Tummy Talks: why we started talking about our guts out loud
For three decades I lived with bloating, pain and fatigue, and I hardly ever talked about it. You laugh it off, you plan your outfit around it, and you say you're fine. When I finally started talking about it, my friends did too. They texted me late at night about their stomachs, and I realised how many of us were carrying a story we had never told anyone.
There's so much silence around our guts. So I made a space for it. That space is Tummy Talks by Gigi.
What is Tummy Talks?
Tummy Talks is a storytelling night about our guts. We sit in a warm room with a cup of bone broth in our hands and share the stories we usually keep to ourselves. It's about being honest about what our bodies go through, not about fixing anything.
A warm welcome. A welcome drink when you arrive, and a cup of warm bone broth to hold.
Stories, not advice. A seat in the storytelling circle, for the things we usually keep to ourselves.
Gut-loving food. Bone broth from Bone Broth Mama and a fermented taster from SAKCo.
People who get it. A room of people who know what it's like, and nobody telling you to just relax.
A warm cup to hold
Warm bone broth by Bone Broth Mama for everyone in the room.
Nobody there is going to fix you. You just won't be the only one anymore.
No. 1: we said it out loud
Our very first Tummy Talks took place on 6 October 2026 at Wanakam in Amsterdam Oost. Nine women took the storytelling seat and said the things they had only ever told a doctor, or no one at all. IBS, reflux, gastritis, celiac disease, food intolerances, PMDD, years of tests and guesses, and the many small ways we hide all of it at work, on dates and at dinner with friends.
Nobody tried to fix anyone. We listened, we laughed, we hugged, and we all left a little lighter.
Nine women, one storytelling seat
We had all carried our gut stories alone, in silence. Until that night at Wanakam.
Thank you to our storytellers
Helene Choo, Shakhnoza Cetintas, Yasmine Elkatsha, Sara, Albane Vallée, Nana Akua Appah, Gabby and Varsha Prasad N M: thank you for your courage and for every word you shared. Saying it out loud in a room full of people is not small. You made it easier for the next woman to do the same.
The voices of Tummy Talks No. 1
Helene, Shakhnoza, Yasmine and Rafaela were among the storytellers who took the seat on 6 October at Wanakam in Amsterdam.
And thank you to our partners: Bone Broth Mama for the warm broth in every cup, SAKCo for the ferments, Guud Woman for the gut supplements for our guests, and Val from Lines & Lenses for the documentary photography of the night.
Gut-loving food on the table
Ferments by SAKCo, a fermented taster for every guest.
Why storytelling, and why Gigi
Many women spend years, sometimes decades, before anyone connects the dots in their gut health. A big part of that is silence: we don't talk about it, so we don't notice the patterns, and we don't feel heard when we finally do. Stories break that silence.
It's the same reason I'm building Gigi, an AI gut health companion for women. Gigi listens, remembers and helps you see the pattern sooner, so you can walk into your next appointment with clarity instead of guesses. Tummy Talks is the human side of the same mission: no woman should have to figure out her gut alone.
Nobody should figure out her gut alone
Community, sharing knowledge and experiences: the human side of what Gigi is building.
Join the next Tummy Talks
We're planning Tummy Talks No. 2. Spots are limited, so join the list on the Tummy Talks page and we'll tell you as soon as the next one is announced. The same list also saves your place on the Gigi waiting list.
Want to partner with us with a location, gut-loving food and drinks or goodies for our guests? Or co-host a Tummy Talks in your city? Get in touch, I'd love to hear from you.
Rafaela Buena, founder of Gigi
