1 in 4 teenage girls is clinically depressed by the time they turn 14, and due to the pressures facing young women today, they’re dropping out of sport more than ever before.

Nike felt compelled to tackle this epidemic of female injustice by helping young girls see the power sport can have on their mental health and lives, as Nike genuinely believes that sport makes better people, and better people make a better world. We discovered that sport can help with the multiple issues young girls face, from mental health, body image and confidence issues.

We needed to find a way for young gurls to associate sport with their mental wellbeing.

We found the perfect partner in Gurls Talk - they reach a global community of engaged girls who are actively tackling their mental health. We then decided on the new, low-cost, yet high-reach medium of podcasts - 29% of millennials listen to a podcast between 2-4 times a week. And The Gurls Talk Podcast was born.

24% of 14yo girls and 9% of boys have depression. Girls are twice as likely to suffer than males, with ¼ of teenage girls also having self-harmed in the past year.

The world has become a difficult place to navigate and teenage girls today face a huge range of pressures, including stress at school, body image, bullying and the pressure created by social media. Again, teenage girls are 2x as likely to show depressive symptoms linked to social media than boys.

We know that sport can reduce your risk of depression by 30%, and yet, by 14, girls drop out of sports at a rate of 2x more than boys.

These stats show a drastic gender injustice. Girls are sadder than ever, and they’re moving less than ever before. But sport has the power to change their future. Through sport, girls can learn important life skills such as teamwork, leadership and confidence.

We wanted to create something that put girls on a level playing field to boys when it came to their mental health, so they can have the same future opportunities. So we created a positive space that motivated girls to move their bodies.

The Gurls Talk Podcast is where fierce female chat gives young gurls (and guys) the tools to take control of the chaos in their life. Nothing is off-limits as we break the taboos of mental health, sexuality, gender, social media or disability to inspire our listeners and help them feel less alone.

Hosted by activist Adwoa Aboah, the podcast is an extension of Gurls Talk, which she created following her own mental health struggles.

Every episode, Adwoa invites inspiring guests to discuss their experiences on the monthly theme to unite girls together so we can become individually and collectively stronger, motivate each other and influence a positive impact on the world.

Sport features organically for when you need to get out of your head and into your body. We give a stage to Nike athletes so they can show sport as a way to control the spiraling chaos girls face.

Girls are sadder than ever and they’re moving less than ever.

Nike wanted to create a conversation that would emphasise the mental health benefits of sport.

But teenage girls weren’t listening to glossy brands and polished ads. To cut through, we needed authenticity and relatability.

We needed:

-Something that connected with our girls, absorbing them in its content.

-A partner that enabled Nike to authentically talk about mental health.

-To show the many ways sport can improve your life.

-An outlet to tell the female athlete stories that the mainstream media doesn’t show.

The result? The Gurls Talk Podcast. A partnership with one of the most highly-engaged with female charities in the world, fronted by activist Adwoa Aboah whose own struggle with mental health makes her the perfect advocate for our cause. And a format that allows for varied, in-depth conversation around multiple cultural touchpoints.

We wanted to create a format that did more than just tell a person or celebrity’s story. We wanted to put the GT community at the heart of each episode, so each inspirational story transcends into their lives and changes their outlook.

The show has four segments: “Gurls Talk” where the panel dissects the month’s theme, “Gurls Share” where Adwoa shares the beautiful submissions from the GT community, “Gurls Listen” where the guests share their tool of strength for listeners, and “Gurls Take Control”, where we leave our listeners with our guidance and learnings.

Each episode launches with a suite of social assets, shared by Gurls Talk, Adwoa and the panelists. The visual identity of the podcast represents the chaos gurls face today, with ‘Boobs’, ‘Sex’, ‘Anxiety’, ‘Exams’ animating around the border as Adwoa and the panel appear as fierce and proud warriors, taking control of the chaos.

185,000 downloads over 5 months.

#1 in the Apple Podcast Health chart for 3 weeks

#8 in the overall Apple Podcast Chart.

The Guardian’s Podcast of the Week

Harpers Bazaar’s 10 Best Podcasts of 2018

Apple’s Inspiring Women series for IWD

#1 in Apple’s New and Noteworthy section for 8 weeks

Most importantly, we’ve had hundreds of girls (increasing monthly) tell us how the podcast has changed their life and transcended into their everyday. Our Grief series was especially well received, with gurls telling us it gave them a “mindset shift” and “listening to the podcast is a kind of therapy” for them. Our Nike athlete episodes received the highest listener figures, with gurls telling us they’ve since signed up to the gym or are getting more active and noticing the overwhelming benefits. Overall, we’ve created a legacy around sport that the community will go forth and sustain.