Every idea has a case

Weston-based mother-daughter duo Debbie and Markea Dickinson are on a mission to create a tech innovation to help solve the most human of issues: keeping cool during menopause.

When mother Debbie faced her first hot flash, she was “frustrated by the lack of solutions” to help her cool down. She told Refresh Miami that she tried all sorts of cures, but she struggled to find anything convenient, discrete, and effective.

She was not alone: Debbie noted that ”75% of women suffer from hot flashes.” She wanted to help women who “suffer in silence” with hot flashes, which can last up to ten years.

“We believe that every project existing in digital world is a result of an idea and every idea has a cause.”

The Dickinsons’ solution is a wristband that detects body temperature change and provides cooling or heating sensations as needed. “Our product, Thermaband Zone, is a smart personal thermostat,” Debbie explained. It can be worn as jewelry or a sports wearable, replicating the cooling sensation you get by holding cool things on your arm or neck.

Thermaband is also developing a mobile app to go alongside their hardware product. Debbie said the app “will give insights to people experiencing hot flashes, helping them understand what kind of events are occurring.”

The mother-daughter team brings significant experience to their startup. Debbie has a legal and big business background. She worked at Johnson and Johnson in its benefits legal practice and lectured in the MBA program at the University of Pennsylvania, her alma mater. Her daughter, Markea, worked in supply chain operations at Unilever before undertaking an MBA at Yale University.

Markea describes their relationship as “yin and yang” and called working with her mom “quite an adventure.” Despite their differences, she said that “there’s an inherent trust and desire to see each other succeed, which are key elements in any founder relationship.”