Brianne Flaherty from LifeSpeak | Supporting Women Through Hormonal Transitions at Work

Christine: [00:00:00] Hello, and welcome back to another episode of the HR Scoop. I’m Christine Muldoon, your host, and I’m so glad you’re joining us for another great conversation discussing the importance of employee well-being strategies. Today’s topic is one that’s especially close to my heart, women’s mental and hormonal health at work.

For those that know me, this is a topic I’ve been pretty vocal about over the last year. It’s an area that impacts not only individual lives, but also the culture, performance, and sustainability of organizations everywhere. I’m thrilled to be diving into this discussion with our guest, Brianne Flaherty from LifeSpeak, who brings incredible expertise and perspective to the table.

Brianne Flaherty is a health coach with LifeSpeak, a master practitioner in clinical counseling, certified Canadian Addiction counselor and trauma professional. She’s a registered member of [00:01:00] both the Canadian Professional Counselor Association and the Canadian Addiction Counselor CER Certification Federation.

With over a decade of experience, Brianne supports individuals navigating emotional mental health and addiction related challenges. She brings a deep understanding of the complex pressures women face, particularly surrounding burnout and emotional strain. Brianne is committed to helping individuals build lasting resilience, reclaim balance, and lead with clarity and confidence.

Brianne, welcome to the HR Scoop.

Brianne: Thank you for having me, Christine. It’s great to be here with you.

Christine: So great and so happy for this conversation. Hormonal health and more specifically, menopause has gone from what I would say a rarely discussed topic in the workplace to one that is becoming a. Probably more of a strategic priority for employers, particularly as we are closing out 25 and [00:02:00] into 26.

But I would say that even with that progress, one area still doesn’t get enough attention, and that’s the impact of menopause on women’s mental health. And so that’s exactly what we’re diving into today. So Brianne, after sharing your bio, which is quite impressive, I’d love to just hear from your perspective.

What really drew you to focus in on the combination of women’s health and mental health, and what experiences have really shaped your work in this area?

Brianne: Yeah, that’s a great question and thank you for the introduction as well. I think many of us, you know, when we step into certain fields, a lot of the time we’re carrying our own experiences with it.

And that’s what happened with knee, specifically postpartum, right? And the hormonal imbalance that came after that. I had, uh, just had my firstborn and after 10 months of being on mat leave, very ambitious, very goal-driven. I wanted to get back into that workplace. I had things to do [00:03:00] and things that I wanted to help people with.

And I did not realizing at the time that I was still in recovery at that time, still in recovery hormonally, but also physically, mentally, emotionally. My life had been turned upside down by having a new little one at home and. The work environment that I walked into was quite taxing. It was quite exhausting.

And, um, after about nine months of being back in the workplace, I was experiencing hair loss, brain fog, anxiety was through the roof depression as well. I, I always to a point where I couldn’t even pick up my phone. The thought of hearing my phone go off, just stent me into that anxiety spiral. Um, and I ended up leaving the workforce.

And you know, it was challenging for me, but it was necessary. But I burned out in the process. So after about nine months, and it actually wasn’t until I brought myself back into the workforce and again, helping people through mental health challenges, through substance use, addiction, addiction challenges, where I [00:04:00] started to see a trend with women who either postpartum or also into menopause, perimenopause, where they, they were experiencing certain symptoms that would deter them from going back into the workplace.

Moving up and asking for that advancement, or maybe they would change it completely. Maybe they would leave the workforce, go back home. And I kept seeing this as well. And so after I started looking into that, I realized this was also something that I had experienced myself. And this was something that we were all collectively sharing was hormonal imbalance.

And you know, again, for myself, I was. Postpartum, but through my work with people, it was also realizing that perimenopause can happen, you know, in your forties and lead you right into your fifties. At that point, again, experiencing symptoms and it wasn’t being addressed. So many women were leaving, so many PE women were experiencing these symptoms and not having an outlet, not having the resources to help them move through it.

So at that point it became my interest and I kind of went [00:05:00] down a rabbit hole. And since then I’ve really been focusing in on how to support women through that.

Christine: Well, I guess I would say that we’re happy. Went through it, went down that rabbit hole. Thank you. And I would expect that, you know, I, you just talked about postpartum and I’m like, my God.

I’m like, okay, there’s really two major. Times in, in a woman’s life where they go through these hormonal changes, hormonal imbalances that really do affect your mental health. And so, you know, now you’re working closely with women that are experiencing hormonal transitions. So let’s talk about, you know, during perimenopause and menopause.

