Women who lead: Zora Health's Anna Haotanto rewrites women's health through entrepreneurship

This month, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE is running its Women Who Lead podcast series in conjunction with International Women’s Day, spotlighting female leaders across the region’s agency landscape. The series unpacks leadership journeys, hard-earned lessons, and what meaningful progress truly looks like across marketing, advertising, and communications.

The second episode features Anna Vanessa Haotanto, founder of Zora Health, a fertility, menopause and family health platform that partners with employers to deliver personalised, end to end care across life stages through digital support, medical consultations, curated services, and access to a regional network of clinics and specialists.

For Haotanto, entrepreneurship was not a linear leap, but a deliberate choice shaped by personal struggle and rigorous self reflection. After undergoing five surgeries in 2022 and navigating her own fertility journey years earlier, she began questioning why women’s health remained shrouded in stigma and confusion. “There is a lot of information out there,” she said, “but how would you know what is the right information for you?”

Listen to the full conversation here on YouTube:

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That frustration eventually evolved into Zora Health, now working with 128 clinic partners across 16 countries. However, Haotanto is candid about the realities of building a healthtech business. “Whatever you do, make sure it’s something you’re willing to suffer for,” she said. “I have done fintech, finance, F&B. They are all hard. But nothing comes as hard as healthtech.”

The past year, she admits, has been her toughest in a decade of founding the company. “There were many times I wondered, why am I here? But I can’t give up. I needed to see it through.”

Her advice to aspiring female entrepreneurs is pragmatic rather than romantic. “Start small. Validate your idea while holding a job. Build a reserve before you do it full time,” she said, adding that founders should have at least two to three years of cash reserves. “Entrepreneurship is very hard. You don’t have a safety net. Moreover, everybody’s problem is your problem.”

She also lives by a personal mantra, “Never complain and never explain.” The first, she said, is about gratitude. “You choose to do this. You get to do this.” The second is about conviction. “You don’t have to explain your decisions all the time. It is your company and your life.”

Beyond business growth, Haotanto hopes to see deeper systemic change in women’s health. Education and awareness are critical, she said, but insufficient on their own. “Real support is not just community or content. It is dollars and cents.” She hopes more governments and corporates will fund fertility, menopause and family health benefits, from treatment subsidies to flexible work arrangements.

“I think things are improving,” she added. “But we can do much more so people can live with options and without shame.”

Also catch the podcast on Spotify:

Tune into the rest of this conversation on your favourite podcast platforms, by searching up Marketing Connected. For all the visual people out there, we’ve got your back as well, with our vodcasts on YouTube.

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