#awinewith Lisa Thomson: turning a family health crisis into a health tech startup
✨ Thank you to IP Australia for supporting the SPARK podcast and women in business ✨
Lisa Thomson spent 20 years bringing health technology to market for pharmacies, aged care and hospitals. Then her parents' cancer diagnoses showed her the gap nobody was building for: the families coordinating care at home. In this episode she shares how she backed herself to build Harmonie Health, why one hire can change your whole culture, what raising your first round is really like as a female founder, and the advice that sums it all up: learn to be your own biggest cheerleader.
The business born from caring for her parents
Harmonie Health didn't start with a market analysis. It started with Lisa's family supporting her two parents, who live separately and alone, through cancer diagnoses, falls and increasing health needs, across interstate distance and waiting lists for funded services. After a career bringing health tech to market, she saw there was nothing for the families actually coordinating the care. "I backed myself, and started Harmonie Health, and built the solution that we needed at the start of our journey as a family, and what other families need." Building medication management into her own product, and watching her parents use it, taught her more than 20 corporate years ever did.
Talk to your customers before it's perfect
Like most founders, Lisa started out wanting everything polished before customer number one saw it. She's changed her tune. "It's confronting, isn't it, to realise that you need to actually start talking to them, and almost feeling their pain. It allows you to be a better founder, I think, and build a better business." People want to be part of the journey, ups and downs included, and platforms like Instagram and TikTok let you build that tribe early (even if, as a mum of two boys, her TikToks are "the most embarrassing thing in the world" to her kids).
One person can change your whole culture
Health tech is capital intensive and the funding stats aren't kind to female founders, but Lisa says the other big challenge is people. "You get one person, and they can completely change your culture. Having the right people, you absolutely fly." Her hiring approach now: personal recommendations, and never interviewing alone. Her core team members chat with every candidate too, because when you're working side by side every day, the relationships have to work from the start. And remember you can't be the expert at everything: get the right people in, trust them, and let them stretch their legs.
What raising your first round is really like
Lisa is preparing a pre-seed raise, and she's refreshingly honest about the "thanks, but not right now" replies, the silence, and the endless "come back when you've got more traction". Her touchstone is Canva's Melanie Perkins, who heard a hundred nos. "A lot of investors back the jockey, not the horse. If they believe in you, and you sell your story, and they identify with that, then that's what they're investing in." The other lesson she'd pass on: raising capital is a full-time job, on top of the full-time job of running the business.
Lisa's one piece of advice for women in business
"You are working big hours, you are burning the midnight candle, so you need to learn to be your own biggest cheerleader. When those times come where the imposter syndrome kicks in, a little bit of self-doubt, or, what am I doing, is this right? You've got to be able to be a cheerleader and go, yes, this is the reason I got into it, I'm helping people, and focus on the positive. That's the best piece of advice I would give."
Meet Lisa, Founder of Harmonie Health
Lisa Thomson is the Founder of Harmonie Health, a health technology company helping people stay independent at home for longer. Its Harmonie Home Health Hub keeps medications on track, routines running and care information in one place, while keeping families and care teams connected, and may be funded through NDIS, Support at Home, CHSP or DVA pathways. Lisa spent 20 years bringing health technology to market across pharmacy, aged care and hospitals before building the solution her own family needed.
You can find her here:
Full transcript
Danielle: So good! Lisa, welcome to Spark TV!
Lisa: Thank you! Thanks for having me!
Danielle: I'm so excited to have you here, and so excited to talk all things business, because I can already tell we're gonna have a good conversation, because we had to actually cut ourselves off and start recording. So let's get straight into it. Let's tell everyone who you are and what you do.
Lisa: Yeah, absolutely. So, my name is Lisa Thomson. I am the founder of Harmonie Health, and Harmonie Health is a technology company that builds solutions to help people stay independent in their own homes.
Danielle: I love that so much. So, how did you even get into this?
