𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁-𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀
It’s not just about scaling your business.
It’s also about scaling you.
From Fortune 500 companies to fast-growing startups, I’ve coached leaders at every stage. Today, my mission is focused: helping first-time founders scale themselves as fast as they scale their companies.
 
𝗠𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀
Your startup can only grow as fast as you do. As a first-time founder, you’re under pressure from investors, your team, and your family—all while learning on the fly skills that others spend decades mastering. Whether you’re raising capital, hiring your first team, or pushing toward product-market fit, I help you close the gap between where you are and where your company needs you to be.
 
𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗠𝘆 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀
I bring 20+ years of coaching 10,000+ leaders, founder experience, and cutting-edge insights from neuroscience and behavioral psychology. The result: a proven path to accelerate both personal and company growth. My frameworks help you:
• Transform self-doubt into clarity and influence
• Build and inspire high-performing, durable teams
• Raise capital while staying true to your vision
• Create sustainable success without burnout
• Leverage your existing strengths while closing critical skill gaps
• Grow yourself as fast as your company 
 
𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗜 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲
My one-on-one clients are founders who:
• Want tailored, responsive coaching that meets them where they are
• Care deeply about building strong teams and cultures
• Aim to create both impact and enterprise value
• Refuse to accept that success means sacrificing their families, health, or lives outside the company
• Are willing to grow personally and professionally to become the leader their company needs 
 
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁
From doubling revenue to unlocking fundraising rounds to transforming team dynamics, my clients consistently achieve breakthrough results—while building lives they actually want to live.
 
𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁?
Visit www.andrewpoles.com/contact or DM me here.

Andrew Poles

We use the word “complete” all the time.
But most people confuse it with “finished.”

They’re not the same.

You can end a relationship and still be carrying it.
You can be in an ongoing partnership and feel fully clear.

Completion is a function of how you relate to reality - not a status update.
In this clip (from my conversation on the Sleep Is A Skill podcast with Mollie), I break down what I mean by being complete - and why it has real implications for how you live, lead, and even sleep.

Coaching first-time founders to grow themselves and their companies | 3x Founder | 22+ years coaching partners like NASA, Dell, Schwab + 10,000 people worldwide

What does insomnia have to do with integrity?
More than most leaders realize.

I once worked with a man who had slept 1–2 hours a night for years. His health was at risk. After doing deep completion work in his relationships and life, he slept 8–10 hours for the first time in decades.

There’s a connection between how complete you are and how well you sleep.
And more than that - your sleep may be a lagging indicator of how powerfully you’re living and leading.

If this resonates, I unpack it further on the Sleep Is A Skill podcast with the amazing Mollie Eastman, episode linked below.  

Sometimes it’s not a sleep issue.
It’s a leadership issue.

#Leadership #ExecutiveCoaching #SleepIsASkill #FounderHealth #Integrity

This is the part of leadership most spreadsheets can’t capture. When behavior stops making sense, there’s almost always unseen pressure in the room.
What stands out here is the refusal to confuse kindness with lowering standards. Real leadership is keeping the bar high AND removing shame from the climb.
Culture isn’t what you say you value - it’s how safe it feels for people to be human while doing hard work.

3 Exits | Founder @ Humble | Strategic Partner @ Loud | Follow for Self Improvement, Growth Strategy & Being A Better Human | Entrepreneurship Coach & Mentor

You have no idea what people are dealing with.
Not even close.
And that’s ok.

Because you just have to be kind.

The person who snapped in your meeting might have a kid who’s struggling.

The one who “doesn’t care anymore” might be keeping a marriage together with duct tape.

The quiet one who missed a deadline might be dealing with a parent who’s fading, fast.

Work makes it easy to pretend everyone is a machine.

Metrics. Output. Deadlines. Slack green dots.

👉 But leadership is what you do when the spreadsheet stops explaining the behaviour.

Bad leaders get this part wrong: 

They think kindness is a personality trait.

It isn’t.
It’s a professional skill. 
And it’s different to being NICE.

Kind isn’t soft.
Kind is controlled.

Nice avoids the hard chat.
Kind has it, without making the person feel small.

Nice lowers standards so nobody feels uncomfortable.
Kind keeps standards high and removes the shame from getting there.

I learned this the hard way building companies from nothing.

⚠️ When you’re under pressure yourself, your instincts get ugly, and you start to:
Push harder. Watch closer. Assume the worst.

