October 10, 2025 • 25 mins
Agenda Period
https://www.theagendaperiod.com/
Alex Kobold-Frakes, founder of Agenda Period, reveals how understanding your menstrual cycle can transform productivity, relationships, and overall well-being by working with your hormones instead of against them. She explains the science behind cycle syncing and how women can harness their hormonal changes as superpowers rather than viewing them as inconveniences.
• Discovered that sales performance and productivity fluctuated with her cycle phases
• Created a planner and app after learning about the science of cycle syncing
• Breaks down the four phases of the menstrual cycle and their unique strengths
• Menstruation phase: best for planning and clear thinking
• Follicular phase: high energy for action and implementation
• Ovulation phase: magnetic time for communication and connection
• Luteal phase: analytical period ideal for organization and evaluation
• Explains how hormones affect nutrition needs, with 20% more calories needed during luteal phase
• Discusses the connection between perimenopause and divorce rates (70% initiated by women)
• Argues that hormonal shifts provide clarity rather than causing irrational behavior
• Advocates for just 5 minutes of daily cycle tracking to transform your relationship with your body
Visit theagendaperiod.com to learn more about cycle syncing and connect with Alex on Instagram or TikTok.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hi, how are you?
This is the MindfullyIntegrative Show and this is Dr
Damaris Maria Grossman, andtoday we have an amazing guest.
She is the owner, AlexKobold-Frakes.
She's the owner of AgendaPeriod, but it's an app.
It's so much more than that.
It's a website on the cycles ofwomen and I mean there's more
that we have to dive into this,but how to kind of help women
(00:24):
each and every day with theirkind of not just their agenda,
but like what's going on withtheir life.
So, Alex, thanks so much forcoming in on the show and talk
to me about what is going onwith you and how you're, you
know, changed.
I always ask a little fun fact.
First, Tell me a little bitabout it.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm really excited to have thisconversation because it's my
favorite topic on the planet andI would say something fun about
me that you can't always findout online is I love to travel,
so I've been to 25 differentcountries and I speak Spanish
fluently, because I lived inPeru for two years.
I was a Peace Corps volunteer,so I'm a travel girly at heart,
(01:02):
so I try to try to leave andsmell some foreign air every
single year, because the U?
S can get.
Y'all know how it is out here,so it's good to travel and to be
out there and seeing otherparts of the world.
So that is my number one hobby,when I'm not talking about the
menstrual cycle.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Oh, that's amazing.
Oh, hablando en espanol, esnecesario.
So I'm good, I'm glad you'rethat a nice moment, right.
So at heart, I love that youtravel so much.
I wish I traveled more, but Iprobably am grounded more with
my little one lately, but Idefinitely want to travel more,
so that's cool that you've beenso many spots.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, I got lucky.
I did a lot before I had kiddosand then I had twins in 2020.
And then by 2022, I was like Ihave to leave the country once a
year and I made that commitmentto myself and I've gone at
least one trip since then.
So it's not not quite mytraveling days from before, but
I've been picking them back upas as I go along.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
You bring them or no?
Bring them Not yet.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Oh no, no, Thank you.
No, I have they're.
They are so cute and they're somuch having.
Having twins is something Iwould not.
Everyone was like oh my God,twins, I love that.
I was like wouldn't wish on myworst enemy.
Like year one of their liveswas so chaotic.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
I mean I don't have twins, but I have a little one
that I can imagine I get you.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
It's a lot and it's better.
On the other side they have afriend to play with.
So now that really cuts down onmy car playing, you know,
because like they can just dothat with each other.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
so let's go, girls, boy, girl boy, girl yep, oh,
that's beautiful, thank god,what a blessing thank you, let's
get into it, tell me a littlebit about I know you came up
with the agenda period dot com,but also kind of women's cycles,
talking about women, you knowgetting into menopause,
perimenopause such a large topicand so necessary in the changes
(02:52):
of what women need in women'shealth.
How did this come about for youand, like you know, where did
it start?
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Totally on accident.
My 10-year-old self would havebeen mortified to learn.
I eventually build a periodcompany because I thought
periods were horrible and I wasnot excited about them.
So I start, I have a degree inbusiness and then, like I said,
I went to the Peace Corps and Icame back and I've always been
interested at this intersectionof like health and education,
because those things impact ourlives in such a big way.
(03:20):
So I started a health coachingcompany in 2018.
And I had read the literature onlike cycle syncing.
Like Elisa Vidi, you knowWomen's Body, women's Wisdom,
christian Northup, I've likeread those books in college and
then did nothing with theinformation and continued to
stay on hormonal birth control.
And then I got into my laterlife and eventually moved off of
(03:40):
that and I found that I hadhigher sales during the
ovulation phase of my menstrualcycle.
This was my first toe into thepool of how cycle syncing could
really be impactful for mybusiness.
So when I found that piece ofdata, I was like is there any
other evidence?
Like what else can show me thatthis has happened for other
women?
And so I found a study onPubMed and was talking about
(04:02):
this study of exotic dancers andthey split them up into women
on birth control and those noton birth control.
And the women who were not onbirth control all made more
money during ovulation up to 30%more in tips than any other
phase of their cycle.
And then the women who were onbirth control they saw it like
it was flat, so there wasn't anadditional hormonal boost in
(04:23):
their earnings because theirhormones were getting.
Their natural hormones weregetting masked by birth control
right?
So it was a different mix and adifferent blend, and when I saw
that I was like what is goingon this is this is so crazy.
Why aren't we talking aboutthis everywhere?
