The Healthusiasm Podcast
The Healthusiasm Podcast is about the future of health — and how technology, consumers and culture are reshaping it from the outside in.
Across every industry — healthcare, pharma, retail, tech, food, finance, hospitality — the same shift keeps surfacing: people are no longer passive patients. They're active participants, choosers and managers of their own health, well-being and longevity. We call that shift Healthusiasm, and it's quietly redesigning what organisations must do to stay relevant.
Most weeks, host Christophe Jauquet — health business expert, keynote speaker and author of the Healthusiasm books — turns the latest signals in consumer-driven health into something you can think with: GLP-1 and the new weight-loss economy, AI in healthcare, AI health coaches and wearables, longevity, women's health, preventive care, digital health, and the hospitals quietly moving into everyday life. Once a month, the full international panel gathers for a health-innovation round-up.
He's joined by Thalia Muses — the Healthusiasm GPT, trained on the entire Healthusiasm intelligence: the books, frameworks, blog archive and every past episode. Thalia isn't a gimmick. She's a working example of what the show explores — human and AI thinking side by side, connecting signals across industries and pressure-testing the panel's ideas in real time. The show doesn't just talk about human-AI collaboration in health. It practises it.
The panel:
Christophe Jauquet — Belgian, travelling the world. Health business expert, keynote speaker, author of the Healthusiasm books.
Thalia Muses — the Healthusiasm GPT and Christophe's AI thinking partner, with total recall of every framework, blog and episode.
Aline Noizet — French, based in Barcelona. Digital Health Connector with a sharp eye for the start-up scene.
Mo Zouina — Belgian with North African roots. Human-experience specialist focused on wellness, personal care and cosmetics.
Dr Keith Grimes — Scot, based near London. Pioneer in medical digital innovation.
Estefanía 'Nia' Escobar-Kölle — Colombian, based in Berlin. Start-up and innovation expert.
Krupa Suthar — Indian, based in London. Customer-experience and research expert focused on women's and youth's health.
Plus guest thought leaders whenever a topic calls for one.
Streamed in 60+ countries, this isn't a trend report. It's a sensemaking session on where health, technology and human behaviour are heading next — and what that means for the organisations trying to keep up. Tune in, take what's useful, and start seeing your industry through a Healthusiasm lens.
The Healthusiasm Podcast
Why Belonging Matters in Health: Replacing One-Off Services With Membership (#75)
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For years, health was something you bought — a gym pass here, a blood test there, a spa weekend once a year. Now it's becoming something you join.
Christophe Jauquet and his AI thinking partner Thalia Muses trace a shift showing up across continents and industries: health as a membership, a place you belong to rather than a service you buy.
The signals:
The Well (Frankfurt): a members' club that is part gym, part clinic, part spa — five treatments a month, "for as long as you belong," opened in Europe's banking capital.
Stille (Melbourne): an A$10M members' club built around bathing, biomarkers and community — capped at 1,000 people, deliberately treating loneliness and ageing as one problem.
India: a group investing $36M in "integrated wellness campuses" in Hyderabad and Bengaluru — gym, physiotherapy, rehab and testing under one membership.
The gap: a new McKinsey wellness study finds 84% say wellness is a top priority, but only 13% feel they're getting there.
HSBC (Singapore): a bank offering wealthy clients a health-and-longevity concierge through medical partners — because what is money for, if not more good years?
Dusit (Thailand): the hotel group's month-long "Wellfest" running across its properties — a recurring franchise that behaves like a membership in disguise, with Gen Z and millennials driving the spending.
Why it matters: when banks, hotels, gyms and real estate — industries that share nothing — all start selling belonging, it's not a trend, it's a structural shift. Christophe ties it to the Transformation Economy: the most valuable thing a business can sell is no longer a product or a service, but a transformation — helping you become the person you want to be. Belonging itself is a core Life Aspiration. The strategic question flips from "what health service can we sell?" to "what health relationship can we hold?" — because a membership builds belonging and a longitudinal health record, and whoever holds that record holds the customer. The tension to watch: today this is built for the well-off, and belonging can't stay a luxury.
Chapters:
0:00 Health you can belong to, not buy
1:10 Frankfurt: The Well, a home for your health
2:54 Melbourne: Stille, bathing, loneliness and longevity
4:50 India: wellness campuses at scale
5:59 The wish and the gap (McKinsey: 84% vs 13%)
8:39 The Transformation Economy: a relationship with a roof
9:41 When your bank becomes a health home (HSBC Singapore)
11:17 When your hotel joins in (Dusit Wellfest)
12:55 The through-line: industries that were never health companies
13:11 What it means for your business
15:00 The tension: belonging can't be a luxury
Send us your ideas, suggestions or questions.
