LIVTOSHARE

always an "and" not an "or"

Author

Livia Han
February 24, 2025

✨ This week's quote: "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain." - Vivian Greene

✨ This week's reflection: hi beautiful humans! Ok writing this edition has been a bit harder, hence why you’re receiving this so late on a Sunday… I went back and forth on how candid I should be especially as this newsletter has grown. But many of you have shared with me that you really love this section, so you’re giving me the courage to share. Moving here has felt like an absolute roller coaster and yet peaceful at the same time? Sounds weird but I feel very spiritually connected in this city.

This week was harder, truthfully. I really felt the contrast of chasing my dreams in a new city. The highs can be SO high - I’m receiving new opportunities constantly (excited to share more with you all soon) and meeting the most inspiring people daily.

And also... I miss my friends & community back home. My family doesn't know I quit my job (my Asian readers may understand, I don't want them to stress), and I've caught myself spiralling, overthinking emails, and regretting interactions immediately after. I think often we expect people to feel either excited or not, happy or sad - but like a mentor once said, it's an "and" not an "or". This week I've let myself feel both - the excitement and the fear, the alignment and the uncertainty.

Growing up in an asian household, I've always felt insecure about my lack of hard skills - I've just always loved people and building connections. But being here has been inviting me to embrace that I'm more intuitive than analytical, and that's exactly what's needed in community building. I'm very much in the thick of figuring things out, but I've never felt more aligned about wanting to transform the healthcare experience we get to have as women.

Trusting that everything happening is meant to and it's truly the journey, not the destination. 💗

 ✨ This week's conversation highlight: Had the opportunity to go down to Foster city, and visit the new HRC Fertility clinic and chat with Dr Sara Vaughn. She is absolutely incredible. She’s advised some of the leading women’s health startups like Evvy and Gameto, and she’s a physician that so obviously cares about her patients. Really grateful for the experience to see the whole clinic, workflows, and what a journey would be like as a patient. My biggest takeaway from our conversation was the importance of having deep industry expertise & representation on your founding team when building in this space.

✨ This week's learning: As I dive deeper into community building in the women's health space, I'm learning that it's not just about organizing events - it's about creating spaces where meaningful connections can flourish, and continue to grow outside of the settings you create. Every conversation, every introduction has the potential to spark something transformative. I've been particularly inspired by Olivia O’Sullivan's newsletter on Community-led Growth, which beautifully articulates many of the principles I've been implementing in my own work.

✨ This week's journal prompt: How can I create more spaces for authentic connection in my life? What does meaningful community look like to me? 

🌱 COMMUNITY & EVENTS 🌱

Yesterday, we hosted the first Tech Brews in SF with Micheal Ng, Co-Founder and CEO at Ambience Healthcare as our first guest. It was such a success, we had 87 guest registrations! Micheal was amazing, so thoughtful & kind, and stayed much longer afterwards to speak with everyone. So proud of our team for pulling this off so quickly! I’m currently one of the co-leads of the SF health/biotech chapter, learn more about tech brews here and how it started in Singapore and has since expanded to Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shenzhen, and now San Francisco! Our next event will be on March 18th, stay tuned for more details!

Events I’m attending this week:

🍒 WOMEN'S HEALTH NEWS THAT CAUGHT MY ATTENTION 🍒

Major Policy Updates:

Exciting Launches:

  • Halle Berry launches Respin Health, a groundbreaking menopause and women's health care platform offering personalized coaching, community support, and science-backed wellness information. (interesting question that came to mind, I wonder if we’ll start seeing more celebrities launching startups, similar to how we saw a flood of celebrities start their own beauty brands, then VC firms… combining star power with scientific expertise to reach broader audiences.) 

Industry Leadership:

  • Boston Scientific's Kathleen Van Vlierberghe discusses advancing minimally invasive treatments and championing gender equity in clinical research. Their ELEGANCE Global registry aims for 40% women enrollment in peripheral artery disease trials. (huge to have someone from boston sci, leading life science company come out and put a spotlight on women’s health - this is part of how we’re going to get more funding!) 

Strategic Partnerships:

Funding Momentum:

Enjoyed this edition of LIVTOSHARE? Share it with a friend passionate about women's health and growth!

Love diving deeper into these topics? I'm always excited to discuss them - just reply to this email!

Have a BEAUTIFUL WEEK!!!

With love & light,

Livia Han 💗

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