Iâll be honest: more than once this week Iâve woken up and itâs taken me a moment to work out which city Iâm in.
Highlights of the last few weeks include speaking at The Epicenter in Portland, Oregon, for the Womenâs Global Sports Summit; a quick trip across the Pond for the Wellness Oasis in London (my first time speaking in the UK!); headlining the Livelong Summit in New York City last weekendâand now Iâm writing this on the plane to Massachusetts for the Level Up retreat. Whatâs different from when I started this work 25 years ago is that Iâm now in rooms with people who can really help bring about lasting changeâand thatâs worth losing a little sleep for.
Perhaps life feels particularly crazy right now because my family and I have recently relocated to the U.S. and Iâve co-founded a new company (more on that below), so, errâŠyou could say thereâs plenty going on.
The Part You Donât See
I love this work. Standing in a room full of women who are eager to understand their bodies, and watching their faces as things click, is exactly why I do what I do. But the stage is only half the picture.
The other half is being mom to a teenager whoâs just started a new high school. Iâm trying to be there for the wobbles and the wins, often from a hotel room (if youâve ever attempted a meaningful conversation with a teenager at an inconvenient hour, you know itâs a skill).
I suspect many of you are carrying your own version of this: different details, that same feeling of holding a lot at once (and wondering if you can keep it all together).
How I Hold It All Together
Well, sometimes it feels like Iâm not! But as much as possible Iâm still getting out on my gravel bike and lifting, because I know what they do for me, physically and mentally. Some days thatâs the full session; other days itâs a shorter, scrappier version. The physiologist in me knows that consistency over time matters far more than perfection in any single week.
Hereâs What I Keep Reminding Myself
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Something counts: a shorter session is still a session.
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Protect the basics: eat enough, sleep as much as possible, make time for the people you love, and keep moving.
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Fitness has to fit your real life. If it only works when life is calm, it wonât last, so adapt your plans for the time and energy you have available.
Iâve learned the hard way that looking after ourselves isnât something we get to once everything else is done. Itâs what allows us to keep showing up for the people and the work we care about. So if youâre reading this from an airport, a school pickup line, or while stretching on your living room floor, I see you. You deserve support in that.
Introducing Collective X
Now for the news Iâve been itching to share: Iâve co-founded a new company, Collective X, and this week it officially launches.
Youâve heard me say it a hundred times: women have been systematically left out of health research, and much of what shapes our training, nutrition, and health tech is still built on male physiology. Iâve spent decades translating science into practice, and Iâm done watching good research stop at publication.
Collective X gives companies, clinicians, and health tech builders access to vetted, female-specific research. Unlike general-purpose AI, which draws on the open web and male-biased data, it answers only from that research and cites its sources every time. When the evidence isnât there yet, it says so. That means the apps, wearables, and programs you rely on can finally be built for female bodies, not borrowed models.
Iâm Chief Research Officer, building this with two brilliant co-founders, CEO Lindsey Abramo and Chief Brand Officer Angelica Marden, alongside advisors from Oura, Les Mills, and Next Ventures.
If youâre keen to learn more:
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Visit collectivex.health to request a demo, or register interest in research grants if youâre an active researcher.
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Sign up for the Collective X newsletter for launch news, new discoveries, and event invites.
Many of you have been with me from the start, so you know how much this matters to me. Collective X is a huge step toward getting women the science they deserve.
Until next time,
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