Assisting Women On Their Menopause Journey – Exclusive Interview With Hatty McCafferty
- Brainz Magazine
- Jun 18, 2023
- 5 min read
Originally a TV Producer, Hatty entered the realm of Wellbeing when she became a mother, later teaching globally. As her clients shared their Menopause stories, she felt the need to serve them better and became a Certified Menopause Consultant. Having interviewed more than 100 people for her podcast, Real Menopause Talk, she continues speaking at events educating and supporting both women and men through the Perimenopause transition. She consults for companies globally enabling them to retain their valuable Peri to Post Menopausal staff. Hatty makes the workplace Menopause Attractive: “By 2030, there will be 1.2 billion of us, so let’s start talking.”
Hatty McCafferty, Menopause Consultant, Speaker & Podcast Host
Introduce yourself! Please tell us about you and your life, so we can get to know you better.
Hello! My name is Hatty McCafferty, I am a certified Menopause Consultant and Coach and I host and create the podcast Real Menopause Talk. I started my working life in TV Production and Advertising, producing commercials and trailers, music videos and a few short films. I absolutely loved the work and it took me all over the world, meeting interesting people and gaining quite a few stories along the way! When I became a single mum, the demands and hours required to do a good job, no longer fit with my purpose. After a few ‘re-starts’, I qualified as a Bikram Yoga teacher on the Gold Coast in Australia and built up my portfolio in Yin, Personal Training and Nutrition. So it's been a wiggly career path but one that I am enormously grateful for and I enjoy my work each and every day. My daughters are now 17 and 11, I have a wonderful husband, 3 cats and a cockapoo called Dennis. The things that bring me joy apart from my family, are strong coffee and lifting heavy weights.
What inspired you to create Real Menopause Talk? Can you share the story behind the inception of your business and its mission to support women during the menopausal phase of life?
Many of my personal training clients are Menopausal and while I was listening to them telling me how they were feeling, I just knew I couldn’t serve them as well as I wanted so I started studying Peri to Post Menopause under Burrell Education and something just sparked. It still took me a while to recognise symptoms in myself, even though I was gathering so much information, but eventually I got there and realised that so many of us, the vast majority in fact, arrive at this life phase completely unaware and totally unprepared. I didn’t want anyone to feel as lost and confused as myself or my clients so I set about telling stories through the podcast because knowing you are not the only one can make the world of difference.
In your experience, what are some common challenges women face during menopause, and how does Real Menopause Talk help them overcome these challenges? Are there any specific tools, resources, or programs you offer to assist women on their menopause journey?
There are so many common threads. Every woman is unique but we can easily find commonalities and shared experience. Having interviewed more than 100 people for my podcast now, the symptoms that people endure are the obvious challenges but the one that I would say is the most prevalent is the loss of sense of self and the subsequent search for community. Once you recognise this and accept that it is simply part of the transitional process, it becomes less of a challenge and more of a curiosity. There are very subtle, almost imperceptible mental adjustments that we tend to make at this time of life in terms of mindset, intuition and our own authority. As our biological role shifts from that of child bearer (theoretically speaking) to elder, we find an ability to stand more fully in our authentic self, to take no nonsense and to broaden our caregiving abilities to the generation coming up behind us. It sounds a little fluffy but it is enormously powerful both in working life and personal life and it’s something that is tricky to articulate but when you experience it, you understand.
As the podcast and my studies have evolved, so has my remit which ties in with arguably the greatest challenge and that is how to navigate work when experiencing heavy symptoms. One of the things I love the most is visiting organisations to help them become Menopause-Attractive and embed this into their culture. The fastest growing demographic in the workforce is the midlife woman and companies need to support them to retain them. Remember, they are valuable assets in terms of morale as much as finance. These women have experience and knowledge, they have endurance and strength.
Over half of career women (55%) said Perimenopause made them feel invisible and dispensable. And at this point these women are often approaching or at the peak of their career.
Across the UK, it is estimated that 14 million days are lost every year, due to Menopause symptoms.
And the 10% of women leaving their career due to Menopause symptoms is strengthening the pension and gender pay gap and weakening gender diversity and inclusion.
Furthermore, it can cost up to 325% of a woman’s salary… to replace her. Future proof your business.
So you can see the importance of educating businesses in how to support women going through this life phase and I am so fortunate that I have the opportunity to support the women and those around them in business starting with awareness and education in the workplace for all.
Looking ahead, what are your future plans and goals for Real Menopause Talk? Are there any exciting initiatives or upcoming projects you can share with us that will further enhance the support and resources available for women going through menopause?
To date, my Masterclasses, workshops and talks have sent me around various parts of the UK and to New York. I would love to spend more time in New York as it is one of my favourite cities in the world and the energy there is just so great, so seeing more companies there and more often is high up on my agenda. Growing the conversation to include ageism is something that has already happened organically so I am working on a project that more obviously invites men into the conversation but I have been overwhelmed by the positive response from all genders and the desire to engage in the discourse around Menopause. Watch this space! And of course get in touch if you would like to know more; I would be delighted to work with you and your corporation.
