Latest / The Dr Louise Newson Podcast / 36 - How Balance app is reshaping women’s hormonal health

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36 - How Balance app is reshaping women’s hormonal health · The Dr Louise Newson Podcast

0:00
Today I talk a lot about my free Balance app and I've got with me
0:04
Matt Jones, who's the managing director of Balance.
0:07
He has a wealth of experience and knowledge which he's really
0:10
bringing to shape and change balance so that it's not just a
0:14
menopausal app. It's an app for all women so
0:17
women can be empowered with information that's relevant to
0:20
them so that they can get the right treatment, hopefully from
0:23
their healthcare provider wherever they live.
0:26
We talk about how Balance is already shaping the future for a
0:29
lot of women and how it's really helped them and the plans that
0:32
we have, some of them quite ambitious going forwards.
0:38
So Matt, really great that you're here.
0:41
I want to talk about Balance app because I haven't really spoken
0:44
about it on a podcast for a long time.
0:47
And when people, not always, but when they sort of recognise me
0:51
or stop me in the streets, it's very humbling because they
0:53
normally thank me for the work I do.
0:56
But it's usually either the podcast or Balance.
0:59
And they're the two things that I'm the most proud of actually.
1:02
Like obviously I'm proud of being a doctor.
1:04
I'm proud of being a mother. But you know, my mission is to
1:07
give people as much information as possible in ways that they
1:10
understand so they can be empowered and make choices about
1:14
their health. So the last bit, making choices
1:17
about their health, I feel it's up to them, not up to me as a
1:20
doctor. I'm not a dictator.
1:22
I'm not patriarchal. It's about people being able to
1:25
choose. So balance is a really, really
1:28
important part of my work. And the last year or so, I've
1:32
sort of been babysitting it because there's been all sorts
1:34
of things going on. But I set it up a few years ago.
1:38
It's had most phenomenal feedback and global reach.
1:43
So you're the managing director of Balance.
1:46
You've been with us for a few weeks, but it feels like a few
1:50
years actually because I'm not here to really big you up, but I
1:53
do want to stay in public. You're very mission driven as
1:57
well and you really understand what I'm trying to do with
2:02
Balance. Is that fair to say?
2:04
Yeah, I think so. I mean, I think the overall
2:06
purpose of the app is to inform women it's a massive equity
2:13
issue that women have to suffer some of these symptoms in
2:16
silence or at least in some kind of state of subjugation almost.
2:22
And, you know, I, I've got women in my life that brought me up to
2:26
care about those things, but also who have suffered from them
2:29
as well. Not just, you know, menopause
2:32
and perimenopause, but my daughter and her journey with
2:36
contraception, you know, wasn't great.
2:38
Yeah. And, you know, so to me, it's
2:40
important. It's a, it's a really big
2:42
challenge. And the value of of rising to it
2:47
and overcoming it is pretty significant.
2:49
Yeah, yeah, 'cause I, I set it up really because I expose
2:55
myself as, you know, quite a lot to social media and my reach
2:58
wasn't nearly as big as it is now, but I was getting a lot.
3:02
And I still am DM's from women. So direct messages from women
3:05
telling me that they've gone to their doctor, they've been told
3:08
they're too young, they're too old, they don't need hormones,
3:12
that they need antidepressants, but they know that there's more.
3:15
And what other resources can they have?
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And so I'd spent a long time messaging them, which time I
3:21
don't really have, and obviously got a lot of resources on my
3:24
website. But then I just thought, look,
3:26
not everyone, but most people have got access to a phone.
3:30
And it's such an empowering thing.
3:33
And also for me, whether there's one person, a hundred, 1000, a
3:37
million or millions of women, it's the same effort really,
3:40
isn't it? When you've got the
3:42
infrastructure, right? And that's where technology is
3:44
transformational, isn't it? Yeah.
3:46
And you know, the, the, the platform as it is, is, is
3:49
already reaching, you know, hundreds of thousands of women
3:53
on a monthly basis. It's providing really good
3:56
feedback. It's providing a place for them
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to talk about what's happening in their lives that's safe and
4:00
reasonably kind of, it's a community of interest, if you
4:03
like. And you know, the, the main
4:05
thing is it actually allows them to do something so they can
4:08
track their symptoms, they can generate reports that empower
4:12
them when they go to see their GP.