Because this is really impactshow women feel productive, how
they show up their health andwellness routines, feel
(04:45):
productive, how they show uptheir health and wellness
routines Because we've got thismentality, this like grinded out
mentality they have to do thesame thing every day, and that
does not work for women's bodies.
And so unlocking that led us tocreating the planner and then,
eventually, the app, because wewant women to know they're not
broken and their cycle isactually their superpower.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
That is so amazing.
I love like how you kind ofbrought it more in a superpower
in a positive manner than likeI've seen it like on the other
aspect, where people are like,well, these are your cycle parts
, so know that you can't doanything during this part, and
you're like, oh, all right, allright, I guess I should feel
this way.
So how, what was it like whenyou were building out like or
(05:23):
just kind of learning aboutthese phases?
Obviously you're a woman, soyou know what it is to have
different cycles, but now you'veprobably become like a health
professional to expert in thisarea on your own, but to then to
make it productive, how didthat kind of yeah?
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yeah, so I had this, this theory of cause.
I'm always from like, even fromthe business school side, we
talk about work smarter, notharder, and so I was really
dedicated to finding a benefitslens for each of the phases of
the cycle, because I grew upwith those same comments that
every woman, oh, like, what'swrong with you, are you on your
period?
Like you're so bitchy right now.
Right Like we talk aboutwomen's health in this super
(05:59):
negative way, and I wasdedicated to finding a way to
give it the opposite perspective.
So when we launched the company, we did a beta test with a
hundred women in business andtheir process like where they
felt more productive helped uswrite the curriculum.
Like I created the baseline andthen we tested it out with a
whole bunch of other women.
And so when we look at the fourphases, we talk about your
(06:21):
period is your great time forplanning, because you are lower
energy, you have a clear mindand your brain communicates
differently with itself duringthis time.
So it's actually a good time,when you're calm, to go out and
kind of pencil out the rest ofyour month.
So, looking at what are goodtimes, where are you going to be
at energetically and writingany notes to yourself.
Then the follicular phase.
(06:42):
That is your busy bee.
This is the time to go do theplan that you just put into
place.
But she is a terrible eventplanner because Miss Follicular
will sign you up for everything.
She will say yes to all of thethings, because she is a party
animal.
She's got high estrogen.
She's like, yeah, I can do that.
Of course my mother-in-law cancome over that weekend.
(07:02):
Of course I want to go to thatparty, of course, of course.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
And then by the end of themonth you're exhausted because
this lady planned too much stufffor you, right?
So we do not want thefollicular phase planning our
schedule.
We want her to do the actionsthat we had put in place.
Then ovulation is our highpotency time.
There's a lot that kind of goeson in the body because your
(07:23):
body wants to be pregnant.
So using that for youradvantage, right, it's harder to
say no to you.
Great time to ask for a raise.
Great time to talk to yourhusband about planning that
vacation that he's been on thefence about, because it's easier
for us to kind of communicatewhat we're needing and then
putting those desires out there.
So we talk about this as ourreally magnetic time.
And then in the luteal phase,this is our great time for
(07:46):
analyzing and organizing, sothat first week we tend to have
a lot of energy but it's moreturned inward because our
hormones change to a pro-selforientation rather than the
pro-social orientation we haveduring the first half of the
cycle, because our body istrying to maintain a potential
pregnancy rather than getpregnant.
And then that second week, whenour hormones drop down, that
(08:07):
can be a little bit more of asensitive time.
But understanding those fourdifferent pieces really gets us
to understand what naturallyslots into those times of the
month and knowing we don't haveto do everything all of the time
, but when we can optimize itfor its maximum potential and
productivity, we end up feelingso much better.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
I mean that's pretty profound, I mean, and then
you've put it in the sense ofnot just with productivity for
work, but you're saying likeeating and nutrition, like
workouts, and so you've kind ofmade it into different levels or
just been slowly adding on tothis, depending upon upon each
person no-transcript aren'tdesigned for a cyclical body.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
They're designed for hormones that do the same thing
every day.
When there are times in themonth we naturally want to eat
less, and there's times in themonth, like in the luteal phase,
we need to have a 20% increasein our calories.
Otherwise that can lead tobinge eating, restricting and
overall a lack of good hormones.
If you don't have enough food,you're going to drop
progesterone, right Like you'regoing to increase cortisol, not
(09:31):
being able to support thoseprogesterone levels, which will
lead you to having more brainfog and not sleeping well.
So it's just like this monkeychasing its tail all the time
and we get into a cycle that wecan't dig ourselves out of
because we're not living withthis alignment.
So we're excited to show womenhow it impacts their
relationships, their moneymindset, how it impacts every
single thing about us.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
I think it definitely puts it in another perspective
and I couldn't agree more withyou.
I think this is it's profound,I think it's super important.
Have you been adding it withlike, almost like the wearables?
Have you been trying toincorporate this in like a
wearable?
Speaker 2 (10:11):
no-transcript.
We'd love to find a wearablethat felt really aligned.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Yeah, you know, be like hey, hey.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Yeah, at some point.
Yes, we're a little with like,given the current geopolitical
landscape, it's a little hard totrust other companies' security
policies right now and becausethere's been so much up in the
air.
But it's something like I'mconstantly looking at other new
wearables and like who could wepartner with?
Because the Aura natural cyclescycles combo was was incredible
(10:43):
, like we need.
We definitely are interested inthat.
It just hasn't happened quiteyet.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Yeah, yeah, no, no, I mean I'm, hey, I was just, it's
a, it's a future.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
It's a great.
