After two decades leading global marketing at Adidas and in biotech, Mayra Hurtado hit a wall, fatigue, sleeplessness, migraines. It wasn’t burnout; it was her hormones. That realisation set her on a new mission to close one of medicine’s most overlooked gaps: women’s hormonal health.

In this episode of The New Script, Makenzie Thomas and Frances Goh sit down with Mayra, co-founder and CEO of Prelude Health, the Singapore-based startup behind Hormony, the world’s first rapid, at-home saliva hormone test for women navigating perimenopause.

Mayra shares how Hormony blends science, technology, and behavioural insights to help women get “back in tune” with their bodies, why perimenopause is still misunderstood, and how education and early testing can transform preventive care. She also opens up about building a global team across Singapore, Mexico, and New Zealand, raising capital in a sector that still receives less than 3% of venture funding, and reframing failure as redirection.

You’ll hear why hormonal health is the next frontier in women’s wellbeing, how healthy women drive healthy economies, and why mental and physical health can’t be separated, for founders or for anyone.

02:05 – Mayra Hurtado’s journey from global marketing to femtech founder

05:57 – Why hormones have been ignored in medical research for decades

07:55 – Perimenopause vs menopause — what really happens to your body

11:38 – The meaning behind “Hormony” and the science of hormonal balance

12:06 – How Hormony works: personalised saliva testing and daily habit design

16:37 – From corporate leadership to startup life — lessons in transition

18:22 – Building a global team across Singapore, Mexico & New Zealand

20:54 – Raising capital in women’s health and closing the gender funding gap

26:17 – Failures, feedback, and learning to treat setbacks as redirections

28:35 – Mayra’s non-negotiables: sleep, gratitude, and mental health connection

32:28 – The case for holistic health and why women’s wellbeing powers economies

36:28 – If Mayra could rewrite the script: teaching hormonal health from childhood

🧬 Hormony by Prelude Health – https://www.findhormony.com/

👩‍💼 Mayra Hurtado (LinkedIn) – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayrahurtado/

Acknowledgment of Country

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we record and pay our respects to their Elders, past and present. We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters, and culture.

Disclaimer

The New Script is a podcast created for educational and awareness-raising purposes only. The conversations you’ll hear are not intended to be medical advice.

Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for any personal medical concerns or decisions.

Frances LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frances-goh/

Makenzie's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/makenziethomas/

The New Script is part of Day One, the podcast network dedicated to founders, operators & investors. https://dayone.fm/newsletter

Why does it still take women an average of five years to get diagnosed with a chronic health condition — and up to 12 years for endometriosis? In this episode of The New Script, Makenzie Thomas and Frances Goh sit down with Dr. Ariella Heffernan-Marks, medical doctor, award-winning researcher, and founder of Ovum, to explore how technology and data are rewriting women’s healthcare.

Ariella shares the lightbulb moment that inspired Ovum — a “blue book” for women’s health — and how she’s building the first holistic AI health assistant designed to empower women across every stage of life. She explains how Ovum integrates longitudinal health data, generates doctor-friendly summaries, and creates the largest dataset yet to address decades of bias in medical research and AI.

Beyond the tech, Ariella reflects on her journey from medical student to startup CEO, what she learned raising $1.7M in pre-seed funding, and why setting boundaries as a founder is just as important as breaking them.

You’ll also hear surprising insights from her early research, why women are more open to AI in healthcare than expected, and how Ovum is redefining women’s health from “pink and siloed” to holistic, integrated, and equitable.

