For many women, the years when perimenopause and menopause begin are also the years when work can feel most demanding. These are often the years of greater leadership, more responsibility, more visibility, and less margin for anything to go sideways. They are also often the years when home life gets more complicated. Children’s needs are changing. There are more sports, more activities, more moving parts, and often more emotional complexity as kids begin navigating puberty and adolescence themselves. Many women are managing all of that at the same time they are experiencing significant hormonal changes of their own.
Perimenopause typically begins in a woman’s mid to late 40s, the average age of menopause in the United States is 52, and the transition can last anywhere from two to eight years, with about four years being typical.1 Yet despite how common this is, the experience is still too often misunderstood, minimized, or reduced to a handful of stereotypes. Perimenopause and menopause are not just about hot flashes. They can bring heavier or irregular periods, sleep disruption, mood changes, irritability, urinary symptoms, vaginal discomfort, and difficulty with memory or concentration.1
And that matters more than many people realize. When sleep is off, everything feels harder. When mood is off, patience, focus, resilience, and confidence can all take a hit. When you are not feeling like yourself, it becomes harder to show up the way you want to, especially in environments that expect steady performance, sound judgment, and constant responsiveness. Yet many women are still expected to move through this stage of life as though nothing is happening at all.
The workplace impact is real. A 2023 study of 4,440 employed women found that 13.4% reported at least one adverse work outcome due to menopause symptoms, 10.8% reported missing work in the prior year because of those symptoms, and the estimated annual U.S. loss in work time was $1.8 billion.2 Those numbers are important, but they still do not fully capture what many women are actually managing day to day.
Because this is not just about missing work. It is also about the invisible effort it takes to keep functioning at a high level while feeling unlike yourself. It is about leading the meeting, answering the emails, making decisions, managing a team, supporting a family, and holding everything together while your body feels unfamiliar. UK workplace reporting found that 17% of workers experiencing menopause symptoms had considered leaving their jobs because of lack of support, 6% had left work for that reason, and 27% said menopause had negatively affected their career progression. The same report found that only 24% of female employees ages 40 to 60 said their employer had a menopause policy or other support measures in place.3
That should get our attention. Because when women at this stage of life begin stepping back, reducing hours, turning down opportunities, or questioning their own capacity, this is not just a personal health issue. It becomes a leadership issue, a retention issue, a promotion issue, and a workplace equity issue. A UK government literature review found considerable evidence that menopause symptoms can affect confidence and well-being at work and, to a lesser extent, women’s ability to do their jobs effectively. It also found that workplace support remains uneven and that many women are hesitant to seek support because of stigma.4
It becomes a leadership issue, a retention issue, a promotion issue, and a workplace equity issue.
This is also a talent retention issue at a critical career stage. Research from the Fawcett Society found that one in ten women who worked during menopause had left a job because of their symptoms.5 That is not a small or isolated issue. It is experienced, capable women being pushed off course at exactly the point when many should be stepping more fully into leadership, influence, and advancement.
I have been thinking about this a lot because it is not abstract for me. It is personal. I know what it feels like to try to make sense of symptoms while still needing to perform, lead, decide, parent, and show up fully. I know what it feels like to wonder whether something is stress, overload, hormones, or all of the above. And I know how easy it is to start second-guessing yourself when the patterns are not obvious and the conversation around this stage of life is still far too quiet.
That is a big part of why I have been so focused on creating a safer, more thoughtful space for women to better understand what is happening in their own bodies. Not to suggest that every hard day has a single explanation, and not to replace clinical care. But to help women start recognizing patterns, connecting the dots, and feeling more informed about what may be changing. For me, StrongHER Years comes from that place: the belief that women deserve a space to better understand their experience, track what is shifting, and regain a sense of clarity and control.
We need to talk about perimenopause and menopause more openly, especially in the context of work. Not as a side issue. Not as something women are expected to quietly manage on their own. But as a real and often disruptive life stage affecting highly capable professionals at a time when many are carrying more than ever: at home, at work, and everywhere in between. Women should not have to choose between protecting their careers and acknowledging what they are going through. They deserve support, understanding, and the ability to keep moving forward with clarity and confidence.