4:14
But also just seeing those reports and that data I think
4:19
will help them understand that there is something MMM going on
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underneath that, you know, it needs to be looked at.
4:24
Yeah, I think it helps them validate their symptoms.
4:28
So we've recently changed the symptom questionnaire on it,
4:30
haven't we? We had, there was a shorter one
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and with the research team I work with and within the clinic
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we've created a much longer symptom questionnaire.
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And I know when I was initially thinking about putting it on
4:40
balance, some people said well that will take people too long,
4:43
they might not want it. But actually what the feedback
4:45
we are getting from lots of women is that, wow, I didn't
4:49
realise those symptoms were connected.
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So it's actually really helpful, isn't it?
4:53
Yeah. And you know, I think one of the
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things that balance gives us the opportunity to do is collect
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data and to be able to to look at that data for patterns, for
5:03
insights, for trends that are relevant to women and, and the
5:07
users of the app, but also relevant to the entire
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community. And it's really important to me
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because I'm very scientific as well.
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But it's also really astounding that menopause effects half the
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population. Hormones that change affect half
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the population, yet there's vanishingly little research.
5:25
When you look at some of the research about symptoms, it's
5:28
still focused on the vasomotor symptoms, the flushes and the
5:31
sweats. Yeah, and a lot of people, and
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I've been quite seen in meetings where doctors who are very
5:37
senior have been saying, oh gosh, people have joint pains
5:41
and they think that's hormonal, that's ridiculous, or they're
5:43
migraines or they're urinary symptoms.
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And of course, I know it's related, but if I say, Oh yes,
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I've seen two patients this week who have had urinary symptoms
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and eight patients this week had migraines, that's really small
5:54
numbers. But when you talk about hundreds
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of thousands of women who have, it's hard to ignore those
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numbers, isn't it? Well.
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I mean, and the data that you've produced recently with the
6:05
symptom, the top ten you know it is the hot flashes aren't even
6:08
in it I. Don't.
6:08
No, they're not. They were like #14 or something,
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weren't they? It?
6:12
Feels to me like it's just easy answers with simple solutions.
6:15
In fact, it's a much more complicated, very individual
6:18
problem that needs to be solved for everybody.
6:20
Yeah, absolutely. And you know, when we collect
6:23
the data, just to reassure people, it's completely
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anonymized. People consent, don't they, when
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they sign up to the app. We don't work with any
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pharmaceutical companies, companies.
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We're not sharing the data. All we're doing is using it to
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help more women and that's really important.
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And I know when I was presenting some data at a conference a
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couple of years ago and it was not nearly as big numbers as we
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have now. And people go, wow, Louise,
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gosh, this is amazing. I've got a study of, you know,
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eight women who've tried a treatment or whatever.
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And but it's also looking globally because it's quite hard
6:54
to access information globally in different regions, different
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areas, and also knowing what people want because the app was
7:02
very much designed. Obviously I'm a woman, but we
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had a female team who were asking women what do they want
7:09
out of an app, what will help them?
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And we want to get it right, don't we?
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What we're doing with. It we do and, and we want to
7:16
expand and to provide this information globally and, you
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know, to, to be able to reach as many women as we possibly can,
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to give them that opportunity to, to learn and to understand,
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but to do it again in their own language and in line with their
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own kind of cultural norms as much as we can.
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But the, the thing about the app is it's in their pocket.
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Most women will have a phone, you know, they can carry it
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around. It's pretty discreet and they're
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able to, you know, really drill in because there's so much
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information in the. App so they.
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Can really, you know, almost follow their symptoms and their
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own kind of circumstances through that that data.
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And then there's the community where they can go and see what
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other people are talking about and fine agency, which I think
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is one of the most important things, yeah.
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And it's a it's a good community.
8:03
People are really helping each other and supporting each other
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on the community section, aren't they?