It feels “productive”.

It’s usually expensive.

Because people don’t leave jobs first.
They leave the feeling of being misunderstood.

So if you want a practical way to lead like a grown up, try this:

Before you judge the performance, check the pressure they are under.

BUT, a simple “You alright?” is not leadership.
Anyone can say that.

📌This is leadership:

1.	Ask a better question
“What’s taking up headspace right now?”
It gives them a door that isn’t dramatic.

2.	Offer a real option
“Do you want time, help, or privacy?”
Most people just need one of the three.

3.	Separate the person from the work
“You’re not your output. Let’s fix the work.”
That one sentence changes everything.

4.	Adjust the load, not the standards
“What do we de-scope for 7 days?”
Pressure without control creates mistakes.

5.	Protect them in public, coach them in private.
If you correct someone publicly, you teach the whole team to hide.

None of this is “being nice”.

It’s how you keep good people good.

Your culture isn’t your values on a Notion page.
It’s how safe it feels to have a bad week around you.

So yes, you seriously have NO idea what people are dealing with.

Lead like you know that.

-
♻️: Repost to inspire.
➕: Follow Charlie Lass.

Most founders don’t get stuck because things are hard.
They get stuck because of the story they tell themselves about why things shouldn’t be this way.

Loss. Missed signals. Bad hires. Broken trust.
The pain is real — but the suffering is optional.

This week I'm sharing about how leaders unknowingly trap themselves after setbacks, and how dropping one word can unlock clarity, resilience, and forward momentum.

If you’ve been carrying something heavy lately, I hope this offers you some needed clarity.

Sadness: Yes. Suffering: No. Over the last few weeks, several founders I coach have been moving through loss. Not just personal loss — though that’s b

Open article: The “Should” Trap in Leadership by Andrew Poles • 4 min read

When Ken Cox and I were talking recently on the Clicks and Bricks podcast, we kept circling back to something that doesn’t get talked about enough in business:

Your company grows at the speed of your own growth.

Not just revenue.

You can still be making money and feel something in the business has stalled.

Energy drops. Culture gets stale. Decisions feel heavier.

I’ve lived that.

In my first business, I thought learning business meant learning tactics. Strategy. Sales. Operations.

And yes — you do have to learn the “game.”

But what I didn’t understand then was that every ceiling I hit in the business was connected to a ceiling in me.

Fear I hadn’t dealt with.
Conversations I didn’t want to have.
Identity I hadn’t owned yet, or hadn't generated the courage to let go. 

Ken asked me about authenticity and about “next right actions.”

For me, performance really comes down to that:

What is the next right action of integrity here?
Not the most comfortable action.
Not the one that protects your ego.
The one that’s actually right.

That’s where growth happens.
And when that shifts, the business shifts.

If you’re a founder, especially early-stage, I think you’ll appreciate how deep this conversation goes. 

I'll put the link to the full episode in the comments.

Most founder tension isn’t about strategy.

It’s about what no one is saying.

When something is clearly impacting performance–but everyone is pretending it’s not–trust erodes, capacity drops, and the team feels it.

This is about how to name the “boulder in the room” without creating drama, shame, or overcorrection.

If you’ve ever:
-Avoided a hard conversation at the top
-Worried about overstepping vs. under-supporting
-Felt silent tension on your leadership team
-Tried to protect the business without adding pressure

This is for you.

A founder asked me this week how to support a co-founder going through a deeply disruptive personal situation. You know the kind. Sleep off. Nervous s

Open article: The Boulder in the Middle of the Room by Andrew Poles • 5 min read

Your calendar is lying to you.
Not because you’re incapable - but because it’s built on optimism, not reality.
If your day assumes you’ll get everything done, with no interruptions, no fatigue, no tradeoffs… that’s a fantasy, not a system.
You don’t need better memory.
You need a structure that maps real work to real time - and forces honest choices.
High performance starts with a calendar that tells the truth.
Where is yours overpromising right now?

You deserve to live pain-free. And the good news is, you can!

If you've ever felt like your concerns weren't heard, your pain wasn't "real enough," or your body betrayed you when you needed it most, you're not alone. 
I have been there too.

For the past decade, I've dedicated my life to creating spaces where women can reclaim their bodies, their voices, and their power. 

What I've learned from 10k classes and walking alongside 3,700+ women:

Your chronic pain has a story, hearing is key to healing.

