We sat down with Dara Cook, the Founder of Expect, a streaming fitness platform on a mission to make OB/GYN-approved fitness available to every mom. Prior to Expect, Dara was the Senior Vice President of Business Development at Viacom and the Head Creative of the MTV Video Music Awards.We talked about the inspiration behind her startup, what keeps her going, and what her day to day looks like as a start-up founder.
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What inspired you to leave your 9-5 and start Expect?
I worked at MTV for years, where I had been Head Creative of the MTV Video Music Awards, brand manager of Nick Cannon’s Wild 'N Out, and Senior Vice President. Then, my sister became pregnant with her first child and followed her OB-GYN’s orders to exercise. The results? Despite being over 35 years old, she had a complication-free pregnancy and a 20-minute active labor, which her delivering doctor credited to prenatal exercise. Later, I read the overwhelming research that women who exercise in and around pregnancy drastically reduce their risk of everything from premature birth to postpartum depression and deliver healthier babies.
At the same time, I discovered maternal fitness solutions are sparse. Our favorite gyms and apps offer few–if any–pre and postnatal fitness resources. That’s when I decided to leave MTV to bring my rare expertise in creating world class content to help people enjoy healthier pregnancies, deliveries and babies with Expect.
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If you could wear one piece from the 5-9 collection on your busiest day, which piece would it be, and why?
The Sienna Jumpsuit! I love one-piece outfits—they eliminate one early decision from a busy day: what top to pair with this bottom? There’s no risk of mismatching patterns, colors or textures with jumpsuits because the designer has already handled it beautifully for you!
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When you look back at the journey you’ve taken so far, what would you say is your proudest achievement?
We built Expect as a healthcare company with the vision of partnering with health insurers and other payers to make it accessible to moms. Achieving this goal has been our proudest achievement. When we signed our first payer contract, I was emotional and thankful; seeing our plans turn into reality is joyous.