8:07
Yeah. Yeah, it's, it's phenomenal how
8:11
how active it is. Yeah, considering, as you said,
8:13
it's been babysat for a little while.
8:14
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just pouring along.
8:16
But what we have been doing is adding content all the time, and
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that's something as a medical writer, I feel very strongly
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that the skill I have that I want to help share.
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And we've constantly added more information and recently we've
8:29
added a search function to it. So it's a lot easier to access
8:32
information, isn't it? Yeah, the search really helps
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drill into into the details. You can go find what you want
8:37
and save it and build collection of information that that you're
8:40
actually looking for because there's so much in it, it, it,
8:43
it, it potentially could be a bit overwhelming.
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But yeah. I think when women find the
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information they're looking for, that overwhelm tends to to
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dissipate a bit because they, they find some answers, they
8:55
find some leads that they can follow, Yeah.
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And talk to their their GP about.
9:00
Yeah, yeah. So when you knew that we were
9:02
looking for somebody to work with us, yeah.
9:04
What sort of made you really interested or excited about it?
9:09
When I left my last full time job, I I wanted something
9:12
different. I've done the same kind of tech
9:15
business growth challenges for most of my career.
9:18
I wanted something that was more purpose.
9:20
Purpose LED less wealth creation, more purpose, more
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sort of social value if you like I I wanted to work for a female
9:30
boss. That was another one of my
9:34
criteria. Why is that just cause I've
9:36
mostly worked for men. OK, you know I.
9:38
No pressure then. You are, yeah.
9:40
I think I don't wanna stereotype gender roles and, and leadership
9:44
capabilities, but it's just a change that I wanted and I
9:47
wanted something that was to do with, with healthcare and, and
9:50
with, with generally, generally with health 'cause I just think
9:53
it's, it's very meaningful. You know, I've had my own health
9:55
challenges in the past. And you know, the thing that you
10:00
find when you have some of that happen is you need data.
10:02
You need to understand what's going on.
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So irrespective of conditions or, or, or gender, you know,
10:09
data when you have a health challenge is extremely
10:12
important. And I think that's where balance
10:13
just really intersects the market.
10:16
And going from my old kind of tech world, the kind of product
10:19
market fit that balance has the kind of engagement it has, most
10:24
investors would die for that kind of leading indicator.
10:27
Yeah. Well, I've been really
10:29
protective of balance. I sort of see it as another
10:32
child really. I've I've turned away a lot of
10:34
investment opportunities because I think they haven't been done
10:37
with the right, right motives. And there are a few things just
10:41
to be really clear to people listening that are not going to
10:43
happen with the app. So I'm not going to ever offer
10:46
consultations through the app. I'm not going to sell
10:49
supplements. I'm not going to work with
10:52
pharma. And those things are really,
10:54
really important that people know because there are or there
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have been lots of femtech apps, lots of lots of big money as
11:04
well that's been invested. And then people have struggled
11:07
and they've either like sold coaching or they've sold
11:09
supplements because that's easy. But I don't think we need to do
11:13
that, do we? No, there is a pretty stable,
11:16
pretty solid user base. You know, we've got over 100,000
11:20
active users each month without really trying hard.
11:24
And we're gonna try much harder. Yeah.
11:25
And we're going to, you know, add new features.
11:28
We're gonna. I've got hundreds of user
11:31
requests. Yeah, to process Yeah.
11:33
For the kind of feature enhancements that we're looking
11:35
for that I need to work through. And you know, as I said, we're
11:40
gonna go global and we're gonna try and drive as much insight
11:44
for our users as we can from the data that they provide.
11:47
You know, whether you're a paid user or not, you know, the data
11:50
you give us is valuable and we want to treat it that way.
11:54
So we will protect it. We will make sure that it
11:56
doesn't go anywhere. It shouldn't.
11:58
You know, in the future, if we were to do some kind of
12:01
research, tie up, it would be opt in so the users would be
12:04
given the opportunity to get involved in something that might
12:07
be offered. But you know, with the goal that
12:10
it's again, you know, we're getting a multiplying effect by
12:13
being able to provide that user base to that kind of situation.