Lisa: Wow, yes, it's a story, and it's a journey. So, it's actually a very, very deeply personal reason why I started Harmonie Health, and it was actually because, as a family, we were supporting my two parents, who live separately and alone, through cancer diagnoses, falls, and increased health needs, and trying to do it interstate, distance, and trying to navigate funded services. There were just huge, huge gaps for me. And so, after a career, like, my career is in health technology, bringing things to market across pharmacy and aged care and hospitals, I recognised that there's actually nothing for families, and families are the ones that are coordinating care in their homes while they wait for these funded services. So I backed myself, and started Harmonie Health, and built the solution that we needed at the start of our journey as a family, and what other families need.
Danielle: Wow, that is absolutely incredible, and I always love a good built-the-thing-that-I-needed story, because it's usually, you know, if we're struggling with it, there is somebody else out there, if not hundreds, thousands, millions of people also struggling with the same thing. So, what type of person would come to you? Who is your ideal customer?
Lisa: Yeah, so we have built a Home Health Hub that's really geared towards supporting older Australians, people with a chronic illness or a disability that need support in the home to manage all their daily routines and medication management and care information on the spot. But as a buyer, it's people like you and me. It's the children of these people. It's the carers trying to find these tools to be able to support their loved one in their home. So you're kind of actually talking to a few people, and then obviously there is funding available through Aged Care and NDIS, so there's providers as well that we speak to.
Danielle: Yeah, wow. How do you find that, as a business owner, speaking to multiple customers? Because this is not unique. I often find that companies do, you'll have, sort of, the end consumer, maybe the person that purchases it, the industry. How do you go managing all of those conversations and making sure there's content for everybody?
Lisa: Complex. It's so complex. I don't know I've mastered it yet. But, look, I think it's really just aligning it to your product strategy and where you're at with the product. So we start, you know, messaging families and individuals that need that help, and then make them absolutely love our product, need our product. And then they'll talk to their providers, like their occupational therapists and their home care providers, which can open up doors, while we're being at conferences and messaging them separately. So it's kind of a very hybrid advocate model that we're doing. But it is complex in the messaging. It's very layered.
Danielle: Yeah, I found that with my previous business, which was in influencer marketing. You had to sort of talk to the influencers and the brands, and I never knew who I was talking to, because you kind of had to talk to both people at once, and yeah, it just really became complex.
Lisa: Absolutely, absolutely. And I think where it ended, really, especially with social media as well, which is not my background, it's a whole other world, but it's really talking about the problems that you're solving. I think that's the emotional benefit that it's bringing people and families, to have this support in their home.
Danielle: I love that. Come back to that why.
Lisa: Absolutely, it's your North Star, really, in all of your business. So it's emotional storytelling. It really resonates.
Danielle: Ugh, I love that. And you mentioned that previously you had worked in health tech, and delivered products, brought things to life. What was it like going from that, doing it for other people, to then launching your own tech startup, essentially?
Lisa: My goodness, it is exhilarating, scary, exciting, all of the words all at once. But look, it gives you a new lens. I think one of the learnings for me is, like, I spent 20 years bringing products to market for pharmacy groups and pharmacies, but building medication management into my own product, for my own startup, and then my parents using it, I think it taught me more than that 20 years. It taught me that if you don't build something right, this has a real impact on people, and not just safety, but it's mental health, it's all sorts of things. So there's a lot of insights and learnings that you get that you don't get in... well, I didn't get in corporate. And just as a skill set thing as well, you can do different jobs that you'd never have been able to do before.
Danielle: Do you think that you get those insights because you're so much closer to the end consumer when it's your own business?
Lisa: I think so, yes. I definitely think so. And I think that that's a good thing as well. Like, ultimately, you're close to the people that you are helping, and that you're building the product for. And they're the people that are gonna be your advocates, and they're gonna tell other people about your products. So I think it's a strength.
