The air at SXSW’s SHE Media Co-SLab wasn’t just charged. It felt warm. Intentional. The kind of energy you notice the second the door closes behind you. Smart women everywhere, packed in tight, actually listening.
NYU professor Scott Galloway started it all off. His thesis? Moderation is everything. Moderate leaders for moderate people. But here’s the sticky part. Your data. Your subscriptions. Your attention span. These are currency. Where you put your money and where you put your eyes determines the world you live in. A small lever, sure, but it grounds you when the noise gets too loud.
Then came the heavy stuff. Endometriosis. Uterine fibroids. The stuff the medical system tends to brush aside. Or normalize. Too many women know the score already: hospitals weren’t built for our bodies. Specifically not the parts below the belt.
The advice that actually hit hard?
Get an advocate. Don’t go in alone. If the doctor shrugs, push back. Do the reading. Bring a friend who can hold your notes while you dissociate. Then do it for them when they need it. Healthcare is better as a team sport. It felt empowering in a way that doesn’t sound cheesy.
Rewiring Without the Hype
I keep looping back to Israa Nasir’s talk on daily rituals. She talked about neuroplasticity. That fancy word for how the brain physically changes itself. New experiences. New pathways.
You don’t need a life reset.
Take a different road home. Say hello to a stranger. Eat the thing you’ve been ignoring.
Nasir nailed it. She said, “The most novel thing you can do to rewire your brain is to talk to other people.”
That’s it.
The panel drove home the idea that sustainable change happens in inches, not miles. Shared meals. Regular calls with friends. These simple things regulate stress. They give energy back. Wellness isn’t some expensive retreat you fly across the ocean for. It might just be who you eat dinner with on a Tuesday.
Taking It All In
This whole event was a deep dive into what women are actually thinking about. Health. Autonomy. Power. No filters.
The vibe was rare. Everyone wanted to learn. Everyone wanted to support the person next to them. My first SXSW felt full. Really full.
If you go to the Co-Lab? Take notes. Take a friend. And definitely change your driving route tomorrow.
Your brain will notice.
