Today, I have a special guest and an extra special surprise for you…as we wrap up this season of This Show is Not About Menopause. I met Robin Joy last year when she joined the Menopause Chicks team. What a gift…and now I have the pleasure of sharing one of Robin’s gifts with YOU! I often refer to Robin as a “unicorn” because, in addition to ensuring all things run smoothly at Menopause Chicks, Robin is also a sexual health expert, a women’s health advocate AND she is my new favourite yoga and mindfulness teacher! Today, Robin is leading all of us in a holiday mindfulness meditation! Just when you thought the benefits of meditation and mindfulness couldn’t get any better…along comes Robin…and CHOCOLATE!. So please grab yourself a piece of your favourite chocolate, get comfy and experience the magic of this calming exercise with me. xo

Today’s episode is dear to my heart. My guest is the person who, 11 years ago, when I didn’t know what I didn’t know, answered the door when I came knocking. Dr. Jerilynn Prior is a medical doctor, endocrinologist, world-renowned researcher, author, a thought leader in women's hormone health and osteoporosis, and famous for her research and advocacy around perimenopause and progesterone. Many members of the Menopause Chicks community know Dr. Prior as the founder of the Center for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research [CEMCOR for short.] I am deeply grateful for Dr. Prior’s wisdom and guidance in women’s and honoured to have her sit beside me today.

Being curious about “some good clean fun” led me to invite today’s guest, Sarah Kate, to the show today for a conversation about making alcohol-free choices! This past year inspired me to find tasty, non-alcoholic versions of my favourite beverages…but this conversation goes beyond taste. Sarah Kate and I talk about how to explain your choice not to drink to your friends or others in social situations. I really wanted to include this conversation in the This Show is Not About Menopause line-up to highlight recent changes to the Health Canada guidelines for safe alcohol consumption. More people than ever are making the choice to stop, limit or re-think alcohol and Sarah Kate is on a mission to help you find the best available options!

Today I’m so thrilled to introduce you to someone who started as a client, became a friend, then a mentor, and is now a coach for Menopause Chicks…which means my own personal coach and cheerleader. Colleen Kelly is a changemaker and I’ve invited her on the show today to talk about what it means to change conversations, and to influence long-term impact through advocacy and educational endeavours. This conversation is full of nuggets of wisdom that apply to the mission of Menopause Chicks but will also be inspiring for anyone invested in creating meaningful change in their lives and the world we live in. I think you’re really going to enjoy this conversation.

I have a prediction for 2024. We’re about to have a lot of sex, sometimes with a partner! I’m so thrilled to invite Cass & Leah to the show today. They own an incredible online sexual wellness boutique, Intimate Wellbeing, designed specifically for midlife women. Cass and Leah are changing the conversation about sexual health. They joined me to talk about their journey including some of the challenges they’ve faced along the way, and their amazing success with normalizing conversations about sexual pleasure and well-being for midlife (and beyond) women.

Joining me today is registered psychologist and co-founder of the West Coast Centre for Sex Therapy, Dr. Carolin Klein. It is always a treat to follow smart people on Instagram who share their important research and body of work, and then have the opportunity to meet them in person. Dr. Klein works with a team of registered psychologists and registered clinical counselors who talk about sex all day long! Today, she has brought those important conversations to us. We cover a wide range of topics in our chat–from shame around sex and our bodies to the pleasure gap. This is such an important conversation for all women to be having so I hope you get as much out of this conversation as I did!

Today, I’m excited to share part one of my conversation with Dr. Bal Pawa–a true leader in women’s midlife health and integrated health. Dr. Pawa is a medical doctor, a pharmacist, a co-founder of the West Coast Women's Clinic in Vancouver, a Harvard-trained mind-body expert, a TEDx speaker, and the author of The Mind-body Cure. She is also a Menopause Society Certified Practitioner, is instrumental in changing how practitioners learn about perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause care, and she has a wealth of invaluable knowledge to share…so much so that our conversation extended over two episodes!

Dr. Pawa and I had such a fantastic conversation, that I knew we needed to share a part two! Dr. Bal Pawa is the author of The Mind-Body Cure: Heal Your Pain, Anxiety, and Fatigue by Controlling Chronic Stress. In today’s episode, we dive into our relationship with stress (cortisol) and how it impacts women's health, particularly our sleep, sex, and ovarian function.

