2024 Women to Watch
This year we showcase over 80 South Australian women to watch throughout the year. From business, to careers, arts to science. This year’s selected women highlight the depth and diversity of the women in our state and also the vast array of opportunities to develop a business or career in South Australia. Find our more about our inaugural Women to Watch initiative here.
Hello! My name is Meredith … lovely to meet you! I started my small but mighty clinic eight years ago because, as my Mum says, I need to be captain of my own ship.
I came the long way around to Exercise Physiology, but I have definitely found my place in the world and how I want to make a difference. I am super passionate about equitable healthcare, particularly for marginalised folks such as the LGBTIQA+ community, neurodivergent people, BIPOC, and those living in larger bodies. When I am not in the clinic helping my clients you can find me on a soapbox somewhere, advocating to students, other health professionals, businesses, or anyone who will listen. Outside of work I have a human (Luke) and a doggo (MacDuff). I love gardening, boardgames with friends, Disney movies, and swing dancing.
// Favourite inspirational quote
“Never half-arse two things, whole-arse one thing” – Ron Swanson
// Let’s get to know you
Hello! My name is Meredith and I am the founder and senior Exercise Physiologist at Move to Live – Exercise Physiology. I started my small but mighty clinic eight years ago because, as my Mum says, I need to be captain of my own ship. I came the long way around to Exercise Physiology, with multiple false starts until I finally got to the finish line and graduated about a decade ago. It may have been a hard road, but I have definitely found my place in the world and how I want to make a difference.
I am incredibly passionate about equitable healthcare, particularly for marginalised folks such as the LGBTIQA+ community, neurodivergent people, BIPOC, and those living in larger bodies. My entire clinic is structured to help these populations, particularly through size-inclusive healthcare. We think through every decision to make our clinic as safe and accommodating as possible. We want to be the difference between ‘all welcome here’ and ‘this was made with you in mind’.
When I am not in the clinic helping my clients you can find me on a soapbox somewhere, advocating to students, other health professionals, businesses, or anyone who will listen. I am incredibly proud to be a guest lecturer at UniSA on weight-stigma, weight-neutral care, and eating disorders, along with providing professional development to many businesses both locally and interstate. I am also fortunate enough to have been invited to speak on panels at conferences and on podcasts regarding my approach to size-inclusive health in Exercise Physiology. It is truly an honour.
I have always really practiced in this way, but it wasn’t until my best friend of 33 years (we met at preschool!) who is an eating disorder specialist Dietitian, pointed out to me that I don’t think or act like the majority of health professionals. She then introduced me to Health At Every Size® and Size-Inclusive Health, and I knew that I had found my people. I haven’t always been as loud about my stance on healthcare as I am today, but I believe that I should use my privileges to make a difference, so I take every opportunity I can to improve quality of healthcare provided in this country.
// What makes you a Woman to Watch for 2024?
My clinic is just a little bit different from your average health care practice. We are committed to providing equitable healthcare to our clients, particularly for marginalised folks such as the LGBTIQA+ community, neurodivergent people, BIPOC, and those living in larger bodies.
Providing size-inclusive and weight-neutral healthcare is the foundation of our clinic. We meet our clients where they are at, do not see them as a problem to be solved, and help them to achieve their movement goals in a way that works for them, their brains and their bodies. Most importantly, this is done without the assumptions, judgement, or stigma that so often comes with living in a larger body. The health and fitness industry can be an impossible place to navigate and extremely traumatic for those in larger bodies, and we are making sure our small but mighty clinic is not a part of this problem, but rather a flagship towards the solution.
I also strive to create a ripple effect outside of my clinic’s four walls. I do this by lecturing to university students on weight-stigma in healthcare, presenting at conferences, co-running the South Australian Size Inclusive Health Australia chapter, appearing on podcasts, and providing professional development to other health professionals and clinics about how they can provide more client-centred and affirming healthcare to their larger-bodied clients. I also have a portable soap box that I am more than happy to get up on at any time, so feel free to ask me any questions!
// What is your goal or intention for the year ahead? And how are you going to achieve it?
My small but mighty clinic needs to become a little less small so it can become even more mighty. I have just hired two new-graduates (who are absolutely lovely), which has doubled my Exercise Physiology staff. This has been quite daunting, as I only planned on hiring one, but then they were both just so good that I couldn’t pass by the opportunity to have them both on my team. We also have a member of the amazing Pod Dietetics team in one of our consult rooms one day a week … so we need to grow.
By the end of the year I want to have at least found, if not already be in, our new home. I want to create a hub of amazing, values-driven, trauma-informed, and affirming healthcare in the South. Our options can be exceedingly limited down here … and I want to provide a safe(r), brave space for our clients to come and receive the help they need without fear of judgement.
At the moment the plan is: working hard to build our client base by connecting with potential referrers, working with my lovely new-graduates to build their skills and case load, and saving our pennies so when we need to jump … we are ready!
Finally, we have plans to launch a program at the clinic to provide no-out-of-pocket-cost or discounted healthcare to some of our most vulnerable clients and those under severe financial stress. I find it incredibly distressing that so many people cannot get the help they truly need due to financial constraints, and I want my clinic to do its part to address this issue. We are not quite sure what this is going to look like yet, but it is in the works and is a part of our ongoing commitment to provide equitable healthcare.
// What would being a Woman to Watch mean to you?
It means a lot to be recognised for the hard work that my clinic and myself do in the world of healthcare. It was so lovely to read the nice words written in my nomination (thanks Nat) and I definitely didn’t well up a bit. I think that sometimes we forget all of the things that we do day in and day out that make a big difference. As business owners we kind of just keep plodding along to the next thing and don’t take time to appreciate what we have accomplished or how far we have come.
It has been lovely to do some reflecting on my journey and our achievements, and to feel like I have a community around me that believe in what I do. Also … it’s a great opportunity for me to crack out that portable soap box. I look forward to discussing size-inclusive healthcare with everyone who reads this!
// What would you like to see for the future of South Australian women and girls?
I would like to see a world where healthcare is equitable for those who are women/girls/non-binary/trans. It seems utterly unfathomable to me that this is something that I feel the need to write about South Australia, one of the most privileged places out there … but alas, here we are.
This would include so many things.
– Diagnostic criteria being appropriate for anyone that isn’t male.
– Medications and other treatments being tested on people who are not male, white, or in smaller bodies.
– Girls getting the neurodivergent diagnoses and the help they so desperately need.
– More funding into research into menopause, endometriosis, pelvic pain etc.
– Birthing parents being treated better than an incubation chamber (did you know in France they get six visits to a pelvic floor physio paid for by the government?).
– Representation of ALL sizes, ages, shapes, colours, races, religion in advertising and media so that young humans could see themselves in all the amazing places they could go and the awesome humans they could be.
– Better accessibility for those with disabilities and prams to get to all the amazing things that South Australia has to offer but end up only being for some.
– “Women’s Health” not being considered a niche or an added extra in the university curriculum when it is literally half of the population.
Basically, I want it to be better. While we are so lucky here and have it so much better than so many others in the world, that doesn’t mean it is good enough. Paying lip service to these things on IWD isn’t enough. We need systematic change top down and bottom up. That’s what I want to see in the (very near) future.
Get in touch with Meredith:
LinkedIn: Meredith Woolsey
Website: Move to Live – Exercise Phsyiology
Check out all of the incredible Women to Watch for 2024 here as their profiles are uploaded throughout the year.
To become an SA Woman Member, check out our Membership Options here.