As a psychologist, my guess is that you are seeing a different viewpoint. The impact menopause and perimenopause and even postpartum for that matter, have on women’s mental health at work. So you can you share a little bit about like your perspective, what you’re seeing?

Brianne: Yeah. So I think [00:06:00] it’s also really important and thank you for highlighting that postpartum as well.

So even if we just take a step back. The majority of a woman’s career, if not all of it, is navigating hormonal imbalances and perimenopause, and menopause is a big one as well as postpartum. But these are big things that happen in a women’s life, but throughout their entire career, they’re navigating hormonal imbalances.

So the symptoms related to that, what I’m seeing is that the mental health impacts of perimenopause, menopause are just as impactful as the physical impacts as well. So. Physically we’re talking kind of like what I was saying, there’s hair loss as well. There may be aches and pains, um, frozen shoulder.

There may be, um, various symptoms that you’re experiencing, and we’ll get into that as well ’cause there’s a lengthy, lengthy list of them. But then in addition to that, women are also experiencing heightened anxiety, depression. More women are being diagnosed with. Bipolar within that perimenopause me menopause phase as well.

So these are things to keep in mind [00:07:00] and the symptoms associated with these diagnoses and how it impacts them at work. So what ends up happening and kind of like what I was doing with myself, you know, you may notice that these symptoms are coming up. So heightened anxiety, maybe lower mood challenges, getting outta bed, hair loss, all of that.

But we almost try to overcompensate because of the symptoms that we’re experiencing. So we push even harder. Rather than nurturing ourselves, rather than having compassion for ourselves and in that, pushing harder through the symptoms in hopes that they’ll just kind of be left in the, just, if we just keep running as fast as we can, uh, we actually burn ourselves out.

So I’m also seeing that trend in burnout, chronic stress as well. Um, and as a result of that, people are leaving the workforce. Women are leaving the workforce at a time where they are at the peak of their career. Um, they may not go for that advancement, so they may not advance in their career. They may not ask for that because of the symptoms that they’re experiencing, brain fog, [00:08:00] forgetfulness, all of that.

Um, or they may retire early. So these are some of the trends. Now, to end this part on a positive note, what I’m also noticing and just like what we’re doing today, we’re having more conversations about it. This is huge and we can keep talking about it. Yes, we wanna see implementation and we’re gonna talk about maybe ways that we can do that as well.

But it starts with the conversation. So I am also seeing that trend in having the conversation, spreading awareness about the impacts of, um, hormonal health for women at work.

Christine: Well, I’m the one that’s screaming about it too, so yeah. I’m helping that conversation. Good. And it’s a combination of, I, I personally wanna learn more.

Um, I definitely are experiencing the mental and the physical, and it’s. How can I help myself? And all you have to do is go on Instagram, Facebook, or do a Google search and then your inbox is full [00:09:00] of all these people that are trying to sell you the right this that groups and that’s great, but you know what’s real.

You know what is gonna work, what is what? Group is just trying to sell you the next Yeah. You know, thing that’s going to help you lose that, um, what do they call it, the menopause belly. So I’m still trying to figure that one out, but I, I absolutely agree. The mental health part of these hormonal changes is just as important, as important as the physical.

It’s probably the physical that we are more. Open to talking about, and it’s the mental that we’re a little bit like, you know, is this normal? Is what I’m going through, what everyone else might be going through. And so, you know, you mentioned some of the symptoms like, uh, brain fog, of course there’s mood changes, fatigue.

We know about that. These are like often overlooked or really not understood when we [00:10:00] are, you know, leaving our home and we’re going into the workplace. So why do you think that is? Like we’re not really. Um, these symptoms are really misunderstood when it comes to the workplace.

Brianne: Yeah. Well, and I think you named it, it’s misunderstood.

So there’s the awareness piece, there’s the unaware piece. So even if, let’s say, best case scenario, we have an awareness that the anxiety that we’re experiencing is associated to hormonal imbalance, related to perimenopause, menopause, there’s still that stigma and shame associated with it that we don’t wanna speak up about it.

How is this going to impact how other people perceive me? Is it gonna look like I’m unreliable? What about that job that I wanted to apply for? I don’t want that to be, um, I don’t want anything to happen with that. I don’t want any consequences related to that. And so the stigma and shame can really prevent people from speaking up about it.

Silencing, right? Inherent within silencing herself. There’s shame. So there, that’s best case scenario. On the other hand, we may not know [00:11:00] what’s happening, and part of that as well is because. One you can’t see. Brain fog, I’ll say it like this. You can’t see brain fog, like you can see a broken arm, right? So you may know what’s happening, but other people may look at you and think, wow, she’s really disengaged.

