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A podcast by millennials, for millennials, covering health challenges unique to Gen Y. Get expert insights, practical patient advice, and inspiring survivor stories to help you make informed healthcare choices. Empower your journey with YMyHealth!
Melissa Schenkman (00:03.02)
I'm Melissa Schenkman and I'm the Founder of YMyHealth and co-host of the new YMyHealth podcast.
Julie Woon (00:14.024)
And I'm Julie Woon. I work as the content strategist for YMyHealth, and I'm also a co-host of the YMyHealth podcast.
Melissa Schenkman (00:21.498)
And Julie and I have known each other now for a decade, which is hard to believe because a decade ago, we would have never imagined why my health would be where it is today and why my health didn't exist a decade ago. I think it is really an important thing knowing where we are now. For me, my background was in...
journalism in undergrad and in public health, had been on the research side, had been involved in some clinical work in hospitals and I kind of decided to go back to school after talking to a lot of people in the journalism field, telling me like things had changed because I wasn't in it directly for several years and social media was starting, Twitter was starting and so I went back and
but still wanted to do health, knew I wanted to do health journalism, specifically reporting. And that is how you and I met, which is amazing. And going back to school and all this, which has led to all this, one of the best decisions I've ever made. But we were both on the broadcast track at Northwestern. Yeah, yeah. And...
Julie Woon (01:38.068)
Yeah, it's just funny to think that it's been that long at this point. And yeah, that our paths have kind of come together, gone apart, and come back together again. I know I went to journalism school and afterwards ended up switching over into marketing. And so I had somewhat fallen off of the journalism train for a while. And it was just funny that...
Melissa Schenkman (01:41.166)
Yeah.
Julie Woon (02:07.646)
you know, around 2020 or so, you had posted about YMyHealth, saying, you know, I could really use some SEO help. And I saw the post and I was like, well, that's something I could do that's, you know, marketing related. I very much am in this all the time. And so reached out and reconnected. And now it's just been, you know, bigger and better. And we've grown a lot since then.
Melissa Schenkman (02:13.838)
Yeah.
Melissa Schenkman (02:35.066)
Absolutely, absolutely. And it's true, yeah, because in the early days, which is, it's hard to believe. Originally, it was, we thought, you know, it was going to be all video based when we were in school, because we were on the broadcast track. And I'd been interviewing a lot of people who at the time were in their twenties who had different chronic conditions. And the one common thing that I would hear and that you would hear is like, there's no place for us, right? There is no content, there's no particular website that
we can turn to for information that's on health, that's credible, that's relevant to my age. And that's when this whole idea, yeah, it started happening of let's create a place for our own generation to help them. I had my background in public health and in research. You are, as we all see, a marketing genius, because you're undergrad too, you had marketing, it's your background. Now,
a wealth of experience all these years later with different companies. so, you know, in the beginning it was going to be all video and we even went out famously in June when living in Chicago, if anyone listening has ever been to Chicago during the winter or any part of it, which is six months of the year, it felt like it is very, very cold. And so this was a 90 degree Chicago day in June when we filmed the original promo on video.
which was not the norm and I think, you know, shows how strong our friendship was back then. And also, you know, how passionate we were about this for us to actually want to be out there in 90 degrees. But, you know, back then to the point we had, you know, several different videos. We were kind of doing an intro video. And then what happened was I, for me, you know, both of us, went back out into the workforce.
Julie Woon (04:14.815)
Yeah.
Melissa Schenkman (04:29.218)
after, know, being for me going back and for you going, you know, for, for the first time, you know, after grad school and, and we, you know, like you said, we kind of parted, parted ways a little bit on, on, know, for why my health, but at the same time I kept saying, you know what video may not be the way to go. I think we want to build an audience. I think we should start a blog. And this is when blogs weren't, maybe as popular at that time.
And so initially, it became why my health went from some videos and some video episodes becoming a blog. And then like you said, I did a bunch of that in those couple of years. And then in 2020, people had started saying to me, you got to get this SEO optimization.