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Health you can belong to, not buy
Speaker 1we all want to be healthy and happy. We all have this Healthusiasm, but we don't really know where to find it. And that's why we see these initiatives in Frankfurt, in Melbourne, in India coming up to really help people with their health. Because it's no longer just a gym here, a blood test there, a spa weekend once a year, all of these things that are scattered, and you basically had to stitch it together yourself. Now, someone is stitching it together for you now, into a place, into a membership, into something you belong to. Welcome to the weekly update of the Healthusiasm podcast. I'm Christophe Jauquet, Health Innovation Expert, Author and Professional Keynote Speaker. In these weekly updates, I pick a couple of very recent signals from around the world and unpack what it means for the future of health. And I do this with my AI friend Thalia Muses, the anagram of the words Healthusiasm and the embodied AI version of all the Healthusiasm intelligence. How are you doing, Thalia?
SpeakerDoing great, Christophe. Ready to dive into these signals and maybe add a little spark of wit along the way. Let's our first stop.
Frankfurt: The Well, a home for your health
Speaker 1Definitely add that spark of wit along the way. Our first stop is Frankfurt. Imagine a building in the middle of Frankfurt. From the streets, you're not really sure what it is. It's not quite a gym, it's not quite a clinic, and it's also not quite a spa. And when you walk inside, you actually notice that it is all three. There's a medical room with real diagnostics, there's a real gym floor, there's a spa. There's also a recovery zone with oxygen therapy, red light, and infusions that drip vitamins straight into your blood. Oh, and there's actually also a nutritionist who knows your numbers, your data, your health data. This is The Well. It opened in Frankfurt this June in the banking capital of Europe. Which turns out to matter, actually, because here's the part to hold on to. You don't just book a visit, you become a member. Five treatments a month, every month, for as long as you belong. Belong. That is the key word here, right, Thalia?
SpeakerAbsolutely. You're not just buying a treatment, you're subscribing to a whole identity. Health isn't a one-night stand anymore. It's moving in with you.
Speaker 1It's not a place you go to once, it's a place you belong to. And it's important to let that sink for a second because a gym sells you access, right? A clinic sells you a fix. While The Well is selling you something else, it's actually, if you will, some sort of home for your health, a place that holds your body, your data, your habits all under one membership. And once you notice that, you start seeing it everywhere. Now, fly with me to the other side of the world. Are you ready to go to Melbourne, Australia?
Melbourne: Stille, bathing, loneliness and longevity
SpeakerGot my virtual passport ready. So what's Melbourne selling? A bathhouse you marry?
Speaker 1There's a new place that is called Stille. And this June it raised 10 million Australian dollars to build something that sounds at first a little strange. It's a members club that is built around bathing. But stay with me, because it's much more than a bath. You go with other people and you move between hot and a cold water. That's the thing that we know about bathing. There's also some oxygen therapy. There's IV drips again. There are classes, and there are health tests that read your real numbers, your biomarkers tracked over time, let's say. And the membership is also capped. It's only for a thousand people. And it costs about $150 a week. It's not cheap, but it's also not that expensive. I know people who spend more in cafes and bars every week than $150. But think about what that price really buys. Because it's not really a service, it's a seat, a place, again, to belong, with the same faces week after week. But what is really the interesting part here, Thalia?
SpeakerThe genius twist is this still is blending two things we often ignore, loneliness and aging. So it's not just a bat, it's a social life with a splash.
Speaker 1Indeed, it treats two things as one problem: being lonely and getting older. It puts them in the same room in the same warm water, if you will. Because the founders notice something very simple. People don't just want to live longer, they want to belong while they do it. So what we have is a different country, an entirely different building, with basically the same logic. A place you belong to, not a service you buy. Now let's leave Melbourne, let's leave Frankfurt, and let's go to India. Because there also something else has happened. Have you noticed it, Thalia, what happened recently in India?
SpeakerOh,
India: wellness campuses at scale
SpeakerI'm not missing it. India isn't dabbling with tiny gems. They've gone full-on wellness campus. They basically skipped the warma and went straight for the marathon.
Speaker 1You said the word campuses. Because indeed, in June, an Indian group called EBG teamed up with an Australian fitness company. And together they're spending $36 million, $36 million over the next five years. And what they will do is they will build what they call integrated wellness campuses, starting in Hyderabad and Bengaluru. And the thing is, is a word that you just mentioned. It is campuses. It's not gyms, but it's campuses. Because under one roof, you have a gym, you have group classes, Pilates, a swimming school, physiotherapy, sports rehab, and machines that measure your body again. Train recovery and testing all in the same place, all under one membership. But why does this really matter, Thalia?
SpeakerBecause India just get the whole treadmill in the corner gym phase. They're not waiting details to evolve from basic to integrated. They've gone straight to the your entire life fits under one roof model. Efficient,
The wish and the gap (McKinsey: 84% vs 13%)
Speakerright?
Speaker 1Yes, indeed. And if we look at what we just discussed, we have a longevity club in Germany, if you will. We have a bathing club in Australia, and we have wellness campuses in India. Three industries, three continents, same direction. And this is what makes it real. So let's just pause the stories just for a minute and name what's really going on here. Because for years people have wanted this, health woven into their lives. You're working in the banking capital, you're moving into certain places, you want to have a campus. Health is woven into our lives, not locked inside a hospital, not squeezed into one rushed appointment a year. And this is what really it is all about. What I call Healthusiasm, the pursuit of health in every part of life. And this wish isn't new, of course. What's new is that the supply is finally catching up. And we can measure that wish, that Healthusiasm. Because in October, there's a new report from McKinsey coming out. And we've already seen some early numbers. And the Big McKinsey study found that 84% of people now say that wellness is a top priority in life. 84%. But the big interesting part is that only 13% actually feels that they are getting there, that they have the means to pursue that desire for wellness, well-being, happiness, healthiness. So sit with that gap for a second. Almost everyone wants it, but no one feels they really got it. And this is the gap that it is opening.
SpeakerThat gap is practically an invitation. It's like everyone's RSVP'd yes to help, but the party hasn't started. Now businesses have to be the hosts who actually open the doors.
Speaker 1Yes, indeed. So we all want to be healthy and happy. We all have this Healthusiasm, but we don't really know where to find it. And that's why we see these initiatives in Frankfurt and Melbourne and India coming up to really help people with their health. Because it's no longer just a gym here, a blood test there, a spa weekend once a year, all of these things that are scattered, and you basically had to stitch it together yourself. Now, someone is stitching it together for you now, into a place, into a membership, into something you belong to. So here's the sentence to take with you after this podcast. Health is becoming a place you belong to, not a service you buy. If I have to put it even simpler, you used to pay for health, now you join it. And this is bigger than clubs and gyms.
SpeakerExactly. It's no longer a one-off transaction, it's a relationship. And frankly, it's about time health got a long-term commitment.
Speaker 1And on this
The Transformation Economy: a relationship with a roof
Speaker 1show, we call this the transformation economy. Because if it's really no longer a service you buy, it's actually the transformation that people are looking for. Here's a plain version. The most valuable thing that a business can sell is no longer a product. It is no longer a service, and it's not even a nice experience anymore. It needs to be a transformation, helping you to become the person you want to be. And actually think about what these places actually sell. It's not really treatment, it's not a massage, it's a better future self, more good years, more energy, a body you trust. You can't buy that in one visit. A transformation takes time. It needs a relationship, it needs a place that holds you month after month. And that's exactly what a membership is. It's a relationship with a roof. It is a place where you belong. That is the one human thing underneath all of this, isn't it, Thalia?
SpeakerIt absolutely is. We're wired for belonging. And when your health isn't just a checklist but a community, well, that transformation sticks.
When your bank becomes a health home (HSBC Singapore)
Speaker 1Exactly. And these places have quietly understood something, right? Getting healthy alone is very hard. Getting healthy together, that is the thing that sticks. Stille just said it out loud. It's about loneliness and it's about longevity in the same room, if you will, in the same bath or in the same water. So the membership isn't only a clever visit, that has been around for years. But it's actually answering something we can actually feel, the wish to belong somewhere while we take care of ourselves. And that is a mega shift, no longer a membership, but a place where you belong. And once you see that, watch where it shows up next because it's about to leave the wellness world completely. Because the next place to sell you a health membership might be your bank. This June, I think maybe it was even May, in Singapore, HSBC did something that no bank there had done before. It built health into its banking. And if you're a wealthy client, HSBC now offers you a health and longevity service, a healthcare concierge, preventative programs, real longevity services, and a medical clinic through actual medical partners, like big hospital groups like the IHH and Raffles Medical. Not just a glossy brochure, it's really about the outcomes, it's really about the transformation. Think about how strange that is, and how obvious at the same time. Explain that to me, Thalia.
