Middling Along

Lizzie Penny on Workstyle, menopause after breast cancer, and why the world of work needs a radical shake up

My guest this time is Lizzie Penny - an entrepreneur and a campaigner for ‘Workstyle’ - the freedom to choose when and where you work. She is fascinated by how new working practices can fundamentally redefine inclusion at work, whilst also improving wellbeing and step-changing productivity. She has co-authored a book on Workstyle with business partner Alex Hirst, published October 2022.

Having undergone treatment for breast cancer herself at the height of the pandemic, she is now supporting her husband through his own cancer diagnosis, whilst also coming to terms with her own early menopause brought on by cancer treatment - oh and she’s also mum to three young children. 

So much to unpack in this episode - we talk in detail about what ‘workstyle’ is (and why it is different from flexible or hybrid working) - and why it is is so important for levelling the playing field for groups who might be structurally excluded from the workplace: older workers, carers, those with chronic illness or disabilities, those with mental health challenges, parents, and neurodivergent people. 

By 2050 21% of the UK population will be over 60 - and with many of us needing (or wanting!) to work for longer, and with many industries struggling to attract skilled workers, organizations must get to grips with adapting current working practices and appealing to a range of ‘workstyles’.

We talk about how creating a trust-based culture underpins the success of remote-first, autonomous teams, and how we need to make technology work for us (not the other way around) to build in healthy work-life boundaries. 

We discuss Lizzie’s own experience of going into early menopause as a result of her cancer treatment - and hear how connecting virtually with others has been a tremendous source of support. Lizzie eloquently puts forward the case for workstyle as a key component of allowing those going through perimenopause, or who are post-menopausal, to stay engaged with, or return to work, in a way that suits them.  

You can find Lizzie and Alex’s book ‘Workstyle: A revolution for wellbeing, productivity and society’ here https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/lizzie-penny/workstyle/9781399802949/ and you can find out more about Hoxby at https://hoxby.com/ 

 

If you enjoy the podcast please help us grow by sharing this episode, or writing a review.

You can also find me at www.thetripleshift.org 

connect with me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmacthomas/ 

follow along on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/

or subscribe to my Substack at https://middlingalong.substack.com/ 

 

Amy Bennie on what it’s like to enter menopause at 16, and how to get support if you have Premature Ovarian Insufficiency

My guest this time is Amy Bennie - Amy is the chair of Daisy Network, the only charity dedicated to providing medical and psychological support for women with Premature Ovarian Insufficiency. 

Amy was just 16 years old when she was told her ovaries just were not working - and for many years thought perhaps she was the only one in the country as she’d been told it was very rare. For several years, having no real understanding of what was happening to her, she suffered with anxiety, agoraphobia, and panic attacks…it was only in her early 20s that she discovered the Daisy Network and realized she was not as alone as she had thought.

For 90% of those with POI, there’s currently no discernable underlying cause - which can be hard to come to terms with. We also cover why hormone therapy is so vital for those with POI, to prevent osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease, and promote good brain health. 

Amy is now dedicated to helping those through their diagnosis and raising awareness of POI within the wider community. She is author of the book 'Daisy Network - Our Guide to Premature Ovarian Insufficiency' and works as a Psychotherapeutic Counsellor.

You can find out more about the support offered by the Daisy Network at:

https://www.daisynetwork.org/ 

https://www.instagram.com/thedaisynetwork/ 

 

If you enjoy the podcast please help us grow by sharing this episode, or writing a review.

You can also find me at www.thetripleshift.org 

connect with me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmacthomas/ 

follow along on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/

or subscribe to my Substack at https://middlingalong.substack.com/ 

 

Susan Saunders wants to help us all Age Well and thrive beyond menopause

Join me this time as I chat to author and health coach Susan Saunders as we talk about aging well and what we can do to reduce our chances of developing Alzheimer’s Disease.

 

Susan's determination to age well grew out of her personal story. She spent 12 years caring for her mum, who had severe dementia. When her mum was diagnosed, Susan was 36 years old with a toddler, a new-born and a full-time job. Her world was turned upside down – not only was she mum, wife, and boss, she was now a carer too. What made this even harder to bear was that, as a teenager, she’d watched her mum going through the same thing with her mother. 

