The Type A CEO’s Guide
to a Happy, Relaxed Glow

Her skin issues were the least of her worries. “I found out at 20 weeks that I was at high risk for preterm labor, meaning I could give birth at any moment,” says Walton, who adds that her healthy habits—yoga, a 20-year pescatarian diet—made her diagnosis feel even more perplexing. On top of that, she felt brushed off by her doctors, who offered no advice on what might be done to improve her outcome. “Black women, whatever their socioeconomic status, are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than White women and historically haven’t been monitored or listened to as closely as White women.”

Like any (self-proclaimed) type A person, Walton went down a rabbit hole researching what she might do at home to support herself—and came across Expectful. “Within a week of meditating with the app, I was more stable—and I ultimately made it to term, which no doctor had thought was possible,” says Walton, who had no affiliation with the app when she started using it. For the Stanford business school, eBay, Google, and Airbnb alum, the job at Expectful was the perfect fit career- and spirit-wise. “We now provide over 400 meditations geared toward everything from trying to conceive to your first days postpartum,” she says. Expectful also hosts virtual events with lactation consultants, midwives, pediatric sleep specialists, Pilates and yoga instructors, and pelvic floor therapists, and even a class on hypnobirthing (a method that uses hypnosis and other deep-relaxation techniques to help manage pain and anxiety during birth—Walton used it during her labor). At $13 a month, it’s beautifully affordable.

Walton’s tips for graceful, easy aging involve, among other things, hot-tub date nights, a miracle eye cream, and a touch of lazy-girl makeup.