#33. We think constantly about gut health, skincare, nutrition, and sleep - but when it comes to our mouths, most of us still think brushing our teeth twice a day is enough. What if oral care is actually one of the most overlooked pieces of whole-body wellness?

This week, Kate Yarbrough sits down with Priya Shah, co-founder of KÖPPEN, the science-backed oral wellness brand reframing how we think about the mouth - not simply as a cosmetic concern, but as a gateway to overall health. After years of personal interest in wellness and formal study across multiple health modalities, Priya became fascinated by the oral microbiome and the disconnect between its importance and the way modern oral care had been built. KÖPPEN launched with a single tongue scraper and has since grown into a full system designed to support the entire mouth through products rooted in both ancient practices and modern research.

In this conversation, Priya explains why brushing alone is an incomplete approach to oral health, what the tongue and oral microbiome can reveal about the rest of the body, and why practices rooted in Ayurveda are increasingly finding their way into mainstream wellness. She also shares how she and her brother built KÖPPEN from the ground up, why they started with a tongue scraper, how they approach ingredients and formulation, and the surprising problem with many conventional breath mints. From beautiful design to better daily rituals, Priya offers a new way to think about one of the few wellness practices we repeat every single day.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Priya's lifelong interest in health, wellness, and naturally derived remedies

• How studying different health modalities changed the way she thought about her own body and routines

• Why the mouth can be a gateway to understanding whole-body health

• The oral microbiome and why brushing your teeth is only one part of whole-mouth care

• What the tongue can potentially signal about what is happening elsewhere in the body

• How ancient practices like Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine influenced Priya's approach to oral wellness

• Why Priya and her brother believed the traditional oral care category was ready to be reimagined

• How KÖPPEN combines science, naturally derived ingredients, and thoughtful design

• Why the brand launched with a tongue scraper - and what selling out repeatedly taught them about consumer demand

• The difference between tongue scraping and using a toothbrush to clean your tongue

• How KÖPPEN evaluates ingredients with researchers, chemists, and dental professionals

• The thinking behind ingredients like hydroxyapatite, bromelain, papain, and xylitol

• Why many conventional breath mints may only temporarily mask bad breath - and how KÖPPEN approached creating a healthier alternative

• Everyday habits, including mouth breathing, that Priya believes can disrupt the oral microbiome

• Why Priya believes oral care will become a much bigger pillar of the wellness conversation over the next five years

• How Priya and her co-founder think about beauty, design, and turning everyday oral care into a ritual

• Priya's Green-ish Goal for creating more space, clarity, and connection in everyday life

#32. We all know we should wear sunscreen every day—but why do so many of us still skip it?

This week, Kate sits down with Megan Black and Eliana Field-Marsham, co-founders of SONNI, a skincare-first sun protection brand reimagining what mineral SPF can look and feel like. Built around high-performance, dermatologist-tested mineral formulas and elegant textures, SONNI is tackling one of sun care’s biggest challenges: creating products people actually want to use every day.

Before founding SONNI, Megan spent nearly four years at Estée Lauder leading global online strategy and omnichannel initiatives before earning her MBA at Kellogg. Eliana began her career at McKinsey before joining Little Spoon, where she gained firsthand experience scaling a modern consumer startup, and later earned her MBA at Stanford GSB.

In this conversation, Megan and Eliana share how a personal frustration with sunscreen became the foundation for SONNI, how their longtime friendship evolved into a co-founder partnership, and why they built the brand with retail and omnichannel distribution in mind from the very beginning. They also unpack the science behind mineral SPF, what today’s increasingly educated skincare consumer expects from brands, and the lessons they’ve learned building a company from the ground up. In this episode, we discuss:

• How Megan’s own experience with sunburns, and her sister’s melanoma diagnosis, inspired the idea for SONNI
• Why sunscreen has an experience problem and how SONNI is working to make SPF feel more like skincare
• The science behind mineral sunscreen and the formulation challenge of eliminating the traditional white cast
• How Megan and Eliana’s backgrounds at Estée Lauder, McKinsey, and Little Spoon shaped the way they built SONNI
• Why they designed the business for omnichannel distribution from day one rather than thinking purely DTC
• How their 15-year friendship evolved into a co-founder relationship, and why clear swim lanes and deep trust matter
• What they’ve learned about building consumer trust in a highly regulated, science-driven category
• Why dermatologist relationships, med spas, and trusted skincare professionals play an important role in SONNI’s growth
• How Kellogg and Stanford GSB changed the way Megan and Eliana thought about entrepreneurship, leadership, and company culture
• The unexpected reality of becoming a generalist as a founder and learning every detail of the business
• SONNI’s vision for expanding beyond traditional sun care into a broader ecosystem of skin protection and recovery
• Why increasingly educated consumers are raising the bar for science, efficacy, and transparency across beauty and skincare

Find Sonni here: https://sonniskin.com/

#31. Fertility is one of the most consequential parts of women’s health, yet for many women, it remains confusing, expensive, and difficult to plan around. What would it look like to give women greater clarity, choice, and freedom before they are ready to start a family?

This week, Kate Yarbrough sits down with Lauren Makler, co-founder and CEO of Cofertility, the platform helping women freeze and store their eggs for free when they donate half to intended parents who need an egg donor. Before launching Cofertility, Lauren spent nearly a decade at Uber, where she founded Uber Health and helped build the business to serve more than 10 million patients. Her own experience facing a rare abdominal disease, and the possibility of losing her ovaries, ultimately shaped Cofertility’s mission.

In this conversation, Lauren shares why the traditional egg donation model needed to be reimagined, how egg freezing can give women greater agency over their relationships and careers, and why fertility education should begin long before someone is ready to have a baby. She also reflects on building Uber Health from within a larger organization, staying relentless in the face of rejection, finding the right co-founder, and how motherhood has changed her approach to ambition, wellness, and risk. In this episode, we discuss:

• Lauren’s personal fertility journey and the experience that inspired Cofertility
• How Cofertility is making egg freezing more accessible through egg sharing
• Why the traditional egg donation model needed to be reimagined
• The biggest misconceptions surrounding fertility and egg freezing
• The concept of “fertility longevity” and planning from a place of abundance
• Building Uber Health from an internal pitch into a $100 million business in 18 months
• How to introduce a new idea within a larger organization
• Navigating naysayers, rejection, and the mindset of “just you wait”
• Finding the right co-founder and evolving responsibilities over time
• How Los Angeles has shaped Cofertility’s growth and community
• The ways motherhood changed Lauren’s relationship with ambition and risk

In this episode, we discuss: