Maz Coote, CEO of WHEN Fertility and Coote Agency, discusses the importance of proactive fertility health and her mission to empower women.
Name: Maz Coote
Day job: CEO at Coote Agency & WHEN Fertility
Location: Sydney
Describe your work in one sentence.
I wear a few hats!
Can you share the journey of starting When and Coote Agency?
Coote Agency is a PR agency. My background is in marketing and PR; I have spent my entire career in marketing and PR. I worked at an agency in my early 20s and learned the tools of the trade. In my late twenties, I was the General Manager at that same agency. I left that agency and started Coote Agency to specialise in beauty and lifestyle brands. We just turned 10 this year.
WHEN Fertility is a reproductive health brand, it was built on my fertility journey. I found out late that I had a low AMH, AKA a low egg count, and because I wanted a family, having a low AMH so young made things difficult for me. I knew that I would have less time than my peers to start my family, so I decided to freeze my eggs. Because I had left it late, I went through rounds and rounds of egg freezing to store enough eggs for the future. I wish I had found out sooner, and I wished I had known more about proactive fertility.
It wasn’t until there was a problem that all the care came. Where was the proactive approach? When is responding to a problem ever the best approach in health?
I worked with industry experts and with my co-founder (also my husband!), we built the test and the support from fertility specialists that I needed in my journey - and we launched WHEN last year.
How has your approach to health evolved?
Throughout my 20s, I worked hard and didn’t take care of myself. Looking back on the time when I started Coote - honestly, some days I ate nothing but one salad for lunch, worked late into the night and regularly slept only 5 hours. I would shut my laptop at 1 AM, sleep with it next to me, and then pick it back up at 6 AM in bed and start typing. I don’t recommend this, but you know, back then, I was the business. I didn’t have a big team, and I was on a mission to take on the big PR agencies - and I was! I had signed clients like Revlon and Elizabeth Arden! Things calmed down a bit as I built the team. I started to focus more on my health.
In the last few years, having a baby and launching WHEN, which was demanding, I slowly realised it was a long game. It wasn’t a sprint. I go through weeks where I really don’t look after myself, but I do try to mostly.
The other thing is, with my egg count being so low so early, I will have an earlier-than-average menopause. Things like weight training are REALLY important for my health.
Do you have any tips for balancing your career and personal life?
Nope. Number 1: my family. I focus on them first - nothing comes before what they need from me. Number 2: work. Number 3: whatever else I can squeeze in! I have my priorities, and that is my version of balance!
What inspired you to focus on fertility?
WHEN came from my own journey. We deserve better when it comes to proactive fertility. We shouldn’t be left wondering about our fertility. Better tools, better education - we have started with our at-home egg count check, but it really is just the beginning of changing what a proactive reproductive health conversation can look like for women.
What is AMH, and why is it key in fertility assessments?
AMH is a hormone that provides insight into someone’s egg count, specifically, the number of eggs they may have in their ovaries. We are born with all the eggs we will ever have, and that number decreases over time. Some people lose their eggs much faster and can run out early without symptoms. If you run out of eggs early and you don’t know, you can’t conceive using your own eggs in the future.
What motivated you to freeze your eggs?
I found out I had a low egg count for my age. What that meant was two things:
- I would likely have less time than someone my age to start my family before I run out of eggs.
- Freezing enough eggs for future pregnancies was going to take multiple rounds, which it did.
As soon as I understood that, I decided to freeze my eggs. It was hard - I had already left it late. I wish I had the information sooner and had frozen my eggs in my late 20s. But I went through the rounds and felt lucky and grateful that I had the information to do something in time.
Did you make any lifestyle changes to improve fertility?
My egg count was concerning enough for my age that I didn’t want to delay treatment. Under the guidance of my specialist, I started taking folate supplements and Coq10. I also stopped drinking about a month before my first cycle and didn’t drink for the following four months. I had three cycles in total, back-to-back, which took about four months.
What are some common fertility myths?
Fertility and the desire to understand your fertility isn’t just about having a baby. I find commentary that you shouldn’t test your egg count because “it can’t tell you if you can fall pregnant or not” frustrating.
What about single people, people in lesbian relationships who may use IVF to conceive, people with big careers looking to delay having a family, or people unsure if they want kids? They don’t want to know if they can fall pregnant today - they want to understand their options and plan. We’re not trying to figure out if we can have a baby today; we’re planning for the future.
You can make more informed decisions if you know your egg count and likely egg quality (which can be determined by age). The alternative approach serves only one type of person: someone in a relationship planning to have a baby soon, who won’t use or need IVF. It’s so one-dimensional.
Knowing your egg count means knowing your options. If you run out of eggs earlier than expected, you can’t conceive using your own eggs, now or in the future.
Increasingly, we’re having families later in life. This year, first-time mums in their 30s outnumber those in their 20s. So what happens in that gap? We aren’t conceiving in our early 20s anymore; we’re delaying starting our families. We need better tools to navigate this shift.
What's your first step for those starting their fertility journey?
Know your AMH, understand your likely egg quality based on age, and plan using this information. It won’t be a perfect plan; we can’t predict the future, but it will be significantly better than having no plan if having a family is important to you. And you won’t look back and say, "I wish I had the information sooner," like I did.
Can you share your pregnancy experience?
I had a wonderful pregnancy. I was well, and I also had a planned c-section, so I felt really in control, which felt right for me.
What was your experience with post-pregnancy recovery?
I returned to work early, so I was juggling from the start. Learning all the things you need to know does feel like a bit of a blur.
Describe what period self-care means to you.
I used to get a bit uptight in the days before, but I have learned to recognise that and be a bit kinder to myself. Things are never actually as bad as I think they are in those two days! Hah!
Why do you think periods are STILL such a taboo topic?
I want to say well done to Gen Z and, more recently, us millennials, too, on this one. I think we are cracking open these topics and laying them out for the world to see. We are being candid and open, sharing experiences. The noise around reproductive health is being turned up, and I am here for it!
What’s your number one health message for womxn?
This one is for everyone – be proactive. We get busy and pushed for time, but you must prioritise your proactive routine health checks because there is no guarantee that anyone else will. If you have a great family GP who knows you, then you're lucky. However, many people don’t; in such cases, you can easily get lost regarding proactive health.
Please make your own list annually and tick it off: skin checks, breast checks, whether I need a cervical screen, an egg count check, and I get a full blood panel annually to review things like Vitamin D and my hormones. I believe healthcare is better when it is proactive.
But you know, this approach is a luxury. That’s why I am working so hard to put hormone tests like AMH into a box and deliver them to your door. Time and access – these are all barriers to proactive health.
What are your hopes for the future of period talk!?
We should have open conversations, share what we know, and normalise the general reproductive health/fertility health conversation. Oh, and we should stop hiding tampons up our sleeves while walking across the office to the bathroom!
MY CYCLE
- My period in 3 words: Predictable, short, light.
- Best period hacks: Track your cycle to monitor symptoms and any changes.
- Contraception of choice: Like most women my age, I have spent a lot of time on the pill in my life. Interested in trying other forms of hormonal contraception.
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On day 1, you’ll find me: Trying to get up a sweat, drinking lots of water, and eating fresh foods to combat the bloat factor!