It's a great option though.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Yeah, and like you have enough on your plate as it
is, probably, but no, I thinkit's, it's going to, it's
definitely necessary, and it'sjust such a different way of
like looking at things that Ifeel like us women are always
like struggling to find thatpattern and the changes you know
.
So, growing from this, like howdid it start with the planner,
(11:14):
right?
You started out as a planner.
You didn't just do it out,right.
How did it start with theplanner?
You started out as a planner.
You didn't just do an app,right, you were wanting to be
more productive in your workitself, or just being as a mom.
What kind of like promoted thisto even become even more than
where it is now?
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Yeah.
So I started the planner beforeI became a mom and I'm really
glad that I did that.
I understood my hormones alittle bit better before I
entered into motherhood.
I think that was a bigadvantage.
Hormones a little bit betterbefore I entered into motherhood
I think that was a bigadvantage.
So what happened is, after wedid the beta test, we launched a
crowdfunding campaign because Ididn't have them Like we had to
print our first batch in bulkand I didn't have like $5,000
sitting around.
So we did a crowdfundingcampaign and got the word out
(11:50):
there and that allowed us tobring our first product to
market.
And then when we were out theretalking to people about it,
everyone's like this is so cool.
When are you making an app?
I was like literally never.
I'm non-technical, like I havea business background and I'm a
health coach.
I'm not doing it.
And then the more people keptasking.
I got really into the databecause I'm a nerd about data.
So I like I went on Crunchbaseand I found all the top period
(12:12):
apps on the market and of thetop five grossing period apps
that I could find, there was onefemale on any of those founding
teams.
There's one woman on any of thefounding teams of the biggest
period apps on the market and Iwas like I might not have a tech
background, but at least I'vehad a period.
So if all these dudes can makea period app, I feel like I can
(12:32):
toss my hat in the ring and wecan make something pretty cool.
So that data inspired me to goout and find the resources, and
I made a lot of mistakes.
I did not do it correctly andI'm really glad we started with
a paper MVP before we moved intotech, because it saved us a lot
of money being able to test outwhat we were thinking and what
(12:55):
users might want, and we alsodid a beta test with our users
for before the app launch.
So we really have beensystematic and careful about
staying close to our users andcreating stuff that women are
needing.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
That's really neat.
I know that like yeah, well, Imean doing those MVP stuff, like
yeah, that takes that takes alot of back end time and energy
and and you know, it's your baby.
Yes, exactly what have you beenworking on lately in reference
to, or or what would you like toshare, you know, in reference
(13:30):
to this, or how it's kind ofimpacted your life for yourself?
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Yeah, one of the things that we've really been
focusing on a lot lately is thisconnection between
relationships and health andspecifically this midlife
transition, because we've nowcontributed to a couple of like
pretty big news pieces because alot of women are getting
divorced in perimenopause.
Like 70% of divorce initiatedby women is happening during
(13:56):
perimenopause.
Percent of divorce initiated bywomen is happening during
perimenopause and when we lookat it, because we're kind of
talking about that pro-socialversus pro-self orientation
women are moving more into apro-self orientation as they go
through perimenopause becausethey tend to have their cycles
further and further apart.
So less estrogen, having moreof that like more progesterone
based or yeah, right, as theykind of are going through things
(14:19):
.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Okay, so more about themselves.
Okay, back to yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
So we're getting more internal as we go through, and
so when women are doing thatinternal audit, they're finding
maybe this relationship I'vebeen in for a long time is no
longer in service of me, and soif that person is not willing to
make some changes, I'm going tochange now because I have the
economic freedom, I've got myown money, I've got my own
career, and women are opting outof these relationships because
(14:47):
they're kind of seeing thatrefusal to change.
So some people are talkingabout it as like, oh, the
hormones are making you crazy.
And we've just seen it as thehormones are giving people
clarity.
They're giving them clarity onhow the relationship has been
working or not working, and soreally what I see as the path
forward is men and womenunderstanding that they have
these different hormonalprogramming and orientations in
(15:09):
the world and then figuring outhow we can understand each other
.
So think men are from Mars,women are from Venus, but
grounded in hormones andgrounded in hormonal theory.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
No, I think that that takes another aspect of it in
the sense of, instead of goingokay, all these people are
having divorce.
If you work on the relationshipof where it's at, maybe some
will be divorced, and theyshould be, maybe, and that
clarity is good for the women tofind out.
Um, maybe some of them arereconcilable you know, who knows
what's going on and then butthe fact that women have a
(15:41):
little bit more of a strongerview and then also men have
their own hormone changes youknow what I mean.
They're going through their,their stuff, but I feel like us
women, we don't get enough ofthe yeah on it, you know right.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
We have spent billions of dollars supporting
men in midlife over the last 20,30 decades, with 20, 30 years,
with like ED medication andtestosterone clinics on every
corner in every city,criticizing culturally that
testosterone is so important towho a man is that it should be
(16:17):
preserved because, liketestosterone makes up his
personality and yet for somereason we can't make that jump
to.
Estrogen and progesterone verymuch do the same thing from
women.
They really impact ourpersonality and so that also
needs to be protected andsupported as we move through
midlife.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Oh great.
So, like you know, it's likeestrogen, progesterone, a little
touch of whatever our needs are, but yet it's like maybe, yeah,
you know, have you found itbeen harder to get the like to
replace the hormone, like howpeople like women go to like, oh
, they want to get hormonereplacement.
(16:55):
If you're, do you suggest stufflike that in your, your
coaching or on your app?
Speaker 2 (17:06):
We haven't touched HRT yet but it's something we'll
probably work with.
