In this episode, I sit down with Lynn Blades, an executive leadership coach and former CNN journalist, to talk about menopause, burnout, and the corporate world’s lack of support for midlife women.
Lynn spent decades coaching top leaders in global businesses, but when menopause hit, even she wasn’t fully prepared. The brain fog, the mood swings, the relentless hot flashes—she had to navigate it all while maintaining her high-powered career. And she’s not alone.
We discuss why 47% of women in senior leadership roles feel unsupported during menopause, why so many talented women leave the workforce at the peak of their careers, and what businesses must do to change the game. Lynn also shares her personal experience of burnout, the dangers of ignoring the warning signs, and the wake-up call that changed everything.This conversation is bold, honest, and deeply necessary. If you've ever felt like you're just pushing through, this episode is for you. Because the truth is, burnout and menopause are connected—and it's time we start talking about it.✨ Lynn’s new book, The Quiet Burn, is out May 13th! We talk about why she wrote it, and how it's a must-read for ambitious women navigating stress, success, and self-care.
Grab your headphones, a cup of tea (or a fan, if the hot flashes are kicking in), and let’s dive in. 
Lisa x
 
About Lynn Blades
Lynn Blades is an executive coach, leadership expert, and former award-winning journalist with a passion for empowering women in business. As the founder of Legacy Leadership, she helps leaders—from C-suite execs to rising stars—navigate their careers with confidence and clarity. With clients spanning industries like finance, media, and tech (think Nike, BBC, and Warner Bros.), Lynn knows what it takes to thrive in high-pressure environments.
Before coaching, she worked as a journalist with networks like CNN, BBC, and Showtime, sharpening her skills in communication and storytelling. Now, she channels that expertise into helping leaders find their voice, avoid burnout, and step into their power. She also chairs the board of New Curators and mentors young professionals through Creative Access.
Her upcoming book, The Quiet Burn, is a call to action for ambitious women to embrace their power, take off their invisible Superwoman cape (that often feels like a noose) and prioritise themselves. Underscoring that self-care is essential for personal and professional success.
 
Follow Lynn Blades
Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynnblades/ 
Website:  https://lynnblades.com/
Preorder Lynn’s NEW Book “The Quiet Burn” (out 15th May!): https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-quiet-burn/lynn-blades//9781639081301 
 
Follow Am I Crazy? Or… 
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Podcast Host & Producer: Lisa Paasche
Podcast Editor & Producer: Luke Naylor-Perrot
 
Links:
 
Fawcett Society: Landmark Study Menopausal Women let Down by Employers and Healthcare Providers
https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/news/landmark-study-menopausal-women-let-down-by-employers-and-healthcare-providers
Shattering the Silence about Menopause
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/shattering-the-silence-about-menopause-12-month-progress-report/shattering-the-silence-about-menopause-12-month-progress-report

In this episode, I sit down with Holly Tennock, who faced something most women don’t expect at just 38—premature menopause. Not perimenopause, but full menopause. Her period stopped. And everything she thought she knew about herself shifted overnight.
A decade earlier, Holly had founded and grown a thriving PR agency, successfully selling and exiting the business in 2019—all while juggling motherhood and home life. The challenges were tough, but they were also motivating. Then, suddenly, what once felt like an exciting challenge began to feel insurmountable. Brain fog, memory struggles, and an overwhelming sense that something was just… off. She blamed stress, but deep down, she knew there was more to the story.
The reality? Holly was experiencing Primary Ovarian Insufficiency (POI)—a condition that affects 1 in 100 women, causing the ovaries to stop functioning before the age of 40. Reduced estrogen. Irregular or absent periods. A premature menopause that turned her world upside down.
And then, another revelation: ADHD. Diagnosed not once, but twice (because she didn’t believe it the first time). The connection between ADHD and menopause is profound—hormonal shifts impact dopamine and serotonin levels, intensifying symptoms like brain fog, emotional dysregulation, and difficulty concentrating. Many women only discover their ADHD during menopause, and 83% report worsening symptoms. Women with ADHD are also 40% more likely to experience depression in perimenopause.
Holly’s story mirrors my own in so many ways. This conversation is raw, vulnerable, and deeply honest—a shared experience of two women who thought they could handle it all… until we couldn’t. And what happened when we finally had to put on our own oxygen masks first.
Grab the tissues—this one’s going to hit deep. Because sometimes, it’s in the breaking that we let the light in. 💛
Lisa x
 
About Holly Tennock 
Holly Tennock is a serial entrepreneur and accredited professional coach. She grew a hot list of the world’s leading health-tech brands with the PR agency she sold in 2019 and is now CEO founder of Wilder Work, an offsite company reconnecting teams in biodiversity restoration sites across the UK.
 
