I'm Listening with Dr Ariella
by Ovum
For too long, women’s pain has been ignored, their symptoms brushed aside, and their stories dismissed — with devastating consequences.Hosted by Dr. Ariella Heffernan-Marks, this is the podcast that listens: to the women failed by the system, the researchers exposing medical misogyny, and the innovators closing the gender health gap.Brought to you by Ovum, the intelligent health partner built for women.Real stories. Radical listening. Change starts here.
Episodes
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Filling the Data Gap: Lucy Wark on Sex Education and Women's Health
Lucy Wark is the founder of normal, a business making modern sex toys and essentials to fund free, digital, expert led sex education. In this episode, she sits down with Dr Ariella to unpack why formal education leaves such a wide gap between what we're taught about sex and what we actually need…
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Beauty Without a Standard: Lisa Keenan on Mecca's Universal Feeling
Lisa Keenan is Chief Purpose Officer at Mecca and the driving force behind M-POWER, one of Australia's most ambitious platforms for advancing women's empowerment. In this episode, she sits down with Dr Ariella to trace her path from accounting and corporate affairs into purpose leadership, and…
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280,000 Voices: Grace Molloy on Making Menopause Normal
Grace Molloy is the founder of Menopause Friendly Australia, now supporting over 280,000 employees nationwide. In this episode, she sits down with Dr Ariella to share how a personal, confusing experience with perimenopause led her to build a movement around a topic that workplaces had been too...
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Count Our Babies: Samantha Payne on Loss, Miscarriage and Advocacy
Welcome to I'm Listening with Dr Ariella. In today's episode, Dr Ariella sits down with Samantha Payne, Co-Founder and CEO of the Pink Elephants Support Network, for an honest conversation about miscarriage and early pregnancy loss. Sam shares her personal experience of feeling dismissed and...
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Welcome back to I'm Listening
This season, Dr. Ariella sits down with the founders, advocates, and experts pushing women's health forward. From investment and equity to the everyday realities patients face. Expect honest conversations, real data, and the stories behind the people changing outcomes for women.
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Ep 11: Partnership, Fertility & Finding Your Way with Şener Besim
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,...
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Ep 10: The Future of Early Detection with Helen Frazer
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...
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Ep 9: The roots of medical gender bias, with Amy McLennan
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...
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Ep 8: When ambition meets illness, with Michelle Irving
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…
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Ep 7: The pregnancy everyone missed, with Joyce Jiao
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...
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Ep 6: 10 years too late with Mary Spanos
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…
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Ep 5: Surviving the system with Chloe Sargeant
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...
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Ep 4: Menopause out loud with Grace Lam
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...
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Ep 3: Building what's next with Leila Oliveira
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...
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Ep 2: When doctors don't listen with Hannah Vanderheide
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...
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Ep 1: Why I'm Listening
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…
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Introducing 'I'm Listening'
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...
About this show
For too long, women’s pain has been ignored, their symptoms brushed aside, and their stories dismissed — with devastating consequences.Hosted by Dr. Ariella Heffernan-Marks, this is the podcast that listens: to the women failed by the system, the researchers exposing medical misogyny, and the innovators closing the gender health gap.Brought to you by Ovum, the intelligent health partner built for women.Real stories. Radical listening. Change starts here.
Hosted by
Ovum