Melissa Williams, HBA ’15, didn’t plan on starting her own company.
“I always saw myself building a path in the corporate world,” recalled Williams, having entered this world after completing her HBA.
But the ideas never stopped. Still, she never felt that everything had fallen into place for her to even think of developing one of those ideas.
Then came an idea that stuck – and it was close to home.
Williams was struggling with a hormone imbalance and was unable to find solutions through the traditional health care system. Frustrated, Williams started to explore alternatives, which led to a personal breakthrough for her.
Yet during that season, Williams discovered she was not alone.
Countless other women were having the same experience, with doctors either classifying their condition as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), or simply giving up – noting that there was nothing they can do.
For Williams, this was an opportunity to help other women find better solutions.
That was the origin of HorminaCare.
Building HorminaCare
HorminaCare works just like a telehealth platform, utilizing the expertise and experience of nurse practitioners and a proprietary framework to help women navigate their personal hormonal challenges with customized solutions.
Williams worked with physicians and medical researchers to create and vet this framework, ensuring it was founded on real expertise and the latest studies.
HorminaCare’s medical director, a licensed MD, oversees and trains the team of nurse practitioners on how to navigate patient concerns and how to best utilize the framework to unlock the best outcomes.
The company’s approach is grounded in ongoing research, regularly reviewing the latest developments in women’s healthcare to recommend all emerging treatments to their patients.
Learning as she builds
Launched in early 2026 with four nurse practitioners, Williams is currently working on creating brand awareness, building trust, and growing the patient base.
It is a season of learning for Williams, addressing everyday issues like how to deal with no-shows or how to effectively convert free consultations into paying customers.
"I am a one-woman team, so I do everything," said Williams.
That includes working and coordinating with various vendors, recruiting nurse practitioners, and coming up with new ideas to improve HorminaCare’s offering.
Shaped by early experience
Part of that openness and ingenuity was developed right after graduation for Williams. Working with a founder as the only employee of a start-up, the experience helped her understand the culture around working in a start-up and provided her with an opportunity to stretch beyond siloed thinking, spending much of her days managing contractors and developers and creating marketing content. It was a way of working that she carried into the corporate sphere as well – always wanting to know more about how other departments operated.
“It created a general sense of what needed to be done,” said Williams.
At this early stage for HorminaCare, marketing is Williams’ main focus.
But it’s all with an eye to the big picture of what HorminaCare could become.
Riding the rise of femtech
The last decade has seen an explosion of femtech start-ups and businesses to address clear gaps across various women’s health care-related issues. Many of these gaps stem from the fact that before 1993, women were rarely included in clinical trials.
In Canada, graduates from Ivey and Western have played a leading role in the movement, with ventures like Marlow, Uresta, UROSPOT, and Apricotton among many others playing key roles in creating products and services for women’s unique experiences.
The growing base of start-ups in this space has also created a support network for entrepreneurs like Williams, offering mentorship, support, and advocacy.
For Williams, these are all vital supports as she looks to grow HorminaCare and make specialized hormone care simple, personalized, and guided by real medical expertise for women across Canada and beyond.
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