Mindfully Integrative Show

Cycle Power: Unlocking Your Hormonal Superpower

Dr. Damaris Grossmann FNP-C

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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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Speaker 1:

Hi, how are you? This is the Mindfully Integrative Show and this is Dr Damaris Maria Grossman, and today we have an amazing guest. She is the owner, Alex Kobold-Frakes. She's the owner of Agenda Period, but it's an app. It's so much more than that. It's a website on the cycles of women and I mean there's more that we have to dive into this, but how to kind of help women each and every day with their kind of not just their agenda, but like what's going on with their life. So, Alex, thanks so much for coming in on the show and talk to me about what is going on with you and how you're, you know, changed. I always ask a little fun fact. First, Tell me a little bit about it.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to have this conversation because it's my favorite topic on the planet and I would say something fun about me that you can't always find out online is I love to travel, so I've been to 25 different countries and I speak Spanish fluently, because I lived in Peru for two years. I was a Peace Corps volunteer, so I'm a travel girly at heart, so I try to try to leave and smell 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 other parts of the world. So that is my number one hobby, when I'm not talking about the menstrual cycle.

Speaker 1:

Oh, that's amazing. Oh, hablando en espanol, es necesario. So I'm good, I'm glad you're that a nice moment, right. So at heart, I love that you travel so much. I wish I traveled more, but I probably am grounded more with my little one lately, but I definitely want to travel more, so that's cool that you've been so many spots.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I got lucky. I did a lot before I had kiddos and then I had twins in 2020. And then by 2022, I was like I have to leave the country once a year and I made that commitment to myself and I've gone at least one trip since then. So it's not not quite my traveling days from before, but I've been picking them back up as as I go along.

Speaker 1:

You bring them or no? Bring them Not yet.

Speaker 2:

Oh no, no, Thank you. No, I have they're. They are so cute and they're so much having. Having twins is something I would not. Everyone was like oh my God, twins, I love that. I was like wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Like year one of their lives was so chaotic.

Speaker 1:

I mean I don't have twins, but I have a little one that I can imagine I get you.

Speaker 2:

It's a lot and it's better. On the other side they have a friend to play with. So now that really cuts down on my car playing, you know, because like they can just do that with each other.

Speaker 1:

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 little bit about I know you came up with the agenda period dot com, but also kind of women's cycles, talking about women, you know getting into menopause, perimenopause such a large topic and so necessary in the changes of what women need in women's health. How did this come about for you and, like you know, where did it start?

Speaker 2:

Totally on accident. My 10-year-old self would have been mortified to learn. I eventually build a period company because I thought periods were horrible and I was not excited about them. So I start, I have a degree in business and then, like I said, I went to the Peace Corps and I came back and I've always been interested at this intersection of like health and education, because those things impact our lives in such a big way. So I started a health coaching company in 2018.

Speaker 2:

And I had read the literature on like cycle syncing. Like Elisa Vidi, you know Women's Body, women's Wisdom, christian Northup, I've like read those books in college and then did nothing with the information and continued to stay on hormonal birth control. And then I got into my later life and eventually moved off of that and I found that I had higher sales during the ovulation phase of my menstrual cycle. This was my first toe into the pool of how cycle syncing could really be impactful for my business. So when I found that piece of data, I was like is there any other evidence? Like what else can show me that this has happened for other women? And so I found a study on PubMed and was talking about this study of exotic dancers and they split them up into women on birth control and those not on birth control. And the women who were not on birth control all made more money during ovulation up to 30% more in tips than any other phase of their cycle.

Speaker 2:

And then the women who were on birth control they saw it like it was flat, so there wasn't an additional hormonal boost in their earnings because their hormones were getting. Their natural hormones were getting masked by birth control right? So it was a different mix and a different blend, and when I saw that I was like what is going on this is this is so crazy. Why aren't we talking about this everywhere? Because this is really impacts how women feel productive, how they show up their health and wellness routines, feel productive, how they show up their health and wellness routines Because we've got this mentality, this like grinded out mentality they have to do the same thing every day, and that does not work for women's bodies. And so unlocking that led us to creating the planner and then, eventually, the app, because we want women to know they're not broken and their cycle is actually their superpower.

