But it’s complicated to disentangle from ideas that have had such a stranglehold on you. Especially when your appearance is tied to the image of a brand followed by other young women who aspire to look like you.

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The first iteration of Kic was Keep It Clean. “Clean” eating can refer to a diet of minimally processed foods, but is also associated with rigid, low-calorie diets that demonise whole food groups such as gluten or carbohydrates.

“It’s important to acknowledge we are two size 8 white women who are accepted by the modelling industry,” Henshaw admits. “That meant we had a platform where people were looking to us for health and wellness inspiration and advice.”

That is a big responsibility when you are trying to find your own way through the noise.

“It’s a journey even now,” Henshaw says. “I don’t know anyone who has complete [peace] … What helped was reframing why I move my body and why I eat well. Your body is your one home, and you want to take care of it.”

The negative undertones around the company name ultimately led to a rebrand: “We get it, we own it. We learn, we evolve,” they wrote on their website in 2023. “We are on a mission. We are Kic.”

The evolution of the app, which has been downloaded more than 750,000 times, has reflected their own.

In the decade since it started, they have become successful businesswomen with a multi-million dollar company; they have struggled with boundaries and suffered burnout; they have both married and become mothers; they have handed over the reins of Kic to Smiling Mind co-founder Jane Martino; they have struggled to find time to work out; and they have questioned themselves and what value they bring to the business.

“What works for you now might evolve into something else, and that’s OK,” says Smith, who aims for at least a five-minute stroll in the sunshine and five or 10 minutes of breath work daily. “Wellness changes as your phase of life changes.”

Where they once equated it with movement, mindfulness and food, their concept of wellness has expanded to include flexibility around their routines, confidence, breath control and mindset.

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The Kic app has been updated to reflect their evolution and include more “holistic” wellness features such as sleep, confidence, focus and calm, as well as mindset and goal-setting.

The health and wellbeing app space has changed hugely in the past decade, says Dr Ben Singh, a researcher in Population and Digital Health at the University of South Australia.

“Early apps were often simple step counters or PDF-style workouts,” Singh says. “Now we see high-quality video content, more personalised plans, better design and closer links with wearable trackers. The pandemic also sped things up, with more people getting used to managing parts of their health from home.”

Bringing together different aspects of wellbeing can help facilitate lifestyle change, he says.

“Having everything in one place can make it easier for people to build routines because they don’t need separate apps for different parts of their health.”

Singh’s research demonstrates that health and wellbeing apps have the power to improve behaviours in the long term.

Yet, many apps are also ineffective and not evidence-based. Singh says that red flags to look out for include:

• Very rigid programs that make people feel like they have failed if they miss a day.
• Claims about extreme diets, detoxes or “quick fixes”.
• Not being clear about who designed the workouts or nutrition advice.
• Features that push people to overtrain, especially beginners.

Kic includes many elements that are “genuinely helpful”, Singh says, especially structured exercise programs and a supportive community.

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For Henshaw and Smith, looking beyond fitness or nutrition alongside working on confidence and values-aligned goal-setting has made wellbeing a less rigid, more compassionate concept.

“Until I was clear on my values, my goals were all over the shop,” says Smith. “I never saw them through.”

Henshaw’s work on improving her confidence and self-worth means she requires the approval of others less than she once did.

“My goals have changed so much,” says Henshaw, who tries to practise five minutes of meditation a day. “I used to do them for others, but now I do it for me.”

With this, the stranglehold of image loosens and wellness becomes less about a look than a feeling.

“Something we’re really proud of is that from day dot it has been about moving your body to feel good.”

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