Women of a Certain Stage

In this episode, I sit down with Stephanie, a former primary school teacher turned menopause coach, for an honest and deeply moving conversation about living with undiagnosed endometriosis, navigating hormone imbalance for decades, and finally finding relief — and purpose — on the other side.
Stephanie shares her journey from being put on the pill at 14 for "bad periods," to receiving her endometriosis diagnosis at 40, to discovering that HRT was the first time in her life her hormones had ever truly been balanced. Together, we explore how years of dismissal by medical professionals shaped her drive to educate and empower other women — and why she chose to train as a menopause coach.
We discuss the overlap between endometriosis, perimenopause, and menopause symptoms, the power of cycle tracking, and why women so often need permission to put themselves first. Stephanie also shines a light on the very real challenges faced by teachers navigating menopause in the classroom — and what workplaces, including schools, must do better.
00:00 Introduction
01:03 Stephanie's Journey into Menopause Coaching
02:29 Living with Undiagnosed Endometriosis
04:32 Years of Dismissal by Medical Professionals
06:10 Finally Getting a Diagnosis at 40
08:05 Why Menopause Coaching — Making the Leap
09:00 Finding Relief Through HRT
11:18 What is Endometriosis? A Clear Explanation
12:27 The Role of Oestrogen and Progesterone
13:15 Identifying Symptoms Without a Period
16:30 Researching the Market — What Support Exists?
17:45 What Women Really Want from a Coach
18:02 Giving Women Permission to Put Themselves First
20:26 Discovering Women of a Certain Stage
21:37 The Training Experience and Cohort Community
23:41 Cycle Tracking as a Game-Changer
24:34 Takeaways from the Menopause Coach Diploma
26:03 Ongoing Support After Qualifying
26:57 Five-Year Vision: Coaching, Community & a Café
28:43 Working with Schools and Educational Settings
31:19 The Reality of Teaching Through Menopause
34:40 Closing Thoughts and Encouragement

Connect with Stephanie:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-page-64366223a/

Meet your host Lauren Chiren
Lauren Chiren is a leading voice in menopause awareness and workplace inclusion, dedicated to ensuring no one navigates menopause alone.
As the Founder and CEO of Women of a Certain Stage, she works with organisations worldwide to create menopause-savvy and supportive environments.
With a background in psychology, sports therapy, and nutrition, and an extensive suite of coaching certifications, Lauren is on a mission to train 20,000 Menopause Coaches and Champions, equipping them with the tools to support individuals and workplaces through this transformative life stage.
Join her as she breaks the silence, challenges the stigma, and empowers people to thrive at midlife and beyond.

About Women of a Certain Stage
We are committed to transforming the menopause experience — both for individuals and the organisations that support them.
Our mission is to empower people through education, advocacy, and expert-led training, ensuring menopause is no longer a barrier to confidence, health, or career success.
Join us and our global network of professionals dedicated to breaking the stigma, improving workplace culture, and ensuring no one navigates menopause alone.
Find out more here: https://www.womenofacertainstage.com/

Connect with Lauren
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenchiren/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themenopausecoach/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WomenOfACertainStage
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@womenofacertainstage
Twitter/X: https://x.com/LaurenChiren

