Founder Diary #1: What is Asele?

A lot of people ask, “What exactly is Asele?”

If I had to simplify it, I’d say Asele is an app that promotes productivity, preventive care, and listening to your cycle. Those three things guide everything we do.

Another way to put it is that Asele is an app that helps you listen to your body. It helps you track your cycle and understand what week you're in.

It tells you how productive you might be in that week and helps you prioritize your time and energy accordingly. It helps you understand that this is your most productive week and you should leverage it as much as possible. That could be creatively, professionally, or in your everyday life.

We built Asele because we believe women should be in tune with their bodies.

That's also why we provide meal ideas and exercise suggestions based on where you are in your cycle. If you're feeling low on energy or irritable, Asele helps you understand that your cycle might be the reason, and it gives you options. Here’s what you can eat to improve your mood. Here’s how to move your body to feel better. That's the whole idea.

We also promote preventive care. That’s why we run fitness challenges regularly. The goal is to bring these elements together: nutrition, movement, and self-awareness, so that women are actively looking out for their health. And they're not doing it alone. They have a community beside them.

There are so many factors that affect health that we can't control, but there are a few we can. Like how we move our bodies. What we eat. Whether we check in on our mental health. Whether we have people to talk to. That’s what Asele helps with. That’s what we’re trying to bring to the forefront of the app.

Community is a very important part of Asele. It’s not just a feature. It’s a foundation. Women should have a space where they can be themselves, ask questions, share stories, and just be supported.

Outside of school, work, and church, women need a space where someone is cheering them on. Someone who says, “You’ve got this.” Someone who reminds you to take a walk, to rest, to eat well, to take your health seriously.

I think about my stepmother. She died two years ago from complications related to diabetes. That still feels insane to me. I think if she had had a community of women showing up for her, encouraging her, sharing what worked for them, maybe she would still be here.

And my mother (Asele) died due to a negative reaction to a malaria drug that shouldn’t have been given to her (which is now banned in Nigeria, by the way). And I think, if she had access to the right information, if someone had told her, if she had known, maybe she would still be here too.

That’s why education is so important to us at Asele. That’s why we’re bringing in healthcare professionals; people in pharma, nutrition, gynecology, and beyond to provide accurate information.

The internet is a powerful tool. But it’s only helpful when you know where to look and who to trust. We want to be that place women can trust. Because navigating life as an African woman is already hard. Health shouldn’t be an extra burden.

We also believe cycle education is vital. Most women aren’t taught how to manage their periods or even how to listen to their bodies through them. But your cycle tells you so much about your health. It reflects your quality of life. And that’s something we should all be paying attention to.

Ida Tin, whom I interviewed for the Blush and Bloom podcast, said that periods should be considered the fifth vital sign. That stuck with me. It blew my mind, actually. We underestimate how much our periods can tell us.

That’s why it’s exciting to see more research being done around period health. Like what period blood can reveal about diseases, and how it might even contribute to breakthroughs like cancer treatments. It’s incredible. And being in this space, building something for women, learning alongside them, it’s something I’m really proud of.

So when someone asks me, “Why are you building Asele?”, this is what I say:

Because women deserve a platform that supports them at every stage of life. From their first period to menopause. Through heartbreaks, big career moves, motherhood, health challenges, and everything in between.

They deserve the tools, the knowledge, and the community that will help them live well.

And that’s what we’re building. We hope you love it. <3

-Gigi