For all the Wonder Women—then & now
Let’s get to work…
I’ve worked with a lot of ‘Wonder Women’ in my career, many of whom were about my age now when I was lucky enough to learn from them at the top of their game. But now that I’m standing where they once stood—a working mom in menopause building a business in the face of a global pandemic that just won’t quit—I wonder about their silent struggles. I wonder how they hid a hot flash or worked through brain fog while I marveled at their professional prowess and seeming ability to handle everything life threw at them with dignity and grace.
Women have made so many advancements in the workplace over the last century, and yet menopause lingers as this shameful secret. A perfectly natural shared experience half the population of the planet is somehow expected to hide from the other half and, worst of all, each other.
Imagine how freeing it would be if we all owned our experience with menopause instead. Imagine how empowering it would be if we got hit with a hot flash during a meeting and instead of attempting to ignore the copious sweat and discomfort, we could just pronounce it a "hot flash moment" and choose whether to plow through or simply pause the meeting and excuse ourselves until it passed. What if it was acceptable to be a woman working while in menopause? I wonder…
But it will take more than wondering. We're not only imagining a long overdue future here at Kindra, we're here to make it happen. There are so many women working in industries and roles that did not allow them the privilege of working from home during the pandemic. And now as many that were able to work from home start to think about returning to the workplace, whether that's in real life, a hybrid arrangement, or simply the decision to stay firmly at home, it's time to address an issue that's laid dormant for too long. Women in their working prime are suffering in silence. It has to stop.
Let's bring our struggles into the light, offer each other support, celebrate our wins, and create a pathway for us all to feel understood, represented, and honored. Let’s get to work helping each other get to work.
Our first step towards doing just that is introducing our new Menopause in the Workplace Toolkit, complete with tips for navigating office culture as a menopausal woman or an empathetic colleague/manager, products and life hacks to help overcome your biggest productivity challenges, and restorative meditations for those moments when the best thing is just to take a moment for yourself before diving back in.
Wherever work may find you, whatever work you do, know that we see your struggles, we believe in you wholeheartedly, and we're working alongside you to make work better for us all.
I see you, Wonder Woman. You are not alone. You are Kindra.
Truly,
Catherine Balsam-Schwaber
Kindra CEO