She doesn’t care anymore. She just doesn’t wanna come in anymore. And so objectively it doesn’t, people don’t know what’s happening and we’re not speaking up about it. So there’s not that same visualization. Um, the other part about it too is that, you know, it gradual. It’s episodic in the sense that, especially when you’re in perimenopause and you’re not quite sure ’cause you’re thinking, well, I’m in my forties, but I, I, you know, it’s not happening right now.

I, you know, I’m 41, it’s not happening right now. Or maybe I’m late thirties. Um. It’s gradual and episodic, so we’re more likely to dismiss it or minimize it. Ah, I just slept on my neck funny. How many times have you said that to yourself? Right? It’s something that I ate last night. It’s not sitting well with me.

You know, three [00:12:00] weeks later you’re still dealing with that same thing that you ate three weeks ago. But we dismiss it, right? We overlook it. And again, that’s silencing ourself. It’s that lack of awareness. So having these conversations helps people realize. Oh, maybe I can look into this a little bit more.

Um, but that’s part of why we, we aren’t talking about it.

Christine: And you know, you said something about anxiety and what is also, if we think about the time period that perimenopause and menopause can impact women, um, you know, it’s usually. Between the ages of four, you know, depending 40 to, uh, I think like 52, 54.

However, there’s no one specific age. So, you know, if you are in a management or leadership position, I, I can speak to this for, from myself, my perspective, and all of a sudden it’s like you’re getting, you’re [00:13:00] going to a presentation or you’re going into a big, big meeting and you’re anxious and you have this self doubt.

It’s like. Oh my God, how do I cover that up? Because I’m supposed to be leading. I’m supposed, but you, it’s so real and it’s almost like you’re like, what is causing this? Maybe I am not good at my job. And then this self-doubt and the anxiousness it all, it ties in and you try to, at least from my perspective, you work extra hard.

You are like, what’s going on? I have to practice. I have to really think about this. So that it could be brain fog, it could be anxiety, it could be all of these things that. Sort of are impacting women that are going through this. And the thing you said about you can’t see brain fog. That’s so true. But yet.

Maybe how you appear and what’s impacting you if you’re not vocal about it and like, sorry, I’m going through this. And people are like, yeah, maybe they’re disconnected or checked out, or maybe something, something else is going out with them. I always like to think like, [00:14:00] oh my God, I just became stupid overnight.

Yes,

Brianne: yes. And, you know, can I, can I say something to that as well? And I think it’s really important to notice once we realize that the symptoms we’re experiencing are related to hormonal health, women’s health, we can stop making those symptoms mean something about who we are as an individual. And that’s what ends up happening.

That kind of adds on to the anxiety and the low mood and the depression that we go through is because we experience brain fog, forgetfulness, um, struggling to pay attention to follow through. We make that mean something about ourselves, and that’s why we start second guessing ourselves, oh, maybe I am stupid.

Maybe I shouldn’t go for this. Maybe I don’t know what I’m doing. Maybe I couldn’t handle that position if I think about what I’m doing right now. But when we can actually separate who we are and ourselves from the symptoms that we’re experiencing, then we have space to say, what do I need to help me with these symptoms?

What do I need to help [00:15:00] soften them or to help me move through them easier?

Christine: Yes. And I’ve just learned to, uh, be a little bit more transparent and say, uh, sorry, I, I totally forgot your name. Can you remind me? Or, you know, just, Hey, team, can you help me? What was that date again? Did I talk about this in the last meeting?

And I’m just try to be transparent because that’s the best way I am gonna get through it, versus trying to completely cover it up.

Brianne: Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

Christine: So let’s kind of go back to some of the um, symptoms that people are experiencing when we think about menopause. Most people jump right into things like hot flashes and night sweats, but we know that there are so many other symptoms.

Women experience, it’s not all the same symptoms. And there are symptoms then that we tend to maybe not be more transparent or talk about things like losing your train of thought like we were just talking about. And that’s like mid-sentence. All of a sudden you’re like, wait, what was I [00:16:00] just saying? Um, sleep struggles that really can impact, you know, how you show up at work the next day, you feel totally drained.

Um, mood swings, anxiety. You talked about even like some of the physical hair loss, which we never talk about. I didn’t even know that that was, you know, what I was going through as part of these hormonal changes. And then of course, there are the personal ones that we definitely probably hesitate to bring up, you know, whether it’s urinary issues, but then also, like we just said, the lack of confidence and self-esteem.

