Say it Sister...
Lucy and Karen, two 40-somethings, are always chatting about life, and all that it has to throw at them, and now want to share their raw, honest conversations with you. Their journey of finding their own voices, self-discovery and healing is something many of us can relate to. We all possess a unique power within us, but life’s trials often knock us off course. They have the tools, the courage to speak up and simply say it as it is, so you might feel seen, and understood and gain practical tools and techniques for self-discovery and personal growth during the changes we experience.
Say it Sister...
Lisa Jedan MenoPositive: Menopause can be fuel for growth
We welcome Lisa Jedan, Host of the MenoPositive Podcast. Lisa built a career making brands and people famous. From launching Bono and Bobby Shriver’s (RED) and David Beckham’s Football Academy to collaborating with brands like Formula 1, MTV and Gucci.
She now returns to the body with a passion to support and empower women globally through MenoPositive – her podcast and events company - using her positive, personal menopause journey as inspiration.
We reframe midlife from decline to possibility with Lisa Jedan, exploring identity beyond job titles, the physiology of perimenopause, and practical tools that shift how we feel and lead. Strength, mindset, and community become levers for a calmer nervous system and a more powerful story.
• fluid to crystallised intelligence and midlife reinvention
• identity beyond status, travel and salary
• co‑regulation, solitude and stress reset
• strength training, protein and sleep as anchors
• nuanced HRT conversation and symptom myth‑busting
• fear, media narratives and choosing flow
• daily tools: guided meditation, journaling, Yoga Nidra
• community, introductions and building new rooms
• agency, awareness and designing a new normal
Please head over to Lisa’s podcast, MenoPositive, if you’ve loved this empowering conversation. Hit subscribe and don’t miss out on the other amazing guests that we’re having on the show
If it moved you, made you think, or made you even feel seen, hit follow, share it with the sister, and leave us a review
Instagram: @menopositive.life @lisajedan
TikTok : @menopositive.life
LinkedIn: @menopositive @lisajedan
Welcome to another episode of Space Park.
Speaker 2:Lucy Barkas. This is your space for real unfiltered conversations about womanhood. The messy, the magical, and everything in between.
Speaker 1:We're called upon to name the taboos, stigmas, stereotypes, and lies that keep us stuck so that we can rise and reign like queens.
Speaker 2:We open up spaces and deepen relationships that bring us closer to love and a better world for all. So get comfy, grab your favourite drink, and let's say it sister.
Speaker 1:Welcome to Say It Sister. It's Menopause Awareness Month and we're having an amazing guest on today, Lisa Jedan, host of the The Mennow Positive podcast. I first met Lisa at a Canada's Meno Influencer event and we instantly connected over a brilliant conversation about midlife, perimenopause, and all the bits in between. And today we're diving into that conversation and bringing you into our world. And we are so excited to share Lisa's wisdom and experience with you. Lucy, let's tell us a little bit more.
Speaker 2:Okay, so Lisa began her career as a dancer and performer before moving into PR and marketing, where she built a career making brands and people famous. She launched Bono and Bobby Shriver's Red campaign, helped shape David Beckham's Football Academy, and collaborated with global brands like Formula One, MTV, and Gucci. She's also worked with Go Student, Europe's highest valued ed tech company with Cultura 3, a purpose-led startup focused on the impact of emerging tech on culture. Over the years, Lisa has had the privilege of working with and interviewing founders, CEOs, and celebrities across industries. And she's always looking to change the narrative. And now she's returning to the body and her passion for supporting women globally through Mennow Positive, her podcast and events company, inspired by her own positive and empowering Menopause journey. So hi Lisa, how are you today?
Speaker:Oh my gosh, thank you for that lovely introduction. It's wonderful to be here.
Speaker 2:Well, welcome to the show. We really are delighted to have you here. So I guess I've I've given you a bit of a blur, but now I want the real woman behind the story. So, yeah, all these incredible things you've done, and now you're menopausive. Tell us why.
