Building from lived experience | Fertility, hiddenGrief & sustainable innovation | Lara Solomon

In this episode of the Bee Formless™ Flow Driven CEO Podcast, I connected with Lara Solomon, Founder and CEO of Hoopsy, the company behind the world’s first paper-based pregnancy test, for a conversation that became far more personal than the product or business behind it.Lara and I share an experience neither of us would have chosen: going through IVF hoping to become mum's and having to make peace with life unfolding differently. We talked openly about the grief that comes with that, particularly the kind other people cannot always see, and how it can disappear for a while only to surface again when something touches the life you once imagined. As Lara said, “It doesn’t go away, it just becomes easier.”Hoopsy began during Lara’s own IVF journey, when she kept seeing women sharing photos of the many pregnancy tests they were taking while waiting and hoping, and she became unable to ignore the plastic waste being created alongside such an emotional experience.That observation became the world’s first paper-based pregnancy test, and Hoopsy is evolving into something much more community. Lara is building around an experience she knows intimately, bringing greater care, connection and emotional support into a fertility journey that can feel incredibly lonely.We discussed the expectations we absorb around partnership, children and how life is supposed to unfold, and who we become when it doesn’t. Lara reflected on finding herself, and learning to stay connected to who she had become.There was something serendipitous that “hoop” means hope in Dutch. THE SHAPE SHIFT IN MOTIONAt the heart of this conversation was a shift from carrying difficult experiences quietly to allowing lived experience to become a source of connection, innovation and care.LEARN (LETTING GO)✨ The expectation that life must follow the path we were taught to imagine.✨ The belief that grief only counts when other people can see what was lost.UNLEARN (CREATE, REIMAGINE & RESHAPE)✨ Reimagine lived experience as insight rather than something to hide.✨ Build around the emotional reality people are living, not only the product they are buying.RELEARN (TEST & IMPLEMENT)✨ Choose your own path rather than somebody else’s version of fulfilment.✨ Build with care where existing systems have left people unsupported.ACTIVE RECOVERY (REFLECT & RESET)✨ What part of your story are you still trying to hide or outrun?✨ What could your lived experience teach you about what the world still needs?Find out more:🔗 https://linkedin.com/in/larasolomon🌐 https://hoopsy.com📷 Instagram.com/hoopsyco🎵 Tiktok.com/@hoopsyco📘 Facebook.com/Hoopsyco💭 What part of your own story might hold the beginning of something meaningful?If you’re ready to reshape your life, leadership or business from the inside out, start with a Strategic Shape Shift Diagnostic.🔗 https://calendly.com/beeformless/strategicshapeshiftdiagnostic#beeformless #flowdrivenceo #hoopsy #fertility #ivfjourney #womenshealth #sustainableinnovation