Danielle: Absolutely. I think it was actually where I made my biggest mistake, was not talking to the end consumer, you know, just thinking that we knew everything and we had the most creative and brilliant ideas. I don't think it was until we actually learned that talking to people... because I think I always wanted things to be perfect first, and to iron out all the kinks before really engaging with people. And I always felt like everything just had to be polished and professional and gorgeous, but I actually think people love being a part of the journey.
Lisa: Right, and you say that, and don't get me wrong, I did the exact same thing at the start. Like, it has to be perfect, it has to look brilliant, and be brilliant, and have all this functionality before we release it to customer number one and chat to them. It's confronting, isn't it, to realise that you need to actually start talking to them, and almost feeling their pain. It allows you to be a better founder, I think, and build a better business.
Danielle: Totally, and I think people are far more accommodating than you think. You know, and especially in industries like this, where you will be helping people, right? Like, this is really going to change lives, it is changing lives. So people want that to exist. They want that to be out in the world, so I find people are actually a lot more willing to support you and give their thoughts and feedback than you actually think.
Lisa: Yeah, that's actually quite a learning that I've had with social media as well. You can really build your tribe on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, and people do really want to be part of the journey, and know the ups and the downs, and have an emotional interest.
Danielle: I love that. So, are you a TikTok star now?
Lisa: I've done my two videos now, and my children... I'm a mum of two boys, and they're 10 and 12, and it's the most embarrassing thing in the world to them. But I'm out there and gonna keep going. But Instagram and Facebook, obviously, is a bit more of a presence.
Danielle: Oh my god, I love that. So how do you find wearing all the hats? It's one of the things that we talked about just before we hit record, was that as a business owner, yeah, you've got to be a bloody TikTok star, you've got to be a tech founder, you've got to be talking to customers. What's that like for you, juggling everything?
Lisa: Look, it is tough. I think there's no other way about it, and you're working long hours to try and do everything, but it really makes you be very, very structured in what you do, and be very conscious of, what outcome will this get me? I mean, sometimes it's fun just to fluff around with your website and make things look pretty, which I love to do. But you've got to really guard your time and make sure there's tangible outcomes. And also, you've got to be really ruthless on making sure that there's time for yourself, to get 8 hours of sleep, and to remember to eat, and to be mum, and to just take a breath, because that can go by the wayside in a second.
Danielle: It's so true, and I think we underestimate how important looking after our own health and wellbeing actually is.
Lisa: Yeah, I kind of learned that. You are your own biggest resource, really, and your own biggest asset in your own business, so if you're not functioning at 100%, it can let everything down.
Danielle: Do you have any strategies for making that happen?
Lisa: I'll let you know when I get there.
Danielle: I know, I preach, but I don't always make it happen.
Lisa: Don't get me wrong, I'm a work in progress. I say these things, I'm telling myself at the same time. But I think it's just taking it day by day, and every day's different, and starting the next day from scratch.
Danielle: I love that so much. I have that little voice in my head, the overachiever that's like, I will go for a walk every day, and I will do this, and I will do that. But I have, over time, realised that it's like, I have an hour window here, I'm just gonna go right now, I'm just gonna drop everything and go for a wander, get a coffee, and walk in the park, because now is the time, and that will help me. And it's not the structured to-do list kind of achievement, ticking off a box, but I get it done, you know? And that is okay.
Lisa: That is. And then you probably find that you come back from that walk, and you've recharged your batteries, and then you're focused, and you're in the zone, and you're more productive than you were before.
Danielle: It's so true. That was another big lesson that I learned, that running yourself into the ground... I think, actually, it works to a point. I think in your 20s, you can really burn yourself out, but I have found when I hit 40, that it wasn't a thing anymore.
Lisa: No, it isn't. Like, you feel like you could sleep a thousand years, and you're very conscious of burnout. I don't know if I've ever been as conscious of it previously.