Speaker:You know, I distinctly remember um being on an airplane. I was I was heading to a new job. Um, I was I was going to help scale up this ed tech company, and I was 50 and I was joining two brilliant 28-year-old founders. And I found myself wondering, you know, what what value am I bringing now in this stage of my life? And I was listening to this podcast, I think, I think it was Oprah, and she was interviewing this Harvard professor. His name was Arthur Brooks, and he wrote a book called Um From Strength to Strength. Have either of you read it?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker:Oh my gosh. Okay. So he talks about how in the in the first half of your life, it runs on like what he calls fluid intelligence. And this is right, if you remember, like in your 20s and 30s, when you're hustling, right? Like you're climbing the ladder, like it's growth at all costs kind of thing. Um, it's the it's that kind of energy. And then he said the second half of your life runs on crystallized intelligence. And this is where we use our experience and our, you know, and our wisdom and our perspective to kind of create deeper meaning or more connections in more meaningful ways. And I tell you this because I didn't last long at the tech company, but his words really stuck with me. And it got me thinking about, you know, what I wanted this next chapter of my career to be. You know, like what do I want to be when I grow up? And you're right, I had the privilege to work with some of the best brands in the world, some of the most famous people in the world. But what do you do after that? Like, what do you what do you do after that? And I think the common thing between all of them was storytelling, shaping and creating narratives. And as I was going through my own menopause transition, I didn't recognize the story that I was being told by the media or by society. And, you know, everything was doom and decline, and here's this hole that you're gonna find yourself in. And that wasn't my experience, and nor do I wish that for any woman. So that's where menopausitive began. You know, it was from a desire to change the conversation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and once a communicator, always a communicator, and there's we have a synergy in the way that we both worked in communications and we both did the brands and the celebrity thing, and then you know, sacheted into um the world of you know, supporting and empowering women in midlife is one of our themes, isn't it? And and I and I always think, well, I felt like I stopped that, but actually what I did is I continued, but I continued in a slightly different way, and I put the lens on the inside as opposed to, you know, all the things that we see in here is generally about how a woman looks, how she shows up, what she's wearing, you know, and I feel like this midlife phase that we're all in is really about shining the spotlight back into us and going deeper and saying, Well, who am I now? Like, what's coming up for me now? And we've still got a heck of a lot of living to do. So we are not complete, we've got more, and we've got more to give, and we also want to receive back at the same time. So, as you're sort of sharing your story, I'm kind of like chiming on the inside, like the bells are going off, going, yes, yes, yes, yes, come on, let's give it to people and let's get excited about this journey. And um, my next question to you was really about this pay place of what has been the hardest part of that for you.
Speaker:Yeah, I also just want to say, you know, being a communicator, I used to say to my team, sometimes being a good communicator means being a good listener.
unknown:Yeah.
Speaker:And I think that's a lot of the work that the two of you do so beautifully, and it really is a gift to be able to do that. But I don't think women or people in general are doing enough of stopping and listening. Um, I I I was at this health optimization summit, and um, the Dr. Rangin Chatterjee was saying that we're outsourcing everything, how we feel to people when we should just take a moment of solitude every day and check in with ourselves. And I think that's a very powerful medicine for people.
Speaker 1:You know, it and it brings up a lot in me because sometimes when our nervous systems are so stressed and we are, you know, we're almost like so incredibly overwhelmed. And that could be due to the life stage we're in, or it could just be due to a life situation, or maybe we've always been a bit like that. We actually need somebody else's nervous system to regulate. So we need to be in the space with somebody else who is regulated so that we can go, well, this person's very calm, and then our heart rate starts to slow down and our thoughts start to get more clear, and then we start to reconnect in. So I agree with him, and there's a yes and from me because if we are overwhelmed, highly stressed, maybe we've got some um symptoms of things as well. What we actually need is to be with a regulated person, to regulate ourselves, to then come back in and take that time of solitude. So yeah, so I want to add that in because I think for any woman who's out there who's going, I'm overwhelmed, I can't think straight, I've got brain fog, I'm scared I'm gonna say the wrong thing, to say take a moment in solitude probably isn't gonna work for her because she's gonna close her eyes and think, shit. You know, as we do, because the brain wakes up sometimes even more when we close our eyes. So yeah, it's that's why the nighttime element can be so extreme, I think, because you switch everything off and the thoughts are there, you know. So great point.
