Melissa Robertson shares her journey with peri-menopause (leading up to the menopause) that started to appear at the same time as she started her new role as CEO (at Dark Horses agency) around 5 years ago. This has a dual focus, on the personal but also professional impact (peri) menopause can have on her life and career.

Melissa is a portfolio NED and consultant with over 30 years of experience in the advertising and marketing industry.

She was a co-founder of the creative agency, Now; a Director of the women’s lifestyle platform, The Pool; and most recently CEO of Dark Horses, a creative agency focused on sport.

She is now Non-Executive Chair of Spike, the sports arm of W Communications, a Trustee of the Women’s Sport Trust, and a director of Menopause Mandate.

We chat about…

• Her erratic periods and wild dreams
• What life is life in perimenopause, waiting for The menopause
• The symptoms that hit like a train
• How they are selling menopause on Amazon - and raising awareness
• How businesses can support menopause
• How menopause showed up in her worklife
• How menopause has impacted her career
• How she was supported, and how partners can show up for those going through menopause

You review your menopause on Amazon here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/SellingMenopause/page/242CA1A9-DE7A-4685-BA6A-0D70AA9047C8

You can reach out to Melissa here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissarobertson29/

Wizz Selvey shares a really honest recount of how she discovered her early perimenopause, her symptoms, feeling overwhelmed and gaslit, then onto her road to properly understanding and managing her symptoms.

We talk about:

• What sleep is like, now and during perimenopause
• Puberty and early adulthood: the signs and the symptoms
• Ignoring her cycle and realisation to embrace it, work with it
• The real cost of questioning herself
• The very early signs of perimenopause that "hit hard"
• Thinking it was long covid, discovering it was perimenopause
• Perimenopause is a massive opportunity to reassess your life
• How she managed her symptoms naturally, thinking about HRT

More about Wizz

Wizz Selvey the Co-founder of Valerie. The company tackling one of the biggest health challenges of our time: the 1 billion women navigating peri/menopause. Their mission is bold - to revolutionise midlife healthcare and empower women to live fully and freely at every age.

Valerie is more than a product; we’re a movement. We’re here to help women reclaim their health, take back control, and turn midlife into maxlife.

Valerie have developed Daily Essential, a pioneering liposomal technology supplement with 12 nutrients and 90 health benefits.

Email her for partnerships and ambassador roles wizz@wearevalerie.com

Dr Claire Phipps is a highly dedicated GP turned menopause specialist based in London.

She works particularly close women and people with complex health histories or multiple medical conditions, and her approach combines evidence-based hormonal and non-hormonal therapies, as well as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

Claire is also deeply committed to advancing access to evidence-based menopause care for underserved and underrepresented populations. She holds the British Menopause Society Advanced Menopause Certificate, is a member of the International Menopause Society, and European Andropause and Menopause society.

In this episode, we chat through:

• The menopause basics
• How we should be thinking about menopause in our 20s, 30s and 40s
• Her trauma-aware approach and how oestrogen boxes up how we feel
• Unrecognised symptoms and how you should prepare for consultation with your doctor
• HRT basics - Not ready for HRT? There are alternatives
• The good news - menopause doesn’t have to be scary!

More on Dr Phipps

Dr Claire Phipps is a highly dedicated and compassionate GP with many years experience in providing comprehensive healthcare to all ages.

Claire also specialises in supporting women through menopause, particularly those with complex health histories or multiple medical conditions. Her approach combines evidence-based hormonal and non-hormonal therapies with a deep understanding of how existing health issues can influence menopausal symptoms and treatment choices. She focuses on personalised care, aiming to restore balance, improve quality of life, and empower women to navigate this transition with confidence and clarity.

Dr. Phipps holds the British Menopause Society Advanced Menopause Certificate, is a member of the International Menopause Society, and European Andropause and Menopause society. She a certified menopause and GP trainer providing education to healthcare professionals. She is also CBT trained and sits on the British Menopause Society medical advisory council. Claire believes that the perimenopause and menopause are opportunities to take back control of our health.

Claire is deeply committed to advancing access to evidence-based menopause care for underserved and underrepresented populations. She sits on the board of different community charities. Her areas of special interest include providing education around genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) treatment and within this supporting survivors of female genital mutilation (FGM).

You can find out more and get in touch with Dr Phipps via her website: https://themenopausegp.com/ or instagram @themenopausegp

In this episode, I interview a leading Endocrinologist based in London, Dr Mark Vanderpump, on autoimmune diseases, with a special focus on thyroid conditions.

In this episode, I ask him:

• Why are women more imapcted by autoimmune diseases than men?
• What are autoimmune diseases and why do they occur?
• What are the autoimmune diseases triggers and treatment
• Conflicting researching surrounding increases and decreases in rates of autoimmune disease
• His view on lifestyle medicine and how gut health might impact
• Why is there a delay for so many women when it comes to diagnosis

About Dr Vanderpump

Dr Mark Vanderpump is a consultant physician and endocrinologist OneWelbeck in London, specialising in thyroid disease.