Danielle: No. And it's the same... I was talking to my husband about this on the weekend, because he's just started a new job, but at a new level, and is doing a lot more travel, and all this kind of stuff, and he was feeling a bit under the weather, and was saying, I haven't changed anything. And I'm like, yeah, that's the point. All of your environmental factors have changed, and you have changed nothing. You're still living like the 20-year-old that you think you are. And I just think, over time, we might need to be a bit kinder to ourselves.
Lisa: I think you're right. Just pick up on the signals that your body's giving you. And if you're exhausted, if you're aching, and the only exercise you've done is sit at your desk and type, then it's time to have that rest, or go out for that walk in the sunshine.
Danielle: Yeah, and I think it can also be tiny. I also used to be of the thought that unless it was an hour workout, and I was sweating and crazy by the end of it, that it didn't count. But I think there's just so much value in, like, lying on your bed and closing your eyes for 5 minutes.
Lisa: Yes, yes! And taking a breath. Absolutely, absolutely. I think it's just those little mental breaks, isn't it, really? You can just have a rest and, like I said, recharge.
Danielle: So good, I love it. So, what do you think has been the biggest challenge for you building this business?
Lisa: Goodness, so there's been a few challenges. I think the core ones are that, you know, in health technology, it's capital intensive. And, you know, you're a female founder. The stats aren't really geared towards female founders.
Danielle: Not in our favour, are they?
Lisa: They're not in our favour, no. There's no kind of polite way to say that. So, capital intensive, but it's also getting the right people into your organisation as well. And I think having my own business, and a small business as well, I've realised the importance of... you get one person, and they can completely change your culture. And unfortunately, it can be for the negative. So, having the right people, you absolutely fly. You are so productive, and it's so energising in meetings. I think that's kind of been a really big learning.
Danielle: Do you have any advice, thinking about that people idea, and how having the right people can be incredibly life-changing, but also having the wrong people can be incredibly negative? Have you found any insight into bringing the right people into your organisation?
Lisa: Yeah, I think where we've landed is, so, we'd brought in people that we'd worked with previously. But what I also found is that working with someone previously in a corporate, a large corporate, can be very different to startups, when you're doing a thousand things, you're juggling a thousand balls, and it's quick. So, where we've landed, really, is that if we bring a person on, it's got to be someone that is recommended to us, or has got that personal kind of recommendation. And it's not just me interviewing them, it's my core members as well, just having a chat with them and getting a feel for them. Because day by day, we're working side by side, and you've got to build those relationships from the start.
Danielle: Yeah, I love that. I think that's such great advice, getting the rest of the team involved as well. Once, when my previous business had matured a little bit, and we had quite a large team, we did those personality tests, and it turned out that I had basically hired myself, like, all these people. And I was like, oh, maybe I need to put a new lens on hiring. So I think getting your team involved is actually really, really good advice.
Lisa: Yeah, and I think, you know, you've got different temperaments, and you've got different levels of experience. So at the end of the day, you've just got to get people in that complement that, and can help build really great things.
Danielle: Yeah, I love that. And I think also that idea that we don't have to do it all ourselves, and that actually building a team is a really positive thing.
Lisa: I think it is, and I think that can get a little bit away from you when you're a founder. You try and do everything at once, and you're trying to do it all, but at the end of the day, you're not an expert at everything. You've got to get the right people in, and trust them, and let them stretch their legs, and give that contribution as well.
Danielle: Yeah, and I do like that we're having this conversation, because I also think it's a bit of a woman thing to carry it all, and to think that they need to be experts in everything, and think that they need to be able to juggle all the balls and do everything, and do it perfectly. I think that letting jobs go, tasks go, hiring a team can actually be really difficult for some women in business.
Lisa: Yeah, I think it absolutely can, because I think we are wired a little bit like that. It's a little bit that old saying sometimes as well, like, you've got to work twice as hard. So walking into those rooms, and talking to the big customers, or things like that, you feel like you have to know everything, and be the expert of everything. But it really is not true. It's having the experts around you, and you can't physically be that person either.
