“It’s scary, but you have to be prepared,” says Kayley Wilson, founder of Change It Up.
“Knowledge is power – it lets you take control. And when those symptoms hit, you’re more likely to be in a better place.”
When Kayley first started experiencing menopause symptoms, she felt she had nowhere to go. One day she was running a successful law firm, the next she’d changed her career and was battling suicidal thoughts.
“Within a 12-week window, I went from being a super confident person to not being able to drive my car,” Kayley says. “I didn’t want to be left alone. I was having panic attacks, and my life changed very, very quickly.”
“But when I presented all this to the GP, they didn’t say, ‘That’s menopause’, they just said, ‘We’re prescribing you some anti-psychotic drugs and anti-depressants’. I left, tore the prescription up and cried.”
As the psychological effects of menopause are so often missed, Kayley says it’s important for business owners to provide support and understanding for those going through it.
“You’ve got to be an active listener. This is somebody struggling with something they have no control over. Because of the rollercoaster ride their hormones are on, they get a lot of high highs and super low lows. So try not to take it personally – it’s not directed at you.”
In this session, Kayley will help you recognise the impact menopause symptoms can have on the workplace and provide the right level of support to those who need it.
Come along to pick up some practical tips on how to handle this in your own agency, and share your own experiences with this topic.