On March 8, in celebration of International Women’s Day, the Bay Area will welcome back a well-known figure of the francophone community: Alexia Cornu. A coach specializing in women’s health, entrepreneur, author published by Larousse, and now filmmaker, she will present her documentary On avance à ton rythme [Moving Forward At Your Own Pace] at the Marina Theater, at the invitation of French Talent USA. This unique screening will be followed by a conversation with the director.
This return to San Francisco is highly symbolic. It is here that a defining part of her journey took shape.
San Francisco, an accelerator of ambition
Arriving alone from France at 25 with three months of savings, Alexia Cornu settled in California with a strong sense of ambition. In France, her energy and vision could sometimes be unsettling. In San Francisco, the response was different.
“When I shared my projects in France, people thought I was ‘too much.’ In San Francisco, people would say instead: prove it.”
That nuance changed everything. She moved from an environment that felt restrictive to an ecosystem that, while not easy, encouraged her to push herself further. She launched a home-based fitness coaching business. Her schedule quickly became intense: days running from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., cross-training sessions at Dolores Park on Saturdays, and Nordic walking events on Sundays. For six years in San Francisco, she kept up this demanding rhythm.
The numbers are striking: more than 15,000 hours of individual coaching over ten years. “The equivalent of twenty years of career in just ten years,” she says today with hindsight. At the time, however, she did not feel she was sacrificing anything. She had built a profession perfectly aligned with her passion and her California lifestyle.
The francophone community played a key role in her early days. Expat groups and word-of-mouth helped her launch her activity quickly. “I had three months for it to work. I had no choice.”
Covid, the decisive pivot
March 2020 changed everything. In-person sessions stopped abruptly. “I had no choice. From one day to the next, I never went back to in-person coaching.” Within two months, she created a full digital platform. She trained herself in online marketing, built her website, produced content, and completely restructured her business model.
“I have never worked as many hours as during Covid. I was rebuilding an entire ecosystem.”
The transition was radical, but it quickly paid off. Today, her online program supports more than 2,000 women each year. She leads a team of 14 people, reaches more than 200,000 followers, and generates several million views every month. She has published two books and is preparing to release a third, dedicated to strength training as a tool for longevity. It is a transformation she still observes with a sense of amazement.
A film about resilience, without pathos
With On avance à ton rythme [Moving Forward At Your Own Pace] , Alexia Cornu explores rebuilding after illness through the story of her mother. The subject is serious, but the 
treatment is not. “With the same footage, we could have made a much more tearful documentary. But that was not the message.” The film highlights a simple idea: whatever the obstacle—illness, a project, a dream, or a personal challenge—it is possible to keep moving forward.
“There will be ups and downs, but we keep going anyway.”
This message echoes her own journey: moving forward despite uncertainty, fear, and doubt.
A mission around women’s health
For more than fifteen years, Alexia Cornu has focused on female physiology. Nutrition, pelvic health, perimenopause, strength training: her approach aims to give women a deeper understanding of their bodies.
“Women are incredibly strong, but they are not sufficiently aware of their own strength.”
She observes that many women tend to minimize their symptoms, needs, and abilities—in a society where women’s health is still too often overlooked. Her upcoming book, Je me mets à la musculation (Larousse), highlights muscle as a central metabolic organ, essential for longevity and hormonal balance in women.
“Trust the process”
If she could speak to the young woman who arrived alone in San Francisco more than ten years ago, her advice would be simple: trust the process. “Trust the process. The hardest moments often bring the greatest gifts.” On March 8, she hopes the audience will leave with that conviction: whatever the challenge, it is always possible to move forward.
A success story shaped in California that has now become a universal message of resilience.
Documentary Film: On avance à ton Rythme [Moving Forward At Your Own Pace]
Date: March 8, 2026 at 3pm
Address: Marina Theater – 2149 Chestnut Street – San Francisco
Tickets hereSubtitles in English
