HBCU Founders Accelerator Fall 2023 Cohort Spotlight: Meet Sheena Franklin from K’ept Health
Last Fall, we launched the second cohort of the HBCU Founders Accelerator Program. Over the next several weeks, we are excited to showcase each of the exceptional founders and their entrepreneurial journeys. Up next, meet Sheena Franklin from Kept Health.
Can you tell us a little about your background and what inspired your entrepreneurial journey?
While I didn’t set out to pursue entrepreneurship initially, I was surrounded by entrepreneurs growing up. I spent the first 20 years of my professional career as a senior government relations and strategic communications director (aka lobbyist) in the healthcare industry. These experiences gave me a front-row seat to how technology was changing how we experience healthcare, how physicians practice, along with how data would be at the center of every decision.
When I did make a career switch to become an entrepreneur I was inspired by and leaned on my family’s deep history of entrepreneurship - from my 5x great-grandfather, Free Frank McWorter who was the first African-American to legally plant and register a town, and establish a planned community in the United States before the Civil War in1836, to my grandfather who owned a success accounting firm to my grandmother who as a psycho-therapist managed her own practice to my mother who is a software engineer by training and later started a consulting company. I saw the very real ups and downs of running a company during my childhood and that gave me a different perspective on the very real realities and possibilities of being an entrepreneur coupled with the nuances that come with being an African-American entrepreneur and a woman entrepreneur. My hope is that I build on this family legacy and reach the next level of heights to continue the spirit of entrepreneurship in my family and to inspire others in my community as well.
What problem is your startup solving and what inspired you to tackle this issue?
Every year millions of Americans face a serious access problem to healthcare services, where it can take weeks or months to see a clinician. And once at the appointment, there is no guarantee a physician will have the deep expertise required for their condition or the knowledge to diagnose a condition or recognize the early warning signs of a chronic illness presenting on skin of color - creating higher rates of misdiagnosis, redundancy, and exorbitant costs. After experiencing my own challenges seeking dermatological care that was related to an underlying health condition, I wanted to solve a glaring yet often overlooked problem. I founded Kept Health, a health-tech company, to reimagine how patients receive and manage their care through AI-assisted telehealth. Starting with dermatology, Kept Health provides care with a root-cause, whole-person approach focusing on data, technology, and real doctor-patient relationships.
What have been some of the biggest challenges you have faced while building your startup, and how did you overcome them?
One of the biggest challenges we have faced and continue to face, as any AI company does, is in the area of data collection and data management. There are 3 major data collection methods used to build and train datasets, the primary is packaged data - however within healthcare and particularly in the dermatologist specialty, the majority of the datasets available and used are 86% White and male leaving physicians who rely on these AI systems with compliance concerns, not just diagnostic inaccuracy. As such, we have had to rely on public/private sourcing and internal collection methods, which means more compliance hurdles requiring more attention to planning and execution activities.
How have your background and previous experiences influenced your approach as a founder?
My background and previous experiences have influenced me as a founder in two ways. First, being able to see the big picture, to identify white space in the market for opportunities before others, and how healthcare ideas/concepts take time to mature in the market and for us to see change. The second influence is understanding that we (patients) are human beings with an illness who want to live full lives - we are not just patients in a clinical setting receiving care. We want treatments that take into account our whole person and empower us to take the initiative in making decisions about our own healthcare and quality of life, rather than passively complying with decisions made by others.
Where do you see your company in 5 years and how do you see it impacting your community?
Our goal for the next five years is to make a significant impact on decreasing the misdiagnosis rate of all people of color, which currently stands at 52%. We know that in healthcare, impact and change take time, so on the road to reaching this important goal we will have cared for over 1 million individuals from all backgrounds and built the first and largest private database with equal representation of all skin tones and correlating/ underlying health information that can be used for A.I. diagnostic recommendations, digital health tools, and comparison analysis.
What led you to become interested in Nex Cubed? What resources do you believe will be most helpful?
I was interested in Nex Cubed based on their approach of providing personalized mentorship and advisors. Our Nex Cubed advisors have the deep expertise and practical experience our company needs at this stage. They each took on important projects - one with hands-on marketing tactics and the other in healthcare strategy and fine-tuning our data collection and management plans.
What is the most valuable lesson you have learned as a startup founder so far?
The most valuable lesson I’ve learned as a startup founder is to create different types of boundaries than those I had while working as an employee, non-negotiable boundaries and to create space for myself to protect my mental health and well-being.
What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who are looking to make their mark in the industry?
First, is to determine what type of business, product, and industry you can truly be committed to and set your North Star as a founder and for the company and use that to build knowledge and influence in your chosen industry. Everything else is secondary, as you will receive great and bad advice, and you will have to pivot and pause on your journey, but by having industry knowledge and influence you will always have a sense of direction.
What advice would you give to other HBCU entrepreneurs around fundraising?
Outside of the standard fundraising advice, I encourage entrepreneurs to set boundaries and have their North Star - to remember you always have a choice. And it's not a matter of if, but when you experience the mind-rattling nuances of being an African-American entrepreneur and an African-American woman entrepreneur - it will be the boundaries and safe spaces you created that will protect your mental, physical, and emotional well-being ultimately leading to a clearer mind to make better business decisions for long-term business success and impact.
Where can readers/listeners/viewers learn more about your business?
You can follow the company on Instagram at @kepthealth, our LinkedIn on the Kept Health page, and also on our website at https://www.kept.health/
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