TEDx blog #2: “Red Pants, Blue Hair and a Bar Stool”
🌀 TEDxTruth #2: The right rooms won’t ask you to shrink.
It was pitch night.
Two minutes to share my idea.
Five faces behind a table.
One bar stool.
A TEDxNorthwich banner.
And me - in red pants, sipping a cappuccino, repeating my script in my head like a prayer.
I'd written the pitch with ease. No overthinking. No spirals. Just a deep clarity that said: You know this. You live this.
Still, the butterflies made their entrance, even though I knew what I wanted to say and I deeply believed in the power of my idea.
I arrived early in Northwich and waited in the back of the room. Just me, my notes and a cappuccino I clutched like a talisman.
The TEDxNorthwich team Sam, Catherine and Ashley were already there, along with Roy and Sharon, forming the panel of five. Catherine noticed my red pants and got the manifestation that was happening.
Then it was my turn.
Bar stool centre stage. Lights. The TEDxNorthwich logo behind me.
I sat down and spoke.
Two minutes. That’s all we had.
But in those two minutes, I got to say something I believe with my whole being:
“We live in a world designed around the 24-hour hormonal cycle of men…
And it’s time to rethink that.”
I felt solid. Sure.
And then - out of the corner of my eye - a shock of blue hair appeared behind the window.
Ije. A friend I hadn’t seen in ages, peeking in halfway through my pitch.
I managed not to lose my flow, but inside I was bursting.
Wait… what?! Is that really her?
After my pitch, the panel asked a few follow-up questions. I was ready for them but one, in particular, made my heart skip. The only male on the panel leaned forward and asked:
“Do you take cyclical living beyond hormones… like, say, the moon?”
Here we go, I thought.
Because I do believe in that. And I know it can feel a little too “woo woo” for some people.
But this is TEDx.
This is exactly the kind of space where big, brave ideas are meant to land.
So I answered honestly:
Yes. We go beyond hormones. Because cyclical living is about nature; our own and the world’s. The moon. The seasons. Bears that hibernate, birds that migrate. The ebb and flow of energy.
We are not linear machines. We are cyclical beings.
He smiled and shared a story - about a male colleague who always took the day off during a full moon. At first, he thought it was strange. But over time, he noticed that colleague did change with the moon and the day off made him a better team member.
Eventually, it just made sense. What worked for him, worked for the company.
I couldn’t believe it.
Here was a man - on a panel - endorsing the very idea I’d come to share.
By the time I jumped off the bar stool, I felt content. I’d left everything I wanted to say in that room.Now, it was up to them.
I left the café and wandered around like a teenager pretending not to wait for someone.
Was that really Ije? Or had the pitch adrenaline made me hallucinate her?
And then — yes. It was her.
We laughed. Hugged. And pieced together the story of how we both applied, never knowing the other had.
That night, we didn’t know if we’d both make it onto that red dot.
But in that moment, it didn’t matter.
We were already in the right room.
We’d spoken our truth.
And we both felt - truly - heard.
Click here to read the previous blog that talks about my (last-minute!) application!
Click here to read the next blog about what happened next.
This talk was never just about me.
It’s about a global call for gender equity through Cycle Awareness.
It’s about system change that starts with understanding our bodies.
It’s about bringing that conversation to the TEDx stage - and far, far beyond.
Because the TEDx stage wasn’t the destination.
It was just the beginning.
#NotDesignedForTheGrind
#TEDxTruths
#TEDxNorthwich
