Kellie Johnson's decades-long battle with endometriosis led her to creating an innovative solution for other women.
An Aussie woman has shared how her decades-long health battle led her to create a “lifesaver” product for thousands of women. Nearly one million Australians live with endometriosis, a debilitating condition that has no cure and can completely disrupt women’s lives around their period and impact their fertility.
Kellie Johnson was diagnosed with stage 4 endometriosis in her twenties but has been living with menstrual pain since she first started getting her period. The 41-year-old Central Coast resident told Yahoo Finance the pain was so severe that she would often throw up or lose consciousness
“My pain wouldn’t stay where my uterus was. It would radiate through my whole torso into my back and down my legs,” Johnson said.
Johnson was initially put on the contraceptive pill to try and manage her symptoms. She later underwent surgery but her endometriosis recurred within the year.
Johnson said endometriosis wreaked havoc on her personal life and career, and she often had to take time off work because of her symptoms or found herself trying to work from the hospital.
The sales director, who now has a 17-month-old daughter Lola, said her fertility journey was the “lowest point” in her life.
“Through my fertility journey, my endo resulted in me having a lot of pregnancy loss, so I had five miscarriages before I finally had my daughter,” she said.
It was when she was going through IVF that she took up a new hobby to help pass the time.
She had gotten a second-hand sewing machine and, fed up with her old heat packs, taught herself to sew and began crafting her own perfect heat pack.
“I was using heat packs all the time but I was really struggling because they didn't resolve my issue in the way I needed,” she said.
“I really needed a heat pack that would cover that whole area, but I still wanted to be able to walk around and do things and keep the heat in the right spot to help the pain.”
Johnson created a hands-free 360-degree heat pack for around the abdomen.
She said she cried with relief the first time she tried it on.
"It was the craziest feeling. I remember feeling a bit overwhelmed and emotional because having the heat 360 degrees around my uterus, I felt like it felt of stopped the pain from radiating outwards and it nipped the pain in the bud so much better," she said.
Johnson said she quickly started contacting manufacturers until she found one that could make her design.
She then invested her life savings of $50,000 to create her brand, Kosi, and patented the design.
The brand launched in 2023, with Johnson giving birth to her daughter a few weeks later.
Endometriosis in the workplaces: ‘Have to work harder to prove yourself’
Johnson recently returned from maternity leave to her sales director role in medical technology, while continuing to work on Kosi on the side.
Johnson said endometriosis had had a huge impact on her career journey and she previously “never spoke” about what she was going through.
“At so many workplaces I’ve had, I’ve had to alter the way I work in some way just to try and survive,” she said.
“For example, I’ve had periods where my endo got really bad so I would be in hospital a lot, so I would take my laptop with me and work from hospital.
“You just worry that people will think that you’re being lazy or that you’re not taking your job seriously.”
Endometriosis Australia found many people were fearful of raising the issue in their workplace, with one in three passed over for a promotion due to their endometriosis, and one in six losing their jobs.
“I think when you feel like you’re struggling with pain all the time, you almost feel like you have to work harder to try and prove yourself,” Johnson said.
Endometriosis Australia chair Monica Forlano said it was important for workplaces to acknowledge the condition existed in the first place, acknowledge that it could impact productivity, and think about accommodations that could be put in place to support workers.
“Some of the adjustments could be ensuring there’s a microwave close by so they can do a heat pack, or allowing them flexibility to work from home when they are having a flare-up,” she told Yahoo Finance.
“The condition creates fatigue, there’s pain, there’s bloating. So potentially travelling to work can exacerbate it.”
The group’s research found endometriosis was costing the Australian economy $9.7 billion annually due to medical costs, absenteeism and presenteeism.
Heat pad business makes six figures
Johnson is now working to grow Kosi and recently went on Shark Tank where she successfully secured investment from Showpo founder Jane Lu.
Johnson estimated that she had sold around 6,000 heat packs, with the business hitting its first six-figure month in November.
She said she had people reaching out to her “every single day” to share how Kosi’s heat pads were helping them.
“It honestly makes my heart smile so much because I am them. I had that same feeling when I tried it on for the first time,” she said.
“It’s an incurable condition, all you really have is symptom management. Knowing I have created something that is genuinely helping people who have the same struggles as me, that’s a really nice feeling.”
For more information, au.finance.yahoo.com