So, you know, question for you is like, what are some of the most common, maybe it’s fears or barriers that you see keep women from speaking up about some of their symptoms?

Brianne: Yeah, I think, and everything that you’ve named it goes back to this fear. So there’s that stigma, there’s shame around it. But in terms of a workplace, if we narrow in on workplace, people have that fear [00:17:00] of being perceived as unreliable.

That they don’t have the abilities anymore to follow through, or maybe they’re at the point in their life where they don’t want to follow through with that anymore. Um, they fear how other people will perceive them within perhaps a leadership role or a management role as well. You know, um, I think those, the fears become the barriers, and that’s what we tend to lean in on, on silencing ourself and.

Here’s the thing about the symptoms as well, is that, you know, we have hormone receptors all over our body, right? In every organ of our body. So you can imagine when we’re experiencing the hormonal imbalance or reduction in hormones, um, we’re going to experience it in areas that we probably never imagined.

And so there’s the fear of how other people may perceive us, what the career consequences may be, but also what this means about ourselves. You know, ageism in our society, what that means about me. If I admit that I’m getting older and I’m [00:18:00] going through these different changes, there’s also the transition of, if I admit to myself that this is what’s happening, there may be some grief in that too, of letting go of what once was, and there could be fear in allowing yourself to experience grief related to this too.

So I think, you know, fear. Comes in on multiple levels and there’s a lot of barriers that get in the way of people speaking up and just naming it for what it is. I think what you said about, you know, the next,

Christine: it’s almost like the next stage of life. Uh, so mm-hmm. I just dropped my youngest off to college, you know, that’s another pretty big next stage of life and Yeah.

You know, you’re sort of sitting there thinking about, well, geez, now we are empty nesters and. We are on to the next stage of our life. I don’t know if I want to be, that’s, that scares me as well. So you could kind of look at perimenopause, menopause as entering that next stage of life, just like becoming an empty nester or sending your kids off to college and kind [00:19:00] of have to look for the next big thing that you’re gonna focus on.

And there’s nothing wrong. Women and focusing on yourself. So, no, you know, definitely

Brianne: think about that. Yes. Yeah. I think it’s necessary. You, it’s nothing’s wrong with it, and it’s necessary to focus in on yourself. And you know, with any transition, there may be grief within that and through grief, you’re gonna allow yourself to really fully move into that next stage, whatever that is for you.

And if we’re speaking about hormonal health, it’s really allowing yourself to move through the grief. Perhaps associated with it, the fears associated with it as well, so that you can live your life fully. So the barriers aren’t just within a workplace. The barriers become that thing getting in the way of you being able to live fully in this next stage of your life.

Christine: So I kind of wanna transition our conversation a little bit to the workplace and what organizations are doing. And you know, at [00:20:00] WebMD Health Services, we are certainly starting to see. Menopause become a workplace priority moving forward. So we’re definitely seeing organizations that are adding menopause support, physical, mental support to their well-being strategy.

And so as we think about that from an organizational perspective. Organizations that maybe aren’t quite bought in, they maybe haven’t thought about, or they’re doing the bare minimum. Let’s say that they’re, you know, here’s your fan for that hot flash. Yes, yes. Um, what would you say is the real cost of doing nothing about menopause related mental health challenges?

Brianne: Hmm. It’s a good question. You know, I guess we can break this down into two parts. So the first part is performance and productivity. 3.8 [00:21:00] billion is lost annually due to ver for various reasons. Um, productivity, performance, and you know, if we look at productivity alone, $237 million is lost annually due to productivity.

This could be because of absenteeism, presenteeism as well, people leaving the workforce. So presenteeism, if you’re unfamiliar with it, is when people come into work but aren’t able to focus, aren’t able to follow through with the tasks, aren’t able to perform, right? If we, if we think of it that way, we aren’t able to put out the products.

So there’s a substantial financial loss if we don’t focus on that. The other part is a cultural risk as well, is that it brings morale down. So when people are coming in and they’re experiencing anxiety, depression, you know, mood fluctuations, also the physical symptoms, and they don’t have the resources or the environment isn’t equipped to support them with these [00:22:00] struggles, morale goes down and you can feel it within the entire environment.

So that’s an impact too. More people are likely to leave. Under those circumstances, if they’re not feeling like they’re supported or they have the resources to support themselves in that too, so financially and then within the organization and. You know, I think it’s really important to, to note that these aren’t just personal struggles.

