The Business of Menopause: A Guide for Working Women

THE BUSINESS OF MENOPAUSE – A GUIDE FOR WORKING WOMEN

Menopause can be a complete minefield and trying to find easy to understand, pragmatic advice and information can be hard work. Dr Google is full of confusing and contradictory info and even a visit to the doctor doesn’t always give you the answers you need. Everything seems to be either too clinical or too extreme.

When my menopause kicked in 5 years ago what I wanted was something that would tell me what was happening, and what I could expect.

I wanted to understand the choices available to help manage my symptoms so that I could make an informed decision formed on well researched, evidence-based information.

I wanted to know how to look after my health and manage my weight as I moved through this mysterious time in my life, but most of what I found was extreme and restrictive or required magic pills and potions.

With all the confusion and contradictions, I felt I was left with more questions than answers.

It took me a long time to research and gather together accurate information but when I did I realised how much nonsense there is out there. So much scaremongering and downright lies.

So I decided to re-write the book!

In The Business of Menopause, A Guide for Working Women, I’ve brought together all the knowledge I’ve gained from my research into menopause, along with my training as a nutritionist, personal trainer and mindset coach, to create a simple, easy to read manual to help you manage your menopause in a way that works for you.

It not only focuses on the short-term management of symptoms but also discusses the health implications of being post-menopausal and offers a holistic, pragmatic approach to your longer-term health and wellbeing.

Using my NESST framework you will not only learn about what’s going on as you transition through menopause but you’ll also get advice and help to manage your nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress and mindset, so you can be healthy and strong in both mind and body.

I so wish I’d had this book when I started my menopause journey a few years ago when, like you, I felt I just couldn’t get the help I needed.

With the right support in place, working women can continue to thrive through menopause and beyond. The book offers advice on how to get the help you need from your workplace and also how to get the best outcome from a visit to your doctor.

Written in simple English, The Business of Menopause busts many of the myths surrounding menopause, it explains how you can manage your menopause through medical, non-medical and lifestyle choices so that you can truly find the best solution for you.

"In this book, Bev offers up to date, accurate information presented in an easily understandable style to help you steer your own unique path through the menopause. Information on managing symptoms, understanding what is happening in your body and how to manage your working life during this time are offered in a balanced and pragmatic way.

The menopause can offer us a unique opportunity to assess our lives and habits, change what no longer serves us and create a new way of being that will support us now and into older age. This book will help you reach the right decisions for you to move forward to the next phase of your life with grace and ease."

Dr Claire Macaulay, MD, MBChB (Hons), MRCP, BSc(Hons)
Breast Cancer Oncologist and Somatic Sex Therapist

I never thought I’d be calling myself an entrepreneur in my mid-50s, but I guess that’s what I’ve somehow found myself becoming. For over 30 years, I worked a normal job for the British military, first the Army - starting out in the Outer Hebrides off the West Coast of Scotland - then the Royal Air Force, which brought me to the Midlands and into the path of my ever patient husband, Mark. We have two grown up kids, one sassy little granddaughter and a long succession of fur babies. When I’m not spouting off about menopause, I love nothing more than sticking some jigs and reels on Spotify and bashing along on my Bodhran (pronounced bow-ron it’s an Irish frame drum made of wood and goat skin). Before the big ‘M’ hit, I had a great life working for the Royal Air Force. We lived in Cyprus for three years and brought in the millennium there. The Ministry of Defence put me through my business degree, took me on trips all over Europe studying military history, and brought me the most amazing group of long-term friends and more work pals than I can even begin to recall. But when I turned 50 in 2016, something shifted in me. For a start, along with the gorgeous birthday cake and huge ‘50 Today’ badge, I also got my first hot flush! What followed was two years of confusion as anxiety, low confidence, brain fog and self-doubt plagued what I had always thought was a pretty steady, normal brain. Despite my best efforts at getting myself fit and healthy, I struggled to shake off the feeling that I was constantly failing and never close to being enough.We had a lot going on around that time. Mark was leaving the Air Force after 38 years, my daughter had a traumatic labour and had been in and out of hospital for nearly two years and remained undiagnosed, and my physically and mentally disabled sister had moved into the house next door to us so that Mark could help to take care of her. It was the perfect storm, with everything hitting me at once. Little did I realise that many of my symptoms were menopause related. After struggling for two years, I decided to ask for 12 months unpaid leave to help get myself sorted out but sadly, due to financial constraints, my request was rejected. Feeling somewhat stuck for options, I resigned from my job in March 2018. I set up Floresco Training and Coaching in 2018 to help raise awareness of the impact of menopause on working women. I don’t want women to feel as I did, that they have no option than to give up their career because of a lack of education, understanding or support. Unlike so many women, I actually had an amazing boss, but at the time, the MOD offered no awareness training either for colleagues or managers. Consequently, I wasn’t aware that many of my issues were menopause related, which meant I didn’t ask for the help I probably needed. And even though my boss was great, he had had no training either to help him spot the signals. Since starting Floresco, I’ve been lucky enough to speak to hundreds of businesses, across all sectors, and thousands of women and colleagues to raise the level of education around this natural period in every woman’s life. I feel passionately that the narrative around menopause and older women has to change. The taboo, stigma and ‘hush hush’ mentality that pervades around menopause, and indeed women’s reproductive health, in general, has to go. I am committed to keeping the menopause conversation going and supporting women to feel positive about this amazing metamorphosis through which every woman, God willing will pass. Bev Thorogood