12:17
We talked at my interview about the the overall purpose of
12:20
balance and you know, I did have some walk away criteria, but
12:24
they didn't come up. So I was, I was delighted.
12:29
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12:33
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13:24
I just want to remind you that I'm the founder of the free
13:27
Balance app, which you should all be downloading.
13:31
So you can learn so much more about your hormones from and
13:34
also monitor symptoms if you're having them.
13:36
So just head to the App Store or Google Play and download Balance
13:40
app. And having worked with Balance,
13:46
really you've got really into the detail very quickly and
13:49
seeing what it's doing now, but what it's capable of.
13:52
Is there anything that has either surprised you or
13:56
enlightened you about it? Yes, it's not new information
14:00
for you, but the way women use it, the trust they put in it, I
14:05
think for me, the, the biggest moment really was just realizing
14:08
how massive a problem this is. And we're talking a tiny sliver
14:13
of the global market of women that will suffer some kind of
14:20
problem as a result of, of perimenopause and menopause and
14:23
and even all of the other hormonal things that happen.
14:25
It's it's almost as if, you know, I can't Unsee it now and
14:30
then that it kind of amplified the overall, the size of the
14:33
goal, the size of the challenge and to try and turn global
14:38
thinking around. And, you know, you've had
14:42
problems trying to get traction, You've had resistance to try and
14:46
push these things ahead. And what we really need is for
14:49
women to almost rise up and demand it.
14:52
And they need the data to do that.
14:54
Yeah. And I think it's changing.
14:55
I mean, you can probably maybe understand why I spend so much
14:58
of my time crossed because the injustice is palpable, the the
15:04
failure of the medical establishment for a lot of
15:07
women. It really is.
15:08
You can feel it, you can sense it.
15:10
And I sense it because I hear it in the clinic, but I also feel
15:14
it for social media. But you only need to go in the
15:16
community section. And I find it really, really
15:20
upsetting as a healthcare professional who I know I can
15:23
help all these women on the app, but of course I can't because
15:26
there's only one of me. But what I want to really do is
15:30
to change it for future generations as well.
15:32
And when I started with Balance, it was very much, it was a
15:36
menopause app and we obviously included perimenopause.
15:39
But my whole way of thinking about hormones has really
15:42
changed. The labeling of patients and
15:45
women has really changed as well because I feel as a doctor it's
15:50
irrelevant what diagnosis it is. It's about the treatment.
15:54
So if I say to a woman, oh, you've got PMDD, you've got
15:58
polycystic ovarian syndrome, you've got endometriosis, what
16:01
does that mean to them? It just means suffering.
16:04
But what they need to know is about what causes it and what
16:06
treatments available. So we're going to be working
16:10
really hard to open up the app for all women really with any
16:16
hormonal issue, which is so important, isn't it?
16:19
It is. And I think there's there, there
16:21
will be equal amounts of demand. Yeah.
16:23
In that in that track. I mean, when I first started
16:26
working for you, I showed your podcast to my daughter and the
16:30
app, and she said, oh, it's such a shame.
16:31
It's just for perimenopause and menopause.
16:33
And I said not for long. Yeah.
16:36
You know, because she she had her own issues with the pill
16:39
and, you know, she came off it eventually because she just
16:43
wasn't feeling great. As a consequence, she feels much
16:45
better. Yeah.
16:47
And you know, she she I think would would be a very opposite
16:53
target kind of audience if you like that that kind of emerging
16:58
from puberty and into adult life.
16:59
I think such such a tempestuous moment for.
17:01
It's really hard for women. It's really hard and, and they,
17:05
we often we're very open as a family and we have our meals
17:08
together as a family when we're together and my all three of my
17:11
daughter's actually say, gosh, how do people cope when they
17:14
don't have medical parents? Because so many symptoms that we
17:19
know are really very trivial or other symptoms that we know are
17:22
associated with the hormones or with the side effect from
17:25
contraception. We can pick it up when I said
17:28
with my husband and I like very quickly because we've got that
17:31
knowledge, but actually people don't have the knowledge and
17:33
they might have one doctor in their local village who may or
17:36
may not be able to help them. And this is where I think
17:39
balance really does come into its own because you can really
17:42
search and understand what's relevant for for you and hear
17:46
about other people's experiences as well.
