed to in hospital settings. However, this change actually procured better, and more accurate results as not only did patients feel more comfortable at home, but they were able to use our products in the environment in which they would normally use them.
6. When you were little what did you want to be when you grew up?
I always wanted to design stage sets for theatre productions.
7. If you weren’t doing this, what would be your plan B?
I love what I do so have never really thought about a plan B. I would probably still be a product designer for either an established design consultancy or an innovative start up – so not too dissimilar from what I do now!
8. What would you save in a fire?
My baby!!
9. Who is your role model?
My mum! She is the absolute best mum yet at the same time has had (and continues to have) an incredible career. Now that I too am a mother, I still don’t know how she did it, but I do know that I look up to her with profound admiration.
10. What is your happy track?
Lovely Day by Bill Withers
11. What is your motto?
If you can’t stop thinking about it, don’t stop working for it.
12. What are you most looking forward to in 2023?
Closing our investment round allowing us to concentrate on what we do best; empowering ostomates to live their best lives!