 

Susan started researching everything she could about aging well. That led her to start The Age-Well Project blog and then a book of the same name, written with her friend Annabel Streets, plus a follow up book The Age Well Plan. Susan is only the third person in the UK to qualify as a coach with neuroscientist Dr Dale Bredesen, author of The End of Alzheimer's, and she now helps women across the world reduce their dementia risk through her coaching programmes. 

 

We talk about the influence of the APOE4 gene - which apparently 20% of the population carries - and how the impact of lifestyle is considerably more important to our risks of developing Alzheimer’s than our genetic make up. 

 

Susan’s next book is on post-menopausal health (due out summer 2023) and she talks us through the ‘window of opportunity’ post-menopause to take action to prevent the chronic diseases of aging - such as osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease and dementia. 

 

One new piece of information I learned in our interview was that our bones are constantly being remodelled and renewed - and that oestrogen and progesterone are critical to driving this process - so when our levels of these hormones drop away, our bone health can dramatically deteriorate if we don’t take action to counteract those changes.

You can find Susan at https://susansaundershealth.com and more info on her books at https://agewellproject.com/our-book/ or find her at https://www.instagram.com/susansaundershealth and https://www.instagram.com/agewellproject 

 

If you enjoy the podcast please help us grow by sharing this episode, or writing a review.

You can also find me at www.thetripleshift.org 

connect with me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmacthomas/ 

follow along on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/

or subscribe to my Substack at https://middlingalong.substack.com/ 

 

Barbie Boules on how what we eat (and drink - or not drink) helps us optimise our brain health

My guest this time is Barbie Boules - a registered dietitian and certified health coach with over 22 years of experience.  Her goal is to help her clients achieve optimal wellness without the pseudoscience and unsustainable rules of faddy dieting.  

 

She tells us about her holistic approach to wellbeing and aging well, emphasizing nourishing foods, quality sleep, daily movement, managing stress and prioritizing self-care. We talk about what foods and nutrients we need to prioritize in order to age well - with a particular focus on dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (something that both our mothers have in common)...did you know women are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s as men are?

 

We also cover the impact of alcohol on our brain health, why women (especially in midlife) can find alcohol more challenging to metabolize and why we might want to reassess our relationship with the booze if we aim to age well. 

 

Barbie has recommended some great books to read if you’re interested in learning about the links between nutrition and brain health, namely: 

Eat to Beat Depression and Anxiety by Dr Drew Ramsey (https://drewramseymd.com/books-publications/eat-to-beat-depression-and-anxiety)

Brain Food by Dr Lisa Mosconi (https://www.lisamosconi.com/brainfood - we also touch on Dr Mosconi’s excellent new book The XX Brain)

This is Your Brain on Food by Dr Uma Naidoo (https://book.umanaidoomd.com/) 

and The MIND Diet by Maggie Moon (https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-MIND-Diet/Maggie-Moon/9781612436074) 

… all of which are going onto my teetering to-read pile!

 

You can find Barbie and her brilliant down to earth advice (and some yummy recipes) on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_cognition_dietitian/ and at www.barbieboules.com 

 

If you enjoy the podcast please help us grow by sharing this episode, or writing a review.

You can also find me at www.thetripleshift.org 

connect with me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmacthomas/ 

follow along on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/

or subscribe to my Substack at https://middlingalong.substack.com/ 

 

Dr Nichola Conlon on how oestrogen levels impact our brain and how we can reverse our biological age

Join me this time in the first of a (slightly serendipitous) series of three episodes on the topic of aging well. 

 

Dr Nichola Conlon is a scientist specialising in the study of healthy aging.  Nichola has a passion for sharing the latest breakthroughs, with a skill for translating science in a digestible and engaging way, encouraging people to age well.  

 

We talk about the science behind some pernicious peri symptoms - brain fog and fatigue - how and why our diminishing oestrogen levels play havoc with our many millions of mitochondria which then leads to a drop in our energy levels. Did you know our hormones are responsible for creating neural connections in the areas of our brain involved in memory and learning? Mind, blown...

 

We dig in to why our chronological age and our biological age might very well be different. Shockingly research has shown that in just six months of perimenopause our biological age can increase by up to nine years - and by the end of perimenopause our biological age may have jumped up by a total of 20 years!

 

The good news though is that only 20% of our rate of biological aging is predetermined by our genetics - the other 80% is modifiable through lifestyle changes. 

 

We also cover how oestrogen levels dropping impacts our immune system, creating chronic low-grade inflammation in our cells - and how we can tackle that to improve our overall cellular health.

 

We then move on to how critical NAD is for both energy levels and cellular repair, how wildly inconvenient it is that levels of NAD start to fall at the same time we experience falling levels of oestrogen and how we can boost our levels of NAD - tune in to find out more. 

 

As a science nerd I found this whole conversation absolutely fascinating - I hope you do too!

 

You can find out more about Nichola's company Nuchido here: https://nuchido.com/ 

 

You can also find her on Instagram here: www.instagram.com/drnicholaconlon where she discusses all things science and aging.

 

 

If you enjoy the podcast please help us grow by sharing this episode, or writing a review.

You can also find me at www.thetripleshift.org 

connect with me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmacthomas/ 

follow along on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/

or subscribe to my Substack at https://middlingalong.substack.com/ 

Karen Arthur on seeking joy, holding our boundaries, and why really knowing ourselves is vital to a better midlife

Join me this time for a joyous conversation with Karen Arthur: Karen is a fashion creative, host of the Menopause Whilst Black podcast, speaker, model, writer, and dropper of truth bombs! 

We talk about how her anxiety and depression during perimenopause prompted her departure from a long teaching career. We move on to unpack how three years of therapy, a lot of unlearning, and her dedication to living more truthfully and authentically led to her reinvention and curation of the next stage of her life - which includes leaving London to live by the sea, saying ‘Yes’ to things that bring her joy and ‘No’ to the things that don’t.

 

We touch on why therapy is the best money she’s ever invested in herself, why being honest is addictive, and how it’s easier to stay in our comfort zones than admit why those are no longer serving us and then do something about it. 

 

Karen talks about why she is so protective of her boundaries in both her personal and professional life, how we can all focus on deeply knowing ourselves and prioritising ourselves in the run up to midlife and perimenopause, and how post-menopause can be a liberating and positive stage of life. 

 

You can find Karen at https://www.thekarenarthur.com/ the podcast at https://www.thekarenarthur.com/menopausewhilstblack and she is on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/thekarenarthur/ and https://www.instagram.com/menopausewhilstblack/

 

If you enjoy the podcast please help us grow by sharing this episode, or writing a review.

You can also find me at www.thetripleshift.org 

connect with me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmacthomas/ 

follow along on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/

or subscribe to my Substack at https://middlingalong.substack.com/ 

 

Kate Rowe-Ham on her journey to Own her Menopause and how you can too

Join me today as I chat to women’s health coach Kate Rowe-Ham about her journey to founding the Owning Your Menopause app. 

 

Kate started out offering free workouts on Instagram to time-pressed parents after struggling to find the time to work out following the birth of her third child. The build up of (what she now knows were perimenopause) symptoms - serious joint pain, night sweats, panic attacks and palpitations - left her feeling desperate. Unable to get a clear diagnosis from her own GP, she was forced to seek private medical advice to get her perimenopause diagnosis and on to HRT. 

 

This led her to pivot her business and to the development of the Owning Your Menopause app, which offers daily workouts, plus advice from experts in nutrition, sleep, breathwork, and access to specialist GP advice. We talk about how critical strength training is for this midlife transition (and beyond) for preventing osteoporosis, improving cardiovascular health, strengthening our joints, and reversing the decline in muscle mass that begins after we turn 30 (increasing muscle mass in turn elevates our resting metabolic rate).

We also discuss the importance of rest, and adopting a sustainable approach to exercise - plus how to start when you really don’t feel like you can do anything at all, if symptoms are all-consuming. As busy parents we both know how challenging it can be to fit in a daily workout - the Owning Your Menopause app helps make that less of a chore with encouragement from like-minded members who are all there cheering one another on - and offering empathy on bad days…

 

You can find Kate at https://www.instagram.com/katerh_fitness and Owning Your Menopause at https://owningyourmenopauseapp.com/gym/Owning-Your-Menopause/ 

 

If you enjoy the podcast please help us grow by sharing this episode, or writing a review.

