What if the secret to navigating midlife, relationships and life's hardest moments isn't waiting for everything to feel okay…

…but choosing to bring the magic anyway?

This week I'm joined by someone I've wanted to have on the podcast for a very long time.

Persia Lawson is one of the UK's leading relationship experts, bestselling author of Love Is Coming, speaker and television relationship coach. But this conversation goes far beyond dating.

Together we talk about grief, resilience, perimenopause, beliefs, intuition, relationships, ageing, self-worth and why life is far too precious to spend waiting for permission to fully live it.

Persia shares, with incredible honesty, the difficult season she and her family are currently navigating, and the mindset that is helping her move through it one day at a time.

It's about remembering how to stay open to life.

It's about choosing possibility over resignation.

And it's about pressing play even when life feels uncertain.

• Why your beliefs shape far more than your relationships.
• The hidden stories we carry about love, ageing and what's possible.
• Why your intuition deserves to be listened to.
• The importance of bringing magic into difficult seasons of life.
• The mindset shift that changes everything: choosing your story.

Named by The Times as one of the UK's most successful love coaches, Persia Lawson is a dating and relationship expert, bestselling author, speaker and television personality. For more than a decade she has helped thousands of women build healthier relationships by changing the beliefs that keep them stuck. Her work has been featured by Vogue, Cosmopolitan, the BBC and HBO Max, and she hosts the chart-topping podcast Love Is Coming.

https://persialawson.com/

Jo Fiddy is a Speaker, Menopause Coaching Specialist and host of The Pressing Play Podcast. She helps women who feel like they've quietly disappeared during perimenopause understand what's happening in their brain and body, change the beliefs that have been keeping them stuck through her Belief Soundtrack® method, and press play on the next chapter of life with greater confidence, energy and purpose.

If you know something needs to change but can't quite work out what's keeping you stuck, this is where we start.

During this powerful 90-minute one-to-one session, we'll uncover the Pause Button that's keeping you stuck, identify the Belief Soundtrack® running beneath the surface, and help you take your first confident step towards pressing play again.

You'll leave with greater clarity, a calmer nervous system and a clear direction for what comes next.

📩 Email: jo@jofiddy.com

Somewhere along the way, so many women stop choosing themselves.

The Comeback Kit is your invitation to press play again.

Inside you'll find:

• A confidence pep talk
• A guided tapping session
• A practical boundaries guide

It starts with choosing yourself.

Download your free Comeback Kit.

https://jofiddy.myflodesk.com/comeback

Instagram: @jofiddy_

Website: jofiddy.com

Last week, for the very first time, I missed an episode of The Pressing Play Podcast.

The reason? I was in London attending two incredible events. I went expecting to learn, but what I wasn't expecting was how I would feel afterwards.

I came home calmer. Lighter. More energised.

It reminded me that sometimes the most powerful thing we can do for our wellbeing isn't adding another supplement, another podcast or another thing to our to-do list. Sometimes, it's simply saying yes to connection.

In this episode, I explore the fascinating science behind why being physically together changes how we think, feel and regulate our nervous systems. We look at why perimenopause can become one of the loneliest seasons of a woman's life, how stress and fluctuating hormones can amplify that feeling, and why gathering with other women may be exactly what our brains and bodies have been designed to do.

• Why connection is more than a nice idea—it's powerful support for your nervous system.
• The science of collective effervescence and why shared experiences leave us feeling more alive.
• Why online communities help us find our people, but real-life connection deepens those relationships.
• How perimenopause can increase feelings of stress, anxiety and isolation.
• What anthropology teaches us about why women have always gathered together.
• Simple ways to create a more connected summer.

Jo Fiddy is a Speaker, Menopause Coaching Specialist and host of The Pressing Play Podcast.

She helps women who feel like they've quietly disappeared during perimenopause understand what's happening in their brain and body, change the beliefs that have been keeping them stuck through her Belief Soundtrack® method, and press play on the next chapter of life with greater confidence, energy and purpose.

If you know something needs to change but can't quite work out what's keeping you stuck, this is where we start. In this powerful 90-minute one-to-one session, we'll uncover the Pause Button that's holding you back, identify the Belief Soundtrack® running beneath the surface, and help you take your first confident step towards pressing play again.