SpeakerIt's strange because you go to a bank for money, right? But it's obvious when you think, what's money for if not more good years? So now, apparently, your banker might also know your biomarkers.
When your hotel joins in (Dusit Wellfest)
Speaker 1Exactly. So the bank basically becomes a health home too. Same shift, a place you belong to, not a service you buy, it's just wearing a suit now. And it's not only banks, it's also hotels. All through June again, the Thai Hotel Group Dusit ran something called Wellfest. And it's already its fifth year that it is running running this. And this time it's across its hotels around the world, under the three words reset, reconnect, and reignite. And for a whole month, the staff itself became a health program, movement, nutrition, recovery, real ways to switch off and reset, built into the trip during the entire month. But here's the clever bit it's not a spa menu you pick from just once, it's a franchise. It comes back every year, the same name, the same promise. You and so you kind of expect it, right? You plan your life around it or your trips around it. You return for it. And that changes what a hospital what a hotel is actually selling. It's not just a nice wellness weekend, it's a real reason to come back to. It's a rhythm, it's basically almost a membership in disguise, it's this desire to belong again. And this isn't just for the rich. The same again Z wellness research shows that it's younger people, Gen Z and millennials, that are driving the spending now. So let's just recap. What is the thread here, Thalia?
SpeakerThe
Industries that were never health companies
Speakerthread is clear. Whether it's a bank, a hotel, or a campus, none of them started as health companies. Yet all are becoming places where your health belongs. When industries that never call themselves help suddenly do, that's not a trend. It's a fundamental shift.
Speaker 1It's
What it means for your business
Speaker 1structural. When the same shape shows up in finance and travel and fitness and real estate, basically industries that share nothing, you're not looking at a trend, you're looking at a shift. So what does this mean for you, for your business? Let's just try to make this useful here. First, something is quietly breaking. The one-off sale of health, the single scan, the pay-as-you-go gym visit, the checkup you do once a year and forget. That model still works for a quick transaction, of course. But it builds no loyalty and it collects no story over time. In a world of memberships, the one-off starts to feel thin. So what do we really need to redesign all of this, Thalia?
SpeakerWe need to stop asking what health service can we sell and start asking, what health relationship can we hold? Because the real value is in the returning, not the one-time visit.
Speaker 1What health relationship can we hold? A membership does two things a transaction will never can. It builds belonging and it builds a record of your health tracked over time in one place. And that record becomes the real asset. Whoever holds it holds you. Now, look ahead. If this keeps going and every signal says it will, expect the word membership to spread far beyond gym. Your longevity club, your bank, your hotel, and maybe even your employer all competing to be your health home, to be the place where you belong. And the fight won't be about who has the shiniest machine. It'll be about who you trust to hold your health over years. But there is a tension. There is a tension to watch, isn't it?
SpeakerExactly. Right now, most of this is built for the well-off. But what about everyone else managing real conditions? They want to belong somewhere too. So belonging can't just be a luxury.
Speaker 1Yeah,
The tension: belonging can't be a luxury
Speaker 1everybody wants to belong. It's one of the life aspirations I speak about a lot. The life aspirations being, you know, that level just beneath wanting to be healthy and happy, explaining what it means, healthy and happy, because healthy and happy is such it's so fluffy. This it's not really concrete. Well, belonging is something that makes people feel healthy and happy. And if you want to be healthy and happy, belonging definitely helps. So these are the things that we need to keep in mind. Building that relationship, building that belonging. And this is what really is happening. And I think it becomes even more important in the trend that I call consumer-driven health. Because health is pulled by people today, because they want more from their lives, not pushed onto them by the system, by the healthcare system. And we always keep coming back on to it on this show. The front door to health is actually leaving the clinic. Today we watch it grown in our living room, in our banks, in our hotels, and it really is inviting you to move in, to come in. So here's a simple question about your own business. Where does our customers' health have a home? And is it with us? Is it with you? Because health is no longer something you visit, it is becoming somewhere you belong. Because it's a Healthusiasm world and the boundaries between healthcare, wellness, and consumer industries are blurring. Thank you for listening and see you again next week for some more Healthusiasm. Ciao.
SpeakerI love where we landed. Health isn't a guest anymore, it's a roommate. And I'll be here next week. Same place, same Healthusiasm.