Your pregnancy and postpartum journey is sacred territory that requires both clinical precision and intuition. 

Your trauma lives in your body, and healing happens when we honour both strength and vulnerability.

Through Core Connect™, my clinical practice, I've witnessed the profound transformation that happens when women are given permission to heal authentically, not despite their experiences, but because of the wisdom those experiences have given them.

My background in health policy (French Parliament, NHS) and my own experiences taught me that systems often fail women. 

So my work as a clinical Pilates educator, studio owner, and perinatal specialist is about daily advocacy, with and for you.

If you're a woman ready to:
•	Transform your relationship with your body from frustration to partnership.
•	Find evidence-based solutions that honour your whole story.
•	Connect with a community that celebrates your journey, not just your destination.

I'm here. Let's create the space you've been looking for.

Founder of Core Connect™ | Clinical Pilates Educator | Advocate for Women's Embodied Healing

📧 marianne@coreconnectstudio.com

Marianne Tafani

I don't hit 10,000 steps daily. 
Do you?

This "magic" number came from a 1960s Japanese marketing campaign for a pedometer called "Manpo-kei".
Which literally translates to "10,000 steps meter."

Not from research.
Not from science.
From advertising.

Yet millions obsess over hitting this exact target daily.

Here's what the 10,000 steps goal gets right:

-Simple to track.
-Makes you realize how little you actually move.
-Builds a daily movement habit.
-Makes exercise affordable.
-Correlates with genuine health benefits.

But here's what it gets wrong:

-Ignores your individual fitness level.
-Treats all movement as equal (slow stroll vs. brisk walk).
-Can be demotivating when life gets in the way.
-Focuses purely on quantity over quality.

The real problem?
10,000 steps is time-consuming.
So time-consuming that you might skip strength training.
Or mobility work.
Or the other components of metabolic health that matter just as much.
Like cooking a nutritious meal.

I've watched clients stress about hitting 9,500 steps.
Missing the point entirely.
And then choosing to disregard the movement goal altogether.

The real goal isn't a specific number.
It's consistent movement that fits your life.

Some days that's 15,000 steps.
Other days it's 6,000 steps plus strength training.
Or yoga.
Or dancing in your kitchen.

Movement is medicine.
But the dosage doesn't have to be exactly 10,000.
Unless you want advertising to determine your health goals.

➕ Follow Marianne Tafani for unfiltered takes on movement and health myths.
♻️ Share this with someone who needs permission to stop counting.

The Core Queen 👸🏽 I turn chronic pain into lasting strength 🧘🏽‍♀️🎙️ Follow for insights into health optimisation, prenatal and postnatal guidance & mission-driven business in Dubai | Founder of Core Connect

Stop taking magnesium for sleep.
Yes, I said it.

Everyone's popping magnesium like candy.
$50/month on glycinate.
Oxide. 
Citrate.
Whatever the wellness influencer recommended this week.

But here's what nobody's addressing:

You're checking work emails at 9pm.
Your phone is charging next to your pillow.
You're responding to that "quick" Teams message before bed.

Your cortisol is spiking at the exact moment it should be dropping.
Your nervous system is in fight-or-flight mode.
And you think 400mg of magnesium will override that?

Research shows behavioural interventions work.
Better than most supplements.
Yet we're all reaching for the bottle instead of addressing the root cause.

Try implementing these 3 things: 

1️⃣ Digital sunset at 8pm.
Phone in airplane mode.
Not silent.
Airplane mode.

2️⃣ Hard boundary on work communication.
That "urgent" email can wait until morning.
Your boss survived before smartphones existed.

3️⃣ 30-minute transition ritual.
Your brain needs time to shift gears.
Executive mode to rest mode doesn't happen instantly.

Address the behaviour first.
Supplement second.

Try this for 2 weeks before you buy another bottle.

Most of you won't need the magnesium.

➕ Follow Marianne Tafani for evidence-based movement science and women's health insights.
♻️ Share this with someone spending $50/month on supplements they might not need.

You don't need 6 omega-3 pills a day.
You need to stop avoiding egg yolks.

I see desk workers popping 4-6 fish oil capsules daily.
Ordering egg white omelets.
Spending $100/month on supplements.
While avoiding the omega-3 sources already on their plate.

Athletes training twice daily?
They might need therapeutic doses of omega-3s for inflammation.