Speaker:Yeah, I didn't think about that. You're right, it's just that vibration and that exchange of energy between each other. Uh to answer your question, I think the hardest thing, I mean, you already touched on it. I um I left an amazing job with amazing people and a great salary and a great lifestyle to start from scratch. And I'm clapping you. We've been there. And it's amazing how our identity is so attached to our work, or you know, you said how we dress or how we look or our relationships. And I've spent a long time working on well, if I'm not that person, if I'm not that person who's flying every other week and traveling to beautiful places and doing amazing things, who am I, who am I now? And this is this is ongoing work. This is ongoing work for me. I had you know, trying to let go of those attachments and you know, because you've built a so a social circle around it, you've built a lifestyle uh uh around it. So I'm trying to focus more and be more aware on like who I'm becoming. And the great thing about that, of course, is that I get to decide.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker:But it's very scary, it's a very scary place to be sometimes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and just know that anybody that has ever taken the the plunge like you have has experienced exactly the same. And we always say to anybody going um self-employed or going following the entrepreneurial path that it is a roller coaster, but it's not the external roller coaster, it's the internal one. Um, because you're going to be discovering things about yourself, you're going to be working out what uh it makes me vibrant, what times of day do I prefer to work, um, you know, what room in the house do I prefer to work in? Uh, who are these new connections? And each time, each day, each interaction, you're learning more about yourself, which is actually just like menopause, isn't it? Every day you're gonna get a different version. And I wanted to just share a little bit with you about my um perimenopause journey. I'm not there at menopause yet. Um, but in the early days, I it was pretty rubbish. Um, I was full of self-doubt, thought I was going crazy, um, thought I would have dementia. There was all of those things that I was like, what's wrong with me? And the moment I realised and I had the education, the knowledge to go, actually, you're in perimenopause, it then shifted totally towards a really positive experience. And so I just wanted to just mark that to say, I love the fact that you said this can be a really positive journey because it it just needed that bit of education and that that realization and that ownership of the label of this is where I am. It's not a medical, well, it is a medical thing, but it's also a life transition thing, and here I am. So I just wanted to hear about your version of the journey, you know, because it's perimenopause and then post. Um, what was your experience? Because you must have had some pretty rough moments.
Speaker:Well, you know, I think like most women, I was ignorant of perimenopause and menopause, right? I mean, 10 years ago, even five years ago, we weren't talking about it the way we're talking about it now. Um, my journey began pro I mean, I probably misplaced perimenopause for burnout at work. Um, I noticed that was happening more often, like burnout, but I thought it was just because I was traveling all the time and and you know, working, you know, 72-hour weekends or something. So when I actually sat down and thought about like when my period started changing, it was more I I started speaking to doctors for purely aesthetic reasons. You know, I was I had my daughter late, I was 39 when I had my daughter. Um, you know, I had a big career. And then I got to my mid-40s, and all of a sudden my body was changing, my skin was changing. Um, I just didn't anything that I did before wasn't working anymore. Yeah. Like I'd always moved my body, but it wasn't, or you know, I knew how to eat properly, but you know, it wasn't doing the same thing. And I just didn't feel like me anymore. Which, you know, I'd be curious to hear. I'm sure you hear that from a lot of women you work with. I know from the doctor.
Speaker 2:I think every woman has said that during this period. I don't feel like me.
Speaker 1:It's the first red flag, you know what I mean? It's it's and it's like, and it might be like, and I don't want to drive on the motorway, gets added in. You know, and there's like this kind of like little micro um behaviors, but it's always starts with this. I don't feel like myself anymore, and nothing I seem to try is working, and I'm so exhausted. So yes, absolutely.
