"He works for a weight loss company—shouldn't he be in better shape?" I imagine whispers questioning my credibility as I step on the stage. "Why doesn't he just take the medication?" It's a heavy irony, the kind that hangs in the air, making you feel exposed in a room full of experts and innovators. I’ve struggled with my weight for years, battling the same rollercoaster that so many of our customers face. Even with access to cutting-edge solutions, the journey is anything but simple. Today, I’m here not just to share my story, but to highlight a problem that affects millions of people like me: the broken system around life-changing medications like GLP-1s.

I spent half of my life in great shape, and the other half significantly overweight. Multiple surgeries and debilitating headaches in my younger years kept me from exercising for long periods of time. I went into those surgeries one man and came out another one, almost 75 pounds heavier than I had ever been. For the last 20 years, I’ve been trying to get back to the body I was in before these surgeries – diets, exercise, meal planning, you name it.

Then I got a phone call. I wasn’t looking for a new job when Noom called, but I saw it as a sign. A weight loss company wanted me to work for them. Twenty years of fighting the weight loss battle, and now I had the opportunity to go work for one of the leading behavior change companies in the world. All of my weight loss struggles brought me here. At the heaviest I had ever been, I took a job leading sales for a weight management company. 

I was terrified.

I went to work. I engaged with Noom’s app and I lost weight, but I would plateau and needed to lose more. I embraced the challenge. That’s when I started taking a GLP-1.

Wegovy worked like magic. I stopped using Noom because I thought I had found “the miracle drug.” I was down to the lowest weight I had been since college. I was playing basketball on a weekly basis, seeing a personal trainer 3 times per week, and had more energy than I had in years. I felt great, people were noticing, and I was more comfortable in my job – I was at my peak. I had finally found the weight loss miracle that I had been chasing for 20 years.

And then it disappeared. No pharmacy within a 25-mile radius could fill these medications and if they could, it was for a different dose or it was a one-time supply. I would go months without what I considered a life-changing medication. I had read about this shortage and was living the nightmare that so many other people who needed these medications were experiencing. The supplies were limited, and if you were lucky enough to find supply, you have to hope your insurance covers it or you’re facing a hefty cost.

I found another supply of Wegovy, but at a dose almost 3x higher. I seized the opportunity, but it was short-lived. This higher dosage made me incredibly sick. I was constantly nauseous and worried I would vomit at the most inopportune times. Spoiler: I did. From my son’s sporting events to corporate golf games with clients, I would excuse myself to get sick, or pretend I wasn’t hungry for fear of getting sick. 

With supply for the correct dosage an issue, I went nearly six months without medications. When I finally found it again, the medicine simply stopped working. I became an anecdote. The med that works for so many and even worked for me just stopped. The food noise came back like a relentless drumbeat, pounding in my mind.Frankly, it was wild.

I gained all the weight back, and then some. Approaching my biggest body ever, I went back to my PCP desperate for a different solution. I was prescribed this time Zepbound – and spent close to a month in prior authorization hell with my insurance company. Once it was finally authorized, I couldn’t get the script filled, because no pharmacy – including online pharmacies – had supply. Sound familiar? The cycle starts again… 

So here we are at HLTH. The largest healthcare conference in the country, with the biggest names – including the company I work for – on display, talking about the story of the year: GLP-1s. And the reality is: we’re no better off than where we were a year ago. Supply is still limited. Prices are outrageous. And people are getting sicker, not living better.

We need to change this. The people we are fighting for – our consumers – need us to step up and fight for them. As an industry, we need to do better and fight for change for the people who are less connected than us, who don’t have access to the researchers, doctors, and pharmacists that we do. For the people who need life-changing medications like GLP-1s in order to show up every day for their jobs, their families, their communities, their kids’ basketball games, and do so without the fear of seeming – or being -- sick.

Noom recently petitioned Congress to demand fair pricing and affordable choices for weight loss medications. We called for policymakers to demand answers from manufacturers on how they intend to meet the demand. We recommend a reasonable grace period for prescriptions supplied by 503B pharmacies to enable people to seek affordable non-branded options or taper off meds. We asked that the length of that grace period be tied to fair pricing on the name-brand options, bringing their affordability in-line with that of other countries. 

I know we can do this. We can change what is currently a broken system and ensure people have access to the care they need at the prices they can afford. Together, we can make a life-changing difference. 

And now, when I step on to a stage, I feel a different kind of weight—one of responsibility. This platform isn’t just about sharing my journey; it’s a call to action. We have the power to reshape this narrative, to create a system where no one has to feel judged, ashamed, or left behind because they can’t access the medications they need. Together, let’s step off this stage and into the world, committed to making healthcare more compassionate, more accessible, and more human. Because everyone, regardless of their weight or health challenges, deserves to be seen, heard, and supported.