Your Pitch - Pausitivity - unLTD Business

Nutritional therapist and menopause health coach Clare Shepherd tells us how she co-founded the Pausitivity #KnowYourMenopause poster campaign through Twitter – and her mission to make Sheffield workplaces the most menopause aware and supportive in the country

Tell us about your campaign – sell yourself!

Menopause is such a taboo subject, especially in the workplace. Women are often embarrassed to raise the subject, or discuss symptoms with colleagues and managers, leading to lack of confidence and self-worth. With that comes a feeling that she’s being judged if performance levels reduce, all adding to further stress and more severe symptoms.

Yet how is it possible for a woman to communicate how she is feeling when she doesn’t truly understand what is happening to her body and mind and finds it difficult to put this into words? How could she start a conversation in work when she perceives those around her won’t understand what she’s going through? Where can she go for help?

We need to start a real menopause conversation in the workplace, and open it up so that it is destigmatised and demystified by sharing information accessible to all.

Menopausal women are the fastest growing demographic in the workplace – eight out of ten menopausal women are in work with three quarters experiencing symptoms.

So I wanted to address menopause awareness and help employees and employers alike at minimal cost, with the @Pausitivity2 #KnowYourMenopause poster campaign.

What gave you the idea for your campaign?

I constantly work with women asking me if they ‘could be’ menopausal, having no idea of what to expect or do because they lack the necessary information and education. I hear they visit their GP and leave feeling unheard, misunderstood and none the wiser what’s happening to them. Chatting with three Twitter friends, we thought having the Pausitivity #KnowYourMenopause poster displayed in workplaces, surgeries and public places would help take away fear and confusion, and open up conversations.

Who are your customers and how are you targeting them?

Totally Twitter! Engaging doctors, NHS Trusts, Councils, Unions, MPs, celebrities, media, inspirational women from all walks of life. Encouraging them to share on social media, download, print and display, sending us their #PosterSelfie as social proof. Our ultimate mission is to have the poster in every GP surgery and workplace, and we are having a lot of support, especially in Scotland and Wales. As a local, I’m working towards and hoping to declare Sheffield workplaces as the most menopause aware and supportive in England!