Speaker:So it it started there, and so I was like, you know what, I'm gonna, a friend of mine had done this like body transformation thing with this with this gym, and it was a um strength training and nutrition program. So I thought, okay, I'm it worked for her. I'm I'm she looks amazing, you know. So I I'm gonna try that. So I did that, and I would say there's like two or three things that really transformed my experience. Um, you know, what I didn't know then that I do know now is how strength training and nutrition, I mean, they were secret weapons for me. And it was, you know, by the time my period stopped, I was I remember it was COVID. I was in my garden and I was exercising, you know, during COVID. And I was like, huh. When was the last time I had my period? I'm not having that's literally so it kind of just happened and flowed through through my day. Um, so that's kind of I those two things in particular, I'll be a champion for those for those two things. And and if doctors could not prescribe HRT, um, they would prescribe exercise, nutrition, stress management. Uh, but it wasn't just the physical, it was a mindset. So I am naturally a glass half full person. And historically it's been funny, you know, I've had friends who found that really annoying, but I have come to learn that it's a gift because not everybody has that as their default. And even the research now, I think, is showing that having a positive mindset will affect the impact of your menopause symptoms, especially at work. So the negative psychology around menopause symptoms, like hot flashes, they will only get worse if you keep a negative mindset around it. So I don't want to oversimplify it, you know, but I feel menopause has been this thing and it's changing where nobody was really talking about it. But then when you were in it, it's like, here, let me invite you to the secret WhatsApp group.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker:You know, and and that's what we're changing now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and what's coming up for me is this idea, I think, because of the taboos that sit within the space, you know. So for example, oh, I'm having these experiences, but but I don't know what to do about it. And and and I'm getting it was almost like in COVID, we got scared of getting COVID for good reasons. And the fear on top of it made it so much worse. So there was so much um obviously the media and the storytelling, and then will people die and will we lose our parents? And um, it became, you know, this is a virus that was very serious and it affected everything. And at the same time, we had so much fear loaded on top of it, which made it an even more bigger struggle for people. And I think often fear of getting something or fear of being something can be so much more triggering on the body and the nervous system and the brain that it of course we have we have a worse experience of it because we're holding ourselves so tightly and our body's not able to flow. And the big word I'm picking up today from the conversation is flow. Like we want to be able to flow with our life and flow with our work and flow with our periods and flow with not having our periods, you know, and have this more sort of gentle approach to life, I think, that is um hasn't been what women have been, you know, offered in the past. It's been like go away, deal with it in private, and um maybe come out when you're through the other side, um, or go stick your head in a fridge. And now we're changing that, and we're coming much more into the space of actually, no, that doesn't work for me. So we're gonna talk about it and we're gonna research and we're gonna share our experiences. And I love your approach on that of just being like really mindful of what we're digesting, the stories we're digesting, the information we're um allowing into us so it becomes part of our story, and being really, really mindful of that and saying, you know what, that isn't my experience at the moment, therefore I'm not gonna buy into that. But there is something happening, and I'm gonna listen to that, and I'm gonna try I'm gonna trust my body, and I'm gonna listen to what I need, and that is that is incredibly empowering.
Speaker:I think so many people are thinking that menopause is something that just happens to them, and you can there's you have more control than you think. Um, but it's working with people like you, Karen and Lucy, to work through like like Lucy, you were talking about A, it's awareness, and when we know what's going on, we can do something about it. And then two, Karen, what you were saying was even about then finding a partner or a person that you can then slowly break down all the things that are going on with you to get you to a place where you are ready to hopefully take some action and look after your look after your health.
Speaker 1:Yeah. What's the best part of your journey so far?