But if you sit 8 hours a day and mega-dose omega-3s while eating fat-free everything?

This is for you.

Here's what happens when you supplement high but eat scared:

👉 Your body absorbs whole food fats better than pills
👉 You miss synergistic nutrients 
Choline for focus, vitamin D for hormones, selenium for thyroid function
👉 Desk work is cognitive work. 
Your brain runs on fat.

The irony?
Egg yolks support hormone production.
Salmon provides DHA for cognitive function.
Sardines deliver calcium for bone health.

But we convinced ourselves pills are safer than food.
Because the 80s and 90s demonised cholesterol.

The bottom line:
Your fat-phobia is expensive.
And it's keeping you nutrient deficient.

Start with 2-3 whole eggs daily.
Add fatty fish twice weekly.
Then supplement what you're actually missing.

Your body needs real nutrients.
Not supplement anxiety and food restriction.

➕ Follow Marianne Tafani for unfiltered nutrition guidance without the wellness noise.
♻️ Share this with someone still afraid of egg yolks.

3 missed weekends.
2 patient boys.
1 mission that can't wait.
And they get it.

This morning we walked Dubai Marina together.
Finally.

The irony isn't lost on me.
I spend my days helping mothers heal.
Teaching them to rebuild their bodies.
Fighting for their right to recovery.
Telling them they deserve work-life balance.

Yet I've been missing weekends with my own children.
Building Core Connect.
Attending Form Fest.
Teaching teachers.
Teaching clients.
Creating something that matters.

My boys understand.
They see the women who come through our doors.
Searching.
Seeking community and answers.

They know why mummy works weekends.
Why some missions can't wait.
Why building something meaningful requires sacrifice.

But understanding doesn't erase the cost.

This morning felt like reclaiming something.
Their laughter.
Their questions about everything we passed.
The simplicity of just being present.
No agenda. 
No timeline. 
Just us.

I'm building this for them too.
A world where their friends won't suffer in silence.
Where recovery isn't a luxury.
Where healing is expected, not hoped for.

The cost of building something that matters?
It's real.
It's daily.
And it's worth paying.

As long as these mornings exist!

♻️ Share this with someone balancing mission and motherhood.
➕ Follow Marianne Tafani for more.

The protein obsession must stop. 

At least if you're not as active as I am daily.

If you're a desk worker, we do not want you protein deficient.
With cravings left and right.

But you do not need 2g/kg/day. 

As a women's health advocate, I see the same pattern on repeat:

1️⃣ Women follow advice designed for people who train twice daily.
(Or who like myself train 5 times a week but move all day.)

2️⃣ Women get frustrated their weight won't budge.

3️⃣ Women crowd out vegetables for their third protein shake and get nutrient deficient.

Two consequences:

👉 Weight management becomes an endless struggle
You're eating more calories than your lifestyle requires. 

👉 Micronutrient deficiencies start showing up
When protein takes up 40% of your plate, where do the antioxidants go?
The fiber?
The phytonutrients that actually support hormonal health?

The bottom line is:
Your PT deadlifts 5x a week, teaches spin classes, and hikes on rest days.
You sit at a computer for 8 hours a day.

These are not the same lifestyles.

My recommendation for desk workers:
1.2-1.4g/kg of protein.
Paired with some active sessions during the week.
And essential steps.

Not because protein is evil.
Because your lifestyle should determine your nutrition needs.
Not someone else's training schedule.

Comment if you've been told to eat double your bodyweight in protein.

➕ Follow Marianne Tafani for honest nutrition guidance without the noise.
♻️ Share this with someone drowning in conflicting advice.

The best gift of my life came wrapped in my worst day.

My son turns 9 today. So does my mission.

On February 11th, 2017, he entered the world.
On that very day too, my mission was born.

We almost lost Adam to neglect and an extensive stage 2 of labour.
Obstetric violence left me unable to walk without pain for years.
Pelvic injuries stole my ability to work with ease.
And the flashbacks lasted months.

What should have been sacred became the hardest day for our family.

But trauma taught me what textbooks couldn't:

How systems fail women.
(By dismissing them.)

Why patient advocacy matters.
(Because we are so prompt to think interventions are our fault.)

And that prevention beats intervention.
Every time.

Today I specialise in what I needed most:
Birth preparation for prevention.
Birth trauma prevention.
Diastasis recti recovery.
PF dysfunction recovery.

