In -house entrepreneurs (Intraplaners), who are trying to create and innovate new businesses among large companies.What they have in common is that they actively active not only in the company but also outside the company, have a horizontal connection, a wide range of personal connections, or have the flexible imagination that can be found to find the tasks and their solutions.is.
In this series, we will interview an intro -player who is active in such a large company, ask other companies' intraplans that they respect, and listen to them in a relay format.
encycloの創業者である水田悠子氏（左）と齋藤明子氏（右）This time, Yuko Mizuta and Akiko Saito, founder of Encyclo, born from the Pola Orbis Group's internal venture system known for cosmetics.Mr. Mizuta is based on her own experience of cancer treatment, and in order to solve issues related to "lymphatoma", which has been a lifetime for a lifetime, "Maeé (MAEEé"Mae)] was developed.We spoke to Mr. Mizuta and Saito what kind of disease is lymphedema, what problems can occur, and why new stockings were needed.
—— First of all, can you ask for your self -introduction?
Mizuta: I joined Pola in 2005 as a new graduate.At first it was a sales site, but since then, I have been involved in the development of cosmetics for more than 10 years, including the seconded group company to Orbis.In the meantime, it turned out that he had cervical cancer at the age of 29 in 2012, and after a year and a half, he returned to Pola's product development after surgery and anticancer drug treatment.I am.
Saito: I joined Pola in 2003 in mid -career.Before that, I walked across various companies such as architecture, cars, and IT, and Pola is the sixth company.After joining the company as a personnel affairs, he was seconded as a director of a group company marketing and became a spokeswoman for investors.I have also experienced various things, returning to Paula's personnel affairs and being in charge of work style reform and diversity.Since 2018, as part of CSR activities, we have been assigned a mission on the theme of both cancer treatment and employment.
——Can you tell us a little more about the history of entrepreneurship?
Mr. Mizuta: For 4-5 years after cancer treatment, I was nervous about the place where my cancer experience was placed, but in that case, my friend Miho Suzuki, who has also experienced cancer in the same generation, is Miho Suzuki.I met Magggy Tokyo, a certified NPO that I started.It is a facility where anyone affected by cancer can be freely visited, but I used my main business to cooperate in developing original goods.From that event, I felt that my own cancer experience, which I seemed to be negative, could be a personality, a person, or a new side of my own.
After that, I also participated in CANCERX, a general incorporated association, which was also launched by Miho Suzuki and other volunteers, and was able to get the support of Pola Orbis Holdings, a parent company at the Cancerx Summit held every year.rice field.Work was work, my own cancer experience was cancer experience, and I thought I was thinking separately, but at this time, I can work together without having to separate it.I came to think that it might be.
At the event, Mr. Saito also participated as the staff on the management side, and in the conversation, the viewpoint is different, but both of them want to fulfill their life after cancer.It turned out that it was the same, and applied for the in -house venture system in combination.There were documents screening and presentations, and it was required to be used many times or reconsidered, but after about six months, we established a company on May 7, 2020.
Mr. Saito: At that time, I was working on a mission of supporting both cancer treatment and employment in Pola, and in the employment generation, women have higher cancer incidence, and in the first place, gynecological illness is likely to be ill.I gained the knowledge again, and gradually increased my thoughts like a woman's way of life.
It is said that it is now 100 years of life, but I felt that the world was not enough in the world to support health management, philosophy, and way of life based on the 100 years.So I was just thinking that everyone wanted to do the support that would allow everyone to live for a long time, lively and healthy.
——What kind of business is Encyclo?
Mr. Mizuta: ENCYCLO aims to discover and realize "Ammet Beauty Needs (the desire to be beautiful)" with the mission of "releasing the beautiful desire to be beautiful".It is a company.We aim to support such a desire to be yourself and want to live yourself.As a starting point, we are developing and selling products such as elastic stockings for medical use.
I am also a party, but one of the aftereffects of cancer treatment is "lymph floodstorms".We operate "Maeé" as a brand that provides products and services that will make people suffering from lymph edema comfort and enjoyable.
「MAEÉ」—— Before talking about the product, can you tell me what lymphedema is like?
Mr. Mizuta: Lymphedema is a sequelae in which the arms and legs are chronically swollen due to the effects of cancer treatment.In the case of gynecological cancer, the lymph nodes under the pelvis are taken in the pelvis, but the circulation of the lymph is worse due to such surgery and radiation therapy, and the arms and legs are swollen.is.Once you take the lymph nodes, you will not be able to return it, so if you have symptoms, it will be difficult to cure and you must stay for a lifetime.90 % of female patients are said to have the treatment of gynecology and breast cancer.
Even if you say swelling, it is not a level that appears in everyday conversation, such as the tight shoes or the rings are difficult to come off, but in some cases the legs become twice as thick as the terrible case.I have.The center of care is to wear medical sleeves and stockings that tightly tighten the arms and legs, except when bathing and bedtime.
In addition, it is easy to cause infectious diseases when the skin is damaged, so you must be careful about insect bites, sunburn, and injuries.You will live with restrictions such as sitting or having heavy things to prevent your legs and arms from burden, no, or this.