Today, Dr. Alex Verge joins me for an important conversation about women’s heart health. Dr. Alex is a naturopathic doctor based in Guelph, Ontario who is passionate about elevating the women’s heart health conversation. The data tells us that every 22 minutes, a woman dies of heart disease in Canada, and the hard truth is that much of this is preventable. Many of us have at least one risk factor for heart disease–including the decline of estrogen that occurs postmenopause, so we simply can not talk about menopause without talking about women’s heart health. Dr. Alex is here to ignite more curiosity about women’s heart health, and give us the much-needed reminder, that when it comes to cardiovascular health, we need to know our numbers, and to discuss those numbers with our health team.

In this episode, I have the pleasure of talking about women's health with our future. My director Amy Scott, and my daughter Keira Johannson, help us understand how women’s health conversations are changing with younger generations. We discuss the importance of community in making women feel less alone, and Amy and Keira share their advice for young women who want to have more informed health conversations with the women in their lives.

Today, my guest is Jennie Dale, the co-founder and executive director of Dense Breasts Canada. Jenny is a fellow women's health advocate, and I consider her a rockstar in this area! In this episode, we’re going to ensure that you have the most up-to-date news as it relates to breast density in Canada–what it is, what you need to know in terms of screening options and how best to have that conversation with your health team. Jennie is here to fill in the blanks on differences that still exist province-to-province, to teach us all about dense breasts and why being informed about this is important for your future healthcare. Plus, Jennie shares the Dense Breasts Canada’s Advocacy Toolkit so we can be prepared for our next doctor’s appointment.

I’ve been following our guest today for a long time as have many members of the Menopause Chicks community. Louise Green, founder of Big Fit Girl, is a leader in changing the conversation about equity & size inclusion in athletics and has been doing so since 2007. She’s a fierce health and fitness advocate. Her work, her word choice and her tenacity has influenced mine. She is an athlete first. She is also an accomplished author, trainer, educator & sought-after speaker! Louise joins me today to discuss the importance of making fitness accessible to people of all sizes and abilities. This is an important conversation about bias, justice, creating truly inclusive spaces, and the power of midlife women to positively impact the spaces we’re a part of by shifting both the conversations and the culture.

There’s a lot to feel passionate about when it comes to women’s midlife health & this heartfelt conversation with Gynecologist, Dr. Nathalie Gamache, is the reminder we all need to take action on our own well-being; we need to ROAR!. A woman of many talents, Dr. Gamache shares her journey from teaching high school zoology to becoming a gynecologist and highlights her immense wisdom about women’s health and how to remain active & vibrant through midlife and beyond. After listening to this conversation, you’ll feel fired up, better educated, and ready to put your name at the top of your to-do list!

It’s editorial day which means your guest is ME! In this episode, I’m addressing something that’s never going to go away: misinformation. Is it misinformation, myths and misconceptions though? Or is it disinformation or even BS? Most days I hardly know. What I do know is that I have recently honed in on the word: MISINTERPRETATION. Some say the problem with menopause and women’s health is that we’re not talking about it enough. Not true. After 11 years in my role as founder of Menopause Chicks, I say it’s the opposite. There are many, many voices, people, brands and health professionals talking about menopause right now. But talking isn’t enough - especially when it continues to perpetuate outdated myths, misconceptions, stereotypes…and (the biggy) when media, marketers and even the medical community continue to misinterpret certain words which leads to enormous confusion with women, and prevents them from making key health decisions. I am here for women. Knowledge transfer is my job. I help health seekers navigate (and interpret) quality health information. In today’s episode, I’m sharing some of my own recent encounters with misinformation in order to highlight why accurate health messaging is so critical.

I had never even heard the phrase “pelvic floor” - until I met Kim. Kim Vopni is the Vagina Coach and Creator of the award-winning Buff Muff app, and she's my go-to person for all things related to vulva, vaginal bladder, and pelvic health. Her journey to becoming the Vagina Coach started with a desire to prevent tearing during childbirth and eventually landed with her realizing the importance of pelvic floor health through all ages & stages–especially perimenopause, menopause & postmenopause. After listening to this conversation, you’ll definitely be adding a Pelvic Floor Physiotherapist to your speed-dial and booking your first…or next appointment.

In this welcome episode, I talk about the meaning behind the name of my show and all the aspects of women’s health I’m excited to dive into with you and my guests in future episodes.