In this special Her Issue edition of I’m Listening, Dr Ariella once again hands the mic to her mum – journalist and podcast host Deborah Blashki-Marks.
Deborah sits down with internationally renowned designer Şener Besim, who opens up about the creative partnership he shares with his wife, Kelly, and the surrogacy journey that shaped their family.
In this intimate and honest conversation, Deborah and Şener explore:• How partnership fuels creativity, and why working with his wife Kelly made the brand stronger• The long, emotional surrogacy journey that shaped their family, resilience, and worldview• What eight years of IVF taught them • How his upbringing, culture, and relationship with his mother shaped his values and artistic voice• The lessons he hopes other couples can take into their own fertility or surrogacy journeys
A heartfelt, generous discussion about love, identity, and finding meaning through struggle – and the quiet strength that underpins Şener’s life, craft, and family.
Discover more of Şener’s work at https://senerbesim.com.
In this special Her Issue edition of I’m Listening, Dr Ariella hands the mic to someone very special — her mum, journalist and podcast host Deborah Blashki-Marks.
Deborah sits down with Dr Helen Frazer, radiologist, Clinical Director of St Vincent’s BreastScreen, Adjunct Associate Professor, and winner of the ANZ Women in AI Innovator of the Year.
Helen is leading one of Australia’s most ambitious medical AI programs, BRAIx — a world-first initiative using artificial intelligence to improve the accuracy, speed, and equity of breast cancer screening.
In this episode, Deborah and Helen explore:
How Helen’s lifelong curiosity for x-rays began with a childhood accident
The current challenges in breast cancer screening — and why innovation is urgently needed
How AI can reduce false positives, false negatives, and long wait times
Why women’s leadership in STEM is essential to closing the gender health gap
How risk-based, personalised screening could save more lives
What every woman needs to know about early detection right now
A hopeful, insightful conversation about technology, trust, and a future where screening is safer, faster, and more personalised for every woman.
Discover more about Helen's important work at https://www.svi.edu.au/research/collaborative-programs/braix/
Recorded live at SXSW Sydney 2025, this episode uncovers a truth that shapes every woman’s experience in healthcare: medical bias isn’t accidental — it’s built into the system.
Dr Ariella is joined by Associate Professor Amy McLennan, medical anthropologist and educator at ANU, to trace how history, research practices and cultural assumptions have created a model of medicine designed around men.
Together, they explore:
How women were excluded from clinical trials — and why the effects still distort diagnosis and drug safety
Why “every cell has a sex,” and what that means for medications we use every day
How endometriosis became labelled a “career women’s disease”
The rise of “inflammation” as both a medical signal and a wellness buzzword
Why our system is built for acute problems, not lifelong chronic conditions
Where women actually go for health information now — and how AI can help (or harm)
Ariella also shares her own diagnostic journey, and Amy closes with a powerful story about her daughter questioning the rules — a reminder of how early gender bias begins, and why changing it matters.
What if living with chronic illness could deepen, not derail, your power? In this episode, Dr Ariella sits down with Michelle Irving — founder of Career & Chronic and Chronic Illness At Work — to unpack practical ways women can protect their health, honour their ambition, and lead with sovereignty. We explore “badass boundaries” in the clinic, the crucial mindset flip from pleasing to patient autonomy, and Michelle’s elegant emotional map of chronic illness (from “at sea,” to “washed ashore,” to the “new forest,” to the “return to the village”). We also walk through a career roadmap that acknowledges off-ramps, on-ramps, “the new,” and long stretches of test-and-redesign — all in service of authentic leadership. Along the way, Michelle shares how somatic wisdom and lived experience can coexist with data, and why tools like Ovum give women a private, non-judgmental space to notice patterns, prepare for appointments, and be believed.