—— If you treat cancer and remain, it will be long from that in terms of fighting illness.
Mr. Mizuta: Depending on the type of cancer, in my case it was said that if it did not recur for 5 years, it was completely cured.I thought it would be long for five years, but now after nine years have passed, it will not be "innocent".Rather, the fact that sequelae lasted longer was really desperate.Not only during the treatment, but also that life after treatment is difficult is one of the reasons why I started Encyclo.
——I was my first time, but why don't many people know that lymphedema?
Mizuta: Probably many people have never heard of it, and in fact I didn't know until I became a party.You can get a variety of information about cancer, for example, on TV information programs and pink ribbon exercises, which are the enlightenment activities of breast cancer.
Recently, thanks to medical advances, cancer has become a disease that can be healed, so the impression that "worries after cancer have healed" have gradually become more apparent.However, I think that the world's interest is still weak in the life of the cancer itself.One of them, regardless of life, can live, regardless of life, and that there are not necessarily everyone on the disease, and there are few people who speak.Maybe not.
——Please tell us more about the brand and product called “Maeé”.
Mr. Mizuta: Lymphedema is said to be a disease that is not cured.So, for fear of deterioration, I give up various things.For example, traveling is limited to giving up or fashion, so you can refrain from going out.
I had to wear extremely thick medical stockings every day to care for lymphedema.I liked fashionable with clothes and shoes, but in the future I had to give up on all of them ...While listening to many lymph edema for commercialization, I realized that almost everyone had such feelings, and I felt that my feelings and behavior would move forward.I gave the brand name.
MAEÉの医療用ストッキング——The first is your own medical stockings.
Mr. Mizuta: There are many other issues for those suffering from lymphedema, but first I wanted to solve the problem of medical elastic stockings that I need to wear every day.The existing products were emphasized whether they satisfy their functions for medical use, so they didn't have much from the perspective of those who actually use them, so they couldn't spend comfortably in their lives.I myself was a problem, so at first I decided to try the medical stockings.Based on my experience as a party and my career as a marketer, I thought that it would be possible to create valuable products by utilizing the voices of other lymphedema.。
—— How is the comfort is different compared to existing products?
Mr. Mizuta: Medical stockings are to help the worse lymph by wearing a stormy compressive stocking.
The image is that the compression socks that the general public also use is very powerful.It's really thick, hard, and it's hard to wear, so your nails get tattered.When I started using it, I couldn't wear it for tens of minutes before going to work, and I was almost late for work.And summer is hot and hard.
The stockings we created are naturally as natural as ordinary stockings, using thin fabrics, while having functions as medical equipment and pressure.We take care of the ingredients, so that we can feel comfortable throughout the year in the hot and cold Japanese climate.
——What did you stick to or struggle as Encyclo?
Mr. Mizuta: Elastic stockings are medical devices, so they cannot be made by any manufacturer.I knew that, but when I searched for the consignment, there were almost no manufacturers that could be made in Japan.I managed to get a manufacturer to receive it, but it was already difficult to add product development.
Also, I have developed a medical device for the first time, even though I have experience developing cosmetics.However, the values cultivated in the cosmetics industry, such as "I want to be fashionable", "I want to show it nicely", and "I want to use it with a fun feeling", I thought that even medical equipment is indispensable for product creation.Although the parties have strong, they are not so many medical devices so far.I want to gather the voices of those parties and create unprecedented medical elastic stockings.That was the most commitment, and it was also the difficulty of developing development.
開発時の様子—— Did such medical stockings exist before?
Mr. Mizuta: The market share of medical elastic stockings is mostly European brands such as Germany and Switzerland, but the size is very important.What was made in Europe was based on the body shape of Europe, and many Japanese people with different body construction did not fit.I thought it would be nice to have something for Japanese people, such as the balance between the stomach and legs and the curve of the legs.Because the climate is different, some materials used in Europe with low humidity are not comfortable in Japan.
—— Maeé's products are sold for about 10,000 yen per pair.Is this price cheap or expensive in medical stockings?
Mizuta: Medical stockings are highly functional and are expensive compared to general stockings because they are medical devices.I also used something about 30,000 yen per pair.In addition, it is recommended to buy a new one once every six months, as the pressure gradually decreases.It's hard to pay a lot of money and pay a lot of money.
On the other hand, our products have high quality while having high quality as domestic products.For 11,400 yen per pair (excluding tax), we strive to be a little cheaper than existing products with the same functions.In addition, since 2008, elastic clothes for treatment for lymphedema have been applied to medical expenses, which is less self -paying.Products that are recognized as medical devices can also receive such assistance.
—— I think it would be difficult to obtain permission as a medical device, but was there any difficulty around that?
Mizuta: At first I didn't really know that, so I studied from scratch.Gradually, if the manufacturer has already obtained permission from the medical device manufacturing and sales industry, it can be manufactured, and even if there is a problem, you can follow it firmly.With such a manufacturing outsourcing, we were able to challenge because we did not need to obtain special approval.However, at the beginning, I was worried whether I learned or learned, so I didn't think of it, "Is it really possible to handle it?"