This isn’t a personal struggle. This is an organizational risk. The success of an organization is dependent on the success of the employees because the employees are coming in and producing. They are coming through with the products. And if the product’s coming through, the employees is from a place where.

If they’re not feeling well taken care of, they’re burnt out, there’s chronic stress. That’s the product that comes out that’s gonna impact the organization as a whole as well. So again, it’s not just. Personal struggles. This is an organizational risk that we all need to keep in mind.

Christine: And I would also [00:23:00] add to that what you said, that like from an organizational risk perspective, the cost is also thinking about, these are women who may in leadership roles, they’re tenured, they have very strong experience within your organization, and now they are struggling and thinking about leaving.

The workplace, and that’s a huge gap to fill when you think about how much they provide, they support. Their knowledge within the organization, their leadership within the organization? Yes. Yeah.

Brianne: You know, there are, and these are Canadian statistics, but there are over 2 million women between the ages of 45 and 55 in the workplace.

Right now, 25% of the workforce is made up of women, 40 years and older. I mean, these are the years that women are going to be experiencing symptoms related to perimenopause and menopause. And these are the years that women are at the peak of their career where opportunity is all [00:24:00] there for them, and many of them shy away from that because of the barriers that we were speaking of.

So it really is important as an organization to take a look at what it is that the, um, look at women’s health. How do we support them? How can we help them navigate through this so that they feel better equipped to come into work and to show up for work

Christine: this stage of life. Perimenopause. Menopause is another stage in the health span of women.

Women, and so you know, just as you would focus on preventive care or during pregnancy and supporting a woman, this is equally important and I think organizations really need to think about what their strategy is to support women in this stage as well. So, um, I wanna talk a little bit then about the role that leadership plays in supporting [00:25:00] hormonal health and mental health and an organization’s culture.

Because we know that leadership support and visibility is really one of our best practices for well-being programs and having very strong strategies in well-being programs and I would say menopause. Is no different. So why do you think menopause and hormonal health should be a part, need to be a part of a company’s overall mental health and well-being strategy?

Brianne: Well, again, if we just look at the statistics of how many women are in the workforce, right? This is a substantial amount of individuals who are going to be experiencing these symptoms related to it and the impacts that it has within a work culture and in organization as a whole. So for leadership, it’s really important that leadership remains open.

And flexible and aware. That’s the biggest thing. Again, with these conversations that we’re having, it’s really important to have that [00:26:00] awareness and to be open to have a conversation about it. The other thing is also modeling that empathy. So when we are modeling empathy, and not just modeling empathy, but really being empathetic towards ourselves, ’cause leadership is also going to be experiencing this too.

Um, we really create that space for people to move through that shame, move through that stigma, break down those barriers, and come in and say. Okay. I’m feeling a little emotional today because I didn’t rest last night and I don’t know what it is, but I can’t stop crying, so I’m, you know. Here I am. Here I am.

And when we have that space, imagine what that’s like for somebody to walk in and know that they can be seen for who they are. That’s a culture, that’s an environment people want to come into, and leadership plays a crucial role in creating that environment. So openness, awareness, offering resources as well.

So being mindful of what resources there are, um, and [00:27:00] modeling, empathy, modeling that behavior is really important for leadership.

Christine: And when we talk about leadership and overall culture within an organization, it’s so important to also think about managers, leaders, and being able to have that conversation, which means there’s a level of training that you need to provide to be a supportive.

Leader or have a supportive culture when it comes to menopause? Um, I think this is very similar to the stigma of mental health in an organization. And we started to see more and more organizations implement strategies and training to support employees who, you know, are having those mental emotional challenges and creating a culture where, you know, you can talk about it, you can, uh, we will support you.

That is starting, that stigma is starting. We’re starting to chip away at that, and I, I don’t find menopause [00:28:00] being every. You know, at all different in comparison, it’s like the stigma of talking about menopause. It also has to come from leadership. You have to have a culture of care and there has to be training to support management to have those conversations.

Brianne: Yeah, yeah. That’s, and training for management, training also for the employees as well. So the more knowledge we have, the more awareness we have, and with awareness, we have choice. What do I wanna do with the awareness that I, I’m given. And I think the training not only is helpful. For management and and leadership, but also as a culture for employees to notice, oh, I am noticing that I’m experiencing these symptoms.

I am, you know, 45. I’m noticing that I haven’t looked into this anymore than just dismissing it with bad night’s sleep. Or, you know, my son had a rough night, he was sick. And so this also gives people the power to say. What’s going on inside me? So training for management, [00:29:00] leadership, also training for employees as well.

