Menopause at Work: Hormones, Leadership & Power in Midlife Careers

Hello Monday with Jessi Hempel

Careers, Business

4.7 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2026

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hot flashes. Brain fog. Sleepless nights. For too long, we’ve mislabeled midlife women’s health as burnout, anxiety, or a loss of ambition. But what if the real issue isn’t performance — it’s hormones? In this episode of Hello Monday, Jessi Hempel talks with Joanna Strober, founder and CEO of Midi Health, about menopause, perimenopause, hormone therapy, and power at work. Together, they unpack how gaps in women’s healthcare during midlife are quietly pushing talented leaders out of the workforce at the exact moment they should be accelerating. After struggling to get proper treatment for her own perimenopause symptoms, Joanna built Midi Health to deliver insurance-covered, expert virtual care focused on women in midlife. This conversation goes beyond hot flashes — it’s about workplace equity, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), ageism, health misdiagnoses, and why normalizing menopause could unlock a generation of leadership. Because menopause isn’t a road bump, with the right care, it can be a power surge. Jessi and Joanna discuss: The difference between perimenopause and menopause, and why the distinction matters for women’s health at work Why 1 in 5 women in their 40s are prescribed SSRIs — and how hormonal shifts are often overlooked Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and non-hormonal menopause treatments The workplace impact of untreated menopause symptoms, including research showing women may lose authority during visible symptoms like hot flashes How employers can support midlife women through better insurance coverage Ageism in the workplace — and why women in their 50s may be primed for peak performance How normalizing menopause conversations can help women reclaim power Follow Joanna Strober and Jessi Hempel on LinkedIn. We will be launching the Hello Monday book club soon. If you’re interested in joining, send us an email at hellomonday@linkedin.com and let us know! Watch on YouTube: https://bit.ly/hellomonday-LI-video-youtube Watch/Listen on Spotify: https://bit.ly/hellomonday-LI-video-spotify⁠ Listen on Apple: https://bit.ly/hellomonday-LI-video-apple⁠

Transcript

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0:00.0	When women experience these things at work, whether they're having a hot flash,
0:04.0	they're looking flushed or they're tired, they lose power.
0:07.0	And both men and women, young and old, actually treat them worse.
0:13.0	However, when women called out their symptoms, and they said, that's a hot flash.
0:18.0	It's menopause, I'm taking care of it.
0:20.0	They were able to regain their power. I think that what's important here is being It's menopause. I'm taking care of it. They were able to regain their power.
0:21.6	I think that what's important here is being loud about menopause.
0:25.6	From LinkedIn News, I'm Jesse Hempel, and this is Hello Monday.
0:31.6	You know, there's a moment in many women's careers when everything is supposed to be cresting.
0:38.3	You've put in the years, you've earned real authority, and then something changes.
0:44.3	You're not sleeping, you're foggy in meetings where you used to be sharp, you feel off, but you can't quite name why.
0:52.3	Today's episode is about menopause,
0:54.5	but really, this is an episode about power.
0:58.6	Now, I know this topic matters to you
1:00.9	because so many of you are right in this window.
1:03.6	You're leading teams, you're shaping strategies,
1:06.0	you're trying to do your best work,
1:08.6	and at the exact same time, you may be navigating a physiological shift that
1:14.5	no one prepared you to talk about much less treat so what happens if we stop treating midlife women's
1:23.2	health as a private burden that women are supposed to manage on their own, and instead recognize
1:29.4	it as infrastructure for leadership. My guest today is Joanna Strober. She is the founder and
1:35.9	CEO of Midi Health. You know, Joanna built her company after struggling to get the right care
	...

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