In this episode, I sit down with Claire Stewart of Better Beyond — a graduate of the Women of a Certain Stage Menopause Coach Diploma — for an honest, heartfelt, and deeply inspiring conversation about what happens when a woman finally stops accepting that feeling broken is just "part of life."
Claire shares her personal perimenopause journey — the migraines, the exhaustion, the overwhelm — and how it led her to completely pivot her career, leave a job she loved, and build a business dedicated to supporting women through one of the most misunderstood transitions of their lives.
We talk about the power of community, the courage it takes to show up every day as a new business owner, and why finding your niche matters more than chasing a crowded market. Claire also opens up about the unexpected gift of the coaching program — not just professional training, but a profound personal transformation that gave her her life back.
And if you're sitting on the fence about whether menopause coaching could be for you — Claire has something important to say to you directly.
00:00 Introduction
01:19 How Claire and Lauren Connected
02:01 Who Is Claire Stewart and What Is Better Beyond?
02:24 Supporting a Client Through a Breast Cancer Diagnosis
03:25 The Value of Live Training and Community
04:15 Claire's Career Before Menopause Coaching
05:33 The Moment Everything Changed
06:12 Making the Leap: Going All In on Menopause
06:43 Building a Business From Scratch — The Reality
07:04 Getting Visible: Social Media, Networking, and Showing Up
09:16 Reaching Out to Macmillan Cancer Centre
10:30 Collaborating With Wellness Centres
11:22 Structuring Your Week as a New Business Owner
13:12 Setting Boundaries — With Yourself
14:14 Upcoming Events and Exciting Collaborations
15:26 Working With Companies to Support Their Staff
17:19 Why Smaller Organisations Are Leading the Way
18:26 Why Claire Chose the Women of a Certain Stage Diploma
20:27 Key Takeaways From the Programme
22:09 How Life Has Changed Since Graduating
25:14 Being a Coachee vs. Being a Student
26:58 Adapting the Menopause Plan for Clients
27:26 The Power of Coaching — Putting Control Back in the Client's Hands
29:26 What Makes the Difference Between Success and Stalling
30:45 Claire's Advice: Keep Showing Up
33:03 What Would You Say to Someone Sitting on the Fence?

Connect with Claire:
Website |https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairestewart5uk/

Meet your host Lauren Chiren
Lauren Chiren is a leading voice in menopause awareness and workplace inclusion, dedicated to ensuring no one navigates menopause alone.
As the Founder and CEO of Women of a Certain Stage, she works with organisations worldwide to create menopause-savvy and supportive environments.
With a background in psychology, sports therapy, and nutrition, and an extensive suite of coaching certifications, Lauren is on a mission to train 20,000 Menopause Coaches and Champions, equipping them with the tools to support individuals and workplaces through this transformative life stage.
Join her as she breaks the silence, challenges the stigma, and empowers people to thrive at midlife and beyond.

About Women of a Certain Stage
We are committed to transforming the menopause experience — both for individuals and the organisations that support them.
Our mission is to empower people through education, advocacy, and expert-led training, ensuring menopause is no longer a barrier to confidence, health, or career success.
Join us and our global network of professionals dedicated to breaking the stigma, improving workplace culture, and ensuring no one navigates menopause alone.
Find out more here: https://www.womenofacertainstage.com/

Connect with Lauren
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenchiren/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themenopausecoach/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WomenOfACertainStage
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@womenofacertainstage
Twitter/X: https://x.com/LaurenChiren

In this episode, I sit down with Karen Tucker — author, menopause coach, keto enthusiast, jewellery maker, knitter, photographer, and proud self-described multipotentialite — for a wonderfully wide-ranging conversation that proves menopause support can come from the most unexpected places.
We explore Karen's fascinating journey from holistic wellness student to newly qualified menopause coach, and how she has woven her love of mindset work, nutrition, and alternative therapies into a coaching programme that is entirely, authentically her own. Karen shares how a ketogenic lifestyle transformed her energy, focus, and creativity — and why she now champions it as part of her approach to midlife health.
We talk about the power of community, the importance of niching, and why even an astrologer who initially dismissed menopause completely ended up pivoting her entire business after working with Karen. We also discuss the very real challenges women face in workplaces that are yet to take menopause seriously — and what's coming down the line legislatively that will change that.
And if you've ever wondered whether crystals, chakras, or tarot cards have any place in a menopause coaching conversation… Karen makes a pretty compelling case.
00:00 Introduction
00:37 Karen's background as a writer — and childhood dreams that have quietly come true
01:50 Crystal Companions: the book that teaches you how to use crystals, not just collect them
06:12 What it means to be a multipotentialite — and why Karen wears it proudly
09:13 The day job: eight years in hospital social care, and an early retirement on the horizon
10:15 The road into menopause coaching — and how Lauren's story played a part
13:03 What it means when your mum's entire description of her menopause is "terrible"
15:20 Karen's experience on the Menopause Coach Diploma
17:11 Key takeaways from the programme — and the joy of mutual coaching sessions
18:06 How Karen adapted the Menopause Plan to make it her own
19:17 Going keto in 2021: losing a stone and a half, running uphill voluntarily, and getting herself back
21:00 The next learning adventures (chakra and tarot coaching, anyone?)
22:42 Fast-forward to June 2027: what an ideal retirement day looks like
23:55 Practice clients — including the astrologer who completely changed her business
26:14 What the ILM Level 5 coaching qualification taught Karen about herself (and her family)
29:30 What Karen loved most about the diploma experience
31:50 The big dream: a country house, eco-homes, a farmstead, and a charitable foundation
35:23 Closing thoughts and where to find Karen

