Let’s Talk Periods: How Dejanae Parkman Is Reimagining Period Care With Dotted

What if one of the most painful chapters of your life became the reason another woman found answers sooner?

In this episode of The Ana Cruz Show, I sit down with Dejanae Parkman, Founder and CEO of Dotted, for a deeply personal conversation about endometriosis, motherhood, entrepreneurship, and what can happen when pain is transformed into purpose.

For Dejanae, the mission behind Dotted is personal.

Her own journey with endometriosis brought years of questions, pain, and uncertainty. The diagnosis also impacted something deeply important to her: the possibility of becoming a mother.

But rather than allowing that experience to define what came next, Dejanae began asking a bigger question: How can we help the next generation of girls and women get answers sooner?

Finding Joy in Difficult Moments

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Dejanae spent time working in the nonprofit world, including with Make-A-Wish.

That experience helped shape the way she sees difficult seasons of life. Even in some of the hardest moments families experience, she learned there can still be joy, purpose, connection, and hope.

That perspective would later become an important part of her own entrepreneurial journey.

Her experience with endometriosis made her increasingly aware of how many women live with painful symptoms for years without clear answers. She knew firsthand what it felt like to navigate a health journey filled with uncertainty, and she wanted other girls and women to have a different experience.

Connecting the Dots

That vision became Dotted, a wellness-first period care company working to change the way women understand and manage their menstrual and reproductive health.

Dotted is creating an ecosystem that brings together period and symptom tracking, educational resources, access to trusted medical professionals, and nontoxic period care products.

The goal is to move period care beyond simply reacting to symptoms.

Instead, Dotted wants women to have the information, resources, and support they need to better understand their bodies, recognize when something may not be normal, and advocate for themselves when seeking medical care.

For Dejanae, one idea remains at the heart of the mission: girls should not have to wait a decade to get answers about their own bodies.

Dotted plans to begin its pilot initiative in North Texas, with an emphasis on communities where education about clean period care may be limited and access to safe products and reproductive health resources remains out of reach.

From an Idea to Social Innovator of the Year

Another turning point came through The Pitch 2026, organized by United Way of Metropolitan Dallas.

Through the Social Innovation Accelerator and The Pitch experience, Dejanae was challenged to rethink and strengthen the way she approached Dotted.

What began as an idea to improve period care evolved into a broader vision for helping women recognize symptoms earlier, access trusted information, and arrive at conversations with healthcare providers better prepared to advocate for their health.

That vision earned Dejanae and Dotted the title of 2026 Social Innovator of the Year.

But in our conversation, the award is only part of the story.

We talk about the woman behind the company, the diagnosis that changed her life, the possibility of motherhood, the lessons she learned through nonprofit work, the courage required to build something new, and why she is determined to make the path easier for the women and girls who come after her.

Watch the Full Conversation

This is a conversation about women's health, but it is also about resilience, entrepreneurship, purpose, and what becomes possible when someone decides that a painful experience should not be wasted.

Learn more about Dotted at DottedHQ.com and follow Dejanae's journey on Instagram at @dottedhq.

A special thank you to Visit Frisco, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, and PGA Friscofor their support in the production of this episode of The Ana Cruz Show.

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