17:50
Yeah. And as I said before, I think
17:52
it's so key when, when you, when you struggle with how you feel
17:56
and the kind of foundations of your normal existence get
18:00
rattled that that need for data, that need for meaning and
18:04
understanding is, is quite intense.
18:07
And, and it's evident, clearly evident, that women have not
18:10
been having that level of or the right level of information, no,
18:14
until recently. And I was really frustrated this
18:17
morning. There was something on the radio
18:19
and someone was saying, well, of course, menopause occurs at a
18:22
time when women are struggling because they've got elderly
18:25
relatives, they've got young children, and it's always this
18:27
like, excuse. But actually what no one's
18:31
thinking about is what about their hormonal change and why
18:34
aren't we giving hormones back? And there is this.
18:37
People are still scared of HLT. They're scared of testosterone
18:41
for women. Yet as you'll also knows, it's
18:43
very easy to get contraceptions. It's really incongruous.
18:45
It doesn't make sense, but women are understanding it.
18:49
But, you know, we've got this global problem that all women
18:52
will have hormonal changes and with time they'll all be
18:54
menopausal, which we know is associated with health risks.
18:58
We know all the guidelines, all the evidence is very clear that
19:00
hormones, especially the natural body, identical hormones, are
19:03
first line treatment for women. Yeah.
19:05
Yet globally it's only 5% of women, yeah, on average, that
19:09
are treated. I know.
19:10
It's crazy, isn't it? Yeah.
19:11
It doesn't make any sense. Did it shock you were like, just
19:15
did you realize it was that bad? I do.
19:17
I'd like I said, I can't Unsee it, you know, and I look back
19:19
now at my, my life, my family, my wife, my ex-wife.
19:23
And I think there are so many things there that are
19:27
potentially could have been helped and could have been
19:30
different if there was a kind of a keen awareness of what natural
19:35
hormones can do for people and that you get to an age where
19:39
they start to naturally dissipate.
19:41
And everyone thinks it's a natural process.
19:43
And it may well, because evolution doesn't care about
19:45
people beyond a certain age, but fundamentally it's.
19:49
Causing symptoms and health risks I don't.
19:50
Think it was you, but someone said if this was happening to a
19:52
man, it would have been fixed a long time ago.
19:54
Of course it would. And that I think is is the
19:56
equity issue. That's that's the real thing
19:58
that kind of attracts me to this challenge and trying to make.
20:02
As big a difference as possible, yeah.
20:04
And I'm just about building an app.
20:05
I'm not going to change the world medically, but it's for me
20:11
it's a viable, worthy cause. It is mad.
20:14
I mean, I play a lot of mind games with myself and I read
20:19
Matt Haig Humans years ago and it's one of my favorite books.
20:22
But I sometimes think about if I was a if I was an outer space
20:25
person coming and just visiting the world for the first time.
20:29
And he talks about the madness of us getting dressed and doing
20:32
sort of the routines that we do and even walking rather than
20:35
crouching over in various things.
20:36
It's a really great book. But I think, gosh, if someone
20:39
had said to me, there is a condition that might be a
20:43
natural condition, but it affects half the population.
20:47
We know that the majority of women will have symptoms
20:49
affecting their mental health, their mood, their memory, their
20:53
energy, their sleep. We know it's associated with an
20:56
increased risk of diseases. We know most people will have
21:01
vaginal dryness, soreness to sex will be really painful.
21:04
But we have a really cheap available treatment that is
21:08
safe. But the minority of women are
21:11
given it. Like it's just non cycle isn't
21:14
it? It beggars belief.
21:17
I can't square that one. If I was an alien, I'd be saying
21:20
what the Hell's? That, but that's where I think
21:22
what are they done? I'm very interested in the
21:23
history of medicine and I can see why things have happened for
21:27
the wrong reasons and menopause has gone into the the wrong
21:31
hands. You know, often people think
21:32
about it as a gynaecological issue.