Connect with Karen:
Website | www.embrace-coaching.org
BOOK:
Crystal Companions by Karen Tucker Available on Amazon

Meet your host Lauren Chiren
Lauren Chiren is a leading voice in menopause awareness and workplace inclusion, dedicated to ensuring no one navigates menopause alone.
As the Founder and CEO of Women of a Certain Stage, she works with organisations worldwide to create menopause-savvy and supportive environments.
With a background in psychology, sports therapy, and nutrition, and an extensive suite of coaching certifications, Lauren is on a mission to train 20,000 Menopause Coaches and Champions, equipping them with the tools to support individuals and workplaces through this transformative life stage.
Join her as she breaks the silence, challenges the stigma, and empowers people to thrive at midlife and beyond.

About Women of a Certain Stage
We are committed to transforming the menopause experience — both for individuals and the organisations that support them.
Our mission is to empower people through education, advocacy, and expert-led training, ensuring menopause is no longer a barrier to confidence, health, or career success.
Join us and our global network of professionals dedicated to breaking the stigma, improving workplace culture, and ensuring no one navigates menopause alone.
Find out more here: https://www.womenofacertainstage.com/

Connect with Lauren
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenchiren/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themenopausecoach/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WomenOfACertainStage
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@womenofacertainstage
Twitter/X: https://x.com/LaurenChiren

In this episode, Lauren sits down with Cherie, a biologist-turned-culvert inspector-turned-menopause coach, for a candid and deeply inspiring conversation about what happens when the medical system fails you — and what you do next.
Cherie spent six years visiting specialist after specialist, only to be dismissed because her tests came back normal. She knew something was wrong, but no one could name it. That experience of being unheard, undiagnosed, and left to figure it out alone became the fuel for a complete career pivot — and a mission to make sure other women never feel that way.
We explore how Cherie went from inspecting bridges under New York State's roads to building a business dedicated to menopause education and coaching. We talk about the gap between having personal knowledge and having the professional tools to truly help others, why certification matters in a space flooded with misinformation, and how the right coaching program can create life changes you never thought possible — including giving up the coffee and wine that bookended her days.
We also dig into why cultural change around menopause can't happen by only talking to women who are experiencing it. Families, partners, and employers all have a role to play — and Cherie is already planning how to reach them.
And if you've ever wondered what "whine nights" have to do with menopause coaching… listen in.

Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
01:25 Cherie's Unusual Career: Culverts, Biology & Life on the Road
04:11 Six Years, Six Specialists & Being Dismissed by the Medical System
05:23 Finding the Right Coaching Certification — and Why Others Fell Short
06:47 What Drew Cherie to Women of a Certain Stage
08:10 Reflecting on the Diploma: Key Takeaways
09:17 The Power of Community and Classmate Camaraderie
10:19 Trusting the Coaching Process
11:12 Life Changes She Never Expected — Coffee, Wine & Baby Steps
13:12 Expert Access and the Value of Asking Deeper Questions
14:25 What's Next: Website, YMCA Talks & Whine Nights
17:34 Who Cherie Wants to Help Most
18:54 Group Coaching, One-on-One & Working with Corporations and Families
19:39 Why Menopause Is Everyone's Business — Partners, Families & Employers
20:33 Closing Reflections & Words of Gratitude

Connect with Cherie
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cherie-fetterman-86514541/

Meet your host Lauren Chiren
Lauren Chiren is a leading voice in menopause awareness and workplace inclusion, dedicated to ensuring no one navigates menopause alone.
As the Founder and CEO of Women of a Certain Stage, she works with organisations worldwide to create menopause-savvy and supportive environments.
With a background in psychology, sports therapy, and nutrition, and an extensive suite of coaching certifications, Lauren is on a mission to train 20,000 Menopause Coaches and Champions, equipping them with the tools to support individuals and workplaces through this transformative life stage.
Join her as she breaks the silence, challenges the stigma, and empowers people to thrive at midlife and beyond.

