Member since September 2026
Anne-Frans Van Vliet is an author, speaker, and longtime practitioner in the health and wellness field. Her memoir, Courageous Heart, traces a woman's journey through illness, menopause, and the quiet cost of emotional suppression — and the reclaiming of voice that follows. Drawing on a background in psychology, animal behavior, and integrative healing, she bridges Western and Eastern approaches to wellbeing. She speaks on self-advocacy in healthcare, the body's way of expressing what the mind silences, ancestral and intergenerational healing through the maternal line, and the role of athletic identity in navigating major life change. Originally from Holland, she lives in Northern California.
Helping women find their voice, whether in a doctor's office, in the mirror, or in an honest conversation about what ageing actually feels like — which is exactly why I'm loving my coaching studies right now at the Integrative Women's Health Institute, where the clinical grounding is as satisfying as the human side. I love that what we wear can be confidence, invitation, or pure joy — and I'm passionate about helping women dress like themselves rather than like someone else's idea of them. Also tennis, swimming, paddle boarding, long hikes with the dogs, time with my husband, family and friends, and the Dutch art of not overcomplicating things.
My oncologist wanted me on hormone-blocking drugs. I'd done my research — every option came with side effects I wasn't willing to live with. He expected me to pick one. I said no. I chose Chinese herbs instead, and I said it out loud, to his face, in his office. That was the moment I stopped being a polite patient. Standing your ground in a room where everyone assumes you'll comply — that's where finding your voice actually gets tested.
"I spent years being agreeable — a people-pleaser, a smoother-over of things. Then age, and a cancer journey, taught me what silence costs. I found my voice: the confidence to speak my mind and to be honest about what I want. Writing my memoir, Courageous Heart, was part of that — putting the whole story down made it real. Now I listen to my body, and to what I actually want, and I find joy in the ordinary days as much as the big ones. That balance — and helping other women find their own — is how I got to the work I do now.
When my oncologist handed me a list of hormone-blocking drugs, I said no. In this talk I trace the journey from diagnosis through menopause to the moment I found my voice — the research, the pushback, and the cost of years spent being agreeable. Part memoir, part invitation, it's an honest look at what happens when a woman stops being a polite patient and starts advocating for herself, and how that voice carries into everything that follows.
I'll share what I've learned about listening to your body, asking harder questions, and building a life that's more open, more present, and more genuinely mine — one where joy and balance are at the center of it.
When my oncologist handed me a list of drugs I didn't want, I said no. Courageous Heart is the story of illness, menopause, and the long road to speaking up for myself — and of the joy and balance I found on the other side.
Send QueryMy oncologist wanted me on hormone-blocking drugs. I'd done my research — every option came with side effects I wasn't willing to live with. He expected me to pick one. I said no. I chose Chinese herbs instead, and I said it out loud, to his face, in his office. That was the moment I stopped being a polite patient. Standing your ground in a room where everyone assumes you'll comply — that's where finding your voice actually gets tested.
"I spent years being agreeable — a people-pleaser, a smoother-over of things. Then age, and a cancer journey, taught me what silence costs. I found my voice: the confidence to speak my mind and to be honest about what I want. Writing my memoir, Courageous Heart, was part of that — putting the whole story down made it real. Now I listen to my body, and to what I actually want, and I find joy in the ordinary days as much as the big ones. That balance — and helping other women find their own — is how I got to the work I do now.
When my oncologist handed me a list of hormone-blocking drugs, I said no. In this talk I trace the journey from diagnosis through menopause to the moment I found my voice — the research, the pushback, and the cost of years spent being agreeable. Part memoir, part invitation, it's an honest look at what happens when a woman stops being a polite patient and starts advocating for herself, and how that voice carries into everything that follows.
I'll share what I've learned about listening to your body, asking harder questions, and building a life that's more open, more present, and more genuinely mine — one where joy and balance are at the center of it.