Author: Megan Hayward with Guest Sharon Best
5 min Read
This World Menopause Day, Sharon Best and I are excited to share a collaboration that celebrates women, knowledge, and empowerment. Sharon, a 51-year-old registered nurse and fellow menopausal woman, wrote a brilliant, witty, and deeply insightful poem that captures the highs, lows, and realities of menopause. The first time I read it, I was like, yep! Her experiences mirrored my own journey and the journey of so many women navigating perimenopause and menopause.
For me, it started with changing periods, night flushes, insomnia, mood swings, fatigue, pain, brain fog, and shifting weight. Life was busy, long work weeks, training, family responsibilities, but I just got on with it. By the end, I had collected 31 symptoms that were debilitating. After seeing 15 specialists and undergoing a year of invasive tests, I was finally diagnosed with perimenopause at 42. Starting MHT was transformative but getting there was far from simple. See my story here
Sharon shares a similar story. In her late 30s, she had mild symptoms that she barely noticed. By 46, her symptoms had become debilitating. One of the worst for her was formication, that is where her arms and hands felt like they were crawling with ants, particularly at night, leaving her hands numb while her body felt like a furnace. Despite being a nurse with over 30 years’ experience and deep knowledge of the healthcare system, she found herself questioning what was happening to her own body.
We had a fantastic virtual meeting, swapping stories and sharing knowledge, including often overlooked topics like Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause (GSM). I walked away with strategies, validation, and reassurance, and a renewed belief in the importance of breaking the silence and normalising conversations about menopause. This is a life stage to navigate with knowledge, support, and options, it is not meant to be endured in isolation.
Sharon’s poem began as a personal reflection she shared with her GP to advocate for herself. It became a creative, heartfelt way to communicate her experience, backed by evidence and statistics from expert societies. She says, “I wrote it to engage, to inform, and to make a difference. Women supporting women is my fire, it only burns stronger with time.” Have a listen here
Every day, women face this journey feeling disconnected, dismissed, or anxious to speak up, especially at work. Women are participating in the workforce at unprecedented rates. About 75 percent of menopausal women are employed, and over-50s are now the fastest-growing group of business founders in Australia. Without awareness, understanding, and support, workplaces risk losing this backbone of experience, resilience, and leadership.
The truth is that menopausal women bring extraordinary value every single day. We offer seasoned leadership, strategic foresight, emotional intelligence shaped by life experience, and stamina built from years of visible and invisible work. Midlife transitions are not a liability, they are an opportunity for women, organisations, and society alike.
This World Menopause Day, I encourage you to apply my mantra: Movement, Mindset, Modify®.
Movement: Shift the culture. Break the silence and talk about menopause openly. Create psychologically safe spaces to share stories and have casual conversations, at work and at home.
Mindset: Challenge stigmas and stereotypes. Cultivate awareness, resilience, and self-compassion. Educate people at all levels. Normalize menopause as a natural biological transition that most women can successfully navigate with early treatment and the right support.
Modify: Create systems for support. Adapt routines, boundaries, habits, nutrition, and lifestyle to optimise wellbeing at work and in life.
As the world’s first Menopause Concierge®, I am obsessed about helping women navigate this natural hormonal transition with confidence, so they remain employed, empowered, and thriving. Sharon and I both know firsthand that knowledge, understanding, and timely support, including access to MHT and workplace adjustments, can be life changing.
For both of us, menopause should not feel like a cliff. It’s a crossing we walk together, with knowledge, support, and options tailored to the many experiences of women everywhere. The goal is simple: women supporting women, through every stage of life.
This World Menopause Day, October 18th, Sharon and I invite you to join the conversation. If you are interested in Workplace Menopause Training, please reach out to me as the Menopause Concierge®. If you are looking for dedicated nurse training for a health setting, then please reach out to Sharon the Menopause Nurse Out Loud.
Share your story, ask questions, and explore practical strategies for thriving through menopause. Together, we can break the silence, normalise conversation, and empower every woman to flourish.
