Kate, by this point a seasoned hormone researcher and product developer, would share a conspiratorial laugh with her longtime friend and tell her that, yes, this is actually really common.

Kirsti, a cyclist, hiker, and firmly outdoors-or-bust kind of woman, wasn’t interested in accepting that as the end of the story. There had to be a solution.

There was.

And, conveniently, her best friend had it. Estriol cream.

Now, this could have been the end. Problem solved. Friendship intact. Everyone moves on. Kate continues building businesses and developing bioidentical hormone solutions for practitioners. Kirsti continues building companies that support all facets of health.

But both of them knew better.

This wasn’t just Kirsti’s problem. Other women were dealing with this too. Quietly. Uncomfortably. And often with zero real guidance.

Not every woman had a Kirsti. Someone stubborn enough to demand better, but cautious enough to avoid solutions that felt like overkill or came with a side of fear. And not every woman had a Kate - someone with a literal ocean of knowledge on hormones, tucked casually into her brain.

We’re On Your Best Friend List

Kate and Kirsti knew how important it was that women felt that they had options when it came to a healthcare topic that was still taboo.

Many women had heard some variation of: deal with it, this is just aging, and/or just try this hormone that is really powerful (and don’t worry about those pesky side effects!).

But the problem wasn’t just a lack of thoughtful care. It was also silence.

For a lot of women, vaginal health in menopause wasn’t something you talked about. Not at brunch. Not in group chats. Not even with close friends... It’s not exactly casual conversation to say your vagina feels like it’s been wiped with poison ivy.

Unless, of course, you’re Kirsti. Or Kate.

Both of them were more than happy to talk about the “unmentionables,” and in doing so realized something important. Women didn’t just want solutions. They wanted sisterhood.

A place to talk about these things without awkwardness.
A place to commiserate when Charmin suddenly becomes public enemy number one.
A place where other women actually get it.

Kate and Kirsti knew that women needed solutions, and they knew women needed a sisterhood… but there was one more piece to the puzzle…

Kate Wells - a.k.a the Menopause Nerd

While Kirsti Hegg is the adventurous entrepreneur, skiing, biking, and casually proving that women over 50 can out-tech most people in the room (thanks for all the tech support over the years Kirsti!)… Kate Wells is the mountain-climbing, business-running, biology-obsessed brain behind the science.

The blouses and British accent? Slight misdirection.

Kate has spent decades studying hormones, developing products that support optimal wellness, and absorbing hormone science at conferences like it’s oxygen. And once Parlor Games launched, she had to be physically pried away from customer service, because left to her own devices, she would happily answer every woman’s hormone question herself.

Because for Kate, this was never just business. It was personal. And it was educational.

And that was the missing piece.

The science.

All the knowledge that was nested in Kate’s brain, that Kirsti had been able to take advantage of, needed to be shared.

Most women hadn’t taken Menopause 101 in high school (or anywhere else for that matter), which meant most women didn’t know all that much about menopause beyond tidbits of information - or worse - misinformation that had been shared with them.

Without clear, accessible science, women were left chasing answers like Alice in Wonderland, following confusing paths and hoping something would finally make sense.

Science, Solutions, Sisterhood

Not just a tagline. A requirement.

Because no single piece works on its own.

🧬Women needed clear, understandable science - the science Kate had spent years researching and understanding, to help them make informed decisions about their menopause. Women needed to be able to understand their experiences, and why they were happening.

🧴Women needed practical solutions to help with things like vaginal dryness, brain fog, hot flashes, and mood swings. However, they also needed support for optimal wellness, things like bone, breast, and brain health.

👭Women needed a group of like-minded women - women who, like Kirsti, weren’t afraid to say, hey, this isn’t right, I want to feel better than this. They needed a space where they could openly talk about their vaginas, their sex lives after sixty, the weird symptoms like super stinky sweat(?!) that came out of left field the day they turned 55.

With these three pillars in place, Parlor Games was born.

The Dynamic Duo

With Kirsti manning the advertising and tech, and Kate managing the formulation, shipping, and customer service, Kate and Kirsti took a leap of faith.

Silky Peach Cream.

Their flagship product, this amazingly simple cream is bioidentical estriol in a junk free base, designed to be applied directly to the vagina to help vaginas that were itchy, dry, and definitely not in the mood for sex.

Estriol, as Kate has so often said, is the gentlest of the estrogens, and helps support the vagina from the inside out (literally). It supports cellular integrity, collagen reserves, mucous membranes, and pH, meaning Silky Peach is not a lube or a lotion, it is designed to support optimal wellness long term.

The product was ready. Bottles lined up. Website built.

And yes, there may have been some excitement-fueled almost-accidents… but not the incontinence kind.

The real question was: would women want it?

The answer came back loud and clear.

YES. HECK YES. GIVE IT TO ME. WHERE DO I BUY STOCKS?

And They All Lived Happily Ever After…

Well… not quite.

Once the emails started coming in… they didn’t stop (hence the need to pry Kate away and expand our team).

Women told us about how much pain they had been in.
Women told us about how alone they felt.
Women told us about all the other problems they were having.

And Kate and Kirsti knew that Silky Peach was just the beginning.

Estriol is powerful, but it’s one piece of a much bigger hormonal picture. And women needed more pieces if they were going to age the way they wanted to.

Pieces that looked like Vibrant Third Progesterone, like ReBounce DHEA, like Salivary Hormone Testing, MoreWOW Face Cream, and Chaos Calmer.

And alongside the products came something just as important. Education. Blogs. Scientific summaries. Emails. Podcasts. And a now fifty-thousand-strong private community where women can laugh, vent, learn, and feel understood.

With an amazing team of women who love their jobs, love how much they get to help other women, Parlor Games has now made a positive difference in the lives of over four hundred thousand customers (and more than quite a few husbands).

That’s our story.

We’d love to hear yours - you can use this link to tell us about your journey - through menopause, to Parlor Games, towards aging amazingly.