Jeanette Kehoe-Perkinson believes far too many successful women give up their jobs midlife because they find it difficult managing the effects of menopause, as well as juggling work and family.
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And Kehoe-Perkinson should know: a few years ago she resigned from a top executive job after 12 months, on the tail of moving from the UK to New Zealand.
After her experience, Kehoe-Perkinson established Power Pause, a social enterprise that works with all sorts of organisations - from big banks to city councils - to help get policies in place so they can retain women through this time in life.
"If workplaces realised this is a real phase, a natural phase that people get through and if workplaces can support their women through it, what they end up with this very loyal, experienced women who are great leaders.
"Some people don't like us talking about this, because they're part of the 20 percent of women that don't have those debilitating symptoms, but ... people have to get on board and realise that there are going to be quarter of the world's female population reaching this life stage by 2030."
Jeanette Kehoe-Perkinson. Photo: Supplied
Kehoe-Perkinson said when she was in perimenopause, she was on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for a few years. And then that medication ran out.
"At that point, I had absolutely no idea at what happens over the perimenopause and over the years when your estrogen's declining, I just had no clue.
"I didn't know that can last for four to 10 years."
She said she did not realise the number of symptoms on top of hot flushes and night sweats.
"I did not have any clue about the known 34 symptoms and particularly the psychological symptoms I just I was clueless and when I ran out of HRT ... I sort of flipped over to the post six months, getting into 7-8 months, I was starting to not sleep., gain weight and all those horrible things that were affecting my job.
"I was having trouble not being able to concentrate, having brain fog, had hot flushes in the office every day that people just joked about. I laughed about it. They called them power surges.
"It just became very, very troublesome but I didn't realise the anxiety that overtook me and the inability to focus, inability to do my job of writing board papers which was ... easy to me in every other job for years."
She said not being able to perform at the same level was irritating.
Kehoe-Perkinson described herself as a happy, positive person but with menopause symptoms, "I didn't recognise myself".
She said if there were "menopause policies" in companies, women would not feel terrified to ask for some accommodations.
"Women wouldn't get would get so moody if people understood it and there was empathy around it."
World Menopause Day is on Monday 18 October.