And so that is when, yes, we reconnected and you assessed, I think that was the second version of the website that I built, which having come...from a research and public health background. Clearly I had never been taught how to build a website. So that was an interesting experience to build that one. And when we have today that you build this is absolutely beautiful. But yeah, so we, you know, started looking at things differently then in 2020 and there was such a need in 2020. There was like this whole wake up call, I feel like of our generation people, there are plenty of people in Generation Y who are interested in health, but even more once COVID hit in 2020, there was such a demand. Just the interest in health information and finding credible health information, I think really soared.
Julie Woon (06:02.56)
Yeah.
Melissa Schenkman (06:27.414)
in our generation. And so we started building on what had already started with this blog, but we went all the way from zero articles to now like 170 original stories is where we're at now, which is pretty incredible. And the other idea from the beginning is there's health information out there, there are definitions of things, you can find them anywhere.
But again, we wanted something tailored to us that would be relevant to us. And part of that, and to get the message across was, I want to hear it from somebody my age, in my generation, because as much as we have, you know, love our amazing mentors who are older than us, you know, I really felt, and I know you felt that we, if we saw someone who, was dealing with the same life challenges that we are because we all share certain generational challenges, know, moving up in different industries, economically balancing. There's a lot more people now who provide caregiving to older relatives, plus people, you know, have young children that they're trying to raise or in different points in their relationships.
And so I think it's very hard with all that we have going on because the majority of people we know, including us, typically have two jobs. And I'm not even talking about if you have children, the raising of children job, I'm just talking about professionally. Two jobs, a lot of people do, that's a common thing. And so I think trying to figure out how to prioritize your health in the midst of those like 10 other things that are on your plate is really hard. And so if somebody else knows that, it's a lot easier to...
to take their advice and get their message across to you about health and for you to say like, okay, if they can do it, I can do it to prioritize. And so yeah, so that's how we kind of went looking for people around the country and building our network of YMyHealth Contributors.
Julie Woon (08:27.444)
Yeah.
Julie Woon (08:38.43)
Yeah, I mean, I think it's been something that as we've gone along, like you really see how truly big the gap is in this space. And, you know, we have our own personal experiences, experiences of friends and family who we see it happening in a personal way, but you're not seeing it also talked about anywhere else. And it just feels like there are these issues that are,
in some cases, seemingly systemic within our healthcare system that are just not being addressed. Or if they are, it's on such a small platform. And I think for us to be able to bring some of those to light, bring awareness to those issues and get people who are directly affected by it or who have that experience and, you know, giving them a platform to talk is really what, why my health is all about. And like you said, we've been doing that in a written format for quite a while now.
Melissa Schenkman (09:33.87)
Yes.
Julie Woon (09:35.114)
but the discussion came up this past year of is this the key format or the only format that we do this in? And so while...
Obviously, we love the website. We hope people continue to utilize it as a resource. I think the podcast is what we felt really was going to give a literal voice to some of these people. And so I think we're just both really excited to take YMyHealth on this next step of its journey to talk to people and let you all hear what they have to say. And so I think for the context of this podcast, what you'll see is Melissa and I taking turns speaking to
all kinds of people, physicians, patients, cancer survivors, advocates, caregivers, all sorts of individuals on a variety of topics, which I think will be exciting. And I think, too, we're also very much open to hearing what you guys want to know about, what you feel like is important to discuss. And so that's another piece, I think, of this next step is, you know,
continued expansion into what we're doing and what we're talking about. We've got some great episodes already planned coming up here for our first several months that we're really excited about, some archival stuff, some net new, but we hope that it's stories that really resonate with you and stories that are insightful and helpful in your own healthcare journey.
Melissa Schenkman (11:08.982)
Absolutely, absolutely, Julie. And I am, I'm incredibly excited about this. I think, you know, we always want to stay, you know, cutting edge. And we have tried to be that very much for our generation and even for our members of Gen Z who also engage with us and are wonderful. And this is that next phase and maintaining that, you know, we, as I was mentioning before,
Everybody has so much on their plate and having this podcast this portability. We've had so many people express to us that they would love to be able to listen to us and to learn and engage with us, but also be able to do it sometimes while they're multitasking, which we all have to do. So that's also a part of this is making this very, very, you know, portable and easy to engage with. The other thing I think is that
Melissa Schenkman (12:05.614)
This gives us the opportunity to really expand the number of topics we can cover. And we cover a lot of topics already. I mean, if you look at the site, we have covered mental health, fitness, heart health, and we're gonna continue to do all of that. Cancer, POTS, I know I'm missing a few, mean, so many different topics, but this actually gives us a chance to expand even more on that.
