We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tehya Frank a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Tehya, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How’s you first get into your field – what was your first job in this field?
I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up, and that was quite the conundrum as a kid and a teenager. I danced at the School of American Ballet and co-founded theYaSisters alongside my sister as a teenager, a do-good platform empowering young people to take action in New York City and Los Angeles. We grew that initiative to raise awareness and funding for direct care coverage for young people living with invisible illnesses – #MakeInvisibleVisible.
By the time I went off to university I knew exactly what I wanted to study, Medical Journalism, in fact, I was so sure of it, that I went to a college where I could create my own major – at the time, no university offered it. I wanted to tell the stories of people like myself, who had endured chronic invisible illnesses, to really be able to move the needle. My career began in the non-profit space with International Medical Corps after a high school after-school internship with Global Green. At both places I learned how to craft and use narratives to fundraise for important projects around the globe. I then transitioned over to writing for publications like Thrive Global and Byrdie, where I wrote on topics ranging from Lyme disease and autoimmune conditions to the intersection of wellness, media, and public perceptions.
My role now – Director of Health Policy at KARV, means that every day is new. I get to work with people who are at the top of their field working to make the world a better place and help people get access to the care they need. That takes various forms in terms of strategic advisory, PR, health policy and more, but I get to work on projects that are actually making a difference in people’s day to day life in terms of access to healthcare and wellness, which is amazing!
Tehya, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
About a decade ago, I got pretty sick with neurological Lyme disease that went undiagnosed for several years. I had always been aware of invisible illnesses, having been one of the OGs with Celiac, but I realized: there’s a huge gap between how healthcare is <b>covered</b> and how it’s <b>understood</b>. Now, it’s even more confusing with marketed wellness on the scene and an influx of information that doesn’t break it all down. So, my goal has always been to make healthcare more human and understandable.
I’ve spent my career thus far telling the stories I believe in. At KARV I get to help companies and leaders communicate, clearly and with purpose, what they are doing in their corners of the world. Over the years, I’ve contributed to outlets like Ariana Huffington’s Thrive Global and Byrdie, writing about chronic illness, the cost of wellness, and making healthcare more understandable and accessible. Recently, I volunteered on the Make America Healthy Again campaign under RFK Jr., where I facilitated interagency conversations with the specific goal of creating better coverage for those struggling with chronic, complex illnesses. My clients have ranged from the largest healthcare organizations and hospital systems in the country, to entertainment companies around the world, to 501c3 build-outs for food insecurity, to cutting edge medical and biotech companies creating more ease in terms of patient care and accessibility.
I always say, imagine we’re hanging out on the beach (my favorite place) or at a dinner table, talking through woes of the healthcare system we all deal with… That’s the conversation I want to have — together. I want to make things feel a bit less overwhelming and a lot more human.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
Books have always been my favorite thing in the world. I bring them back from all of my travels and they weigh down my check-in suitcase by so many pounds. In order to do the job I do and be the curious person I am, I read anything and everything that comes my way. I read what I agree on, what I disagree on, and what I don’t understand; That comes in the form of books, essays, medical journals, interviews, I’m not a huge fan of podcasts myself, because I enjoy words on a page, but I try to get my hands on everything.
Reading is a means to better understand people. My work revolves around building narratives and crafting stories—often about complex subjects, from geopolitical dynamics to medical science. The more we understand who aligns with us and who challenges us, what the research says, what advocates and parents (often the most insightful voices!) are fighting for, and how all of it translates into the real-world experience, the better we can share someone’s story with honesty and empathy.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
No matter how good you may be at something, how skilled and how practiced you are, you always fail. That’s just part of it all. I’ve fallen onstage at Lincoln Center in front of thousands of people in an Angel dress in The Nutcracker; Lived to see another day and got back on that stage for years.
Over a decade ago, I was asked to leave high school because of special needs related to Lyme disease — which, at the time, was still undiagnosed. I later had to withdraw from university just three months into freshman year to undergo several years of treatment. When I finally returned, my friends were graduating seniors, and I was beginning again. At the time, I thought I was falling behind. My friends were landing their first jobs while I was accomplishing how to walk up the stairs. I had to relearn how to remember things — from the names of kitchen utensils to the route home, to how to study for exams. I began with two classes a semester and slowly rebuilt myself again. I found my way into the work I do today because I saw a side of healthcare and humanity I never wanted anyone else to experience the way I did. Everything fell into place because of what I experienced, but it doesn’t just stop there because staying well is an everyday endeavor.
Resilience isn’t just about getting back on your feet, that’s a complex combination of luck, determination, good support systems, and a lot of physical therapy. I think resilience is about doing the work – finding resources that aren’t available to me to get me better, was what got me back on my feet, but what I get to do today, didn’t come easily. I studied hard, read everything at my disposal, had conversations with whomever was willing to talk to me about something I didn’t know or understand, and for those who didn’t know I existed, I worked [and still work so hard] to open the doors to having these conversations. There’s always something to learn and a world to explore – I think that’s what’s resilience is all about.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://aletehyarose.substack.com/
- Instagram: @aletehyarose
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aletehyarose/
- Other: find me at https://www.karv.global/core-team/tehyafrank
Image Credits
1. PR News
2. In Saudi Arabia for MDLBEAST’s SoundStorm Festival.
3. Hosting our KARV Summit with C-Suite from around the world.
4. Working from Saudi Arabia.