Danielle: No, and I think the sooner we let go of that, the more we can actually thrive and build scalable and sustainable businesses, because we do have to remember that we are that human being that needs a little rest.
Lisa: Yeah, absolutely agree. And I think that one thing about running your own business, it really teaches you a lot about your own skill set and your own personal development. These are all journeys that you need to go on. You need to not be a perfectionist, you need to trust your people, you need to be the biggest cheerleader for yourself. It's a journey, isn't it, really?
Danielle: Oh my god, I could not agree with you more. I saw that someone said, business is the biggest personal development journey you will ever go on. I was like, oh, yes, it really is. Whether you want it or not, whether you're ready for it or not.
Lisa: It's real and raw.
Danielle: Yeah, and it just really holds a mirror up to you, doesn't it, sometimes?
Lisa: It does. It really, really does. But it's interesting, and then you've kind of got the other side of it, where, when you're building, you are the personal brand of the company as well. Like, your personal brand is the company. You're on this big learning journey at the same time as you're representing your company.
Danielle: Totally, and I think that that's so confronting as well, isn't it? Having to be the face of the business these days, especially going from employee to business owner. I mean, obviously, as an employee, you show up for your customers and your team and what have you, but you're not out there representing the company, and it can be quite confronting doing that.
Lisa: It is, it really is, and I think I've had to go through a little bit of a journey as well, and family as well, talking about why we started Harmonie Health. There's been so many times I've had to ring up my parents going, can I say this? Are we okay about that? We're still good? I'm still saying that. It's quite a thing to let people see you.
Danielle: Yeah, it's so interesting we're having this conversation. I always find that I have conversations with people on the podcast right in the moment that I need to hear it or talk about it. And it's so funny, this year, I've started to share... so obviously Spark is for women in business, we're talking about business more holistically, but I'm starting to share more of my journey in my previous businesses. And I was walking around the park today, and I was thinking about this one particular story. It's a bit of a horror story, and I did have that thought, I'm like, I don't know how honest I can be when it affects other people, and other people's reputations. And I'm sure you can anonymise stories, but it does actually impact the people around us as well, doesn't it?
Lisa: It does. It's your family, it's your husband, it's your children, it is everybody. So, I guess, put guardrails in. Like, with this story, when I'm doing pitch decks or talks or things like that, the photo that I show of my parents is not my parents. It's kind of that guardrail to protect them. Who they are is private, but their story, they're okay with me sharing that, because it helps other families as well.
Danielle: Wow, yeah, and this is it, isn't it? Like, no one talks about navigating these types of things. They talk about, here's how to create a reel. You don't talk about this emotional stuff, this mindset stuff, which is just an absolute minefield in business.
Lisa: Isn't it? Absolutely. And the level of how much you share of yourself as well. Like, no one wants a really big downer story. So you've kind of got to... it's all a balance, isn't it? And trying to find the right mix for the audience that you're speaking to as well.
Danielle: Yeah, exactly. And that is just even figuring out what's going to resonate. Sometimes you are telling different versions of the same story, heightened and lessened, trying to figure out, okay, where is this kind of sweet spot of, people get it, but I haven't gone on a tangent?
Lisa: Absolutely. And even just pitch decks, for example. Whoever you're sending your pitch deck to, it's got your journey in it, or your why in it, and it's different versions of it. So sometimes it's one slide, sometimes it's a couple of slides, really, just to delve into the detail. It changes. Try and read your audience.
Danielle: Oh, exactly. So, speaking of pitch decks, are you currently raising capital, or have you raised capital?
Lisa: So, we're currently preparing to raise, to do a pre-seed raise. So, all the pitch decks, having the conversations, and really starting to explore that world.
Danielle: How are you finding it?
Lisa: You know what? It's challenging, I'm not gonna lie, and I think you would probably have a lot more insights than I would on this one. But you get a lot of, you know, thank you, but we're not investing right now, or you get no answers, or you're meeting, and then, come back to us when you've got more traction. It's about traction. So, there's a lot of that at the moment, but I read and I hear that it's very, very normal, and I keep thinking of the story of Canva with Melanie Perkins. She spoke to a hundred investors, and they said no. But it just takes one at the end of the day, doesn't it?
