The Menopause Conversations
How we redefine power, purpose and professionalism in midlife
Most women and people with ovaries will go through menopause between the ages of 45 and 55. That’s right when many of us step into the most senior leadership roles of our careers. Yet, despite its inevitability, menopause remains a taboo topic in most workplaces. Sure, Oprah’s talking about it. Michelle Obama has mentioned hot flashes. There are new startups in the space like Joanna Strober’s Midi Health. But is your office really doing anything to support you through this transition? Would you even bring it up?
There are almost no accommodations, very few policies, and minimal conversations. We just keep quiet.
And that silence? It serves no one.
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Welcome to the Menopause Conversations
For the last year, I’ve asked nearly everyone who comes through the studio about their menopause experiences. They range. One very public voice told me menopause was “a big nothing burger” for her. I also heard about a woman who kept a towel and a change of clothes under her desk to manage debilitating midday hot flashes, telling no one. What’s important here isn’t the variation; it’s the fact of the conversation. The more we normalize it, the more we empower each other to navigate this transition with confidence and strength.
Joining me in the studio are two extraordinary women who’ve navigated menopause at the highest levels of business.
Natalie Nixon, a creativity strategist (and a past guest on the show), shares her experience with early-onset menopause following surgery for uterine fibroids.
Anne-Marie Squeo, who served as Chief Brand and Communications Officer at Xerox during the pandemic, discusses how chronic insomnia during menopause reshaped her work and ultimately led her to seek solutions, including hormone replacement therapy, after years of hesitation.
Both of these women faced significant challenges—but they also emerged from this transition stronger, more self-assured, and ready to level up their careers. And that was the surprise for me in this conversation: menopause became the forcing factor that enabled each to become more ambitious. As Natalie said:
"Because my body was starting to produce more testosterone, I had no more Fs to give."
I Can’t Stop Thinking About This…
An old friend sent along
’ invitation to enjoy one’s life in this moment as its own form of resistance: The Opposite of Fascism. “The best revenge against these grifters and bigots and billionaires and bullies is to live well, richly, together.”