Friends - Rhalou Allerhand
Health journalist and editor. Bristol UK
Like many of our long-standing friendships, this one began through meaningful conversations during countless miles with Run Dem Crew. Rhalou’s energy and positivity stood out from the start, sparking discussions about life, creativity, and the shared rhythm of running.
How would you describe yourself, and what drives you?
I’m a journalist and editor specialising in women’s health. Women make up roughly half of the world’s population and yet we still know very little about what makes us tick. The field is underrepresented, poorly researched, and under-resourced and as a result we pay the greatest burden. This needs to change.
Outside of work I love running, hosting elaborate dinner parties, taking care of my young family and sending lengthy and dramatic voice notes to my girlfriends.
What pivotal moments have shaped your journey so far?
I got fired from my first journalism job in the early noughties after I caught my boss cheating on his wife – yes I told her. I was skint, so out of desperation I pretended to be an experienced runner and managed to score a job at Women’s Running magazine. I went on to run 15 marathons and ultras and running has been the bedrock of my life ever since, so it worked out well in the end. In short, you should always tell the truth and stay true to yourself, except in job interviews.
What is your relationship with Rosie Lee, Unorthodox Blend, and/or Mark & Russell?
Back when I was pretending to be good at running I came across a little crew in East London. At the time the amateur running community lacked sex appeal. I was hoping to inject some sparkle into the magazine (and my life) and Run Dem Crew was just the ticket. After signing myself up to this secret cult I shared countless miles and post-run pancakes with the coolest people you will ever meet.
What has come out of any relationship and collaborations?
Fast-forward a decade or so and I still chat to at least 5 different running crew members every single day. But we rarely talk about running – it’s usually babies, or work, or to share memes or hoot at the news.
We used to mentor young runners at Run Dem Crew, but now they mentor me. Watching those kids become entrepreneurs and TV stars and public speakers has made my heart double in size. RDC taught me a lot about the power of community. The media industry can be cutthroat, but – thanks to RDC – I always lower the ladder down behind me and share freelance work or job opportunities with fellow writers. When you elevate everyone around you, everybody wins.
What does being unorthodox mean to you in your work?
It’s a competitive field out here and now we’re competing against AI, too. Everything I write and say and do is through my own lens and I try to remain true to myself. But being a half decent journalist and health editor requires impartiality and sticking to the facts, so it’s a balance.
Do editors object to my unorthodox sense of humour slipping into my copy? Probably. But I’m not a robot, and I think it’s important to see the humour in everything. The world can be a fantastically cruel place, but it’s hilariously funny, too.
Lately I’ve been thinking about switching things up and writing a play instead. Do you know any playwrights who can help me get into the field? I have some brilliant ideas. And I leave cracking voice notes.
What beliefs have guided you through tough decisions?
I have learned to trust my gut instinct. 70% of communication is nonverbal, so sometimes you have to listen to what people are really telling you by reading between the lines, which basically means you have to trust yourself.
What challenge in your field of work is often overlooked?
Everyone thinks they can write. But when was the last time you read an entire article without skipping to the headlines? Thanks to smartphones we all have the attention span of goldfish. Great copy that captures your attention and keeps you glued to the page until the end is not an easy task to master.
How do you balance creativity with structure / order with chaos?
I came across a great quote recently, ‘Write with fire in your veins, edit with ice in your veins’ (I forget who said it, Hemingway maybe?) which sums up my creative process perfectly. Everything I write – from an Instagram post to dense medical content for a health app – has to be fun to create, otherwise what’s the point? So I write in a flow state, which means getting my fantastical ideas onto the page before they make any sense. The first draft is almost always too silly to publish, so I come back and edit my copy with my sensible hat on later. It’s not easy, I often have to delete my sparkliest ideas. But I love both sides of the process. Creating great content requires imagination and sparkle but structure is essential or no one will read it. Both elements are integral slices of the pie, so I work hard to balance the two. One day I’ll let chaos reign, then you’ll be sorry.
