President and Founder of Oöna Health, Inc., developer of Oöna

Valerie Otto began working in the field of women's health and well-being in 1995 when she started a small mail order fashion house in a tiny rented office in the then grimy meat-packing district of New York City. Furnished with a desk, chair, telephone and her newly earned MBA degree from Columbia University on the wall, her company addressed the very specific fashion needs of women who had undergone cancer treatment, particularly those treated for breast cancer. With chic bathing suits, silky nightgowns, stylish sports apparel, and snappy items such as baseball caps fitted with page boy wigs, the Becoming catalog offered a refreshing alternative -- and a sense of dignity and empowerment -- to women who had previously been relegated to the margins of fashion with dowdy, cookie-cutter clothes.

From that success, Otto expanded her company's mission into what she considered a natural extension, literally, of other issues of women's well-being. Two years before the news broke about the dangers of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), Otto intuitively questioned the logic and safety of the drugs to treat the sometimes debilitating effects of menopause, Otto introduced America to Oöna, a safe, all natural remedy with none of the potential harmful side effects of drugs. So successful was the product that Oöna has since developed into an ever-growing line of precisely formulated herbal solutions for related women health concerns. Otto sold the Becoming name in 2002 and has also made Oöna Health her company's new name.

Ms. Otto, who prior to Columbia University received her Bachelor of Science degree from Ithaca College in New York, has appeared on numerous radio and television programs, including ABC's Good Morning America. Early in her adult life, Otto skated professionally, and she continues to maintain a vigorous, athletic lifestyle. She works closely with the medical community as a proponent of wellness alternatives and greater choices for women's health.