The equity seeking matchmaking site for businesses and high-impact, memorable, nature led offsites is discovering and evidencing the best ways employees and leaders can reconnect in ways that increase economic growth and restore biodiversity. 
 
This entrepreneurial pivot to focus on restoring joy to leaders and their teams came from Holly’s desire to reconnect with her own sense of purpose and values following a premature menopause diagnosis at 38, medically attributed to stress, post agency sale. 
 
 
Follow Holly Tennock
Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/hollytennock/ 
Wilder Work: https://wilder.work/  
Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/wilder/work-wilder-weekly
 
Follow Am I Crazy? Or… 
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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmICrazyOr/videos 
Website: https://www.amicrazyor.com/
 
Podcast Host & Producer: Lisa Paasche
Podcast Editor & Producer: Luke Naylor-Perrot
 
Links:
 
How Perimenopause and Menopause Impact ADHD Symptoms 
https://www.additudemag.com/menopause-perimenopause-adhd-research/
 
Risk of Depression in Menopausal Stages 
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165032724006438?via%3Dihub
 
Book Recommendation - Miranda July “On All Fours”
https://www.amazon.co.uk/All-Fours-Miranda-July/dp/1838853448
 

In this episode I talk to Hannah Walker, a fitness coach and PT, specialising in helping women in perimenopause. Hannah’s coaching focuses on teaching women the science behind their hormones, and the impact they have on building muscle mass and achieving fat loss.  Why does it all feel SO much harder to lose weight? Why do we suddenly put on weight? What kind of exercise should we be doing and how often? What do we need in our diet? Hannah takes us through it all. 
Did you know 40-50% of women in post menopause will experience a fracture?  Or that  HRT and doing weight training can significantly reduce your risk? I didn't, but we go into all of that in this episode. 
We dig into nutrition and diet, such as the importance of increasing protein. How diets and weight loss strategies that used to work might not anymore. And how supplements are NOT a replacement for HRT – although they can help with symptoms, they do not reduce the longterm health risks of declining hormone levels, such as osteoporosis, heart disease, alzheimers and diabetes. 
 
We also discuss why many women feel like they should endure the perimenopause without help. But my friends, you don’t get a medal for not taking HRT – you might get osteoporosis though. 
 
Lisa x
 
About Hannah Walker
Hannah Walker is an online female fitness coach building strong, lean, educated women on The Empowered Female Programme. With over 10 years’ coaching experience she’s helped hundreds of women achieve sustainable fat loss, regain their body confidence, become stronger and feel more energised. Her coaching focuses on education, teaching women the science behind their hormones and the impact they have on building muscle mass and achieving fat loss, especially in Perimenopause.
 
Follow Hannah Walker:
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/etonfitness/
Empowered Female Programme: https://www.etonfitness.co.uk/online-coaching1715535280389 
 
Follow Am I Crazy? Or… 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amicrazyorpodcast/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amicrazyorpodcast
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmICrazyOr/videos 
Website: https://www.amicrazyor.com/
 
Podcast Host & Producer: Lisa Paasche
Podcast Editor & Producer: Luke Naylor-Perrot
 
Reference Links:
 
Trial overstated HRT risk for younger women
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5415400/
 
'Tis but a scratch: a critical review of the Women's Health Initiative evidence associating menopausal hormone therapy with the risk of breast cancer
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37847875/
 
The musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39077777/

In this episode I talk to Kim Curran, author and award-winning creative director, who also happens to be my best friend. It was Kim who first suggested I see a hormone specialist, like my perimenopause sherpa. And that’s so often the way – women passing their experiences and advice from one to the other.
We chat about our perimenopause symptoms and all the things we thought it might be. Spoiler; Kim thought she had long-covid, I thought I had early onset Alzheimer’s. 
Kim talks about how she didn’t feel like herself, how she started doubting herself and struggling to deal with stress in the same way as before. She also talks about her burn out, which led to her quitting her job as a Creative Director. And she isn’t alone, in a survey by SimplyHealth it says 23% of women have considered quitting their job because of menopausal and menstrual symptoms. 
We talk about how society is so uncomfortable with female anger and how Kim experienced anger and rage that she had never felt before. All of which she ended up channeling into the writing of her novel “The Morrigan”, a feminist retelling of Irish mythology from the point of view of the Morrigan, the Irish Goddess of fury. (Which came out this month!) 
We also talk about how perimenopause can present an opportunity to reinvent yourself, a new phase of your life, where we can let go of trying to be everything to everyone, and become… just ourselves. The liberating feeling of running out of f#@ks to give!
It’s a lively chat between two women who love each other. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
About Kim Curran
Kim is an author of seven novels and an award-winning creative director. She’s also a Royal Literary Fund Fellow and writing mentor. 
 