01:14 – Why women are fearful of the healthcare system

02:05 – Introducing Dr. Ariella Heffernan-Marks, founder of Ovum

03:34 – The lightbulb moment: creating a “blue book” for women’s health

06:23 – What Ovum does and how it works in practice

09:28 – Making doctors listen: generating usable health reports

12:39 – Surprising insights from Ovum’s research & trials

15:31 – Why women welcome AI in healthcare

16:16 – The power of an integrated lifespan approach

18:47 – Building a longitudinal women’s health dataset

20:55 – Data privacy, transparency & research partnerships

22:00 – Fundraising $1.7M pre-seed as a female founder

26:44 – From clinician to founder: navigating the transition

31:45 – Lessons, failures, and the pivot to AI

34:31 – Best advice received & believing in yourself

35:21 – Prioritising energy, boundaries & health as a founder

39:18 – Ovum’s impact on the healthcare system & workforce

42:19 – What’s next for Ovum in the next 12 months

43:55 – If Ariella could rewrite the script on women’s health…

🌐 Ovum: https://www.askovum.com/

👩‍⚕️ Dr. Ariella Heffernan-Marks: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-ariella-heffernan-marks-935401120/

Acknowledgment of Country

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we record and pay our respects to their Elders, past and present. We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters, and culture.

Disclaimer

The New Script is a podcast created for educational and awareness-raising purposes only. The conversations you’ll hear are not intended to be medical advice.

Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for any personal medical concerns or decisions.

Frances LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frances-goh/

Makenzie's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/makenziethomas/

The New Script is part of Day One, the podcast network dedicated to founders, operators & investors. https://dayone.fm/newsletter

Why are women still being misdiagnosed, dismissed, or left out of medical research altogether? In this very first episode of The New Script, Makenzie Thomas and Frances Goh sit down with Sally Hasler, CEO of Women’s Health Victoria, to explore the systemic inequities shaping women’s health today, and what it will take to change them.

Sally introduces powerful concepts like medical misogyny and below the bikini line health, and explains how gender-blind services and unconscious bias affect the way women and gender diverse people receive care. She also shares candid insights on the barriers to abortion access, the ongoing stigma in reproductive health, and why equity must be at the heart of reform.

Beyond policy and advocacy, Sally talks about her leadership journey, the importance of collective action across government, health, and community, and how she balances the demands of running a statewide organisation with her own wellbeing.

You’ll also hear why including women in medical research from the start is essential, how initiatives like 1800 My Options and the Labia Library are changing the conversation, and why this moment in women’s health must be used to create lasting systems change.

01:09 – Welcome to The New Script

02:35 – Introducing Sally Hasler, CEO of Women’s Health Victoria

06:22 – Sally’s career path and passion for gender equity

08:25 – Where the gaps in women’s health exist today

11:50 – Defining gender-blind services, gender bias & medical misogyny

17:27 – Social determinants of health and structural inequity

20:05 – Barriers to abortion access and “abortion deserts”

23:40 – Why stigma persists even after decriminalization

25:45 – Inside Women’s Health Victoria: services, advocacy & the Labia Library

28:35 – How collective advocacy drives systems change

31:29 – Sally’s leadership journey and lessons as a first-time CEO

34:46 – Balancing advocacy work with personal health and energy

37:05 – The missing conversation in women’s health: abortion as mainstream care

38:55 – Looking 10 years ahead: embedding lasting reform

40:43 – If Sally could rewrite the script: women in medical research

42:12 – Closing reflections and what’s next

🙋‍♀️ Sally's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallyhasler/

📞 1800 My Options: https://1800myoptions.org.au/

— free, confidential phone and web service for contraception, abortion, and sexual health

🌐 Women’s Health Victoria: https://whv.org.au/

— statewide feminist health organisation leading advocacy, research, and services

📚 The Labia Library: https://labialibrary.org.au/

— celebrates body diversity and breaks stigma around anatomy

🤝 Counterpart: https://counterpart.org.au/

— peer support service for women and gender diverse people affected by cancer, run by Women's Health Victoria

📰 “Medical misogyny” — investigative series by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald:

https://www.whv.org.au/ceo-blog-the-age-medical-misogyny/

— Sally Hasler reflects on the powerful reporting and its impact

Acknowledgment of Country

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we record and pay our respects to their Elders, past and present. We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters, and culture.

Disclaimer

The New Script is a podcast created for educational and awareness-raising purposes only. The conversations you’ll hear are not intended to be medical advice.

Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for any personal medical concerns or decisions.

Frances LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frances-goh/

Makenzie's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/makenziethomas/

The