21:34
It's about periods and it's not. But there've been other doctors
21:39
that have really tried hard to do similar things to I've done
21:42
and been really knocked down. And obviously I've been knocked
21:44
down a lot. But I think what's different now
21:48
is that we can access and educate people in ways that
21:52
write for them. So the way that technology is,
21:57
the way that AI is, it's a double edged sword sometimes
22:01
because you know, I can Google what are the risks of HRT and it
22:05
will tell me incorrectly that all HRT has a risk of clot and
22:09
heart disease and stroke, which I know it doesn't if it's body
22:11
identical. So that's where the human touch
22:16
with technology has got to almost always stay together.
22:21
Yeah, I agree. And you know, we're talking
22:24
about AI and how we might utilize that safely.
22:27
Yeah, it could massively help find patterns, insights, things
22:31
that we might not necessarily see.
22:33
But it can also help balance, which is, you know, a free app
22:36
ostensibly to limit it's costs by automating some of the tasks
22:41
that we don't need people to do. And, you know, so there's,
22:46
there's a great utility in technology and, you know, this
22:50
challenge and the Internet, you know, everybody knows the
22:52
Internet has, has created a knowledge explosion.
22:56
You know, and, and consequently, we're able to access people
23:01
anywhere in the world, providing they have access to a mobile
23:04
and, or, or, or a laptop or an iPad and they can get hold of
23:10
this information and, and educate themselves.
23:13
And, you know, it doesn't matter really where they are.
23:15
The problems that the medical issues will be the same.
23:18
Now, obviously the country might have different laws around
23:20
hormones and therapies, but you know, I think over time when
23:25
people start to rise up, the, the equity issue and the
23:27
productivity drain of, of women leaving the workforce, it just
23:32
seems to again be overlooked. It's like, well, surely that's a
23:35
massive issue for all of our economies because it is.
23:37
And you know, just, I think my wife said it's crazy.
23:42
You know, I spent years getting to be an expert in my field and
23:45
she also works in the NHS. She says I met the pinnacle of
23:48
it and the menopause came along and felt like it just robbed me
23:51
of it. She's getting treatment now and
23:53
that's working for her. So she's, she's not quite as
23:57
desperate as she was when it first kicked off.
23:59
But but fundamentally, she still struggles.
24:02
She's still having issues. You know, she's in it.
24:05
Yeah. And I think, I think my
24:07
understanding is she's going to be in it probably for the rest
24:10
of her life until she. Yeah, and that's why optimising
24:12
hormones is so important. You know, a lot of women who
24:14
come to a clinic already taking hormones, but they're just not
24:17
on the right dose and type and it can take a while.
24:20
You know, we have to be really patient and I know myself, you
24:24
know, a few months ago I wasn't feeling right.
24:26
And is it, is it what's going on?
24:27
Is it, is it, what's the children or is it, is it my
24:30
hormones? And it's really hard sometimes
24:32
to know. And then, you know, had a
24:34
review, changed a dose of something and then it's like,
24:36
wow, I felt amazing. This is great and it's all the
24:40
time, but our hormones are constantly changing.
24:42
So it's naive to think 1 dose is going to help.
24:45
But that's where you know, knowing that it's safe and often
24:47
say to patients if we change your dose, you'll know within a,
24:51
you know, quite soon. But if you want to stop then you
24:55
can do because it will come out of your system very quickly.
24:57
It doesn't build up in your body and there's all these myths and
24:59
fears that are usually unfounded, but it's the
25:03
confusion and then people don't know where to go.
25:05
So we've got a lot we need to do and want to do with Balance and
25:09
we, I want to keep it free. We've got this Balance Plus
25:12
because it has to fund itself so that we can shape it in the way
25:17
that we want to. But we've got lots of ideas for
25:19
Balance Plus, haven't we? Yeah, we do.
25:22
You know, the, the core purpose of balance is to share
25:24
information that Balance Plus is there for people that want a
25:28
little bit more and can go a little bit deeper.
25:31
We're looking at serializing content around themes and issues
25:36
that we see in our data, giving early previews to some of that,
25:41
but also doing kind of content exchanges with with other kind
25:45
of friendly adjacent. Yeah, creators with a view to
25:50
giving a bit of added value back into the to that user base.