About Women of a Certain Stage
We are committed to transforming the menopause experience — both for individuals and the organisations that support them.
Our mission is to empower people through education, advocacy, and expert-led training, ensuring menopause is no longer a barrier to confidence, health, or career success.
Find out more: https://www.womenofacertainstage.com/

Connect with Lauren
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenchiren/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themenopausecoach/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WomenOfACertainStage
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@womenofacertainstage
Twitter/X: https://x.com/LaurenChiren

In this episode, Lauren sits down with Letizia, a multilingual sales and marketing executive who spent 18 years at the top of the luxury goods industry — before menopause, burnout, and a moment of radical honesty changed everything.
Letizia shares her deeply personal journey from a high-pressure corporate career to becoming a certified Menopause Coach, unpacking how years of unrecognised perimenopause symptoms — from brain fog and sleep disruption to anxiety she never even identified as anxiety — quietly eroded her performance, her confidence, and ultimately her career.
Together, Lauren and Letizia explore the dangerous silence that surrounds menopause in the workplace, even in large, progressive multinationals with strong wellbeing and diversity policies. They discuss why Southern Europe is lagging behind in the menopause conversation, how women can be empowered to advocate for themselves with their doctors, and why the beauty and cosmetics industry represents a massive untapped opportunity for menopause awareness.
Letizia also reflects candidly on her experience going through the Women of a Certain Stage Menopause Coach Diploma — what surprised her, what transformed her, and why she'd do it all again. And in a moment of real-life resilience, she shares how she's been recovering from a broken ankle and kneecap — and still showing up.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
00:37 Meet Letizia — Languages, Background & Career
02:38 What Brought Her to Coaching
03:48 The Peak of Her Career — and Her Menopause Symptoms
06:45 Burnout, Brain Fog & Mistaking Menopause for ADHD
07:59 The Decision to Leave Her Job
08:43 The Sabbatical That Changed Everything
10:13 Going Down the Rabbit Hole — Discovering Menopause Education
11:28 Finding Women of a Certain Stage
13:20 The Discovery Call That Wasn't a Sales Call
16:17 Inside the Menopause Coach Diploma — The Cohort Experience
19:42 What Made the Programme Stand Out
23:35 Advocacy in the Workplace — The Missing Conversation
25:18 The Menopause Gap in Italy and Southern Europe
34:22 What Menopause Coaches Can and Can't Do — and Why It Matters
35:05 Empowering Women to Talk to Their Doctors
36:29 A Hospital Stay with No One Asking About Menopause
41:19 Where Letizia Is Headed Next

Connect with Letizia
https://www.linkedin.com/in/letiziamontani/

Meet your host, Lauren Chiren
Lauren Chiren is a leading voice in menopause awareness and workplace inclusion, dedicated to ensuring no one navigates menopause alone.
As the Founder and CEO of Women of a Certain Stage, she works with organisations worldwide to create menopause-savvy and supportive environments.
With a background in psychology, sports therapy, and nutrition, and an extensive suite of coaching certifications, Lauren is on a mission to train 20,000 Menopause Coaches and Champions, equipping them with the tools to support individuals and workplaces through this transformative life stage.
Join her as she breaks the silence, challenges the stigma, and empowers people to thrive at midlife and beyond.

About Women of a Certain Stage
We are committed to transforming the menopause experience — both for individuals and the organisations that support them.
Our mission is to empower people through education, advocacy, and expert-led training, ensuring menopause is no longer a barrier to confidence, health, or career success.
Join us and our global network of professionals dedicated to breaking the stigma, improving workplace culture, and ensuring no one navigates menopause alone.
Find out more: https://www.womenofacertainstage.com/

Connect with Lauren
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenchiren/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themenopausecoach/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WomenOfACertainStage
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@womenofacertainstage
Twitter/X: https://x.com/LaurenChiren