Meet The Twin Sisters & Co-Founders Behind Semaine Health, Catherine & Lauren Lee
Twin sisters Catherine Lee and Lauren Lee started Semaine Health to address period pain and hormonal imbalances with plant-based, science-backed supplements. After decades of painful periods and suffering from stage II and stage IV endometriosis, Catherine and Lauren created the solution they were looking for: a plant-based anti-inflammatory supplement to help lessen their pain while supporting their overall health. With Semaine Health, Catherine and Lauren want to shift the paradigm in how hormones and women’s health, in general, is discussed. Pain might be common at different stages in our lives—from our first period through menopause—but it should never be normalized.
What inspired you two to start Semaine?
We started Semaine because of our health challenges with endometriosis. Lauren has stage IV and Catherine has stage II. After decades of painful periods and then being in and out of the hospital in our early 30s, we'd had enough. We were tired of taking over-the-counter pain meds that just masked the pain (and came with some intense side effects). Luckily Lauren is married to an amazing biologist and researcher (our third cofounder Dr. Matt Crane), and he was determined to find a better way of addressing the pain we were feeling. Using his research background, Matt created a formula based on clinical data showing plant extracts and minerals that help lessen inflammation and have been studied and shown to help with dysmenorrhea (the clinical term for painful periods). And that's how our very first supplement was born and the seed of Semaine as a company was planted. We've since expanded our line of clinically-backed, plant-based supplements to address other very common hormonal symptoms we experience throughout our life: hormonal imbalances, metabolic imbalances, UTIs, menopause, and gut health.
Does either of you have a favorite product?
Lauren: My absolute lifesaver is our very first supplement: PMS & Period Support. We launched it officially in 2020, but I've been taking it every period since 2018 and cannot live without it! As someone with Stage IV endo, I can have excruciating and very debilitating pain and bloating before and during my period. Without PMS & Period Support I have to stay in bed for at least 2-3 days, and with it, I barely have any pain at all. I'm always amazed because over-the-counter pain meds never worked that well and had far more side effects.
Catherine: My favorite Semaine supplement is our Daily Hormone Balance. It is the only thing that has ever helped my metabolism (which in turn makes my cycles easier too). I tend to get hungry every 2 hours because my insulin sensitivity is pretty off probably from PCOS. Taking The Daily every day, I don't have cravings or crashes like I used to and feel so much more energized throughout the day. My moods are also much more stable because my hormones don't feel like they are fluctuating as much as they used to. I feel like my best self on it, and I've never felt such a difference from any other multivitamin I've taken.
What benefits should women using your products expect to see?
The biggest one is feeling more like themselves: fewer mood swings and fluctuations with their cycle even if you are heading toward menopause. We know that our bodies are ever-changing and our cycles are such a good indication of what is happening in our lives. Are we more stressed, have we just been through a pregnancy, are we aging and feeling the effects of metabolic changes? Most of us dread these kinds of shifts in our cycles or our lives but most of them are so common. Societally, we've been taught to treat our bodies as shameful or just inconvenient, but we just haven't set up our culture to help us through these very common pain points and normal changes. Can you imagine how differently we would feel about hormones, periods, and menopause if we knew there were ways to support our bodies through those phases? We'd feel so much more empowered about our bodies and that's the biggest goal we have with Semaine: to help people feel empowered about their bodies and the choices they can make about their health.
What advice would you give to women struggling with endometriosis and period pain?
Trust yourself. You know what is normal for you or what feels too painful or just off. So don't ever let a health care professional ever blow you off with "it's normal" or "it can't be that bad." That happens quite often because most doctors have been taught that painful periods are "normal." They are indeed very common, but that doesn't mean we ever normalize pain because pain can tell us so much. It can mean our bodies are more stressed, lacking nutrients, or dealing with a condition like endometriosis, PCOS, perimenopause, or fibroids. If you find it challenging to convince your doctor to explore your health options: make sure you write down your symptoms each month (this can be just on your period or all month long). And if you ask for further tests and your doctor says no 1) have them write that denial in your medical notes (they legally have to if you ask them) and 2) find another doctor. You are not being a difficult patient, you are being proactive about your health and well-being, something we wish we had done from an earlier age-- we didn't know that doctors sometimes don't have the answers.
What do you envision the future of Semaine to be?
A trusted healthcare brand that helps people/women feel empowered about their bodies through clinically backed supplements and innovative formulas. Even though more than half the population experiences periods, estrogen imbalances, and menopause, there's a crazy lack of research or new options available to us. The same band-aids have been used forever without any real rigorous inquiry are what we are given (hormonal birth control, HRTs, chaste berry, and black cohosh). We want to change the way we treat bodies with ovaries and uteruses, push for more research, and cancel any stigmas that exist around periods, hormones, and menopause. Our dream is to be available wherever people need us: online, in stores, and in doctors' offices. You don't normally find supplements in medical offices, but clinically backed products belong there because patients are looking for more options and specifically more natural options.
Tell us about “The Daily”. Why should women implement this into their daily routines?
The Daily Hormone Balance is like a super-powered multivitamin. It has minerals and vitamins like a B-complex, magnesium, and zinc, and we've added superfoods like berberine, passionflower, and grapeseed extract too. The superfoods are great ingredients to help balance our metabolic hormones which in turn helps our hormonal health. So our cycles become easier, and more consistent, as do our moods and energy levels. The Daily is our best-selling product because it can help everyone at any age: from teenage mood swings through perimenopause.
How has the quality of your life improved since starting Semaine supplements?
Immeasurably! Having endometriosis and PCOS meant that for most of our lives we were dealing with excruciating pain and major inflammation in our bodies. We were told all of this was normal and for 15 years after getting our periods, we fought with our bodies and ignored all our symptoms because we were told they were 'normal'. It wasn't until Lauren ended up in the hospital for emergency surgery when an endometrioma ruptured her left ovary, that we realized, okay, what we experienced is not normal and should not have been normalized Most of us whether its as teenagers or pregnancy or menopause, experience things we are not given any resources to understand. Having supplements, like Semaine, that address these common pain points is not just physically so helpful, but also incredibly validating to anyone who has ovaries and a uterus. Your body is an amazing thing but it needs support and knowledge to feel its best. We feel like with Semaine, we're finally learning to honor our bodies rather than fight them. □
Article Credits
Semaine Health’s Instagram: @semainehealth
Facebook: @semainehealth
TikTok: @semaine_health
Website: www.semainehealth.com
Photography Credits
Kimberly Murray: @kmurrayphoto
Tina Hong-Sandmel: @tina.graphics
