Alexandria’s Jenna Perkins has a goal to revolutionize women’s health, but she can’t do it alone.
Perkins has been able to stay afloat and grow her business DiscovHer Health (113 Oronoco Street) with loan assistance, mentoring, and more in a Washington Area Community Investment Fund (Wacif) accelerator program. This week, Wacif is launching their Office of Women’s Initiatives, which will loan millions in capital support to women like Perkins to start and grow their businesses.
“Bootstrapping it, as a woman of color, starting a business was very, very difficult,” Perkins told ALXnow. “You could feel very lonely as an entrepreneur in this space, and so was very happy to connect with other young women of color, some doing very complimentary work.”
Wacif’s CEO, Shannan Herbert, said the new office will build on the company’s commitment to empowering entrepreneurs in D.C., Maryland, and Northern Virginia.
“Our mission has always been to provide access capital, knowledge and professional business networks to the entrepreneurs that we serve,” Herbert said. “We also want to make sure that we are closing the gap in entrepreneurship while encouraging supportive economic growth.”
Perkins, a registered nurse and nurse practitioner, is currently working solo with a virtual assistant. Her practice is designed to fill in the gaps from traditional OBGYN services, which aren’t always equipped from a lack of available time and expertise. She also provides telemedicine services to D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, Delaware, Arizona and Florida.
“I started my career working in urogynecology to help women with things like urinary tract infections, vaginal dryness, pelvic pain, really these very intimate areas,” Perkins said. “I just found that it was difficult to do that in a five-to-10 minute visit.”
Perkins joined Wacif’s Ascend Capital Accelerator Program, which helped her secure a loan to keep the business afloat.
“As a solo practitioner and a practice, I can get caught up in seeing clients,” Perkins said. “But you have to think of yourself as the CEO and really take time to nurture that part of the business, too. How else can I specifically take DiscovHer Health from just one woman in a room, treating one patient at a time to be able to actually manifest the goal of truly revolutionizing women’s health?”
Perkins added, “I do have a virtual assistant who is my right-hand man, I like to say. And then I have a couple of nurse practitioners who do some contract work, but yeah, it’s just me looking to grow, for sure.”
Herbert said that she wants more entrepreneurs from Northern Virginia.
“We would love to connect with organizations in Northern Virginia to be able to host events, to get folks oriented around the programs that we do offer,” Herbert said. “We’re not overburdening folks, but making sure that they are capital ready. That is the most important point here, just making sure that folks can repay the loans, and working with them in every step of the way to ensure that they feel supported and that they have a network where we’re able to work with them as they’re growing, as they’re continuing to scale.”
According to Wacif:
Wacif’s new program will provide tailored assistance, mentorship, and a community of like-minded individuals to break down barriers, foster resilience, and cultivate a thriving ecosystem where businesses can flourish. Through the Office of Women’s Initiatives, over the next three years Wacif will:
- Deploy $10M in capital to local entrepreneurs
- Create or retain over 4,000 jobs
- Reach 1,500 local entrepreneurs through 1:1 engagements
- Reach 2,500 local entrepreneurs through group engagement
- Graduate 45 entrepreneurs through an 8-week cohort program