Julie Woon (12:14.344)
Yeah.
Melissa Schenkman (12:33.482)
And there are a lot of people as well who like being on audio, being recorded. So some people that we've had the opportunity to do articles with, but we've never had the opportunity to do any kind of live video or live recording with, some of our contributors and new ones as well are gonna be joining us. And so I think that's really an exciting part of this. And we're gonna also be bringing in, no surprise there, they are my favorite, some research.
I know we have research in almost all of our articles, evidence-based research, but this is going to give us a chance, for example, to have a monthly spot that is going to be dedicated to research. So for all of you out there who either are research buffs or professionally or just personally enjoy hearing about cutting-edge research from a credible source, you don't necessarily always look for it.
We will make it easy for you to find it because we will be doing an episode dedicated to that with different topics. So I think there's just so much, so much opportunity for us to expand and also for more people to learn about us because as Julie was saying, like there is, there is just a huge gap. If you look in a lot of different areas in healthcare, whether it's colorectal cancer or it's preventative care.
in other areas really, there's just not that availability for resources for people of our age. There's such, as I've said from the first day, YMyHealth came into being is like, there is a misconception that everybody in their 20s, 30s, and even early 40s is young and invincible and healthy. And a lot of people are healthy, but none of us are invincible. And I think...
Unfortunately, and so this really gives us that power that YMyHealth gives us to have those tools and that information we need so that we can stay as healthy as we can be and really live, you know, as we always say, our best life is just so, so important.
Julie Woon (14:45.748)
Yeah, I think the other thing we talk about is the fact that.
our healthcare system has been changing and is continuing to change and how that has made in many ways it more difficult to find and access care. And I think that that's another piece of this as well is that knowledge is power. And I think when what we talk about all the time is there's so much self-advocacy that has to happen with your own healthcare, that that's important. That it's important to know.
and empower yourself with these topics, especially if it's something that you find could potentially relate to you. And I think also, you know, from a practitioner standpoint, hearing from them how things are changing, what things look like, what you need to know is, you know, that kind of like secondary action piece of, okay, you guys are telling us about all of these topics, but like, what do I do with that information? Like, what does this mean for
Melissa Schenkman (15:27.417)
Yes.
Julie Woon (15:49.082)
me or for those who you know I know and love who might be affected by one of these conditions. And so I hope that this podcast is something that
know, informs everyone but also is, yeah, something that gives you a takeaway too, that you finish an episode and you have potentially a next step in your healthcare journey. But if not, then it's something that at least you've learned something new and, you know, maybe it's something that you share with someone else.
Melissa Schenkman (16:23.49)
No, absolutely. That is what we want. We always are all about takeaways and giving you those steps, those actions that you can take, because that is something that you really can't find in many places. And you can't find it like at all for our age group. And so we're definitely here to provide that to you as part of this podcast and as we have in previous content, but now in a new and expanded way.
really including a lot of new contributors as well. And I was going to say, know, note far as the contributors, know, we are now, we've had contributors from 24 states in the U.S., which is awesome. And we're hoping to reach all states. But one of the things that's really important to your point, Julie, is that like we always do, we want to know what topics are of interest to you. And that is how we have gotten to where we are today.
because the only way, and we learned this early on, the only way to really keep your finger on the pulse, as they say, of what's important in millennial health is to talk to lots of people. And we talk to people in different parts of the country, all three age ranges within the millennial spectrum, people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. And by doing that, we're able to find out what is most important to everybody, seeing where those patterns are.
There are so many things that's very interesting, regardless of what part of the country you in, regardless of what industry you're in professionally, there are several key elements in common that we all have and concerns and areas of interest in health, which is very interesting, but also really helps us to continue to provide what you're looking for and what will be helpful to you.
in your healthcare journey. And so we definitely wanna hear from you. That has definitely been something that's been the base of us really throughout. absolutely, absolutely.
