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When it comes to menopause, silence is definitely not golden, according to former Olympian Dame Kelly Holmes, who is speaking out about her own struggles and why she believes women need more support in the workplace. Dame Kelly Holmes has been very open about the impact perimenopause has had on her, sharing her struggles publicly in a bid to help other women going through the same.
As a former athlete and Olympic gold medallist, she was knocked for six by the changes that started happening in her body.
“The menopause affected me in ways I never expected during my career”, she says.
“My healthy habits hadn’t changed, but my body definitely had!”
My first symptom was really bad body pains. As an athlete, I’ve had a lot of injuries, so I knew the difference between the injuries and the body pains I was getting. My sleeping habits were also really bad, and I didn’t realise that insomnia was one of the symptoms. And then there was the brain fog and anxiety.
I’ve had a history of mental health problems, but when you’re getting frustrated and anxious along with all these other things, you realise that this isn’t right.”
Dame Kelly now takes part in various menopause roundtables to enable more women to become empowered during this stage in their lives and believes there needs to be more recognition.
“I believe menopause should be recognised as a natural and significant part of women’s lives both personally and professionally”, she says.
To practice what she preaches, she is now backing a drive to offer businesses and women in business more advice on navigating menopause in the workplace. With one in four women in the UK saying they have considered leaving their jobs because of menopause, it is shocking to hear that less than a third of businesses see the commercial value in understanding more about it.
Findings indicate that ‘Peri-Millennials’ – perimenopausal millennials – will constitute over 37% of the global workforce by 2025, so Dame Kelly believes employers need to sit up and take note.
“It’s time we make these conversations not just acceptable but encouraged in the workplace and provide greater flexibility so that women can truly thrive during this phase of life”, she says.
“It’s important because so many of us are going to be affected by it. If you think that, by 2025, around one billion women are goingto be going through menopause and yet the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause are still being ignored by employers and being mistreated or misprescribed.
“You go from having this high performance attitude to feeling motivated at a real key period of your life in terms of your age, and yet you feel debilitated by the experiences you are getting.
“How many women have left their jobs, and how many relationships have been broken up because of women getting anxious and depressed? Maybe it’s just the hormone imbalance making them feel like they’re not worthy gives information about how you can develop menopause policies and practical ways to help employees who are affected by menopause symptoms. This includes creating more awareness around the symptoms, how to approach your GP, and almost giving the employer the nudge to say, ‘You need to help women’.
Every single one of us will go through this decline in our body and then have these symptoms; it’s important that we get this information out.
“Your 40s-60s are a critical time in anymore, but they’re absolutely worthy enough.”
One of the organisations pushing for more recognition and support for women experiencing menopausal symptoms at work is Well tech company and supplement specialist LYMA.
It has put together a free guide for employers and women in business, as well as offering corporate subsidies for its supplements and free access to expert advice via its Supplement MOT hotline.
The guide includes information on:
• How employers can develop a menopause policy
• Practical ways to help employees affected by menopause symptoms
• How to approach your GP
• How employees can approach their employers
Dame Kelly comments, “The guide your career, and yet one in four women is considering leaving a job; you are losing a talent pool of females because, through no fault of their own, their bodies are changing; they don’t know how to cope, and they’re not getting supported. And that’s why we need to step up. I work in the workplace – I’m a motivational speaker – so I have this conversation all the time. I really hope that if women can get it, you can get this written policy in your workplace. It would be fantastic.”
Lucy Goff, Founder of LYMA, adds: “We’re taking matters into our own hands because women need support in the workplace now, not another government proposal or consultation period. Until that happens, we will offer our expertise to businesses who understand the economic fallout of women leaving the workforce due to menopause. By giving women a boost, we can boost the economy too.”.
This interview is an extract from the PAUSE Magazine, your free magazine brought to you by the PAUSELive show.
The Clean & Tidy Home Show are a proud partner of PAUSE Live 2024. You can use code CLEANANDTIDY10 at checkout for 10% off tickets.