And this incredible boy who started it all?
Wise beyond his years.
Inclusive to his core.
Generous.
Heart-led.
Athletic.
Brilliant at math.
Endlessly kind.

He knows his arrival changed everything.
That his mother's worst day became thousands of women's hope.
And guess what? He's proud.

To every survivor of obstetric violence:
This isn't your fault.
Your body didn't fail.
The system did.
Feel free to DM me.
I mean it. 

Happy 9th birthday, my beautiful boy.
You made me who I was meant to be.

➕ Follow Marianne Tafani for unfiltered advocacy in perinatal movement and birth trauma prevention.
♻️ Share this with someone fighting their own system.

ACL surgery vs. C-sec recovery protocols.

ACL surgery 👇 
6-9 months of structured rehab.
Physical therapy twice a week.
Medical supervision.
Progressive loading protocols.
Return-to-sport testing.

C-section or forceps delivery?
6-week checkup.
"You're cleared."
Good luck.

Both are major physical trauma.
Both require extensive recovery.
Yet only one gets proper medical support.

The ACL amateur athlete gets structured rehab, movement assessment, and functional testing before clearance.

The postpartum (very much professional) mother gets "take it easy" and cleared for "normal activity", whatever that means.

Absurd.

We're talking about a body that:
-Stretched organs, 
-Shifted bones, 
-Lost muscle mass, 
-Changed neurologically,
-And went through the instrumental extraction of a 3-5kg mass, sometimes without adequate numbing.

Yet corrective movement post-birth gets labeled cosmetic. 
Vanity. 
Optional.

When the truth is:
It's healthcare.

Without proper rehab, both face chronic pain, dysfunction, and long-term complications.

Same risks. 
Different support.

We demand comprehensive rehab for athletes. We should demand it for mothers.

That's not "getting your body back".
That's healthcare equity.

Postpartum physical therapy should be standard care. 

The system is failing half the population. 
Time to call it out.

♻️ Share this with health policy advocates.
➕ Follow Marianne Tafani for unfiltered women's health advocacy.

The sentences you don't get to say if you're scaling.

And teaching a free class reminded me of it:

"I don't have time for social media."
"I don't need PR."

I used to say "I'm booked solid without social media."
Referrals filled my calendar.
Word of mouth was enough.
I could stay behind the scenes.

Then I decided to scale my postnatal group programmes...

Step 1: Building my personal brand to fill MY classes

In 2020, I grew my Instagram consistently and organically.
Not because I loved it.
Because I needed to fill monthly postnatal programmes with 8-12 participants.

It worked.
My courses are now solidly booked.

Step 2: Opening a studio means filling OTHER people's classes

Now I'm standing in my son's school on a Friday morning.
My day off.
Talking to other mothers about core dysfunction.
Offering free classes.
Building strategic proximity partnerships.

Because a studio needs different fuel than a solo practice.

Step 3: Turning my team into agents of Core Connect

Next challenge?
Helping my instructors build their own personal brands.
So we're not just one expert with a team.
We're a collective of visible experts.

117 cohorts over 9 years taught me this:

Scaling isn't one transformation.
It's multiple versions of yourself you didn't know you'd have to become.

The clinician who could hide behind referrals.
The marketer who shows up on Instagram daily.
The networker who sacrifices Fridays for partnerships.
The leader who teaches others to do the same.

After training 2,300+ mothers, I know the truth:
Your expertise gets you in the door.
Your willingness to be visible keeps it open.

♻️ Share this with someone who's navigating their own scale-up journey.
➕ Follow Marianne Tafani for honest takes on building a wellness business.

Your desk job is crushing your spine.
Literally.

The last thing you need is a core workout that makes it worse.

8-10 hours of compression.
Every single day.

You're doing crunches on the floor.
Training your core in the exact position that's destroying you.
Compressed.

The fitness industry got this backwards.

Hanging knee raises do what your body actually needs.
Decompress your spine.
While your core gets stronger.

Your vertebrae get space.
Your discs breathe.
Functional strength through actual range of motion.

This isn't about six-pack aesthetics.
This is about moving without pain.
Sitting without stiffness.
Living in a body that works.

Start here.
Hang.
Decompress.
Train what you actually need.

➕ Follow Marianne Tafani for core work that fits your lifestyle.
♻️ Share this with someone trapped at a desk.

