Formidable Executive Editor Rob Smith.
When I started writing for Formidable 14 months ago, I couldn’t define “endometriosis.”
I had no idea that GLP-1 drugs were becoming so popular or even how they worked. I didn’t realize that women had unique financial anxieties, that perimenopause and menopause were so tricky to navigate, that the health concerns of women were often simply blamed on burnout or stress. I wasn’t familiar with the “female obesity penalty.” I didn’t know women had been largely ignored in clinical trials.
Like many men, I was simply ignorant. Not a mean-spirited ignorance, but I didn’t really have a clue. To say the past year has been one of incredible awakening would be an understatement.
Now, as I prepare to leave Formidable for another opportunity, I cannot begin to express how fortunate I’ve been to learn things that would have been impossible for me to otherwise comprehend.
But more than learning about menopause, clinical trials or the countless other issues I’ve covered, I’ve discovered that it’s easy to overlook problems that don’t affect you personally.
Writing about the unique challenges women face forced me to confront enormous gaps in my own understanding. It’s been humbling. It’s made me question other things I don’t fully comprehend because I’ve never had to deeply think about them. It’s given me appreciation for people who spend their lives trying to make those invisible problems, well, visible.
I’ve learned that the way we discuss things such as weight, aging, leadership, health and wealth are far more complicated than headlines suggest. I didn’t know nearly as much as I thought I did about a world that affects half the population. I look at things differently now. Much differently.
I’m incredibly grateful for the women who trusted me, an older man, to tell their stories. I wrote about a woman with two small children who rearranged her life to care for a disabled parent; an incredibly resilient woman working to call attention to head injuries; an entrepreneur who was told she was “too nice” to succeed in business; about health care researchers convinced they could make the world a better place. Those are just a few that stand out. There are many more.
Thank you to the experts who patiently educated me and especially to the women who shared their deeply personal and often emotional experiences.
You gave me the opportunity to listen and learn. I’ll carry those lessons with me forever.