You'll leave with greater clarity, a calmer nervous system and a clear direction for what comes next.

To book your session, email jo@jofiddy.com.

Somewhere along the way, so many women stop choosing themselves.

The Comeback Kit is your invitation to begin again.

Inside you'll find practical tools to help you quiet the mental noise, calm your nervous system and reconnect with yourself.

You'll receive:

• A confidence pep talk.
• A guided tapping session.
• A practical boundaries guide.

Because pressing play doesn't start with changing your whole life.

It starts with choosing yourself.

Download Here.

Instagram: @jofiddy_

Website: jofiddy.com

If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love it if you subscribed, left a review or shared it with a friend. The more women we reach, the more women we remind that they don't have to navigate midlife alone.

Keep pressing play.

Welcome back to the Pressing Play Podcast.

In this solo episode, Jo dives into one of the topics women ask her about most, body confidence in perimenopause, and why it gets even harder to navigate when summer rolls around.

If you've ever stood in front of the mirror before a holiday and felt your stomach drop, this one is for you.

Jo unpacks why your body is changing, where the beliefs about how it "should" look actually came from, and why the way out isn't about shrinking yourself it's about feeling more and looking less.

In this episode she covers:

• Why body changes in perimenopause are a hormonal reality, not a personal failing
• The science behind water retention, weight shifts, hair and skin changes — and what's actually driving them
• How childhood messages, magazine culture and decades of shifting fashion standards quietly built your belief soundtrack about your body
• The "mirror fallacy" how constant self-checking trains your brain to find fault, not confidence
• Jo's three holiday body rules
• The ripple effect of body confidence — and how it changes the way you experience your whole summer, not just how you look in it

If this episode moved something in you, if you're done not liking your body for the next half of your life get in touch and work with Jo. Email jo@jofiddy.com to find out more.

Jo Fiddy is a Speaker and Menopause Coaching Specialist who has been through menopause twice — once in her thirties and now navigating perimenopause at 45. She helps women go from living in the pause of menopause to Menoplaying™, regaining their confidence along the way.

Using menopause strategies, somatic techniques and her Belief Soundtrack™ method, Jo helps women release the blocks holding them back, understand what's happening in their brain and body, and press play on the life they actually want.

Follow Jo on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jofiddy_/

Subscribe to the Pressing Play Podcast so you never miss an episode.

Welcome back to The Pressing Play Podcast. What happens when you finally give yourself permission to pause and actually feel alive because of it? In this solo episode, I’m recording from a balcony overlooking the mountains and lake in Bavaria, on my first ever solo getaway in eight years of living there. And the questions it's brought up are ones, I suspect you might be sitting with too.

This one is for every woman who has quietly learned to put herself at the bottom of the list. Who has been responsible, available, accommodating and is now wondering why she feels so flat, disconnected, and stuck. Especially when perimenopause arrives and makes all of that even more exhausting.

Pressing play doesn't have to be a huge reinvention. Sometimes it's a night away. A slow coffee. A walk. Listening to your own thoughts. This episode is an invitation to do exactly that.

• Why so many women learn to pause themselves and why perimenopause is the wake-up call that starts to change that

• The people-pleaser neurons that perimenopause begins to dissolve and why that's actually brilliant

• What happens in your brain and body when you do press play

• Why we wait for permission that was ours to give all along

• Five journal questions to help you press play right now

Jo Fiddy is a Speaker and Menopause Coaching Specialist who has been through menopause twice once in her thirties and now navigating perimenopause. She helps women go from living in the pause of menopause to Menoplaying™ and regaining their confidence along the way.

Using menopause strategies, somatic techniques and her Belief Soundtrack™ method, Jo helps women release the blocks holding them back, understand what's happening in their brain and body, and press play on the life they actually want.

90-Minute Pressing Play Session

Not sure where to start? This is it. One powerful hour and a half where you tap through what's blocking you, get clear on where you are, and leave knowing your next step. Book yours email jo@jofiddy.com

The Comeback Kit — Free

Reset all your passwords and now it's time to reset you. Includes a pep talk, an EFT tapping session and a boundaries guide. Grab it free here

Instagram: @jofiddy_

Website: jofiddy.com

Podcast: Pressing Play on Apple Podcasts

Subscribe to the Pressing Play Podcast so you never miss an episode.