Speaker 1:

That is so amazing. I love like how you kind of brought it more in a superpower in a positive manner than like I've seen it like on the other aspect, where people are like, well, these are your cycle parts, so know that you can't do anything during this part, and you're like, oh, all right, all right, I guess I should feel this way. So how, what was it like when you were building out like or just kind of learning about these phases? Obviously you're a woman, so you know what it is to have different cycles, but now you've probably become like a health professional to expert in this area on your own, but to then to make it productive, how did that kind of yeah?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I had this, this theory of cause. I'm always from like, even from the business school side, we talk about work smarter, not harder, and so I was really dedicated to finding a benefits lens for each of the phases of the cycle, because I grew up with those same comments that every woman, oh, like, what's wrong with you, are you on your period? Like you're so bitchy right now. Right Like we talk about women's health in this super negative way, and I was dedicated 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 and their process like where they felt more productive helped us write the curriculum. Like I created the baseline and then we tested it out with a whole bunch of other women. And so when we look at the four phases, we talk about your period is your great time for planning, because you are lower energy, you have a clear mind and your brain communicates differently with itself during this time. So it's actually a good time, when you're calm, to go out and kind of pencil out the rest of your month. So, looking at what are good times, where are you going to be at energetically and writing any notes to yourself. Then the follicular phase. That is your busy bee. This is the time to go do the plan that you just put into place. But she is a terrible event planner because Miss Follicular will sign you up for everything. She will say yes to all of the things, 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 can come over that weekend. Of course I want to go to that party, of course, of course. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And then by the end of the month you're exhausted because this lady planned too much stuff for you, right? So we do not want the follicular phase planning our schedule. We want her to do the actions that we had put in place.

Speaker 2:

Then ovulation is our high potency time. There's a lot that kind of goes on in the body because your body wants to be pregnant. So using that for your advantage, right, it's harder to say no to you. Great time to ask for a raise. Great time to talk to your husband about planning that vacation that he's been on the fence about, because it's easier for us to kind of communicate what we're needing and then putting those desires out there.

Speaker 2:

So we talk about this as our really magnetic time. And then in the luteal phase, this is our great time for analyzing and organizing, so that first week we tend to have a lot of energy but it's more turned inward because our hormones change to a pro-self orientation rather than the pro-social orientation we have during the first half of the cycle, because our body is trying to maintain a potential pregnancy rather than get pregnant. And then that second week, when our hormones drop down, that can be a little bit more of a sensitive time. But understanding those four different pieces really gets us to understand what naturally slots into those times of the month and knowing we don't have to do everything all of the time, but when we can optimize it for its maximum potential and productivity, we end up feeling so much better.

Speaker 1:

I mean that's pretty profound, I mean, and then you've put it in the sense of not just with productivity for work, but you're saying like eating and nutrition, like workouts, and so you've kind of made it into different levels or just been slowly adding on to this, depending upon upon each person no-transcript aren't designed for a cyclical body.

Speaker 2:

They're designed for hormones that do the same thing every day. When there are times in the month we naturally want to eat less, and there's times in the month, like in the luteal phase, we need to have a 20% increase in our calories. Otherwise that can lead to binge 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're going to increase cortisol, not being able to support those progesterone levels, which will lead you to having more brain fog and not sleeping well. So it's just like this monkey chasing its tail all the time and we get into a cycle that we can't dig ourselves out of because we're not living with this alignment. So we're excited to show women how it impacts their relationships, their money mindset, how it impacts every single thing about us.

Speaker 1:

I think it definitely puts it in another perspective and I couldn't agree more with you. I think this is it's profound, I think it's super important. Have you been adding it with like, almost like the wearables? Have you been trying to incorporate this in like a wearable?

Speaker 2:

no-transcript. We'd love to find a wearable that felt really aligned.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you know, be like hey, hey.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, at some point. Yes, we're a little with like, given the current geopolitical landscape, it's a little hard to trust other companies' security policies right now and because there's been so much up in the air. But it's something like I'm constantly looking at other new wearables and like who could we partner with? Because the Aura natural cycles cycles combo was was incredible, like we need. We definitely are interested in that. It just hasn't happened quite yet.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, no, no, I mean I'm, hey, I was just, it's a, it's a future.

Speaker 2:

It's a great. It's a great option though.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and like you have enough on your plate as it is, probably, but no, I think it's, it's going to, it's definitely necessary, and it's just such a different way of like looking at things that I feel like us women are always like struggling to find that pattern and the changes you know. So, growing from this, like how did it start with the planner, right? You started out as a planner. You didn't just do it out, right. How did it start with the planner? You started out as a planner. You didn't just do an app, right, you were wanting to be more productive in your work itself, or just being as a mom. What kind of like promoted this to even become even more than where it is now?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So I started the planner before I became a mom and I'm really glad that I did that. I understood my hormones a little bit better before I entered into motherhood. I think that was a big advantage. Hormones a little bit better before I entered into motherhood I think that was a big advantage. So what happened is, after we did the beta test, we launched a crowdfunding campaign because I didn't have them Like we had to print our first batch in bulk and I didn't have like $5,000 sitting around. So we did a crowdfunding campaign and got the word out there and that allowed us to bring our first product to market.