If you'd like to learn more about Michelle’s programs and resources, visit her website www.careerandchronic.com
To follow Michelle and stay updated on her programs, visit her LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleirvingofficial
And for resources mentioned in this episode:
The Emotional Map: https://www.careerandchronic.com/emotionalmap
The Career and Chronic Map: https://www.careerandchronic.com/career-map
In this moving episode, Dr. Ariella Heffernan-Marks sits down with Joyce Jiao — a founder and mother whose story reveals what happens when intuition collides with a system that doesn’t listen.
After giving birth, Joyce began experiencing strange sensations — fluttering in her stomach, chest tightness, weight loss — but her symptoms were dismissed as postpartum anxiety. Months later, an ultrasound revealed she was 18 weeks pregnant — and living with Graves disease, a condition that could have put both her life and her baby’s at risk.
Together, Ariella and Joyce unpack:✨ How bias and data gaps lead to dangerous diagnostic delays✨ Why women’s intuition is often right — even when the tests say otherwise✨ The invisible mental load of being disbelieved✨ How centralising data through tools like Ovum could help women be heard, faster
Joyce’s experience is one of disbelief, resilience, and revelation. It’s a reminder that the body keeps the score — and that listening isn’t just empathy, it’s medicine.
In this heartbreaking and deeply resonant episode, Dr. Ariella Heffernan-Marks sits down with Mary Spanos — an advocate who spent over a decade searching for answers to her crippling period pain, only to be told again and again: “It’s just your period.”
From her first emergency room visit at 12 to years of surgical disappointment, misdiagnosis, and disbelief, Mary’s story exposes how the system continues to fail women — and how that failure leaves lasting emotional scars. She opens up about the physical trauma of repeated procedures, the psychological toll of not being believed, and the turning point that came when a specialist finally said: “We might not have a solution.”
Together, Ariella and Mary unpack:✨ The hidden cost of delayed diagnosis in women’s health✨ Why being told to “just manage the pain” isn’t care — it’s dismissal✨ The emotional fallout of medical trauma and rebuilding trust in your body✨ How Ovum’s data-driven reports could help women be heard and believed sooner
Mary’s story is raw, real, and necessary — a reminder that pain is never “normal,” and that no woman should have to wait ten years to be taken seriously.
If you’ve ever been told your pain was “just in your head,” this episode is for you.
In this candid episode, Dr. Ariella Heffernan-Marks sits down with writer, editor, and chronic illness advocate Chloe Sargeant to explore what it really means to live with fibromyalgia and navigate a healthcare system that too often fails disabled people.
Chloe shares the raw realities of daily pain, fatigue, and brain fog — and the endless cycle of GP appointments, medication battles, and staggering out-of-pocket costs. From being told symptoms were “just depression” to going three weeks without essential medication after moving states, their story exposes how much chronically ill patients are forced to fight just to survive.
Together, Ariella and Chloe unpack:
✨ What a “day in the life” with fibromyalgia looks like — and why every case is different
✨ The financial and emotional toll of navigating continuity of care
✨ Why unsolicited advice (“have you tried yoga?”) is exhausting and harmful
✨ The rise of predatory wellness gurus preying on desperation — and how to spot them
✨ How tools like Ovum can bridge the gap until systemic change catches up
Chloe’s voice is fierce, funny, and unflinchingly honest. This is a conversation about survival, but also about solidarity: spoonies supporting spoonies, and refusing to be silenced.
If you’ve ever felt dismissed, gaslit, or pushed aside in the medical system, this episode is for you.
In this unapologetic episode, Dr. Ariella Heffernan-Marks sits down with Grace Lam — celebrated fashion director and fierce menopause advocate — to talk about the reality of perimenopause and why silence is never the answer.
Grace shares how her symptoms hit “like a rock,” from insomnia and mood swings to brain fog, only to be dismissed by doctors who handed her sleeping pills instead of answers. Frustrated, she turned her experience into activism, launching MeNotPause, a series that brings menopause out of the shadows and into the spotlight.