When it comes to menopause, silence is definitely not golden, according to former Olympian Dame Kelly Holmes, who is speaking out about her own struggles and why she believes women need more support in the workplace. Dame Kelly Holmes has been very open about the impact perimenopause has had on her, sharing her struggles publicly in a bid to help other women going through the same.
As a former athlete and Olympic gold medallist, she was knocked for six by the changes that started happening in her body.
“The menopause affected me in ways I never expected during my career”, she says.
“My healthy habits hadn’t changed, but my body definitely had!”
My first symptom was really bad body pains. As an athlete, I’ve had a lot of injuries, so I knew the difference between the injuries and the body pains I was getting. My sleeping habits were also really bad, and I didn’t realise that insomnia was one of the symptoms. And then there was the brain fog and anxiety.
I’ve had a history of mental health problems, but when you’re getting frustrated and anxious along with all these other things, you realise that this isn’t right.”
Dame Kelly now takes part in various menopause roundtables to enable more women to become empowered during this stage in their lives and believes there needs to be more recognition.
“I believe menopause should be recognised as a natural and significant part of women’s lives both personally and professionally”, she says.
To practice what she preaches, she is now backing a drive to offer businesses and women in business more advice on navigating menopause in the workplace. With one in four women in the UK saying they have considered leaving their jobs because of menopause, it is shocking to hear that less than a third of businesses see the commercial value in understanding more about it.
Findings indicate that ‘Peri-Millennials’ – perimenopausal millennials – will constitute over 37% of the global workforce by 2025, so Dame Kelly believes employers need to sit up and take note.
“It’s time we make these conversations not just acceptable but encouraged in the workplace and provide greater flexibility so that women can truly thrive during this phase of life”, she says.
“It’s important because so many of us are going to be affected by it. If you think that, by 2025, around one billion women are goingto be going through menopause and yet the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause are still being ignored by employers and being mistreated or misprescribed.
“You go from having this high performance attitude to feeling motivated at a real key period of your life in terms of your age, and yet you feel debilitated by the experiences you are getting.
“How many women have left their jobs, and how many relationships have been broken up because of women getting anxious and depressed? Maybe it’s just the hormone imbalance making them feel like they’re not worthy gives information about how you can develop menopause policies and practical ways to help employees who are affected by menopause symptoms. This includes creating more awareness around the symptoms, how to approach your GP, and almost giving the employer the nudge to say, ‘You need to help women’.
Every single one of us will go through this decline in our body and then have these symptoms; it’s important that we get this information out.
“Your 40s-60s are a critical time in anymore, but they’re absolutely worthy enough.”
One of the organisations pushing for more recognition and support for women experiencing menopausal symptoms at work is Well tech company and supplement specialist LYMA.
It has put together a free guide for employers and women in business, as well as offering corporate subsidies for its supplements and free access to expert advice via its Supplement MOT hotline.
The guide includes information on:
• How employers can develop a menopause policy
• Practical ways to help employees affected by menopause symptoms
• How to approach your GP
• How employees can approach their employers
Dame Kelly comments, “The guide your career, and yet one in four women is considering leaving a job; you are losing a talent pool of females because, through no fault of their own, their bodies are changing; they don’t know how to cope, and they’re not getting supported. And that’s why we need to step up. I work in the workplace – I’m a motivational speaker – so I have this conversation all the time. I really hope that if women can get it, you can get this written policy in your workplace. It would be fantastic.”
Lucy Goff, Founder of LYMA, adds: “We’re taking matters into our own hands because women need support in the workplace now, not another government proposal or consultation period. Until that happens, we will offer our expertise to businesses who understand the economic fallout of women leaving the workforce due to menopause. By giving women a boost, we can boost the economy too.”.
This interview is an extract from the PAUSE Magazine, your free magazine brought to you by the PAUSELive show.
The Clean & Tidy Home Show are a proud partner of PAUSE Live 2024. You can use code CLEANANDTIDY10 at checkout for 10% off tickets.