We'd love to work with aprovider or a practitioner to
have that support offered to ourusers to have them go through a
process.
So it's something we're reallyinterested in.
And there was that big study inthe 80s that scared a bunch of
people around HRT for womenbecause they weren't necessarily
(17:26):
using the best forms of thosehormones, and so I think there's
a lot of fear that has been outthere on what this can look
like for people.
So it's something we'redefinitely interested in looking
at in the fullness of time.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Yeah, but overall, like now, you're just overall
trying to help women, coach them, get them to just even
understand where the hormonesare at right now and where their
mind is, and they're notmentally crazy, because I feel
like that is the hardest partit's like everything that.
It's like, oh well, you're just, you're just, it's just how you
feel, and I wish thatconversation, you know, needs to
be readdressed and refocusedand I don't know a different way
(18:02):
.
So you're, you're definitelyhaving that conversation,
without it being like weird, youknow.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Absolutely.
I think that's one of the thingslike we had kind of talked
about offline.
We brought this tool to market,thinking women would be excited
about the productivity angle,and really the most consistent
feedback from our users is likeit helps me understand myself.
I understand that I'm not crazy, so I can take these hormonal
shifts personally or seriously,but not personally.
So like, hey, you just haveless dopamine and serotonin
(18:31):
during the second half becauseof the way estrogen supports
those neurotransmitters, right,we we are just different with
the phases.
So when women understand thatthey can stop judging them and
they kind of happen from eachother, they're crazy.
(18:58):
And so what we want our usersto understand and walk away with
is this knowing that theirhormones are awesome, that they
can support them, and ifsomething does feel off the
rails once they're tracking it,they can identify that really
quickly so that they can supportthem.
And if something does feel offthe rails, once they're tracking
it, they can identify thatreally quickly so that they can
get the support they need andyour team helps them get that
coaching support if they need,or just kind of direction.
(19:23):
Yeah, we definitely havecoaching options available for
people, both one-on-one and inthe group, and in the fullness
of time we'd love for that to beable to live through the app,
but that's going to be a bigtech build on that side, but
eventually it'd be awesome tohave that content dripped out
for people so that they alwayshave got that hormone coach
right in their pocket.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Absolutely.
I like how you say hormonecoach because I think it's a
nice way of thinking of it.
I also appreciate your justunderstanding of how women are
and all their age gaps and stuff, so I think that's an important
aspect.
I think you're sayingperimenopause, menopause even
(20:04):
the younger age Do you find thisis also discussing conversation
on the mental health and thePMDD conversations and stuff
like that?
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Absolutely, and what we really are, we're starting to
see is that women who aretracking their cycles earlier
and earlier and really divinginto the knowledge are going to
be having a better time inperimenopause.
They're going to have an easierperimenopause and menopause and
recognizing, maybe I do havePMDD, you can get that
(20:38):
additional support and trackingis this big thing that shines a
flashlight on what's going onand that's why we just feel like
it's the number one first stepfor everybody.
You've got to be able toilluminate your own patterns to
be able to make any meaningfulchange around them.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
That is so, it's so important.
I really, I think you're, youknow, you've definitely shown a
lot.
I think that, and the fact thatyou're you know, women, owned
and knowledgeable of how yoursystem works, I think you know
that gives a good, you knowperspective and and we need, we
need more people, you knowdiscussing this, we need more
(21:13):
research on it and we need moreconversations on how to change
it.
So what else would you like toshare with the group before you
go today?
Speaker 2 (21:29):
I would say that the biggest pushback we get from
women is that they don't havetime to do this.
They don't have time to workwith their body in this way.
They're just too busy.
And my favorite kind of ancientparadigm is if you don't have
time to meditate for 10 minutes,you should meditate for an hour
.
Should meditate for an hour,meaning if you feel like you're
(21:52):
so busy, you can't give any ofthis time or attention to
yourself.
It's a highlight showing youneed more time and attention for
yourself, and so when womenjust start to spend five minutes
a day on a cycle check-in,giving themselves their own
loving attention, it becomes somuch easier to show up fully in
their roles, in their motherhood, in their their own professions
and whatever they're doing whenthey're pouring and filling
(22:12):
from their own cup first.
So that's the invitation we alljust need a little bit more of
our own self-care so then we cango out and do our best work in
the world.
So spend five minutes trackingyour cycle, understanding your
moods and understanding howthose correlate to the phases of
your cycle, and you're going tofeel a lot better.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
I love.
I love what you're.
You know your vibe.
I love what you're doing.
I definitely will shine a light, even on my end.
I feel like I know some of it,but I feel like I would love to
know more, and this I I can'twait to sign it myself.
So how can we reach you?
How can we?
How can those?
I'll have that in the shownotes, but how can people reach
you and connect with you online?
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Yeah, absolutely.
Go to theagendaperiodcom.
That's kind of ourclearinghouse for all of the
different products.
We've got our shop on there,we've got everything kind of
queued up in there and then youcan come hang out with us on
Instagram or TikTok.
We like to make fun spicyconversations happen because we
really we know we need acultural pivot on this topic and
(23:11):
we're excited to be in theconversation.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
I mean that's really cool, that like the cultural and
the change of it, without itbeing like a weird conversation.
Is it hard sometimes going tobe like in your you know
business pitches and be like,hey, I talk about periods all
day or, like you know, I try tomake you feel better?
Speaker 2 (23:33):
It's been really hard .
Like people don't want to talkabout periods and I'm like, hey,
without a successful menstrualcycle, you wouldn't even be
alive.