Christine: And of course, uh, there’s no one size fits all and how this impacts individuals. But I guess from your perspective, how can organizations make sure that there’s, their women’s health strategies are truly inclusive? So supporting women of different races, orientations, abilities, and life stages.

Brianne: Yeah, so, you know, having a group of women from diverse backgrounds actually have the space and creativity to evaluate and create initiatives, programs, trainings that are geared towards women’s health is really empowering too.

So we’re having the diverse backgrounds come in from different experiences to share what would work. So you wanna not assume, you wanna ask. Ask your employees, have your employees shared? This is what I’m going through. These are the struggles that I’m having. This would be most helpful for me. So you wanna ask.

The other part [00:30:00] of it that I think is really important to know is, um, peer support networks within an organization. Huh? They are fantastic. You know, coming in, it could be monthly where women come together and, and men included, you know, maybe perhaps their wives are going through it and they’re looking for the support as well.

And they kind of wanna know, this is what I’m noticing, how can I best support her? But when you have the peer support networks and you have people that come together, and it could be a Wednesday morning, eight o’clock, and we sit down over a coffee and we share what’s been going on, how we can support one another, you don’t feel alone in it.

That’s one of, you know, the biggest impacts for a lot of women is that they feel very alone in the experience that they’re having. So when you create that culture and community of support, there’s a lot of healing in that too, just in that alone. So I would say, you know, the trainings then, women coming from diverse backgrounds, creating reevaluating initiatives, [00:31:00] programs, and also the peer support networks as well can be extremely useful.

Christine: I could not agree more. Um, we like to call them employee resource groups or community groups, but I, I think that’s the part where it’s not just for women going through menopause. You might have peer colleagues. Who are male and they have, you know, their partner or spouse going through it and they wanna learn or they wanna support their peers within the workplace as well.

They don’t wanna say the wrong thing and they’re working closely with them and they, you know, wanna support them as well. So that’s probably a, I would say, a great initiative. And then it allows people to kind of sit in, listen and contribute how much, um, they would like to based on their experiences. So for our listeners, I think it would be helpful.

Let’s, all right, let’s discuss some practical solutions that they could take action on. So, um, we’ll look at it from the [00:32:00] leadership perspective. If you could give leaders, let’s just say one or two starting points for better supporting employees that are experiencing menopause, what would they be?

Brianne: So awareness and training would be number one.

Definitely. You want to educate yourself on it. Again, you know, women who are going through it may not even realize they’re going through it either, so. Having the awareness training and education behind it can really help you support your team as well. So awareness and training would be number one, and remaining open and flexible as well.

Be open and flexible to adjusting policies. You know what I always say too is that the policies perhaps that are in place. It’s not necessarily something wrong with them. We don’t wanna come at it from that approach. They just need to be updated. So being open and flexible to adjusting policies, having a, you know, every three months, maybe review your policies as well, your programs that you have in place to [00:33:00] ensure that it’s adjusting and adapting to the environment as well is really important.

So awareness training. Um. Flexibility and being open to adjusting policies would be, I would say, key steps in starting.

Christine: So from a little bit of background and experience at, at WebMD Health Services, we are pursuing the goal of becoming a menopause friendly workplace. And so we’re implementing many of what you just talked about, like the strategies around awareness and helping our employees know what’s available, doing some training and education, and uh, looking at what we have in place to support our employees.

We transfer some of that to our clients and their participants as well. So, um, our health coaches have all been trained on supporting perimenopause and menopause conversations. So that supports our employees, but it also [00:34:00] supports our clients and their participants. Um. We have conducted quarterly webinars to educate our own employees.

We’ve created a resource hub for content for our own employees. Um, we offer group health coaching sessions, again for our clients as well as for our employees. ’cause sometimes you want, like you said. Am I alone in this and what I’m facing? And having that group connection is always helpful. And that’s of course led by a health coach.

And I think the big thing is because obviously we’re in the well-being space and you, you can’t look at all of these aspects as, um, you know, standalone. So looking at and taking a holistic approach, um, and recognizing, which was like the part of our conversation that we started with, the impact that hormonal health, perimenopause, menopause has on not only the physical, but the mental, the [00:35:00] social, and the financial well-being.

So you really have to look at all of this very holistically.

Brianne: Yes. Yeah. And you know. I don’t want anybody to feel intimidated by this. I think just take it one step at a time. You don’t have to overhaul everything of all at once. You can start small too. Right? And notice, are the schedules flexible? Can we, can we be flexible with, um, employee schedules, management schedules as well to help them with symptoms that they may be experiencing to help them as they’re in this transition?

