Ashlee Wisdom On Raising $4.2 Million To Improve Black Women's Health Equity

Q: What inspired you to start Health In Her HUE?

Ashlee Wisdom: I experienced firsthand how inequities showed up inside healthcare, not just for patients, but for me as a Black woman working in the industry. Instead of accepting that status quo, I wanted to build something that would make healthcare more affirming for Black women and women of color.

Q: What is the concept of "weathering"?

Ashlee Wisdom: In graduate school, I learned about weathering, the idea that the chronic stress of racism and sexism literally wears down the body over time. After developing chronic hives while working in a toxic healthcare environment, I realized I wasn't just studying the concept academically, I was living it. That became the catalyst for building Health In Her HUE.

Q: How did you build your first version of Health In Her HUE?

Ashlee Wisdom: I didn't start with technology, I started with content. I translated complex public health research into information Black women could actually use and shared it on social media. That helped build trust long before I ever built a product.

Q: Why did you build community before product?

Ashlee Wisdom: I knew I couldn't build a solution without first understanding what Black women actually needed. I spent months asking questions, listening to the community, and letting those conversations shape the product instead of making assumptions.

Q: How did the provider directory come about?

Ashlee Wisdom: Women consistently told me they wanted an easier way to find healthcare providers they could trust. I built a simple MVP on a no-code platform, posted it on Instagram, and it went viral overnight because it solved a problem the community had already been asking for.

Q: When did you realize this could become a venture-backed company?

Ashlee Wisdom: Seeing tens of thousands of people use the MVP made me realize this was bigger than a passion project. I always wanted to build a venture-backed company because I believed Black women deserved innovative healthcare solutions built by people who understood their experiences.

Q: What mistake did you make while fundraising?

Ashlee Wisdom: I spent too much time meeting with Series A investors while I was raising a pre-seed round. I had to learn that relationship-building is important, but fundraising works best when you're talking to investors who actually invest at your stage.

Q: How did you finally raise your first round?

Ashlee Wisdom: A mentor encouraged me to stop taking investor meetings and spend time improving my story. I learned how to make the business case, not just the moral case, for solving healthcare inequities, and that completely changed my fundraising outcomes.

Q: How do you balance mission with venture capital?

Ashlee Wisdom: I've had to say no to partnerships that looked financially attractive because they didn't align with our values. Protecting the trust we've built with Black women has always been more important than making short-term revenue decisions.

Q: What advice would you give mission-driven founders?

Ashlee Wisdom: Build the community first. Listen before you build the product, hire people who can execute as well as believe in the mission, and never lose sight of the people you're serving as your company grows.

Jul 24
4 min read

Building a venture-backed company doesn't always begin with a pitch deck. Sometimes it begins with an experience that makes you realize the system isn't working the way it should.

For Ashlee Wisdom, Co-Founder and CEO of Health In Her HUE, that experience came after years working inside the healthcare system. While attending NYU to pursue a Master's in Public Health and working at leading healthcare institutions, she witnessed firsthand how Black women were treated differently––not only as patients, but as professionals.

After personally experiencing racism and sexism in the workplace, Ashlee developed chronic hives caused by stress. That experience reinforced something she had learned in graduate school: the public health concept of weathering, which explains how the cumulative effects of racism and sexism can cause chronic stress that can negatively impact the body over time.

Instead of allowing that experience to discourage her, Ashlee turned it into action. She launched Health In Her HUE, a digital health platform connecting Black women and women of color with culturally responsive healthcare providers, trusted health information, and community. Today, the company has raised $4.2 million in venture capital funding while remaining deeply committed to the community it serves.

In this episode of The First 200 Podcast, Ashlee shares how she validated her idea by building community before product, why she stopped pitching the wrong investors, how she learned to speak the language of venture capital without compromising her mission, and what it takes to scale a mission-driven healthcare company.

Watch the full conversation on the YouTube player below, or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

https://youtu.be/A3GpcU9vkjM?si=IU55iRSVTfLVeW-t

What inspired you to start Health In Her HUE?

Ashlee Wisdom: I experienced firsthand how inequities showed up inside healthcare, not just for patients, but for me as a Black woman working in the industry. Instead of accepting that status quo, I wanted to build something that would make healthcare more affirming for Black women and women of color.

What is the concept of "weathering"?

Ashlee Wisdom: In graduate school, I learned about weathering, the idea that the chronic stress of racism and sexism literally wears down the body over time. After developing chronic hives while working in a toxic healthcare environment, I realized I wasn't just studying the concept academically, I was living it. That became the catalyst for building Health In Her HUE.

How did you build your first version of Health In Her HUE?

Ashlee Wisdom: I didn't start with technology, I started with content. I translated complex public health research into information Black women could actually use and shared it on social media. That helped build trust long before I ever built a product.

Why did you build community before product?

Ashlee Wisdom: I knew I couldn't build a solution without first understanding what Black women actually needed. I spent months asking questions, listening to the community, and letting those conversations shape the product instead of making assumptions.

How did the provider directory come about?

Ashlee Wisdom: Women consistently told me they wanted an easier way to find healthcare providers they could trust. I built a simple MVP on a no-code platform, posted it on Instagram, and it went viral overnight because it solved a problem the community had already been asking for.

When did you realize this could become a venture-backed company?

Ashlee Wisdom: Seeing tens of thousands of people use the MVP made me realize this was bigger than a passion project. I always wanted to build a venture-backed company because I believed Black women deserved innovative healthcare solutions built by people who understood their experiences.

What mistake did you make while fundraising?

Ashlee Wisdom: I spent too much time meeting with Series A investors while I was raising a pre-seed round. I had to learn that relationship-building is important, but fundraising works best when you're talking to investors who actually invest at your stage.

How did you finally raise your first round?

Ashlee Wisdom: A mentor encouraged me to stop taking investor meetings and spend time improving my story. I learned how to make the business case, not just the moral case, for solving healthcare inequities, and that completely changed my fundraising outcomes.

How do you balance mission with venture capital?

Ashlee Wisdom: I've had to say no to partnerships that looked financially attractive because they didn't align with our values. Protecting the trust we've built with Black women has always been more important than making short-term revenue decisions.

What advice would you give mission-driven founders?

Ashlee Wisdom: Build the community first. Listen before you build the product, hire people who can execute as well as believe in the mission, and never lose sight of the people you're serving as your company grows.

Listen to the Full Conversation

Ashlee's story is a reminder that some of the strongest venture-backed companies are built by founders who deeply understand the problem they're solving. By combining personal experience, public health expertise, and a commitment to community, she built Health In Her HUE into a company improving healthcare access for Black women and women of color while raising $4.2 million in venture capital.

In the full episode, Ashlee shares how she experienced the concept of weathering firsthand, why she built community before product, how a no-code MVP went viral, what changed after she stopped pitching the wrong investors, how she reframed her fundraising story to resonate with venture capitalists, and why protecting your mission sometimes means walking away from opportunities that don't align with your values.

Watch or listen to the full episode of The First 200 Podcast to hear Ashlee's complete journey and how she became one of the first 200 Black women in the United States to raise $1 Million in venture capital funding.