If a doctor has ever told you "everything looks normal" while you felt anything but, this one's for you.

I sat down with Elise Clark, a functional medicine nurse practitioner with over 15 years of experience in family practice, endocrinology, and hormone health, who has made it her mission to help women understand what's actually happening in their bodies. We talked about why hormone shifts start 10 to 15 years before menopause, what "normal but not optimal" really means, and how to know when it's time to dig deeper than a standard lab panel.

Elise also took me on a learning journey through one of the most persistent myths in women's health — the supposed link between hormones and cancer — and unpacked what the research actually says now. What struck me most is how much of this comes back to a theme we return to again and again on Building Thinkers: you don't have to accept feeling "off" as just part of this stage of life. There are things you can learn, questions you can ask, and choices you can design around — and it starts with trusting what your body is telling you.

Key Takeaways:

Why your 30s is when the hormone conversation should actually start.

What birth control might be quietly masking and the questions to ask before starting or stopping.

What a functional medicine appointment actually looks like.

Why “your labs are normal” might be the most incomplete sentence in women’s health.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

01:26 Hormonal health care at any age

04:01 When you know something’s wrong but your labs come back normal

06:41 The difference between functional medicine vs. traditional medicine

10:29 What does “flourishing” look like in health?

12:10 The risks of over-optimization

15:42 Common health concerns and next steps

20:45 Debunking hormones and cancer myths

29:45 Oura rings: helpful or not?

32:34 Finding what’s right for you

35:30 Wellness influencer red flags

36:16 Peptides: should you do them?

37:04 If only women knew this one thing

39:56 Outro

Resources Mentioned:

Estrogen Matters by Avrum Bluming and Carol Tavris

Connect with Elise:

Website: https://www.eliseclarkhealth.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eliseclarkfnp/

Connect with Me:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracyannclark08/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingthinkers/

Building Thinkers Newsletter: https://building-thinkers.kit.com/24cdc43dcf

More About Building Thinkers:

Building Thinkers is based on the realization that there is exponential impact in the things we build, from mindsets and behaviors to resumes and meal plans, but sometimes insights and impact seem out of reach or overly complex.

In the Building Thinkers podcast, we explore how to build a flourishing life across different life domains: mental health, physical health, spiritual health, relationships, finance, career, play, and growth. Flourishing is something you can design, domain by domain, through deliberate curiosity, reflection, practice, and play.

Every episode turns a conversation with an expert into something you can build with: a single, completable blueprint you can put to use right away, so the insight leaves with you instead of staying on the page.

This podcast is for those who are actively designing a more intentional life, the multi-potentialites and high achievers who want real success and a life that feels good to live.

Harness curiosity. Win your future.

If you've ever felt paralyzed by uncertainty or like the world is shifting too fast to keep up, this episode is going to reframe how you think about that feeling entirely.

I sat down with Mathias Behn Bjørnhof, a futurist and founder of Anticipate, a strategic foresight consultancy based in Copenhagen, who has done this work with organizations like the United Nations, and he completely changed how I think about navigating the unknown. A futurist isn't someone who predicts the future, it's someone who helps you build the mental skills to move through many possible futures with more confidence and creativity.

We talk about how to fight the algorithm, how to find a balanced news diet, and why imagination is actually one of the most practical and underrated professional skills you can develop right now. We also go deep on something I don't think we talk about enough in the context of work — love, empathy, and what it actually means to become a whole person.

If you're a leader, a builder, or just someone trying to find your footing in a noisy world, I think this one will stick with you.

Key Takeaways:

The future is not predetermined, and you have more agency over it than you think.

Fighting the algorithm is a skill, and your news diet shapes how clearly you can think.

Imagination is not fluffy; it is one of the most practical professional tools you are not using enough.

Scenarios and strategic foresight are not just for big organizations; they are tools any individual can apply to their own work and life.

Love and empathy are not soft skills to leave at the door at work; they might actually be the most critical ones we have.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

03:03 What “futures thinking” actually is

04:17 How to deal with information overload

7:39 How to intentionally break out of your echo chamber

11:37 Why we are wired for doom & how to fight it

15:11 Strategic foresight in action

21:36 Imagination is your most underrated professional skill

28:22 The skill anyone can learn regardless of their background

30:03 Why love belongs at work more than you think

35:18 Where to find Mathias & his hopes for the future

Resources Mentioned:

Anticipate - Strategic Foresight Consultancy

The Futurists Guide to Foresight

Harvard Human Flourishing Program

Building Thinkers Newsletter

Connect with Mathias:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mathiasbehnbjoernhof/

Website: https://www.anticipate.dk/

Connect with Me:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracyannclark08/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingthinkers/

Building Thinkers Newsletter: https://building-thinkers.kit.com/24cdc43dcf

More About Building Thinkers:

I'm your host, Tracy Clark, and this is where potential becomes reality through deliberate curiosity, reflection, practice, and play. The Building Thinkers podcast is based on the realization that there's exponential potential in the things we build.

And so, in my little corner of the internet and podcasting land, I want to take my 12 favorite problems, these are my constant curiosities, and I want to go deeper. I want to build thinkers. This is a community of multi-potentialites who may be disoriented by all the possibilities of success we envision but haven't yet achieved.

If any of that sounds like you, come listen in. Welcome to the Building Thinkers podcast.