Speaker 2:

And then when we were out there talking 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 have a business background and I'm a health coach. I'm not doing it. And then the more people kept asking.

Speaker 2:

I got really into the data because I'm a nerd about data.

Speaker 2:

So I like I went on Crunchbase and I found all the top period apps on the market and of the top five grossing period apps that I could find, there was one female on any of those founding teams.

Speaker 2:

There's one woman on any of the founding teams of the biggest period apps on the market and I was like I might not have a tech background, but at least I've had a period. So if all these dudes can make a period app, I feel like I can toss my hat in the ring and we can make something pretty cool. So that data inspired me to go out and find the resources, and I made a lot of mistakes. I did not do it correctly and I'm really glad we started with a paper MVP before we moved into tech, because it saved us a lot of money being able to test out what we were thinking and what users might want, and we also did a beta test with our users for before the app launch. So we really have been systematic and careful about staying close to our users and creating stuff that women are needing.

Speaker 1:

That's really neat. I know that like yeah, well, I mean doing those MVP stuff, like yeah, that takes that takes a lot of back end time and energy and and you know, it's your baby. Yes, exactly what have you been working on lately in reference to, or or what would you like to share, you know, in reference to this, or how it's kind of impacted your life for yourself?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, one of the things that we've really been focusing on a lot lately is this connection between relationships and health and specifically this midlife transition, because we've now contributed to a couple of like pretty big news pieces because a lot of women are getting divorced in perimenopause. Like 70% of divorce initiated by women is happening during perimenopause. Percent of divorce initiated by women is happening during perimenopause and when we look at it, because we're kind of talking about that pro-social versus pro-self orientation women are moving more into a pro-self orientation as they go through perimenopause because they tend to have their cycles further and further apart. So less estrogen, having more of that like more progesterone based or yeah, right, as they kind of are going through things. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so more about themselves. Okay, back to yeah.

Speaker 2:

So we're getting more internal as we go through, and so when women are doing that internal audit, they're finding maybe this relationship I've been in for a long time is no longer in service of me, and so if that person is not willing to make some changes, I'm going to change now because I have the economic freedom, I've got my own money, I've got my own career, and women are opting out of these relationships because they're kind of seeing that refusal to change. So some people are talking about it as like, oh, the hormones are making you crazy. And we've just seen it as the hormones are giving people clarity. They're giving them clarity on how the relationship has been working or not working, and so really what I see as the path forward is men and women understanding that they have these different hormonal programming and orientations in the world and then figuring out how we can understand each other. So think men are from Mars, women are from Venus, but grounded in hormones and grounded in hormonal theory.

Speaker 1:

No, I think that that takes another aspect of it in the sense of, instead of going okay, all these people are having divorce. If you work on the relationship of where it's at, maybe some will be divorced, and they should be, maybe, and that clarity is good for the women to find out. Um, maybe some of them are reconcilable you know, who knows what's going on and then but the fact that women have a little bit more of a stronger view and then also men have their own hormone changes you know what I mean. They're going through their, their stuff, but I feel like us women, we don't get enough of the yeah on it, you know right.

Speaker 2:

We have spent billions of dollars supporting men in midlife over the last 20, 30 decades, with 20, 30 years, with like ED medication and testosterone clinics on every corner in every city, criticizing culturally that testosterone is so important to who a man is that it should be preserved because, like testosterone makes up his personality and yet for some reason we can't make that jump to. Estrogen and progesterone very much do the same thing from women. They really impact our personality and so that also needs to be protected and supported as we move through midlife.

Speaker 1:

Oh great. So, like you know, it's like estrogen, progesterone, a little touch of whatever our needs are, but yet it's like maybe, yeah, you know, have you found it been harder to get the like to replace the hormone, like how people like women go to like, oh, they want to get hormone replacement. If you're, do you suggest stuff like that in your, your coaching or on your app?

