Seizing the Years with Amanda Hardwick

There's a moment in this episode that I keep coming back to. I'd just finished explaining how creatine is naturally occurring in the body (you know, already there, already circulating, already doing its job), and Amanda went quiet for a second before saying, "That makes me much more relaxed."

That's it. That's the whole episode, really.

Amanda Hardwick is an executive search professional at Hartmann Young, a life science search firm where she specialises in placing senior talent across the functional food, beverage and ingredient space. She works directly alongside Emily Austin, who many of you will know from our wider network. Between them, they have a front-row seat to what companies are actually building and who they're hiring to move those businesses forward.

But what made me want to record with Amanda for our International Women's Day episode wasn't her professional perspective alone. It was something more personal. She is a 28-year-old woman who has been watching creatine flood her Instagram feed for over a year, has asked questions, done research, felt the pull of it… Yet… still hadn't quite taken the leap. Not because she wasn't interested. Because the noise was too loud and the communication around the actual benefits for her was not quite clear enough.

She represents, I'd argue, hundreds of thousands of women in the UK right now. And this industry needs to be listening to her.

Amanda's first encounter with creatine came the way most of ours do, of course, through Instagram ads and wellness influencers. Her instinct was curiosity, quickly followed by overwhelm. The information felt male-focused. The branding felt intimidating. And when she asked around her office (people working inside the nutraceutical industry, no less), she interestingly found the women largely in the same position as herself.

"There's a couple of colleagues that are taking creatine," she told me, "but they don't actually know what's best, how best to apply it, whether it's a drink or a gummy or a supplement. And I've asked them what the benefits are, and do they feel them? And it's almost as though they haven't got a direct answer because there's so much noise."

That honesty landed with me. Because Amanda isn't a passive observer here. From her role at Hartmann Young, she is watching creatine move rapidly into the CPG space (literally into ready-to-drink beverages, food ingredients, functional formats), and she's also hiring the technical, R&D and commercial talent that brands need to bring those products to market properly. She sees both sides: the commercial momentum building behind this ingredient, and the communication gap that still exists for the women it's increasingly being aimed at.

"Every single guy in the office has a creatine supplement on their desk," she said with a laugh. "There are only a few females that do. So there's a clear knowledge gap."

We talked about the science, and what gives me genuine excitement right now is that researchers like Dr Susan Kleiner (who many of you will remember from our earlier episode) are really pushing this forward, specifically for women. Last year saw the publication of the most extensive creatine and women's health study to date, with promising findings across the full female lifespan. Bone density, muscle preservation, neurological health, and cognitive resilience, so clearly the evidence is building, and it totally predates the TikTok trend by decades.

What I wanted to be honest about with Amanda in this episode, though, is that creatine is not a magic powder. Its most proven benefits (particularly the classic winner around muscle health) work best alongside an active lifestyle. Amanda's mum, who is 60 this year and getting back into movement after a break from regular exercise, is a perfect example of who this is really for. An ex-athlete who wants to swim again, play badminton, feel less flattened by recovery.

"If it's taking less time to recover, if it's making you feel more energetic and less foggy," Amanda said, "God, we'd be unstoppable."

Yes. Exactly that.

The part of our conversation I found most valuable was Amanda and I discussing some of the language being used right now by influencers around the importance of women supplementing with creatine, particularly the use of the word mandatory.

You'll have seen the clip. A brilliant woman, well-intentioned, said creatine should now be mandatory for all people. It went everywhere. And Amanda's response to it was telling.

"It makes you ask more questions than it makes you want to make a decision," she said. "As a consumer, the word mandatory makes you feel like you need to do it… and then you go to look into it and the answer still isn't clear."

In my opinion, she's right. And it connects to something I feel strongly about: creatine should not become another item on the modern woman's already impossible to-do list. It should feel like an enhancement, not an obligation. Amanda put it better than I could:

"It's an enhancement. That's a much more attractive positioning. We all want to add value to what we're doing on a day-to-day basis."

That single reframe, from mandatory to enhancement, is, I think, the most important shift this industry needs to make right now.

Women like Amanda need the context of creatine to finally make sense for their lives. Amanda’s turning 28, moving into a new home, building a routine that works for someone who wants to ski, hike, rock climb and cook a proper meal on a Sunday. Not the Pilates girl archetype. Just herself.

"Something that fits into my lifestyle, that enhances the motivation to stay active without causing overwhelm," she said. "That's what I want."

That is Creatine 2.0 to me. Not the 5 am obligatory gym session. The Lake District on a weekend. A badminton court where her mum still beats her. Being fit enough to actually live the life you want, for as long as possible.

Amanda, it was a genuine pleasure. Go and find her on LinkedIn, because I think she is well worth following.

If you'd like to be featured on Seizing the Years or know someone who should be, please do drop me a line at rachael@jenerise.com.

We all rise together,

Rachael Jennings | Co-Founder + CBO, Jenerise