Speaker:I would say the people. I I have met so many beautiful humans. They were complete strangers that have opened doors for me that, you know, I've walked through, but I mean, I'll give you an example. I was on holiday in Spain and I did this exercise class. It's called Sanctum. I mean, it's a combination of hit and breath work and kundalini yoga, and it's with noise-canceling headphones and electronic dance music. It's it's like being in the club but without the drugs. Like it's it's a part of it. Yeah, okay, you have to come, you be my guests next time you're in London. Um I really connected with the founders, and I remember sitting with them over like a meal, and I told them, I'm like, I've got this idea for this menopause thing. And they were so encouraging, and they were like, you need to meet this person, and you need to meet that person. And then that person was like, you need to meet this person. And I'm so grateful for that because here I am now. I'm in this world of health and wellness, and it's thanks to these people. It wasn't the people that I'd known for a long time, and they have been so supportive. The people I know, my family, my friends, they're they're a million percent like behind me. But these this new world that opened up to me when I made space for it. Yes, has been uh wow, just so like I I'm emotionally even thinking about it because they are so special to me. I'm not even sure, like, well, I probably tell them.
Speaker 2:I probably do tell them, but um can I just interrupt there and just say I actually had a similar um realization once I left the corporate busy world um and stepped out into this other world. And in this other world that does exist, people generally are really kind and helpful and want to help, and we we support each other and we're like, Yay, you're doing this. And so I'm just really glad that you've experienced that because it does feel like it's like two different experiences and two different worlds are happening out there, and it's only when you leave one and go into the other you're like, ah, there is another way, so yeah, well, welcome. And um, I want to know though, because you've been doing such an amazing podcast, and you've had so many brilliant guests on there. Um, I just want to congratulate you to start off with. Um, but speaking to all those uh people, what are some of the the top aha moments or the bits you were like, wow, that's that's hit me, I'm gonna do that, or that's new information. Or which episodes should we point people to?
Speaker:Oh my god, there's so many. Um I I was so grateful for the people you know who've come on the show. Uh um, gosh, I I can tell you also, nobody says no. Everybody wants to talk about this. So that's so exciting. Um I think there's a few things that I I go home afterwards and I want to tell all my girlfriends what I learned that day. So I think there's a couple. Uh one is the conversation around HRT. Lucy, I love your progesterone is working for you. Um, the conversation around HRT can be really black and white, and it's not that simple. There are so many things you can do to ensure that your body metabolizes the estrogen and the hormones properly so that it's working for you and not against you. You know, I'm a daughter of a mother who went through the women's health initiative drama. So I've had I have a baggage of fear as well, but I have um so much more educated on it now. So it's it's not black and white. There's lots you can do. I think strength training or movement is a non-negotiable. I listened to Dr. Vonda write, she's this ortho orthopedic surgeon, and she was like, a hot flash won't kill you, but a hip fracture will. Yeah. So you gotta get moving. And oh god, there's there's a bunch. I think the other one too is you know, we've touched on how systemic the conversation has been around menopause. And we're we're told when we're young women, when we're 12, 13, 14, getting our periods, oh yeah, no, it's supposed to hurt. You're supposed to have stomach pains. It's you're supposed to have cramps. And then you get to perimet that's normal. That's okay. You're not supposed to get it. It's it's BS, it's nonsense, it's not scientifically true, it's a myth. Pain is not your destiny, and there is something to help you with every symptom. And that's what I'd want every woman to know.
Speaker 2:Say it, sister, absolutely to that. Yes.
Speaker 1:And what I what has been fascinating for me is the transformation that I've seen through this conversation in you. You know, when we started off at the beginning and we were talking about um, you know, leaving things behind and starting over, and then you told that beautiful story of, you know, meeting the the owners of Sanctum, and and then the emotion started to come in and things started to open up for you. And, you know, I feel like there's a lot in you that I am experiencing through this podcast today that is really about that transformation of opening back up, of connecting into people, of trusting and following. And, you know, this is the same for all of us in our menopause, you know, journeys that we don't really know what's on the other side. We don't know how it's going to be, we don't know what it's gonna be like tomorrow. But if we trust and we open up and we come back to ourselves and we share with people, the right people will connect with us, and then we get taken on this journey that is so much higher than the old journey that we're on before, which is what I saw in you. And I I really wanted to sort of just bring that back. I know we've moved through that now, but it's like that emotion that was in you, I was feeling it. And then you said I'm getting emotional. And I was like, isn't that what we're all here to do? To feel emotion and to live and to help each other and connect and say, I love what you're saying. This is amazing, and thank you so much for helping me on both sides. So, yeah, anything you want to add into that?