When missiles are flying overhead:
Posting about core work feels absurd.

Same with diastasis recti.
Or hip alignment. 

Everything I normally write about seems trivial when you're sheltering during war.

But here's what I've also learned in the past 48 hours:

It's in those times that moving the body becomes essential. 

Small physical routines become anchors when everything else is chaos.

Not because they fix anything.
Because they keep your nervous system from entering that sympathetic state. 

Mine surely froze two nights ago.

I'm not talking about forcing positivity or pretending everything's fine.

I'm talking about the small things that help you stay present when panic wants to take the wheel.

4 mini rituals have helped us stay grounded:

1️⃣ Box breathing when anxiety hits.
4 counts in. Hold 4. Out 4. Hold 4.
Until the noises are gone.

2️⃣ Morning movement before news.
5 minutes of stretching before I let the outside world in.
A neck roll, a cat-cow.

3️⃣ Eating nuts first thing.
Supports hormone balance.
Feels like something we do on a normal day.
Makes our body feel safe.
Unlike others, we still have access to nutritious foods.

4️⃣ Evening kids' meditation 
Using Headspace.
Where are we holding tension?
Release what we can. 
Accept what we can't.

Your body is the one thing you have control over when everything else feels out of your hands.

If you're in the Gulf
(and if your situation allows you to:)
Take care of your body. Now.

♻️ Share this with someone in the GCC (and check in on them, it helps more than you know.)
➕ Follow Marianne Tafani for honest takes on women's health and movement.

This photo isn't inspiration.
It's documentation of a broken system.

1 in 4 mothers return to work within ten days of giving birth.
1 in 3 of my clients experience postpartum depression or anxiety.

These numbers aren't coincidental.

Believe me.
I've trained over 2,300 postpartum mothers in person.

I have also been postpartum as an entrepreneur.
With no wages unless I worked.

I was also praised for getting back to work so quickly.
For "looking so good".
For "not being lazy" and taking a longer leave.

The truth is:
I could not afford not to go back.

Financially.
Yes.

But also mentally.
I had no village.
Like so many "Western women".
I needed to feel sane.
And all I could think of was working to feel like "myself".
Because raising a child is devalued.

I was teaching Pilates when he was weeks old.
Smiling through sessions when I could barely stand upright.
When I could not sleep even when the baby did.
Wondering if my milk supply would hold.
Hiding my generalised anxiety not to lose clients.

If this is your reality right now:

❌ Don't push through pain to prove you're "back"
❌ Don't compare your recovery to social media timelines
❌ Don't let anyone minimise your struggle with "enjoy this time"

✅ Modify everything - nobody needs to know why
✅ Rest when you can, even 5 minutes between clients. 
Real rest, not scrolling. 
Just close your eyes.
✅ Advocate for paid leave, wherever you can. 

Even at dinner with friends.
We change the world by changing mentalities.
Not policies.

You're not asking for special treatment.
You're not being weak.
You're asking for basic biology to be acknowledged.

Bodies that created life deserve time to heal.
That shouldn't be controversial.

♻️ Share this if you believe paid maternity leave should be a right, not a privilege.
➕ Follow Marianne Tafani for evidence-based women's health truths.

Your abs may well be hurting your core.

You're adding load.
Chasing definition.
Doing all the "right" exercises.

But your core still feels weak.
Your back hurts.
You feel pressure you can't explain.

Here's the truth most trainers won't tell you:
Core and abs are two different things.

I see women who jump straight into loaded flexion exercises.
Weighted crunches.
Heavy Russian twists.
Exercises like this 10-kg toe reach.

They think more weight equals better results.

Here's why this backfires:

Your deep abdominals aren't ready for that pressure.
Your body compensates in ways that set you back.
(Including with leaks).

You bear down to push through.
You hold your breath to "brace."
Your neck and back take over.

That's where most of my clients start.
They come to me with:
Pressure during exercise they can't explain.
Lower back pain that won't resolve.
Definition that's still lacking despite months of work.

All because they skipped the foundation.

Here's what your progression should actually look like:

1️⃣ Learn to engage your deep abdominals
Master the connection between your breath and your deep abs.
No load.
Just coordinated breathing and gentle activation.

2️⃣ Build tolerance to flexion gradually
Dead bugs with proper form.
Modified crunches with exhale on exertion.
Let your core cylinder learn to work as a team.