Together, Ariella and Grace unpack:
✨ Why silence around menopause leaves women vulnerable — and how to break it
✨ What it’s like to be dismissed by doctors and forced to self-advocate
✨ The hidden costs of navigating perimenopause and why access matters
✨ Why educating men and the next generation is just as important as supporting women
✨ How style, strength, and honesty can redefine what it means to age
Grace’s voice is bold, rebellious, and deeply human. This is more than her personal story — it’s a call to action for all of us. Because menopause isn’t just a “women’s issue.” It touches families, workplaces, communities, and governments.
If you’ve ever felt sidelined, silenced, or alone in your health journey, this episode is for you.
In this episode of I’m Listening with Dr Ariella, we hear from Leila Oliveira — investor, entrepreneur, and one of the first people to back Ovum.
Leila shares her dual perspective: as a woman navigating her own health journey (from painful periods to a decade on the pill without answers) and as a venture capitalist reshaping where capital flows. Her story exposes not only the gaps in women’s healthcare, but also the gaps in how women founders are funded.
Together, Leila and Ariella dive into:✨ Why femtech and AI represent one of the biggest untapped opportunities in venture capital✨ The reality of being dismissed by doctors — and the moment Leila realised ten years without a period wasn’t “normal”✨ What investors really look for in female founders — and how to own your “unfair advantage”✨ The bias female founders face when pitching, and how to turn data and resilience into power✨ Why respect matters more than being liked, and the importance of “taking up space”
Leila’s honesty, pragmatism, and passion make this episode both inspiring and practical — whether you’re a founder, an investor, or simply a woman who knows her body deserves better
In this powerful episode, Dr. Ariella Heffernan-Marks sits down with writer and actor Hannah Vanderheide, who opens up about her life with invisible chronic illnesses — and how being dismissed by doctors nearly cost her life. Twice.
At just 26, Hannah was told her terrifying symptoms were “just anxiety.” In reality, she was in a thyroid storm from undiagnosed Graves’ disease — a condition that could have killed her. Years later, during pregnancy, she found herself critically ill again. Doctors brushed it off as “just pregnancy symptoms” until a rare diagnosis — Addison’s disease — revealed the truth. Once again, her life, and her baby’s, were on the line.
Together, Ariella and Hannah unpack:✨ How medical dismissal and gaslighting endanger women’s lives✨ What it’s like to live with invisible illness and still show up in the world✨ The emotional toll of self-advocacy while exhausted and unwell✨ The myth of quick-fix “wellness cures” — and why they’re often dangerous✨ Finding radical acceptance: how to “do it sick” and still live fully
Hannah’s story is raw, emotional, and deeply human. It’s about survival, but also about finding power in vulnerability, listening to your intuition, and refusing to be silenced.
If you’ve ever felt dismissed, invisible, or told to “just relax” when you knew something was wrong, this episode is for you.
In our very first episode of I’m Listening with Dr Ariella, the tables turn: Ovum founder Dr. Ariella Heffernan-Marks becomes the guest, opening up about the personal and professional journey that led her to create Ovum.
Joined by Stefanie DiGianvincenzo, Ovum’s Chief Marketing Officer and stand-in host for this episode, Ariella shares what it was like to move from the clinic into advocacy, the frustrations she faced in a system that so often overlooks women, and the moment she knew something had to change.
Together, they dive into:
The gap between women’s lived experiences and how medicine responds
What Ariella’s medical training got right—and what it missed
The early days of building Ovum, and what the app offers today
The bigger mission: creating tools that listen, believe, and respect lived experience
This is more than an origin story—it’s a rallying cry for better healthcare, a glimpse behind the curtain of Ovum’s mission, and an invitation to anyone who’s ever felt dismissed in their health journey.
If you’ve ever had to fight to be believed, you’re not alone. Ovum was built with you, and for you. Download the app on Apple or Android to take the first step toward being seen, heard, and supported.
Welcome to I’m Listening — the podcast that listens, because healthcare hasn’t.
Hosted by Dr. Ariella Heffernan-Marks and brought to you by Ovum, this show creates a sanctuary of listening: to real health stories from women, to researchers unpacking bias in medicine, and to the innovation closing the gender health gap.
Coming soon, wherever you get your podcasts.