Speaker:I I think that's I thank you for sharing that. I um I think there's this whole yin and yang, or like this push and pull with it, isn't it? Like you're going through perimenopause or your postmenopause, and those cognitive things are giving you more anxiety and they're making you question yourself and your self-belief. But you know that there's this person inside you that knows you can do it. And you know, maybe you can let go of some of the fear, or you got to walk through the fear. So that they're happening at the same time. Like I can have a day where I'm like, yes, I killed it. And then I can have other days where I'm at home and I'm like, oh my God, what's happening? But um, I I had this um Estelle Bingham on my show once. She's um uh a holistic practitioner, but like a fourth generation psychic. And she said this thing on the show. She she said, like, there is a there's a world waiting for you on the other side of this. Whether it's five women or 10 women or a thousand women, there's people waiting for you. Whether it's me and menopause and what I'm trying to achieve, whether it's what you're doing and all the great work you're trying to do with wise women lead and and um female leadership, like there are people who are looking for what you have to give. And that's what I want to make sure that women take with them as they journey through this part of their life.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I mean, it sounds to me like you've given us all the wisdom that we could possibly need to move forward. So um, yeah, what is the war on top tip that you might add in? The thing that you you'll go to on those days, maybe when you're like, uh, you know, that that what do you do that reconnects you back?
Speaker:Uh there's a lot of self-talk. There's a lot of like, okay, like you have the thought, and then I keep saying, you know, I started meditating this year. I uh every quarter I said I was gonna start a new, like healthy practice. And I the first quarter was sleep, like a sleep hygiene. And then I started meditating, and it's been a game changer for me because uh, do either of you meditate? Yes.
Speaker 2:Um I try, but I have an ADHD brain, which makes it very difficult. So I tend to do mindfulness more.
Speaker:Yeah. Um, I it's a guided meditation. I don't really know what I'm doing. I'm just listening to this lovely man who who gives me a lot of grace and says, it's okay, Lisa, if you can only do 10 minutes today, it's okay. But um, you get so many downloads, whether it's to-do lists, but also the fear comes, but also then the positive comes. And I get to sit for 10, 20 minutes, whatever, and then I added journaling onto it because I'm like, oh my God, what am I, what am I gonna do with all this information? And as I'm writing those things down, I can work through them. And it comes back to like Lucy, what you said at the beginning about your experience. Like it's just awareness, like, oh, I'm having that negative thought right now. Lisa, put that away because you know what to do and you have all the tools. You have all the tools to do what you need to do. So just do. So I think that awareness of I'm having the thought. Now what do I do with the thought has been really helpful.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And for anyone listening to this, if you check out Yoga Nidra, you will find some really, really great tools that you can use that help you to move around the body and connect all the different parts of you together. So that's my thing that I'm adding in here. Um, I want to say thank you so much for giving it your time to speak to us today and for joining us on the Saint Sister podcast. I know that so many women are going to find inspiration in your story and in what you do. So please head over to Lisa's podcast, Menal Positive, if you've loved this empowering conversation. And hit subscribe and don't miss out on the other amazing guests that we're having on in on the show. You can also connect with us via our social media channels. And so until next time, keep rising, keep shining, and keep saying it, sister.
Speaker 2:That's it for this episode of Say It Sister. If it moved you, made you think, or made you even feel seen, hit follow, share it with the sister, and leave us a review.
Speaker 1:And remember, your voice is power and your essence is wisdom. So speak your truth and live a true and empowered life. Until next time, say it, sister.
