Erica Chidi has long had a calling for helping women and other people feel more comfortable of their bodies. Growing up, “I used to be at all times the girl that folks would ask inquiries to about their health,” the founding father of women’s health app, LOOM, explains to ESSENCE. “I at all times felt very connected to women and helping them of their bodies,” the Nigerian-American entrepreneur continues. 

After LOOM being a physical space in Los Angeles from 2017 to 2019– offering classes on topics like sex and periods, the organization has now transitioned into the LOOM app. Now, all your burgeoning health questions can be found at your fingertips, because of weekly podcast episodes, every day roundups of health news stories and so far more. “We actually got down to digitize the experiences we had throughout the physical space,” she says. “The app makes this accessible to everyone through evidence-based, factual, and trustworthy information alongside real stories about sexual reproductive health from women the world over.”

The journey to get here was no small feat for Chidi. Shortly after LOOM’s launch in 2017, Katerina Schneider—the founding father of complement brand, Ritual—inspired Chidi to maintain going. “She told me that she felt I used to be helping individuals with really essential issues,” Chidi says. “She helped me make my first investor introduction.” From there, Chidi was capable of raise $3 million in 2020—becoming the thirty fourth Black woman ever to lift over $1 million—that went toward constructing the platform she has now.  

Before LOOM, Chidi thought she desired to be an art curator after getting her undergrad degree in art history in South Africa. Upon graduating within the early 2000s, she pivoted into fashion and landed internships at places like Alberta Ferretti and PR company, BPCM. After facing the cattiness within the industry and her own mental health battles, Chidi was inspired to return to South Africa to rethink her goals. “My dad thought it might be great for me to think about a profession in midwifery because it might be a mix of things I care about,” she recalls. 

After this conversation, Chidi decided to get her doula training under a midwife, while performing some reproductive justice work within the San Francisco jail. In more moderen years, Chidi has been found writing books like Nurture: A Modern Guide to Pregnancy, Birth, and Early Motherhood. Meanwhile, you may also find her featured on The Goop podcast and vulnerably sharing her own health battles with fibroids online. “I believe it’s essential to remind those who they’re not alone,” she says. “I also just wanted more women to learn about this and feel more comfortable talking about it because I believe a giant, unlucky a part of illness shouldn’t be having an outlet to discuss it.”

And with years of serving and educating her community under her belt comes the importance of a solid self-care practice. For Chidi, that features regular exercise, meditation and every day walks. An in-depth skincare routine– that focuses on tackling hyperpigmentation with Dr. Dennis Gross LED Light Therapy and Biologiqie Recherche products– is significant, too. “Self-care is a non-negotiable for me, especially as a neurodiverse, interdisciplinary person,” she explains. “I believe the one way I can function properly is by caring for myself. I’ve made self-care my hobby.”

Up next for Chidi and LOOM? There can be some in-person events coming down the pike. “They’ll be far more focused around women getting the care they need and fewer about gathering in a community space,” she says. “But we’ll still find time for fun IRL moments, too.” Regardless, Chidi is just excited to proceed giving women a possibility to look after themselves. “That’s at all times been the drive for the work I do,” she says. “It’s helping people.”