3️⃣ THEN add load
Only when your deep core can manage the pressure do you progress to weights.

I'm demonstrating this 10kg weighted toe reach to show you what advanced looks like.

Not where you should start.

Your core strength depends on respecting this progression.

➕ Follow Marianne Tafani for core training guidance that actually works.
♻️ Share this with someone who's suffering from back pain or core concerns.

I stopped taking "quick calls" 6 years ago.

Here is why I guarantee you'll get more leads without them.

I spent the weekend at Form Fest.
Dubai's first ever International Pilates Festival.
Catching up with well-respected educators in our industry.

Successful people.
Building thriving businesses.
Making real impact.

Many are drowning in "quick calls."

Look, I care deeply about helping people.
It's why I do what I do.
But I stopped taking unpaid "quick calls" with prospects a long time ago.

Yes, I've lost a few potential clients because of this boundary.

But here's what I noticed about those clients who need convincing through a (not-so-quick) free call:

Not only do you spend unpaid time selling them.
But they become your most demanding clients later.
Thinking you should be grateful for their interest.
At times not valuing what you offer.

Also, next time you can't give them as much attention 👇 
Be ready for them to:
- Call you "dismissive"
- Throw 4yo tantrums
- Or worse threaten your business 

When you're at a certain level in your career, scarcity is everything.
It's not about being difficult.
It's about honouring yourself.
Preserving the resource that you are.

Stop giving away what you charge others for.
It's not fair to those who respect your time.
It's not fair to you either.
You'll get stronger leads by retaining those who value you already.
It's that simple.

Your expertise has value from the first conversation.
Not just after they decide to buy.

➕ Follow Marianne Tafani for unfiltered insights on professional boundaries.
♻️ Share this with someone who needs permission to set them.

Your posture is costing you authority.

Slouched shoulders during video presentations.
Forward head posture when defending Q3 projections.
Hunched back through 12-hour board meetings.

The board notices.
Your team notices.
Your spine remembers.

This man is doing thoracic extension and shoulder stability work.
Not for aesthetics.
For executive presence.

Watch how he moves through these reformer exercises.
Same precision you bring to market analysis.
Same focus you have during merger negotiations.

Because when you're physically aligned:
You command attention on video calls
Back pain doesn't sabotage cross-country flights
Energy sustains through marathon decision days

But here's what your executive coach isn't telling you:

Physical alignment isn't just about looking commanding.
It's about staying calm under pressure.

When your nervous system trusts your body to hold you upright, you think clearer.
Make sharper decisions.
Stay regulated when analysts question your numbers.

This isn't wellness.
This is performance optimisation.

Your competition invests in communication coaching.
While missing the physical foundation that makes authority possible.

Try Pilates this weekend.
You won't regret it.

♻️ Share this with executives who understand that presence starts with posture.
➕ Follow Marianne Tafani to live pain-free.

They said her career was over.
She just won Olympic bronze.
With a toddler at home.

The biggest record broken these Olympics?
Definitely the number of mother-athletes.

Kaillie Humphries just won bronze in bobsled.
6-time Olympic medalist.
Mother.

Kendall Coyne Schofield dominating ice hockey.
Cassie Sharpe flying through the halfpipe.
Francesca Lollobrigida speed skating at her home Olympics.
Kelly Curtis competing in skeleton.

All mothers.
All elite.
All destroying the old narrative.

The research backs them up:
40.5% of elite athletes experienced IMPROVED performance postpartum.

These women aren't competing despite being mothers.
They're competing as the strongest versions of themselves.

More focused.
More determined.
More powerful.

The narrative that motherhood ends athletic careers?
That's what actually needs to retire.

These Olympics prove it.
Right now.

♻️ Share this with someone who just came back from mat leave and may be doubting themselves.
➕ Follow Marianne Tafani for posts that champion women's health.

I am not your war correspondent. 

I've received hundreds of messages since this started.
Most meant with love.

But some left me more drained than the sirens.

If you have friends in the Middle East right now, here's what to say and what to keep to yourself:

❌ DON'T ASK: 
"Did you hear about the Embassy last night? Have there been more hits?"

This is intellectual curiosity.
We are not your war correspondents.
You can watch the news.
We are trying to keep our kids calm and our businesses running.

✅ SAY INSTEAD: 
"You don't need to update me on everything. Just know we are thinking of you"

❌ DON'T SAY: 
"How are you feeling? How was last night? How are the kids? 
We're so worried about you."