Danielle: Exactly. And look, that was exactly my experience as well. I learned that capital raising was a sales process, so very much reach out to lots of people, some of them are interested and go further, and then it's like, yep, one person that finally says yes at the end. But to your point, the thing I found hard was... so I've been a salesperson for 20 years, so I totally get it. Know the process, listen to objections, figure out the thing to say, convert better. What always blew my mind about capital raising was that the objections weren't... they were almost emotional, because it's people's money. They're not buying a product or service, they're really investing in you as a human, or this idea. And so the answers that they gave were so varied. Like, oh, not for me right now, come back with more traction. I had so many people that were like, if you just added this slide or this slide, and I'm like, a slide is not gonna help you. But until you go through that, you just have no idea, and you're trying to wade through all this feedback and kind of go, who is real and who is right. But I think you're spot on. The one thing I figured out was it was just persistence. And you're right, you speak to enough people, and there'll be someone who's had the same experience, or knows someone that's had the experience, and it does just take that one person to believe in it.
Lisa: It does, and I've heard this... I'd never heard it before in my life, but I heard this saying when talking about capital raising, that a lot of investors back the jockey, not the horse. And if they believe in you, and you sell your story, and they identify with that, then that's what they're investing in. So, there's obviously been countless stories about that.
Danielle: Definitely. Yeah, and I always found that the other thing is, yes, but when it's your first round, no one knows you yet, you know? So you're building this relationship from scratch. I found that the follow-on rounds became easier, because then I could say, see the thing I told you we were gonna do? We did it. So you build that trust over time, but in the first round, when no one knows you, there is a little trust that you need to build. So, yeah, you're right, but it's pretty hard in the beginning.
Lisa: It is, it is. So in pre-seed, you're trying to find that angel investor that wants to come on the journey with you. But at the same time, you're very, very conscious of, you know, traction, traction, traction, sales, sales, sales, and growing, and getting that evidence so you can go back to people.
Danielle: Yeah, absolutely. And that was the other thing that someone said to me at the time: you need to remember that raising capital is a full-time job, so now you have two full-time jobs. Running the business and raising capital.
Lisa: Yeah, and that was the biggest surprise to me. You'd hear a lot about, it takes a CEO 6 months full-time to raise capital, and you kind of think, how on earth are they doing that?
Danielle: Yes. And remember how we told you you have to go for a walk and look after yourself as well?
Lisa: Yeah, and remember to eat. Absolutely. And run your business still.
Danielle: Yeah, it's a process. It's insane. Well, good on you! I'm very impressed, obviously. You've obviously got the passion for it and the drive for it, and I think it's gonna be incredible. I can't wait to get you back on here in, like, 6-12 months to share an update on where it's at. I just think it's so incredible. Now, I could talk to you all day, but I always love to wrap up these podcasts with one last piece of advice. So, reflecting on your time in business, what would be a piece of advice that you would give to another woman on her business journey?
Lisa: I've thought about this question a lot, and I think that, really, it kind of sums up the conversation we've just had as well. You are working big hours, you are burning the midnight candle, so you need to learn to be your own biggest cheerleader. And in those times where the imposter syndrome kicks in, a little bit of self-doubt, or, what am I doing, is this right? You've got to be able to be a cheerleader and go, yes, this is the reason I got into it, I'm helping people, and focus on the positive. I think that's the best piece of advice I would give.
Danielle: I love that so much, and again, I'm stealing it, and I'm gonna be my own biggest cheerleader today. So thank you so much, Lisa, for being here and sharing your journey with us, and as I said, I cannot wait to get round two happening, to hear how it's all gone. Really appreciate you and your time.
Lisa: Thank you for having me, it's been great to chat.