Welcome back to the Pressing Play Podcast.

In this episode, Jo is joined by Dr. Helen Wall GP, menopause specialist, Resident GP on BBC Breakfast and author of Menopause and ADHD: How to Navigate Hormone Flux and Neurodivergence.

If you've ever found yourself asking "is it ADHD or is it perimenopause?" this one is for you.

Dr. Helen Wall has spent years watching women be missed, mislabelled and dismissed. This book which hit number one bestseller in Menopause on Amazon in its first two weeks, is her answer to that.

In this episode they cover:

• Why perimenopause brings ADHD to the surface often for the very first time
• The hidden cost of masking and why there is always a price paid
• How to tell the difference between perimenopause and ADHD
• How oestrogen and progesterone impact dopamine, GABA and the brain's chemical messengers
• Why HRT alone is not the full answer and what else needs to be in the mix
• The role of gut health, nervous system regulation and diet
• Dr. Helen's three practical things you can do right now
• Why this is not just a book it is a movement

Find Dr. Helen Wall: 📖 Menopause and ADHD: How to Navigate Hormone Flux and Neurodivergence by Dr. Helen Wall available on Amazon now wherever books are sold

Instagram: @doctorhelenwall

Facebook: Dr Helen Wall

Community: Finally Seen — join via Dr. Helen's website https://tvhealthdoctor.com/

Jo Fiddy is a Speaker and Menopause Coaching Specialist who has been through menopause twice, once in her thirties and now navigating perimenopause at 45. She helps women go from living in the pause of menopause to Menoplaying™ and regaining their confidence along the way.

Using menopause strategies, somatic techniques and her Belief Soundtrack™ method, Jo helps women release the blocks holding them back, understand what's happening in their brain and body, and press play on the life they actually want.

90-Minute Pressing Play Session — not sure where to start? This is it. One powerful hour and a half where you tap through what's blocking you, get clear on where you are, and leave knowing your next step. Book yours and find out more jo@jofiddy.com

The Comeback Kit — free — Reset all your passwords and now it's time to reset you. Includes a pep talk, an EFT tapping session and a boundaries guide. Grab it free here

Follow Jo on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jofiddy_/

Subscribe to the Pressing Play Podcast so you never miss an episode.

Welcome back to Pressing Play, I am so glad you’re here.

What if the thing that could ease your brain fog, lift your mood and help you sleep better was something you already loved doing?

In this episode, I’m joined by the extraordinary Yula Andrews founder of Pop Chorus, the UK’s friendliest choir, and the woman behind a groundbreaking research programme into singing and menopause symptoms with the University of Essex.

This one genuinely blew my mind. Yula isn’t just talking about the feel-good factor of singing, she’s proving it. And the results from her Singing for Menopause programme are nothing short of transformative.

If you’ve ever thought “I can’t sing” this episode is especially for you.

What we cover

• How Yula built Pop Chorus from scratch on maternity leave and turned it into seven choirs and the UK’s friendliest community

• Why singing in a group reduces cortisol, boosts serotonin and happy hormones in your Menopause brain

• The Singing for Menopause research programme Yula ran with the University of Essex and what the women who took part actually experienced

• How singing targets the specific symptoms that make perimenopause so hard: brain fog, low mood, sleeplessness, anxiety

• Yula’s brand new singing retreats part wellbeing holiday, part choir experience, all joy

Find out more about Yula Andrews

• Pop Chorus — www.popchorus.co.uk

• Singing for Menopause research www.popchorus.co.uk/community

• We Are Unique Singing Holidays — www.uniquesingingholidays.co.uk

Work with Jo

I help women release the blocks and beliefs holding them back in perimenopause, support with their symptoms, and help them press play on the life they actually want. 1:1 online with me 90 minute energy boosting session. Find out more at jofiddy.com

Connect with Jo

• Instagram: @jofiddy

• LinkedIn: Jo Fiddy

• Website: jofiddy.com

• Email: jo@jofiddy.com

Enjoyed this episode?

• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

• Leave a review — it helps more women find the show

• Share this with one woman who needs to hear it

• Screenshot and tag Jo on Instagram she reads every one

Welcome back to episode 10 of the Pressing Play Podcast and this week's guest is the co-founder of Valerie Wizz Selvey.

Jo and Wizz talk about dropping the p word (perimenopause), starting a hormone health business and Wizz's personal experience of Perimenopause.

About Valerie

Valerie is an unflinchingly real women’s health brand.

Something starts to feel off. Not dramatic. Not a meltdown. Just irritating. Your energy dips, your mood goes rogue, and your tolerance for bullshit drops through the floor. There’s no neat explanation, just the sense that something’s changed. And it deserves better than Googling at 3am. 24/7 formulations to support energy, focus, and emotional balance - including that tired-but-wired feeling - with up to 5x better absorption than pills or powders, powered by liposomal technology.

Less “what did I come in here for?”, more “I’ve got this.”
Clarity, calm, and a fighting chance of finding your keys.
Expert-developed. Real-woman tested.

Most pills and powders break down before your body can absorb them. Valerie’s don’t.

The liposomal nano-technology protects nutrients through digestion, delivering them into your bloodstream faster - for up to 5x better absorption and stronger results.

For women 35+ who want to feel good now and live big later. Get 30% off with code Joanne58840

https://wearevalerie.com/

https://instagram.com/weare.valerie

https://tiktok.com/@weare.valerie

https://www.facebook.com/people/Valerie/61553752936091/

About Wizz Selvey, Co-founder

Wizz Selvey is the Co-founder of Valerie, an unflinchingly real women’s health brand redefining how women feel day to day. After years of being told everything was “normal” despite feeling anything but, Wizz took matters into her own hands - rebuilding her energy, focus, and emotional balance through smarter, more effective solutions. That experience shaped Valerie: expert-developed, real-woman tested formulations designed to actually work.

With over 20 years in retail, consumer trends, and strategic retail expertise across beauty and wellness, Wizz brings sharp commercial thinking and lived experience to a category that’s crying out for disruption.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/wizz-selvey-14915552/

https://www.instagram.com/wizzbangwizzy/

About Jo Fiddy

Jo is a Menopause Coaching specialist and the host of the Pressing Play Podcast who empowers & coaches women to go from living in the pause and unravelling in Perimenopause to pressing play and start Menoplaying® and regain their confidence and purpose.

https://jofiddy.com/

Are you snapping at the people you love and then spending an hour in a shame spiral wondering what is wrong with you? You’re not alone, and nothing is wrong with you.

Peri-rage is one of the most under discussed symptoms of perimenopause, and the one women tell Jo they feel most ashamed of. In this episode, host Jo Fiddy goes deep on the anger that feels like it comes from nowhere: why it happens, what’s going on in your brain and body, and how to stop it from unravelling your sense of who you are.

Jo has been featured in Top Santé on this topic and runs workshops on peri-rage. This episode is the honest, science-led conversation she wishes every woman in perimenopause could hear.

• Why peri-rage feels like it arrives from nowhere and where it actually comes from

• The hormonal science: what Estrogen and progesterone have to do with your fuse getting shorter

• The shame spiral that follows the rage and why it keeps women stuck

• How your Belief Soundtrack™ gets amplified in perimenopause and turns up the volume on the anger

• Why the unravelling is not the end of you it’s part of the pivot

• What to do when you feel yourself losing control practical first steps

Key takeaway

“Your rage is not a character flaw. It’s a chemistry shift and a signal that something inside you needs to be heard.”

Work with Jo

If peri-rage, the anger, or the unravelling is part of your story right now, Jo would love to have a conversation with you.

The Perimenopausal Pivot is Jo’s 1:1 work for women who are ready to stop white-knuckling their way through perimenopause and start feeling genuinely alive again.

Visit jofiddy.com to find out more.

• Instagram: @jofiddy

• LinkedIn: Jo Fiddy

• Website: jofiddy.com

• Email: jo@jofiddy.com

Enjoyed this episode?

It would mean the world if you could:

• Subscribe to Pressing Play on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you never miss an episode

• Leave a review — it helps more women find the show

• Share this episode with one woman who needs to hear it today

• Screenshot and tag Jo on Instagram she reads every one

Until next time, press play.