So we all need to getcomfortable talking about the
cycle.
So yeah, we're here to disrupt,shake things up and get people
comfortable talking about this.
So thank you so much for havingme today.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
No, I really appreciate it.
I feel like I have another timefor you to be on to discuss,
even because I talk a ton aboutwith other.
You know those with irregularperiods and PCOS and you know
other menstrual issues that Ican imagine where, when your
cycle changing and things arechanging, how to work with that
too.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
So it's like another avenue Totally.
Thank you so much for your timetoday.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
I really appreciate it and thank you so much for
being on and thank you guys forlistening to the Mindfully
Integrative Show.
Hi, how are you?
This is the MindfullyIntegrative Show and this is Dr
Damaris Maria Grossman, andtoday we have an amazing guest.
She is the owner, AlexKobold-Frakes.
She's the owner of AgendaPeriod, but it's an app.
It's so much more than that.
It's a website on the cycles ofwomen and I mean there's more
that we have to dive into this,but how to kind of help women
(00:24):
each and every day with theirkind of not just their agenda,
but like what's going on withtheir life.
So, Alex, thanks so much forcoming in on the show and talk
to me about what is going onwith you and how you're, you
know, changed.
I always ask a little fun fact.
First, Tell me a little bitabout it.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm really excited to have thisconversation because it's my
favorite topic on the planet andI would say something fun about
me that you can't always findout online is I love to travel,
so I've been to 25 differentcountries and I speak Spanish
fluently, because I lived inPeru for two years.
I was a Peace Corps volunteer,so I'm a travel girly at heart,
(01:02):
so I try to try to leave andsmell some foreign air every
single year, because the U?
S can get.
Y'all know how it is out here,so it's good to travel and to be
out there and seeing otherparts of the world.
So that is my number one hobby,when I'm not talking about the
menstrual cycle.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Oh, that's amazing.
Oh, hablando en espanol, esnecesario.
So I'm good, I'm glad you'rethat a nice moment, right.
So at heart, I love that youtravel so much.
I wish I traveled more, but Iprobably am grounded more with
my little one lately, but Idefinitely want to travel more,
so that's cool that you've beenso many spots.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, I got lucky.
I did a lot before I had kiddosand then I had twins in 2020.
And then by 2022, I was like Ihave to leave the country once a
year and I made that commitmentto myself and I've gone at
least one trip since then.
So it's not not quite mytraveling days from before, but
I've been picking them back upas as I go along.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
You bring them or no?
Bring them Not yet.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Oh no, no, Thank you.
No, I have they're.
They are so cute and they're somuch having.
Having twins is something Iwould not.
Everyone was like oh my God,twins, I love that.
I was like wouldn't wish on myworst enemy.
Like year one of their liveswas so chaotic.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
I mean I don't have twins, but I have a little one
that I can imagine I get you.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
It's a lot and it's better.
On the other side they have afriend to play with.
So now that really cuts down onmy car playing, you know,
because like they can just dothat with each other.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
so let's go, girls, boy, girl boy, girl yep, oh,
that's beautiful, thank god,what a blessing thank you, let's
get into it, tell me a littlebit about I know you came up
with the agenda period dot com,but also kind of women's cycles,
talking about women, you knowgetting into menopause,
perimenopause such a large topicand so necessary in the changes
(02:52):
of what women need in women'shealth.
How did this come about for youand, like you know, where did
it start?
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Totally on accident.
My 10-year-old self would havebeen mortified to learn.
I eventually build a periodcompany because I thought
periods were horrible and I wasnot excited about them.
So I start, I have a degree inbusiness and then, like I said,
I went to the Peace Corps and Icame back and I've always been
interested at this intersectionof like health and education,
because those things impact ourlives in such a big way.
(03:20):
So I started a health coachingcompany in 2018.
And I had read the literature onlike cycle syncing.
Like Elisa Vidi, you knowWomen's Body, women's Wisdom,
christian Northup, I've likeread those books in college and
then did nothing with theinformation and continued to
stay on hormonal birth control.
And then I got into my laterlife and eventually moved off of
(03:40):
that and I found that I hadhigher sales during the
ovulation phase of my menstrualcycle.
This was my first toe into thepool of how cycle syncing could
really be impactful for mybusiness.
So when I found that piece ofdata, I was like is there any
other evidence?
Like what else can show me thatthis has happened for other
women?
And so I found a study onPubMed and was talking about
(04:02):
this study of exotic dancers andthey split them up into women
on birth control and those noton birth control.
And the women who were not onbirth control all made more
money during ovulation up to 30%more in tips than any other
phase of their cycle.
And then the women who were onbirth control they saw it like
it was flat, so there wasn't anadditional hormonal boost in
(04:23):
their earnings because theirhormones were getting.
Their natural hormones weregetting masked by birth control
right?
So it was a different mix and adifferent blend, and when I saw
that I was like what is goingon this is this is so crazy.
Why aren't we talking aboutthis everywhere?
Because this is really impactshow women feel productive, how
they show up their health andwellness routines, feel
(04:45):
productive, how they show uptheir health and wellness
routines Because we've got thismentality, this like grinded out
mentality they have to do thesame thing every day, and that
does not work for women's bodies.
And so unlocking that led us tocreating the planner and then,
eventually, the app, because wewant women to know they're not
broken and their cycle isactually their superpower.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
That is so amazing.
I love like how you kind ofbrought it more in a superpower
in a positive manner than likeI've seen it like on the other
aspect, where people are like,well, these are your cycle parts
, so know that you can't doanything during this part, and
you're like, oh, all right, allright, I guess I should feel
this way.