You can also find me at www.thetripleshift.org 

connect with me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmacthomas/ 

follow along on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/

or subscribe to my Substack at https://middlingalong.substack.com/ 

 

Sally Mueller on launching new brand Womaness and why menopause should make us all reprioritise ourselves

My guest on today’s episode is Sally Mueller, CEO and founder of the Womaness brand with her co-founder Michelle Jacobs. Sally talks about her own journey through menopause, and her dawning realisation that with her understanding of the retail industry she could create some much more appealing options than the lacklustre products recommended by her own doctor at the time.

We talk about why and how Womaness chose to develop specific products to tackle the issues we might face in menopause and why the products we’re used to using might not work for us at this time of life. 

We touch also on the community that Womaness is trying to build - both through their 'After Party' community on Facebook, and through live events this October in celebration of Menopause Awareness Month. 

Tune in to find out what one thing Sally wishes she had known before going through menopause...

You can find Womaness at www.womaness.com 

They're also on Instagram @mywomaness

 

 

If you enjoy the podcast please help us grow by sharing this episode, or writing a review.

You can also find me at www.thetripleshift.org 

connect with me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmacthomas/ 

follow along on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/

or subscribe to my Substack at https://middlingalong.substack.com/ 

 

Jenny Smith on Peri Rage, Chicken Wings, and why Women over 40 are a force to be reckoned with

This time we welcome photographer Jenny Smith who followed her long-held dream of working as a photographer after the birth of her son following IVF treatment. Several year later, after muddling through with a range of perimenopause symptoms, it was a moment of sheer rage - over something as silly as chicken wings - combined with a lucky moment listening in to a podcast, that led her to realise she was in perimenopause and seek help.

Since then, she's started the Dear Hormones podcast - a confessional of all the bonkers things our hormones have made us say or do - because sometimes if you don't laugh, you cry! We also talk about her passion project - 40 Over 40 - a series of stunning photographic tributes to women over 40 who are making a difference to the lives of other women. Having started out firmly in the menopause sphere, it was since pivoted to have a broader focus - but that's the beauty of this kind of project, you just go where you feel like it!! 

You can find Jenny at https://www.jennysmithphotography.co.uk/ and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jennysmithphoto/ 

The Dear Hormones podcast is at https://www.instagram.com/dearhormones/ 

 

If you enjoy the podcast please help us grow by sharing this episode, or writing a review.

You can also find me at www.thetripleshift.org 

connect with me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmacthomas/ 

follow along on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/

or subscribe to my Substack at https://middlingalong.substack.com/ 

Gabrielle Blair on why men really ought to start Ejaculating Responsibly

In this episode I chat to writer, blogger, influencer and content creator Gabrielle Blair, aka Design Mom herself, from award-winning blog DesignMom.com, about her new book 'Ejaculate Responsibly: A Whole New Way to Think About Abortion.'

After writing a (deliberately provocative) stream of Tweets in 2018 on why men are responsible for 100% of unplanned pregnancies which (of course) went viral, Gabrielle has been parrying responses (both positive and negative) ever since.

After four years of additional research, she's turned her thoughts into a small, but perfectly-formed book (road tested on all 6 of her children!) which she hopes will radically shift the focus of the abortion debate (a hot topic since Roe v Wade was overturned) on to preventing unwanted pregnancies.

We talk about why women have for years shouldered the vast majority of responsibility for contraception, why making this a 50/50 responsibility seems so radical but actually makes a whole lot of sense, given the facts around mens' fertility, and why this is a perfect time to reframe the debate, given how impossible it is to have nuanced discussion around abortion and bodily autonomy.

We also talk about how and why we need male allies to step up in support of the ideas in the book, and how critical it is that teens and young people engage with the topic. 

You can find Gabrielle at www.designmom.com on Twitter https://twitter.com/designmom and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/designmom/ 

Ejaculate Responsibly is published by Workman Publishing: https://www.workman.com/products/ejaculate-responsibly/paperback   

 

 

If you enjoy the podcast please help us grow by sharing this episode, or writing a review.

You can also find me at www.thetripleshift.org 

connect with me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmacthomas/ 

follow along on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/

or subscribe to my Substack at https://middlingalong.substack.com/