Speaker 2:

We haven't touched HRT yet but it's something we'll probably work with. We'd love to work with a provider or a practitioner to have that support offered to our users to have them go through a process. So it's something we're really interested in. And there was that big study in the 80s that scared a bunch of people around HRT for women because they weren't necessarily using the best forms of those hormones, and so I think there's a lot of fear that has been out there on what this can look like for people. So it's something we're definitely interested in looking at in the fullness of time.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but overall, like now, you're just overall trying to help women, coach them, get them to just even understand where the hormones are at right now and where their mind is, and they're not mentally crazy, because I feel like that is the hardest part it's like everything that. It's like, oh well, you're just, you're just, it's just how you feel, and I wish that conversation, you know, needs to be readdressed and refocused and I don't know a different way. So you're, you're definitely having that conversation, without it being like weird, you know.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely.

Speaker 2:

I think that's one of the things like we had kind of talked about offline.

Speaker 2:

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 like it 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 have less dopamine and serotonin during the second half because of the way estrogen supports those neurotransmitters, right, we we are just different with the phases. So when women understand that they can stop judging them and they kind of happen from each other, they're crazy. And so what we want our users to understand and walk away with is this knowing that their hormones are awesome, that they can support them, and if something does feel off the rails once they're tracking it, they can identify that really quickly so that they can support them. And if something does feel off the rails, once they're tracking it, they can identify that really quickly so that they can get the support they need and your team helps them get that coaching support if they need, or just kind of direction.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we definitely have coaching options available for people, both one-on-one and in the group, and in the fullness of time we'd love for that to be able to live through the app, but that's going to be a big tech build on that side, but eventually it'd be awesome to have that content dripped out for people so that they always have got that hormone coach right in their pocket.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. I like how you say hormone coach because I think it's a nice way of thinking of it. I also appreciate your just understanding of how women are and all their age gaps and stuff, so I think that's an important aspect. I think you're saying perimenopause, menopause even the younger age Do you find this is also discussing conversation on the mental health and the PMDD conversations and stuff like that?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, and what we really are, we're starting to see is that women who are tracking their cycles earlier and earlier and really diving into the knowledge are going to be having a better time in perimenopause. They're going to have an easier perimenopause and menopause and recognizing, maybe I do have PMDD, you can get that additional support and tracking is this big thing that shines a flashlight on what's going on and that's why we just feel like it's the number one first step for everybody. You've got to be able to illuminate your own patterns to be able to make any meaningful change around them.

Speaker 1:

That is so, it's so important. I really, I think you're, you know, you've definitely shown a lot. I think that, and the fact that you're you know, women, owned and knowledgeable of how your system works, I think you know that gives a good, you know perspective and and we need, we need more people, you know discussing this, we need more research on it and we need more conversations on how to change it. So what else would you like to share with the group before you go today?

Speaker 2:

I would say that the biggest pushback we get from women is that they don't have time to do this. They don't have time to work with their body in this way. They're just too busy. And my favorite kind of ancient paradigm 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 so busy, you can't give any of this time or attention to yourself.

Speaker 2:

It's a highlight showing you need more time and attention for yourself, and so when women just start to spend five minutes a day on a cycle check-in, giving themselves their own loving attention, it becomes so much easier to show up fully in their roles, in their motherhood, in their their own professions and whatever they're doing when they're pouring and filling from their own cup first. So that's the invitation we all just need a little bit more of our own self-care so then we can go out and do our best work in the world. So spend five minutes tracking your cycle, understanding your moods and understanding how those correlate to the phases of your cycle, and you're going to feel a lot better.

Speaker 1:

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't wait to sign it myself. So how can we reach you? How can we? How can those? I'll have that in the show notes, but how can people reach you and connect with you online?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely. Go to theagendaperiodcom. That's kind of our clearinghouse 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 you can come hang out with us on Instagram or TikTok. We like to make fun spicy conversations happen because we really we know we need a cultural pivot on this topic and we're excited to be in the conversation.

Speaker 1:

I mean that's really cool, that like the cultural and the change of it, without it being like a weird conversation. Is it hard sometimes going to be like in your you know business pitches and be like, hey, I talk about periods all day or, like you know, I try to make you feel better?

Speaker 2:

It's been really hard. Like people don't want to talk about periods and I'm like, hey, without a successful menstrual cycle, you wouldn't even be alive. So we all need to get comfortable 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 having me today.

Speaker 1:

No, I really appreciate it. I feel like I have another time for you to be on to discuss, even because I talk a ton about with other. You know those with irregular periods and PCOS and you know other menstrual issues that I can imagine where, when your cycle changing and things are changing, how to work with that too.

Speaker 2:

So it's like another avenue Totally. Thank you so much for your time today.

Speaker 1:

I really appreciate it and thank you so much for being on and thank you guys for listening to the Mindfully Integrative Show.

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