So how, what was it like whenyou were building out like or
(05:23):
just kind of learning aboutthese phases?
Obviously you're a woman, soyou know what it is to have
different cycles, but now you'veprobably become like a health
professional to expert in thisarea on your own, but to then to
make it productive, how didthat kind of yeah?
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yeah, so I had this, this theory of cause.
I'm always from like, even fromthe business school side, we
talk about work smarter, notharder, and so I was really
dedicated to finding a benefitslens for each of the phases of
the cycle, because I grew upwith those same comments that
every woman, oh, like, what'swrong with you, are you on your
period?
Like you're so bitchy right now.
Right Like we talk aboutwomen's health in this super
(05:59):
negative way, and I wasdedicated to finding a way to
give it the opposite perspective.
So when we launched the company, we did a beta test with a
hundred women in business andtheir process like where they
felt more productive helped uswrite the curriculum.
Like I created the baseline andthen we tested it out with a
whole bunch of other women.
And so when we look at the fourphases, we talk about your
(06:21):
period is your great time forplanning, because you are lower
energy, you have a clear mindand your brain communicates
differently with itself duringthis time.
So it's actually a good time,when you're calm, to go out and
kind of pencil out the rest ofyour month.
So, looking at what are goodtimes, where are you going to be
at energetically and writingany notes to yourself.
Then the follicular phase.
(06:42):
That is your busy bee.
This is the time to go do theplan that you just put into
place.
But she is a terrible eventplanner because Miss Follicular
will sign you up for everything.
She will say yes to all of thethings, because she is a party
animal.
She's got high estrogen.
She's like, yeah, I can do that.
Of course my mother-in-law cancome over that weekend.
(07:02):
Of course I want to go to thatparty, of course, of course.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
And then by the end of themonth you're exhausted because
this lady planned too much stufffor you, right?
So we do not want thefollicular phase planning our
schedule.
We want her to do the actionsthat we had put in place.
Then ovulation is our highpotency time.
There's a lot that kind of goeson in the body because your
(07:23):
body wants to be pregnant.
So using that for youradvantage, right, it's harder to
say no to you.
Great time to ask for a raise.
Great time to talk to yourhusband about planning that
vacation that he's been on thefence about, because it's easier
for us to kind of communicatewhat we're needing and then
putting those desires out there.
So we talk about this as ourreally magnetic time.
And then in the luteal phase,this is our great time for
(07:46):
analyzing and organizing, sothat first week we tend to have
a lot of energy but it's moreturned inward because our
hormones change to a pro-selforientation rather than the
pro-social orientation we haveduring the first half of the
cycle, because our body istrying to maintain a potential
pregnancy rather than getpregnant.
And then that second week, whenour hormones drop down, that
(08:07):
can be a little bit more of asensitive time.
But understanding those fourdifferent pieces really gets us
to understand what naturallyslots into those times of the
month and knowing we don't haveto do everything all of the time
, but when we can optimize itfor its maximum potential and
productivity, we end up feelingso much better.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
I mean that's pretty profound, I mean, and then
you've put it in the sense ofnot just with productivity for
work, but you're saying likeeating and nutrition, like
workouts, and so you've kind ofmade it into different levels or
just been slowly adding on tothis, depending upon upon each
person no-transcript aren'tdesigned for a cyclical body.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
They're designed for hormones that do the same thing
every day.
When there are times in themonth we naturally want to eat
less, and there's times in themonth, like in the luteal phase,
we need to have a 20% increasein our calories.
Otherwise that can lead tobinge eating, restricting and
overall a lack of good hormones.
If you don't have enough food,you're going to drop
progesterone, right Like you'regoing to increase cortisol, not
(09:31):
being able to support thoseprogesterone levels, which will
lead you to having more brainfog and not sleeping well.
So it's just like this monkeychasing its tail all the time
and we get into a cycle that wecan't dig ourselves out of
because we're not living withthis alignment.
So we're excited to show womenhow it impacts their
relationships, their moneymindset, how it impacts every
single thing about us.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
I think it definitely puts it in another perspective
and I couldn't agree more withyou.
I think this is it's profound,I think it's super important.
Have you been adding it withlike, almost like the wearables?
Have you been trying toincorporate this in like a
wearable?
Speaker 2 (10:11):
no-transcript.
We'd love to find a wearablethat felt really aligned.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Yeah, you know, be like hey, hey.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Yeah, at some point.
Yes, we're a little with like,given the current geopolitical
landscape, it's a little hard totrust other companies' security
policies right now and becausethere's been so much up in the
air.
But it's something like I'mconstantly looking at other new
wearables and like who could wepartner with?
Because the Aura natural cyclescycles combo was was incredible
(10:43):
, like we need.
We definitely are interested inthat.
It just hasn't happened quiteyet.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Yeah, yeah, no, no, I mean I'm, hey, I was just, it's
a, it's a future.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
It's a great.
It's a great option though.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Yeah, and like you have enough on your plate as it
is, probably, but no, I thinkit's, it's going to, it's
definitely necessary, and it'sjust such a different way of
like looking at things that Ifeel like us women are always
like struggling to find thatpattern and the changes you know
.
So, growing from this, like howdid it start with the planner,
(11:14):
right?
You started out as a planner.
You didn't just do it out,right.
How did it start with theplanner?
You started out as a planner.
You didn't just do an app,right, you were wanting to be
more productive in your workitself, or just being as a mom.
What kind of like promoted thisto even become even more than
where it is now?
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Yeah.
