Kayley Wilson – Founder of Change it Up
When I experienced perimenopause, it knocked my socks off. I was totally unprepared and knew very little of the isolating and negative impact menopause can have personally and professionally. I struggled massively and wish I had known more. I remember thinking “I am just one women, how many other women have gone before me and had a similar experience?”. So I exchanged my director level legal management career and founded Change it Up to improve the outcomes of women.
Why Change it Up
Change it up is about making positive changes through increased menopause knowledge and awareness. Training demystifies the misinformation surrounding menopause.
Change it up specialises in workplace training, providing your teams and managers with the tools and knowledge they need to confidently address any menopause issues.
My Menopause Journey
The Pause
I stumbled into the menopause not giving it a second thought and why would I? Nobody had ever told me scary stories about it, like they do with childbirth, actually thinking about it, nobody ever said anything. To be honest, I didn’t even recognise the symptoms at first, how crazy is that! Having never suffered with mental health issues, my first symptom was anxiety. This worsened and brought on panic attacks, chest pains and dizziness. My days became unpredictable as I had no idea how I would feel and what symptoms I would have day to day. I didn’t understand what was going on inside my mind or my body.
I did think I was too young … clearly I wasn’t!
The Change
After several months, it became clear that I was perimenopausal. I looked for information to help ease my symptoms and found there was lots of conflicting advice and no clear pathway to the answers I needed. This increased my stress and heightened my anxiety.
Whilst my family were supportive, I felt a failure. I’ve always been a solutions focused person and not being able to overcome the symptoms left me in a mentally fragile space. So I began my own research and found the answers I needed. I took positive action to get my mind and body back on a healthy pathway.
My own journey got me thinking about all the women who were or had been in the same position as me. Either stumbling blindly into menopause and struggling or considering leaving their career after decades of hard work. I desperately wanted to help, so I changed my career and created a workplace menopause awareness programme. I rolled this out to companies, raising awareness for those experiencing symptoms, but soon saw how invaluable the information was for colleagues, managers, husbands and family members… basically everyone.
And so began the creation of Change it Up!
The Positive
It’s time to re-write the negative narrative that surrounds menopause.
Change it up provides training to organisations that allows women and businesses to thrive. Together we can eradicate the misconceptions of menopause and break down the social barriers by providing meaningful and relevant workplace training. This gives everyone the confidence to speak up about menopause, normalise women’s health language, deal with menopause challenges when they arise and for us all to live our best lives.