Julie Woon (18:27.422)
Yeah, absolutely. And I think, you know, what
We've talked a little bit about what people can expect from topics and who will be having as guests on the podcast itself. I think the other thing that I would just let people know is that the plan is to drop episodes twice a week. One will be in longer, in depth style episode. Again, the topics will change week to week, but being able to have the time to go nitty gritty into whatever the topic is for that week. And we plan on having those go out on Thursdays and on
Mondays we will have our mini soaps so shorter episodes that have Just quick hits of information again. Those will also change week to week But you know if you only have maybe let's say like 20ish minutes to listen to something Maybe a mini so it is is the perfect size for you But also know that many podcast listeners enjoy to have something long form where they really get a dig deep and that's what those Thursdays episodes will be for
You'll also be able to access episodes on YouTube. So if you prefer to watch something versus just listening to it, you have that option as well. And we'll also be taking interviews and doing recaps and transcripts on the website. So really whatever format that you prefer, you can access and you'll be able to stay up to date with us or give us your suggestions for those topics or tell your story with us on social media or if you want to reach out to us via the website you can do that also.
Melissa Schenkman (20:03.926)
Absolutely. And the other miniature kind of episode that we'll be dropping every now and then will be our Wellness Wednesdays. We've got some great people lined up, massage therapists, physical therapists, yoga instructors who are going to talk with us because we all know that wellness is extremely important to our generation and maintaining balance in life as best we can. So we'll definitely be looking forward to those as well.
Julie Woon (20:34.912)
Yeah, absolutely. A well-rounded, I think, approach to health is what we're looking for. Physical health, mental health, wellness, all aspects is really what we'll be coming at it with.
Melissa Schenkman (20:46.991)
Absolutely, absolutely. And I think that people will really find some of the topics, it'll really teach you something new that you, and hopefully more than one thing that is new. That's always my goal in all of our episodes to at least take one thing away that you didn't learn before. And so I think whether you're looking for preventive care information, you're currently going through a particular health challenge, we will be able to offer you a lot of different perspectives from people who are your age and really be able to give you actual advice that you can use, which I think that is something that is very, very hard to find.
And we also try to bring you things from our contributors that are kind of, as we say, like insider knowledge on different topics and that's always really, really helpful too, I think, for people to have. So that is what we will be bringing to you. And it's just such an exciting time for us because to really grow from only having three contributors initially to having over a hundred. Now in 24 states is just awesome. And to see the level of engagement from all of you, it has really been so rewarding for us because we value your opinions and we know how important health is and it's the most important thing in your life.
But to be able to hear from people in our generation knowing that we're providing such a valuable service is just awesome. So we're excited to be able to reach many new fellow millennials. And we also, of course, welcome everyone of all ages, even though we are for millennials by millennials. We've been very fortunate to have people from Gen X and Gen Z.
Melissa Schenkman (23:06.538)
engage with us as well because we do things in such a unique way. I think that really engages people of all ages with their health. But again, we're just really excited to launch this podcast and bring you some really unique things to listen to, teach some new things and really you know, connect you with other people. That's another big thing. Connect you with other people that you may have never met before.
And Julie and I certainly, through YMyHealth, have connected with more people than ever before that we did not know. And it's that shared common motivation for health and wanting to help people that has brought all of us together around the country.
So we're excited to showcase some of these incredible contributors to you to give you their contact info so that you can connect with them if that's something of interest to you as well because finding these people it's like like diamonds, you know, and the rough as they say is not always the easiest and there's some really incredible Millennials out there doing amazing things for for individuals health and so Very excited to be able to share that with you as well
Julie Woon (24:30.068)
Yeah. So thank you so much for joining us. I hope this has been helpful in giving people the history of how we came to be and what we're planning to do and maybe build some excitement for some of our first episodes.
And yeah, like, like Melissa said, we're just so grateful to have this community and to be able to continue to nurture and grow it. So we hope that you all appreciate the podcast as well.
Melissa Schenkman (25:01.967)
Yeah, thank you, Julie. Yes, we are very grateful for our community and we really hope you enjoy the podcast and we look forward to hearing from you.
Julie Woon (25:09.492)
Yeah, absolutely. All righty. Thanks, everyone. Talk soon.
Melissa Schenkman (25:13.794)
Thank you.