So I started the planner beforeI became a mom and I'm really
glad that I did that.
I understood my hormones alittle bit better before I
entered into motherhood.
I think that was a bigadvantage.
Hormones a little bit betterbefore I entered into motherhood
I think that was a bigadvantage.
So what happened is, after wedid the beta test, we launched a
crowdfunding campaign because Ididn't have them Like we had to
print our first batch in bulkand I didn't have like $5,000
sitting around.
So we did a crowdfundingcampaign and got the word out
(11:50):
there and that allowed us tobring our first product to
market.
And then when we were out theretalking to people about it,
everyone's like this is so cool.
When are you making an app?
I was like literally never.
I'm non-technical, like I havea business background and I'm a
health coach.
I'm not doing it.
And then the more people keptasking.
I got really into the databecause I'm a nerd about data.
So I like I went on Crunchbaseand I found all the top period
(12:12):
apps on the market and of thetop five grossing period apps
that I could find, there was onefemale on any of those founding
teams.
There's one woman on any of thefounding teams of the biggest
period apps on the market and Iwas like I might not have a tech
background, but at least I'vehad a period.
So if all these dudes can makea period app, I feel like I can
(12:32):
toss my hat in the ring and wecan make something pretty cool.
So that data inspired me to goout and find the resources, and
I made a lot of mistakes.
I did not do it correctly andI'm really glad we started with
a paper MVP before we moved intotech, because it saved us a lot
of money being able to test outwhat we were thinking and what
(12:55):
users might want, and we alsodid a beta test with our users
for before the app launch.
So we really have beensystematic and careful about
staying close to our users andcreating stuff that women are
needing.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
That's really neat.
I know that like yeah, well, Imean doing those MVP stuff, like
yeah, that takes that takes alot of back end time and energy
and and you know, it's your baby.
Yes, exactly what have you beenworking on lately in reference
to, or or what would you like toshare, you know, in reference
(13:30):
to this, or how it's kind ofimpacted your life for yourself?
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Yeah, one of the things that we've really been
focusing on a lot lately is thisconnection between
relationships and health andspecifically this midlife
transition, because we've nowcontributed to a couple of like
pretty big news pieces because alot of women are getting
divorced in perimenopause.
Like 70% of divorce initiatedby women is happening during
(13:56):
perimenopause.
Percent of divorce initiated bywomen is happening during
perimenopause and when we lookat it, because we're kind of
talking about that pro-socialversus pro-self orientation
women are moving more into apro-self orientation as they go
through perimenopause becausethey tend to have their cycles
further and further apart.
So less estrogen, having moreof that like more progesterone
based or yeah, right, as theykind of are going through things
(14:19):
.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Okay, so more about themselves.
Okay, back to yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
So we're getting more internal as we go through, and
so when women are doing thatinternal audit, they're finding
maybe this relationship I'vebeen in for a long time is no
longer in service of me, and soif that person is not willing to
make some changes, I'm going tochange now because I have the
economic freedom, I've got myown money, I've got my own
career, and women are opting outof these relationships because
(14:47):
they're kind of seeing thatrefusal to change.
So some people are talkingabout it as like, oh, the
hormones are making you crazy.
And we've just seen it as thehormones are giving people
clarity.
They're giving them clarity onhow the relationship has been
working or not working, and soreally what I see as the path
forward is men and womenunderstanding that they have
these different hormonalprogramming and orientations in
(15:09):
the world and then figuring outhow we can understand each other
.
So think men are from Mars,women are from Venus, but
grounded in hormones andgrounded in hormonal theory.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
No, I think that that takes another aspect of it in
the sense of, instead of goingokay, all these people are
having divorce.
If you work on the relationshipof where it's at, maybe some
will be divorced, and theyshould be, maybe, and that
clarity is good for the women tofind out.
Um, maybe some of them arereconcilable you know, who knows
what's going on and then butthe fact that women have a
(15:41):
little bit more of a strongerview and then also men have
their own hormone changes youknow what I mean.
They're going through their,their stuff, but I feel like us
women, we don't get enough ofthe yeah on it, you know right.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
We have spent billions of dollars supporting
men in midlife over the last 20,30 decades, with 20, 30 years,
with like ED medication andtestosterone clinics on every
corner in every city,criticizing culturally that
testosterone is so important towho a man is that it should be
(16:17):
preserved because, liketestosterone makes up his
personality and yet for somereason we can't make that jump
to.
Estrogen and progesterone verymuch do the same thing from
women.
They really impact ourpersonality and so that also
needs to be protected andsupported as we move through
midlife.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Oh great.
So, like you know, it's likeestrogen, progesterone, a little
touch of whatever our needs are, but yet it's like maybe, yeah,
you know, have you found itbeen harder to get the like to
replace the hormone, like howpeople like women go to like, oh
, they want to get hormonereplacement.
(16:55):
If you're, do you suggest stufflike that in your, your
coaching or on your app?
Speaker 2 (17:06):
We haven't touched HRT yet but it's something we'll
probably work with.
We'd love to work with aprovider or a practitioner to
have that support offered to ourusers to have them go through a
process.
So it's something we're reallyinterested in.
And there was that big study inthe 80s that scared a bunch of
people around HRT for womenbecause they weren't necessarily
(17:26):
using the best forms of thosehormones, and so I think there's
a lot of fear that has been outthere on what this can look
like for people.
So it's something we'redefinitely interested in looking
at in the fullness of time.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Yeah, but overall, like now, you're just overall
trying to help women, coach them, get them to just even
understand where the hormonesare at right now and where their
mind is, and they're notmentally crazy, because I feel
like that is the hardest partit's like everything that.