Dr Vanderpump is a highly experienced endocrinologist. He was a Consultant Physician and Honorary Senior Lecturer in Endocrinology and Diabetes at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust for 17 years, until he moved to full-time private practice, in 2016, after more than 30 years working in the NHS.

He is the past President of the British Thyroid Association (2014-2017), and a 2017 and 2022 Top Doctors award winner. He is the former Chair of the London Consultants’ Association.

He is a published author with a book and chapters on thyroid disease, and he regularly contributes to medical publications and teaches and lectures nationally and internationally.

After a decade long fight for answers to her symptoms, Rocsi was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called Hashimoto’s - where the body’s own immune system attacks the thyroid. It didn’t end there, as she still had to learn why she had such painful and heavy periods.

She discovered why, but it then meant she had to undergo a c-section surgery to remove a 16cm cyst. She fought hard to recover and continue to support her thyroid through properly nutrition and anti-inflammatory practices. Today she manages her primary dysmenorrhea (painful periods without a cause) and her autoimmune flare ups with a focus on nutrition and gut health, which has significantly improved her quality of life.

In this episode:

• Rocsi’s upbringing and her first few extremely painful cycles
• Her experience with the birth control pill
• What led her to discover her autoimmune thyroid disease
• Pushing her body to the extreme with diets and exercise, losing her period
• Post surgery recovery and adjusting her lifestyle and nutrition to support her body
• Returning to a normal cycle and managing autoimmune disease

We'll launch our next two episodes this week, the first is our personal story. Rocsi shares her very long and very frustrating journey to get the answers to her debilitating symptoms. But it didn't end there - she then had to push for answers to her painful periods, which in the end, required c-section surgery and a long road to recovery. Rocsi's story is heart-breaking, inspiring and she's come out the other side armed with research and knowledge, determined to help any other women facing the same diagnosis or living with painful periods affecting their quality of life.

In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Jessica Agnew-Blais is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Queen Mary University London. Her research investigates the developmental course of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) across the life span.

In this episode we discuss what the research states when it comes to ADHD and hormonal transitions and fluctuations, including:

• Puberty and menstruation
• PMDD
• Hormonal contraception
• Pregnancy
• Sleep
• Perimenopause and menopause

We also cover the basics:

• What is ADHD?
• How is it diagnosed?
• How does it affect women and girls differently?
• Why is there such a delay in diagnosis for girls and women?
• Medication in the menstrual cycle and pregancy

Dr Agnew-Blais current study focuses on ADHD among girls and women, and the role of times of hormonal change, including puberty, the menstrual cycle and the menopausal transition, in functioning among women with ADHD..

The books Dr Jessica Agnew referenced in this episode include:

• Lotta Skoglund's books and resources (via her website)
• https://www.borgskoglund.se/en/
• https://www.borgskoglund.se/en/literature/adhd-girls-to-women/
• Dr Jessica Agnew-Blais also recommends “Understand ADHD in Girls and Women” edited by Joanne Steer.

Dr Jessica Agnew-Blais works with www.adhdlifelab.com and people can find out about getting involved with research here: https://www.adhdlifelab.com/get-involved-1

Follow Dr Agnew-Blais, her work and affiliated organisations:

@adhdlifecourselab @bluesky @adhdlifecourselab.bsky.social

Linkedin: ADHD Lifecourse Lab

In this third episode on endometriosis, we speak with Dr Karolina Afors, a Consultant Gynaecologist at University College London Hospitals, with over 17 years of experience in the NHS (the public healthcare system for England and Wales). She specialises in pelvic pain and endometriosis, including conducting surgery on patients suffering from Endo.

Dr Afors provides us with the stats, facts and practical advice when it comes to endometriosis. She has a unique perspective, as she values and includes guidance on holistic living and nutrition as part of her work with her patients, and as part of this epsiode, alongside other medical and surgical inventions.

In this episode, we cover:

• What is endometriosis (and adenomyosis)
• Why it is so painful for sufferers
• How the medical community defines / classifies endometriosis
• Innovations within the endo space she is especially excited about
• Why this is a delay is diagnosis
• Advice she has for sufferers and what questions they can ask their GP

More on Dr Karolina Afors

She is actively involved in clinical research, medical education, and surgical training. She regularlyteaches at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and holds a seniorcommittee position within the British Society for Gynaecological Endoscopy (BSGE). She alsocontributes to the Pelvic Pain Special Interest Group of the European Society for Gynaecological

Endoscopy (ESGE).Beyond her clinical practice, Dr Afors plays a leading role in women’s health innovation,working in drug development to design and deliver therapies that address significant unmetneeds. She also serves as a health educator and advisor, consulting across digital health platformsto integrate technology with personalised, holistic care, promoting accessibility and equity inhealthcare delivery.

You can find more info: https://www.karolinaafors.com/