Dr. Simran Rattan, MD, CCFP, ABOIM, NBC-HWC

Last week, at the prestigious Unicorn Summit, Kartar Health’s Dr. Simran Rattan was honoured with the CEO School Award for Best in Healthcare & Wellness, a recognition dedicated to female founders and CEOs who are redefining what leadership means. We recently sat down with Dr. Rattan to go behind the scenes of that moment. In the following reflection, she explores the often-overlooked intersection of ambition and physiology, and why the very strength that allows women to build empires can sometimes be the thing that keeps them from seeking the care they deserve. From the “ROI of Prevention” to the harmful normalization of high performance at the cost of personal well-being, Dr. Rattan explains why women’s health must move to the top of the leadership conversation.

Receiving the CEO School Award for Best in Healthcare & Wellness is something I’m deeply grateful for, not simply as a personal honour, but because of what the room represented.

CEO School, founded by Suneera Madhani, brings together women who are building and scaling businesses, where women are seen for the impact they create, often while carrying the full weight of their worlds. These are women growing companies and leading teams, while simultaneously raising families, supporting partners, and caring for aging parents. Being acknowledged in that community matters to me because the work I do sits at the intersection of ambition and health, an intersection that is often overlooked.

Over the years, I’ve worked with extraordinary women. They can navigate complex negotiations and read a balance sheet in minutes. Yet, when we shift the conversation to their health, the atmosphere shifts. I often hear a subtle, dangerous acceptance of depletion. They’ll say things like:

“I’m just tired, that’s normal.”

“My sleep isn’t great, but whose is?”

“I think this is just part of getting older.”

“My doctor said everything is normal, so I am healthy.”

There’s often a subtle acceptance. Not because they don’t care, but because they have learned to push through discomfort. Over time, discomfort becomes familiar, and familiarity starts to feel normal, even when it isn’t healthy. There is a sincere desire to “focus on this later,” but between deadlines and responsibilities, health quietly slips to the bottom of the list.

I remember one woman in particular, a founder running a fast-growing company. She had advisors for everything: legal, financial, strategic. But when it came to her own body, she told me she didn’t want to “make a big deal” of it; all she wanted was to stay on top of her game at work because she noticed she couldn’t keep up like she used to. She assumed her symptoms were simply part of being busy and was focused on improving her productivity in her forties.

For many high-achieving women, strength and productivity become part of an identity. You are the one everyone depends on, the steady force in the family, the clear mind in chaos, the strength others lean on when things fall apart. Over time, endurance becomes intertwined with identity.

When your body begins asking for something different, more rest, more intention, more support, it can feel unfamiliar, even uncomfortable. If you have built your life around being the one who carries the pressure, slowing down can feel like stepping outside of yourself. Sometimes it is easier to normalize fatigue than to reconstruct your identity.

It’s not about being unaware or resistant. It’s about not yet seeing yourself as someone who is allowed to receive care with the same seriousness you give it. Prevention and seeing the ROI in staying healthy are an identity shift.

It asks a woman to move from proving her strength through sacrifice to expressing her strength through stewardship. From being the one who absorbs pressure to being the one who protects her foundation.

I’ve also seen the other side, where women who become hyper-focused on every symptom, every fluctuation, every data point and try to control their health perfectly. That, too, often comes from identity, from wanting certainty and wanting to “do it right.”

But sustainable health lives somewhere in the middle; not neglect, not obsession, but in presence.

Learning to sit with your body without dismissing it.
Learning to respond without reacting.
Learning to invest without guilt.

My approach has always been whole-person and preventative. I look at the full picture: lifestyle, metabolic health, stress physiology, sleep, movement, nutrition, and how hormonal changes influence quality of life and the risk of disease over time. Hormones are not just about symptoms; they affect cognition, cardiovascular health, bone strength, mood, and long-term vitality. When women understand that, the conversation changes.

Prevention isn’t dramatic, doesn’t feel urgent, and doesn’t come with flashing warning signs. But it is powerful.

Women invest decisively in their businesses because they understand the value of return on investment, infrastructure, and long-term strategy. What I often remind them is this: your body is your first infrastructure. If that foundation weakens, every other pillar of your life becomes harder to maintain.

The CEO School Award feels significant because it signals that the conversation is expanding. Success becomes more meaningful when we have the health to actually enjoy it. Suneera Madhani\’s journey, from building a billion-dollar company to creating a platform that elevates others, reflects this evolution. We must sustain the builder if we want to sustain the build.

If there is one thing I hope women take from this recognition, it’s this:

Your health is not selfish.
It is not secondary.
It is not something you earn after everyone else is taken care of.

It is the foundation that allows you to lead, love, build, and grow for decades to come.

And that foundation is worth protecting; it is priceless.