It's like, oh well, you're just, you're just, it's just how you
feel, and I wish thatconversation, you know, needs to
be readdressed and refocusedand I don't know a different way
(18:02):
.
So you're, you're definitelyhaving that conversation,
without it being like weird, youknow.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Absolutely.
I think that's one of the thingslike we had kind of talked
about offline.
We brought this tool to market,thinking women would be excited
about the productivity angle,and really the most consistent
feedback from our users is likeit helps me understand myself.
I understand that I'm not crazy, so I can take these hormonal
shifts personally or seriously,but not personally.
So like, hey, you just haveless dopamine and serotonin
(18:31):
during the second half becauseof the way estrogen supports
those neurotransmitters, right,we we are just different with
the phases.
So when women understand thatthey can stop judging them and
they kind of happen from eachother, they're crazy.
(18:58):
And so what we want our usersto understand and walk away with
is this knowing that theirhormones are awesome, that they
can support them, and ifsomething does feel off the
rails once they're tracking it,they can identify that really
quickly so that they can supportthem.
And if something does feel offthe rails, once they're tracking
it, they can identify thatreally quickly so that they can
get the support they need andyour team helps them get that
coaching support if they need,or just kind of direction.
(19:23):
Yeah, we definitely havecoaching options available for
people, both one-on-one and inthe group, and in the fullness
of time we'd love for that to beable to live through the app,
but that's going to be a bigtech build on that side, but
eventually it'd be awesome tohave that content dripped out
for people so that they alwayshave got that hormone coach
right in their pocket.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Absolutely.
I like how you say hormonecoach because I think it's a
nice way of thinking of it.
I also appreciate your justunderstanding of how women are
and all their age gaps and stuff, so I think that's an important
aspect.
I think you're sayingperimenopause, menopause even
(20:04):
the younger age Do you find thisis also discussing conversation
on the mental health and thePMDD conversations and stuff
like that?
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Absolutely, and what we really are, we're starting to
see is that women who aretracking their cycles earlier
and earlier and really divinginto the knowledge are going to
be having a better time inperimenopause.
They're going to have an easierperimenopause and menopause and
recognizing, maybe I do havePMDD, you can get that
(20:38):
additional support and trackingis this big thing that shines a
flashlight on what's going onand that's why we just feel like
it's the number one first stepfor everybody.
You've got to be able toilluminate your own patterns to
be able to make any meaningfulchange around them.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
That is so, it's so important.
I really, I think you're, youknow, you've definitely shown a
lot.
I think that, and the fact thatyou're you know, women, owned
and knowledgeable of how yoursystem works, I think you know
that gives a good, you knowperspective and and we need, we
need more people, you knowdiscussing this, we need more
(21:13):
research on it and we need moreconversations on how to change
it.
So what else would you like toshare with the group before you
go today?
Speaker 2 (21:29):
I would say that the biggest pushback we get from
women is that they don't havetime to do this.
They don't have time to workwith their body in this way.
They're just too busy.
And my favorite kind of ancientparadigm is if you don't have
time to meditate for 10 minutes,you should meditate for an hour
.
Should meditate for an hour,meaning if you feel like you're
(21:52):
so busy, you can't give any ofthis time or attention to
yourself.
It's a highlight showing youneed more time and attention for
yourself, and so when womenjust start to spend five minutes
a day on a cycle check-in,giving themselves their own
loving attention, it becomes somuch easier to show up fully in
their roles, in their motherhood, in their their own professions
and whatever they're doing whenthey're pouring and filling
(22:12):
from their own cup first.
So that's the invitation we alljust need a little bit more of
our own self-care so then we cango out and do our best work in
the world.
So spend five minutes trackingyour cycle, understanding your
moods and understanding howthose correlate to the phases of
your cycle, and you're going tofeel a lot better.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
I love.
I love what you're.
You know your vibe.
I love what you're doing.
I definitely will shine a light, even on my end.
I feel like I know some of it,but I feel like I would love to
know more, and this I I can'twait to sign it myself.
So how can we reach you?
How can we?
How can those?
I'll have that in the shownotes, but how can people reach
you and connect with you online?
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Yeah, absolutely.
Go to theagendaperiodcom.
That's kind of ourclearinghouse for all of the
different products.
We've got our shop on there,we've got everything kind of
queued up in there and then youcan come hang out with us on
Instagram or TikTok.
We like to make fun spicyconversations happen because we
really we know we need acultural pivot on this topic and
(23:11):
we're excited to be in theconversation.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
I mean that's really cool, that like the cultural and
the change of it, without itbeing like a weird conversation.
Is it hard sometimes going tobe like in your you know
business pitches and be like,hey, I talk about periods all
day or, like you know, I try tomake you feel better?
Speaker 2 (23:33):
It's been really hard .
Like people don't want to talkabout periods and I'm like, hey,
without a successful menstrualcycle, you wouldn't even be
alive.
So we all need to getcomfortable talking about the
cycle.
So yeah, we're here to disrupt,shake things up and get people
comfortable talking about this.
So thank you so much for havingme today.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
No, I really appreciate it.
I feel like I have another timefor you to be on to discuss,
even because I talk a ton aboutwith other.
You know those with irregularperiods and PCOS and you know
other menstrual issues that Ican imagine where, when your
cycle changing and things arechanging, how to work with that
too.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
So it's like another avenue Totally.
Thank you so much for your timetoday.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
I really appreciate it and thank you so much for
being on and thank you guys forlistening to the Mindfully
Integrative Show.
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