Great Expectations

It sounds like a bad joke: Two men, an entrepreneur and a chiropractor, chatting about how they could solve women's menstrual cramps with an adjustable belt.

But for millions of women, the cramps, especially a chronic condition called Dysmenorrhea, aren't something to laugh about. And that's just what the entrepreneur, Rob Brady, and the chiropractor, Stephen Lee, realized.

Those chats are now the genesis behind Ziivaa, a unique Sarasota-based startup. The firm's core product is a patent-pending, non-invasive, drug-free device that uses adjustable compression technology to control and eliminate menstrual cramps.