What cultural shifts are you noticing in your field of work?
The machines are taking over and it’s an exciting time. Will I be out of work this time next year, replaced by mutant robots who can whip up great content in milliseconds? Possibly. But when I first started out social media didn’t even exist and the internet was just a pipedream, so you have to roll with the changes and see what unfolds. You never know, it might be fun.
If you could master any skill instantly, what would it be?
I would love to be able to speak every language on earth. And the galaxy. Communication makes the world go round and yet we are so very bad at it. Imagine if you could understand all the subtle nuances and dialects and chat fluently to every single person you meet? It would be a great party trick. And probably quite useful for conflict resolution when the zombies attack.
What’s one experience everyone should have at least once?
Everyone should cross the finish line of a race at least once in their life. It doesn’t have to be a marathon. A 5K race can be just as fun. But running a race is one of the few opportunities in life when you get to experience the thrill of being cheered on by complete strangers in public – it’s electric.
What has inspired you lately? ( book, podcast, music, news, articles, … ).
Dr Jennifer Farrell
I recently went to a talk by the Medieval Historian Dr Jennifer Farrell on witches and feminism and all things magic and gender, which really fired me up. The patriarchy has been burning us alive for millennia because they’re threatened by female sexuality and terrified of women’s access to ritual power throughout history. As the western world continues to strip back more and more of our bodily autonomy it feels more important than ever to remember that we survived the witch trials and we’ll survive the latest round of assault.
The Blindboy Podcast
I’ve been listening to The Blindboy Podcast a lot lately, which is a glorious mixture of interviews and story telling by this Irish artist, author and philosopher – AKA Blindboy – who wears a plastic bag on his head. He covers everything from Greek mythology, to Jaffa Cakes and 18th-century satanic sex cults and I could listen to his dreamy voice forever.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
I love stand-up so I listen to a lot of comedy podcasts including What Now? with Trevor Noah. Trevor is a great comedian and a delicious orator, but it’s his co-host Christiana Mbakwe Medina’s delightfully sardonic take on the world through her uniquely British/Igbo lens that has me in stitches. She outsmarts them all - somebody please give that woman her own show.
What advice would you give to young people starting out in their career?
It’s not what you know it’s who you know, so network your pants off (not literally, although I hear OnlyFans is very lucrative). Every opportunity I’ve ever had has been a direct result of networking. And I don’t just mean following high profile people on social media, although that certainly helps. To follow your dreams you need to put yourself directly in front of the people you want to work with. Talk your way into events and go to the clubs, the pubs and the parties. Do whatever it takes to meet interesting people in real life and once you’re there, make a big impression.
How can people connect with you, get involved or take part in any of the projects you’ve highlighted above?
I’ve been on a digital detox lately so I’m hard to reach. Drop me a line! hello@rhalou.com or find me on Instagram @rhalou. And while you’re there follow @ElwoodDoodles – he’s suspiciously good at drawing for his age.
Additional question from Cyril - If you had the chance to press a reset button and start over - armed with knowledge of how the world unfolds - would you change anything about your journey, or would you follow the same path?
Given the chance to turn back time most people say they wouldn't change a thing. I wish I has such strength in my convictions but I'm the total opposite. I would change everything. I would train to be a lawyer and a scientist and an astrophysicist and an Olympian and I'd be a champion rock climber and I'd skip 10 years of doom scrolling on my smartphone and I wouldn't waste a second with any of the people I dated before I met my amazing husband.
What question would you like us to ask the next person?
If you absolutely had to go on reality TV, which show would you choose? My guilty pleasure is Selling Sunset, but it baffles me. The super rich all have such beige taste. If I owned a mansion in Los Angeles it would look like a David LaChapelle photoshoot with a tropical fish tank inside the floor and real tigers prowling on the lawn.
Instagram:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rhalouOther links:
Website: www.rhalou.com – this website is very old, I’m working on a refresh!