Here's what's happening:
People in survival mode don't process emotions.
Fight, flight, freeze shuts that down.
You're asking them to do extra emotional work when they're trying to return to a sense of normality.

✅ SAY INSTEAD: 
"I'm thinking of you. Praying this ends soon."

❌ DON'T SAY: 
"What are you planning to do?"

Decision fatigue is crushing right now.
Long-term questions when we're surviving day to day?
That's another burden.

✅ SAY INSTEAD: 
"I'm so proud of how you're handling this."

❌ DON'T SAY: 
"I hear they'll repatriate! Hope you can come home soon."

Here is what most people don't get:
The UAE IS home to us.
Where my kids were born.
Where I built my studio.
Where my community needs me.

Most of us haven't lived in our "home" countries for decades.
Besides, being in the air frightens us more than being on the ground right now.

✅ SAY INSTEAD: 
"I am sure you are taking this day by day. Doing exactly what's right for your family right now."

When you don't know what to say, in life as in war:

Just praise the people you love.
Don't burden them with your worry.
Don't ask too many questions.
Just praise, and show that you care.

♻️ Share this with someone who wants to support friends in crisis zones.
➕ Follow Marianne Tafani for more.

Your body is worth more than your business.

Yet you'll work 14-hour days without blinking.

You'll sacrifice weekends for a client deadline.

You'll push through when your business is bleeding money.

But your body gets "I don't have time" and "I'll start Monday."

Yet this vessel is your competitive edge.

We can't expect results without putting in the work. 

It's that simple.

It's Monday.

Make this week count.

♻️ Share this with your team.
➕ Follow Marianne Tafani for more.

Your Sunday is probably looking very different from ours. 

LinkedIn community, please pray for our safety.

I really hope to be back to creating health-related content soon.

Be a good husband. 
Share this with your wife.

There are no right or wrong exercises for abdominal separation.
Only exercises a postnatal woman may not be ready for yet.

My client asked if this exercise was diastasis recti safe.
Her online trainer had recommended it.
But something felt off.

The exercise was not wrong.
But she wasn't ready for that load yet.

That's the real problem.
We either skip steps in rehabilitation.
Or we're managing weakness instead of building capacity.

Your body isn't broken after pregnancy.
Your tissues healed.
Your core can function again.
But nobody taught you how to rebuild what you lost.

Instead, you got a list of "forbidden" exercises.
No crunches.
No planks.
No heavy lifting.

Meanwhile, you carry a 30-pound toddler.
Up stairs.
In and out of car seats.
While they're kicking and squirming.
Every single day.

Postnatal recovery isn't about avoiding movements.
It's about earning them back.
Gradually and intentionally.

The solution is progressive loading.
Starting where you are.
Building capacity week by week.
Teaching your core to handle real life again.

With the right foundations, you'll get there.
You're not permanently damaged.
You just need the right progression.

➕ Follow Marianne Tafani for unfiltered guidance on core rehabilitation and women's health.
♻️ Share this with someone who wants to heal from the inside out.

From Parliament corridors to speaker at Pilates industry events.

11 years ago I did not know much about the core.
And the central part it played in women's health.

Yesterday I presented at Form Fest.
Dubai's 1st international Pilates festival.
Alongside globally acknowledged educators.

I thought I'd tell you a little bit about what it takes to stand among the world's best educators in your field:

It's simple.
It takes insane dedication to your craft as an art form.

Here's what you don't see behind those 90 minutes on stage.

Thousands of hours diving into research.
Hundreds more reconciling what I read with what I actually see in practice.

Constant work with the people I serve.
All the time.
Every day.

Because that's where real breakthroughs happen.
Not in textbooks.
In the moment someone's problem finally makes sense.

More hours creating a method that works.
Refining it.
Evolving it.
Being brutally self-critical because people's results depend on getting it right.

And then yesterday.
The pressure of taking years of work and delivering it in 90 minutes.
The joy of it too.
That's what I'll remember from this event.

The video from yesterday shows rooms full of practitioners who get it.
Who refuse to accept "that's just how it is" for their clients.
That energy is everything.

Whatever your field.
Whatever your craft.
The journey is worth every obsessive hour.
Get on it now.

➕ Follow Marianne Tafani for unfiltered insights on clinical movement and women's health.
♻️ Share this with an educator who's building something that matters.

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