25:53
And also, you know, any surplus to to help with the research
25:56
effort. Yeah, that you're driving at the
25:59
back of it all. Yeah.
26:00
So you know, it's it is trying to find value and give a good
26:05
return on our users investment in Balance Plus and to make sure
26:10
that there's a downstream kind of benefit for everyone that
26:13
uses balance as it all kind of begins to become established and
26:17
flow outwards over time. And it's really important
26:19
because someone said to me a few years ago, look, Louise, why
26:21
don't you just make it a pound a month for everybody because then
26:24
you would have the finances to keep going with it.
26:26
But I really pushed back, I've found out with a few people over
26:30
it. But actually that wasn't the
26:32
point of setting it up. And I really want to make sure
26:35
because it's so hard. Like as you know the stories,
26:38
it's so hard for women and they don't feel they need to pay for
26:42
something that's giving, but it can really help and form their
26:45
lives. Yeah, and you know, knowledge
26:48
should be free because it's power.
26:49
Absolutely and and to make change.
26:51
But I mean, I the app has really good reviews from women, which
26:55
is great. But we've been app of the day
26:58
quite a few times, haven't we? Yeah, we have indeed.
27:00
Yeah, well over 150 in the last three years, I think.
27:04
That's amazing. Isn't it?
27:05
And it it is quite incredible how it becomes app of the day
27:10
around the world in countries that I don't even think we have
27:16
users contributing as much as they could.
27:19
But you know, so part of the reason we want to translate it
27:21
because I think it deserves to be available in those countries.
27:25
Yeah, yeah, it is. It is staggering how it the
27:27
outperforms just without any real kind of underpinnings it
27:32
just. Yeah, I mean, I've never spent
27:34
big Money Marketing it or anything.
27:36
It's just evolved. And I think that's the power of
27:38
women as well, because women share, women talk, women
27:41
communicate, and they want to help each other.
27:43
So I really hope going forward so I can continue to be proud
27:47
and even prouder of it. And obviously, it's a lot of
27:49
pressure on you, Matt, to do lots of things.
27:52
Yeah, including the user growth. Yeah, it's an exciting journey
27:56
though, isn't it? Yeah.
27:57
I mean, given the size of the market, should be easy to to get
28:00
to meteorite levels of active users.
28:02
But and given the subject matter and the fact that it's, it's,
28:06
it's like any lifelong thing, it, it's going to be there,
28:09
people then are going to need it at different stages in their
28:12
lives, especially as it broadens.
28:13
Yeah. So as you say, it's not just
28:14
about perimenopause and menopause.
28:16
That's just where there's an acute problem.
28:17
Yeah. And I think there are others in
28:21
younger age groups. Absolutely.
28:22
It's laid's. You're going to have your work
28:24
cut out, that's for sure. So good.
28:26
Before we finish, three take home tips.
28:28
Now this is really easy for you because I'm just going to ask
28:31
you the three reasons why people listening should all download
28:38
the app. Why would they do it?
28:40
So I think if you're perimenopausal and menopausal
28:43
think you might be, you'll find some trains of knowledge that
28:48
will help you understand if you are and you will be able to go
28:51
and speak to your GP. If you are looking after or a
28:54
loved one of somebody in that position, you can do the same.
28:57
And you can also go there to find help about other hormonal
29:00
conditions and what to do about them and what the kind of
29:03
symptoms might be so you can begin to correlate and work out
29:07
if it's there. So it's really about hormonal
29:10
health of women and also propagating the understanding of
29:15
that, not just amongst females and women, but amongst their
29:19
partners and their loved ones and their colleagues and their
29:22
employers. You know, it's really important
29:25
that this stuff becomes totally destigmatised and absolutely
29:29
normal to talk about because it is absolutely normal and it
29:35
happens to every woman. Yeah, but we this will help move
29:40
the dial even more forward, so people will not just be
29:43
normalising the conversation, but then thinking about action
29:46
to really help. And that's when the change is
29:48
going to happen. Yeah.
29:49
Yeah. So thank you so much for coming.
29:52
Thank you. For having me so soon.