Follow Kim Curran:
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/kimecurran/Website: https://kimcurran.com/ Buy Kim’s book: “The Morrigan” 
Follow Am I Crazy? Or… 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amicrazyorpodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amicrazyorpodcastYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmICrazyOr/videos Website: https://www.amicrazyor.com/
 
Podcast Host & Producer: Lisa PaaschePodcast Editor & Producer: Luke Naylor-Perrot
 
Reference Links:
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/462916/the-morrigan-by-curran-kim/9780241712733
https://www.simplyhealth.co.uk/news-and-articles/35-million-women-have-considered-quitting-job-due-to-menopause-and-menstrual-health-symptoms
 

Women with ADHD are more likely to experience more severe mood changes during episodes of hormonal changes, including PMDD, Post Partum Depression and the Perimenopause transition. 
But many women don’t even realise they have ADHD before they get to perimenopause, and everything suddenly gets a lot harder, as the hormone fluctuations have such a significant impact on their ADHD symptoms.
Focus? Forget it. Remembering? No chance. I should know, I was one of these women. I felt like the love child of Dory from Nemo and Eeoyre from Winnie The Pooh - a depressed donkey fish with amnesia.  
In this episode I talk to Adele Wimsett, a Women’s Health Practitioner and Cyclical Living Guide. Adele's specialism within the Women's Health arena is offering support to perimenopause and ADHD women to understand how their hormones affect their traits.
Adele explains how the hormonal cycle impacts the ADHD brain, and how the different hormones like Estrogen and Progesterone impacts your ADHD symptoms.  
We also discuss why progesterone is such an important hormone for women. We often hear about progesterone's role in shedding the womb (monthly period) and keeping the walls of the uterus from thickening, but what other roles does progesterone play? What is the difference between Progestin and Progesterone? And why are there no transdermal Progesterone products available in the UK and Europe? 
This episode is PACT with information that blew my mind, I hope that you enjoy the listen. 
Lisa x
 
About Adele Wimsett
Adele is a Women's Health Practitioner & Cyclical Living Guide. Having co-authored the book Essential Feminine Wisdom, she is passionate about educating women on how to harness the power of their cyclical nature. From menarche to menopause, Adele bridges the woo & the science, supporting women to balance their hormones naturally and is passionate about speaking on all things menstrual education! Adele's specialism within the Women's Health arena is offering support to perimenopause and ADHD women to understand how their hormones affect their traits.
Follow Adele Wimsett:
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/harmoniseyou/
Harmonise You Website: https://www.menopausecare.co.uk/ 
Follow Am I Crazy? Or… 
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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmICrazyOr/videos 
Website: https://www.amicrazyor.com/
 
Podcast Host & Producer: Lisa Paasche
Podcast Editor & Producer: Luke Naylor-Perrot
 

What is HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy)? When should you start HRT?
What does transdermal and body identical HRT mean, and why is it better for you than synthetic HRT?
Everyone is different and getting the HRT balance right might take some time. What are some of the common side effects to the different hormones? How long does it typically take to get the dosage and combination right? Can women in Perimenopause be prescribed Testosterone? 
Why has HRT got such a bad rep? We talk about the Women's Health Initiative Study that started in 1993 but was halted in 2002 over concerns of increased risk of breast cancer, heart disease, strokes and blood clots. This led to confusion and concern from doctors and women and use of HRT fell sharply. It is now clear that the results of this study can’t be applied in modern day. Dr. Mayura Mahadevan from the @Menopausecare Clinic explains why. 
Follow Dr. Mayura Mahadevan on instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/mayura_menopause.doc/⁠
The Menopause Care Clinic website: ⁠https://www.menopausecare.co.uk/⁠ 
Follow Menopause Care on instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/menopause_care/⁠
 
Follow Am I Crazy? Or… 
Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/amicrazyorpodcast/⁠
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amicrazyorpodcast
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmICrazyOr/podcasts
Website: ⁠https://www.amicrazyor.com/⁠
 
Podcast Host & Producer: Lisa Paasche
Podcast Editor & Producer: Luke Naylor-Perrot