Also within the workplace. So another reason why people, um, struggle at work is ’cause there’s the anticipation that a symptom may happen as well. So hot flashes, I’ll use that as an example. I think that’s a common one that we all experience is that, you know, when we’re in the workplace, if we are anticipating that we are about to have a hot flash.

Where am I gonna go? What am I gonna do? Who am I gonna talk to? Do I have water there? Can I get some air on me? [00:36:00] You’re not focused on what’s in front of you. So even thinking about the work environment itself is there, right. And you know, I know we were kind of chatting before, here’s a fan, but do we have a fanning room?

Can we go into a room where it’s actually a lot cooler? Can we take that space half an hour to sit in that have some water and to cool off a little bit. When we know that we have resources around us, we’re more likely to stay focused on the work that we’re doing too. So there are sort of the bigger initiatives that we wanna take on as well, but we don’t have to do a complete overhaul in the beginning.

Start small, look at the environment. How are we supporting people, whether it’s virtually or whether it’s within the workplace? How can we better support them with the anticipation? That’s something may come up for them.

Christine: Gosh, I, I really wanna have some of those benefits. Yes. Right here in my own home office.

So we’ve talked a lot about [00:37:00] your perspective through your experience working with different clients. Um, can you share, ’cause I, I feel like I sort of glanced over this. I mean, LifeSpeak is an organization that you work for, they’re one of our partners at WebMD. Can you share a little bit about the LifeSpeak solutions?

And you know how you support participants. I believe that you had said that you have like Hormonal health series and caregiving resources. How do these help support? Women that are going through these challenges?

Brianne: Yeah, that’s a great question. I think first off, it’s we wanna break down that stigma and that shame, and we do that by education.

So talking about it, having resources available, hormonal Health series, the caregiving series as well. These are all resources to provide education, bring that sense of awareness. And with awareness we are more empowered to have choice and make those decisions for ourself as well. So I think that as a whole is breaking down that stigma, shame, and empowering people.

Um, in addition to that, we’re looking at the [00:38:00] person holistically, right? So we’re looking at different ways that we can, um, support them with sleep, right? Sleep disturbances that they may be experiencing. So your sleep health, you wanna look at nutrition, exercise, and so people have access to this as well.

’cause it’s not just about let’s fix the symptoms as they’re showing up. It really is a holistic perspective. How do I care for myself? How do I care for myself? And so through nutrition, um, resources that we have available through the, uh, sleep education that we have available as well, exercise coaching as well, we have that there too.

So you have that one-to-one support with an individual. Um, you can really. Take charge of your life and take charge of your health. Now, the Hormonal Health series and the caregiving, you know, I, I haven’t talked too, too much about the caregiving, but it’s really important to know that women at this stage in their life as well, there’s a lot of caregiving happening, right?

Yes. It could be aging parents, it could be children, and trying to care for yourself [00:39:00] and trying to show up for work. Navigating the symptoms. There is something happening in every corner of their life at this point. And so educating yourself on caregiver burnout, caregiver overload as well. You wanna notice the symptom signs, how to help support yourself through that as well.

Boundaries, communication, caring for yourself, and then the Hormonal Health Series. Again, it’s gonna empower you to notice, oh. Maybe this is what’s happening for me right now. These are some steps that I can lean into in order to support myself. So I think, again, holistically, it’s addressing the entire person, not just little bits and pieces.

Christine: Agree with that. And that’s great. And I, I love our partnerships, so yes.

Brianne: So do I.

Christine: So we talked about what organizations can do. Let’s flip it and talk about individuals. So for women that may be listening in and they’re experiencing symptoms, but they are still not convinced, they feel hesitant to speak up at work.

Brianne: Mm-hmm.

Christine: What would the [00:40:00] advice be that you would share with them?

Brianne: So the first thing that I always lean into with anybody is validate your experience. What you’re going through is normal and your hesitations are fair. That’s valid. There have been a lot of barriers in place once we come from that place of validating.

And recognizing that this doesn’t, these challenges that you’re going through, it’s not a weakness. It doesn’t mean something about who you are as a person. Then you can start to look at what are my options? And we, I always say to people, don’t just dive in. Sometimes people love to just dive right in and go for it.

But what I would say is if there’s still hesitation, ’cause we’re kind of feeling out the water, so maybe within ourself we’re feeling better, we’re validating, we’re saying, okay, this isn’t about me. I’m still good as I am. I’m, you know, I love myself. There may still be hesitation to step into the work environment if it hasn’t been completely supportive.

So what I would say is start small and work on a script prior to going into talking to leadership or management as well. So noticing, for [00:41:00] example, um, maybe you’re having sleep disturbances. So what you could do is say I’m struggling to sleep at night. Um, this would help me if I could start my day at.

10:00 AM and I would work then until, you know, 7:00 PM or whatever that is for you. You can work that out. But coming in with one, noticing what the challenges that you’re experiencing and then having a solution. So you’ve thought about what you need, so you’re advocating for yourself, but start small. The other thing is don’t feel like you have to explain everything.

You don’t have to open up entirely about your health. You don’t have to expose yourself completely. That can be really scary for people. So. Take little bits of information that feel comfortable for you to go to your leadership, to go to your management about, say what’s happening, and have, um, a solution for the need that you are experiencing in that moment that’s gonna help you move the thread.

You’re gonna be following the thread in the right direction, but start small. Validate yourself as well.

Christine: Great advice. So [00:42:00] now let’s assume that everyone heard what we said and we are making such progress. Let’s. Take out our crystal ball, um, and look ahead. So what Brianne is your vision for the workplace?

Let’s just say five years from now, if menopause and mental health were fully supported as part of employee well-being.

Brianne: So what I’m hoping for five years from now is that this isn’t a progressive topic that we’re topping talking about, that it’s not a, you know, something that’s just new and trendy. It’s not, this is something that’s integrated into our health supports with.

In the organizational environment within society as well. So my hope is that it’s not a progressive topic, it’s just something that is normalized as well, so we can have more conversations about it. My hope is that we can integrate even. On SM on a smaller [00:43:00] scale, ways to support individuals who are experiencing symptoms so that they don’t feel as though they have to leave their job, leave their role, go back home, retire early, so that people can still follow their dreams and passions, um, even through the symptoms that they’re going through as well.

And you know, it’s normalized, it’s embraced even. And maybe that’s a 10 year goal, but you know, we wanna embrace it. ’cause this is hormonal health. This is something that’s normal, natural, and there’s a lot of beauty to life transitions too. And we tend to get stuck on the, I’m letting go. This means I’m old now, I’m going through these symptoms.

If we can allow ourselves. To move through that and embrace what life is giving us and what’s to come, then, you know, we can thrive in the work environment, in our home life, in our personal life as well.

Christine: Well said, and I’m hopeful that this happens. Even sooner than five years. So yes, [00:44:00] me too. Let’s connect in two and see how you do.

I’d love that. I’d love that. Well, Brian, I wanna thank you for sharing your insights. Um, I truly enjoy this conversation and I think it really does continue to desig and get the word out and reinforce how important it is to break the silence. Uh, around women’s health at work and specifically around hormo, hormonal health, perimenopause, menopause.

But I’m not gonna let you go just yet because I do have one more question, which I ask all guests of the HR scoop. So you ready? Yes. Yeah. Okay. It’s an easy one. Can you share with our listeners what you do to support your own personal well-being?

Brianne: It’s such a good question, and you would think in the, what I do, you know, as a health coach and, and the work that I’ve done, that this comes easy and it’s not, and so it has to be very intentional.

But, [00:45:00] um, it’s in the smaller moments with the people around me. I have two little ones, so that’s just a little tidbit there. And actually taking those moments to feel when they’re snuggle, snuggling into me taking the time to step away. From stressors, step away from the computer, step away from everything, turn that phone down and step into life.

Step into nature. That’s been one of the most healing things for me, is to just be able to close everything down and get back to the basics. So, um, and my little ones helped me do that because I have no choice but to follow them over there. So, um, but that, that’s one way to do it. And with intention as well.

So intention behind that.

Christine: I love it. And in reality, we all have to be reminded of that. And then speaking from experience, take those time with your little nuggets. Yes. Because it does go so fast. Yes. And then they’re not, not as willing to snuggle with you. Yes. Yeah. Well, thank you and I hope today’s discussion [00:46:00] encourages leaders.

To lean in and let women know that they’re not alone, and we can create workplaces where every stage of a healthy life is supported in the workplace. So thank you, Brianne, and thank you for listening to this episode of the HR Scoop.

“When we separate who we are from the symptoms we’re experiencing, we create space to ask: what do I need—and how can work support it?“ 

This conversation covers: 

• • The hidden mental load of hormonal shifts and why women often overcompensate until they crash 
  • The real cost of doing nothing and how leadership, training and flexibility change outcomes 
  • A holistic approach that normalizes women’s health as a core element of workplace well-being