SHARING OUT LOUD

This week on Sharing Out Loud, I am thrilled to introduce you to Dr. Nikitha (Niki) Paluri, an internal medicine physician turned women's health specialist passionate about helping women navigate midlife, perimenopause, and menopause!

What makes Dr. Paluri so intriguing is her approach to treating the WHOLE WOMAN, not just her hormones!

Growing up in an Indian household with a mother who practiced Ayurvedic principles, Dr. Paluri developed an appreciation for the connection between mind, body, and overall well-being. Today, she brings that perspective into her medical practice, combining evidence-based medicine with a more holistic approach to women's health.

She also incorporates cognitive behavioral strategies, clinical hypnosis, and other mind-body techniques to help women navigate the physical AND emotional challenges of midlife.

And that's what I love about her philosophy. Hormones matter, absolutely! But we are so much more than our hormone levels. Our mental health, stress, sleep, lifestyle, and emotional well-being all play a role in how we feel.

And one of the things I REALLY loved about talking to Dr. Niki? She's YOUNG! How exciting is it to see a younger generation of physicians recognizing the importance of women's health, especially during perimenopause and menopause?! We NEED more doctors entering this space, asking questions, challenging outdated thinking, and making midlife women's health a priority long before they experience it themselves!

I loved getting to know Dr. Niki and hearing how she brings these different approaches together to help women feel better, not just get through menopause!

And ladies, if you live in North Carolina, you're in luck! Dr. Niki is ready to see you at Lumeera Health! If you're looking for a physician who listens, looks at the bigger picture, and treats YOU as a whole person, check out her practice!

Visit: https://drnikis.com/

Whether you're in North Carolina or anywhere else, be sure to follow Dr. Niki on Instagram: @nikithapalurimd, where she shares valuable women's health tips, education, advice, and insights to help us better understand our bodies and navigate midlife with more knowledge and confidence!

Tune in, have a listen, and please share this episode with the women in your life. You never know who might need to hear this conversation!

xoxo,

Heather

Some conversations just have a way of making you feel like you’ve known someone forever, and my conversation with Wilma from Maverick Menopause was exactly that!

We spent nearly TWO HOURS on Zoom chatting, laughing, sharing stories, and going off on the most random tangents.🤣 I swear, we could have kept going for hours!

And somewhere in between all the laughter and nonsense, we actually got around to talking about what brought us together in the first place… MENOPAUSE!

But not just menopause. Wilma is a nutritional therapist, and we talked about something I think deserves WAY more attention: the power of nutrition during perimenopause and menopause.

Nutrition can be an incredible partner to HRT, but whether you use hormones, choose not to, or can't for medical reasons, what we put into our bodies matters. Especially during midlife, when our bodies are changing in so many ways!

What I loved most about this conversation was that it didn't feel like an interview. It felt like two women who had known each other forever, laughing, learning, sharing experiences, and probably talking about a few things we shouldn't have!🤣

So settle in for some laughs, a little mischief, plenty of honesty, and some really great conversation about menopause, nutrition, and navigating this crazy stage of life.

And ladies, PLEASE take a little time to follow Wilma on Instagram and visit her website! She's all about practical, realistic nutrition and lifestyle changes without the guilt, crazy restrictions, or impossible expectations. We need more women like her sharing this kind of information!

🌐 Website: https://www.maverickmenopause.com

📱 Instagram: @maverickmenopause

Finally, I would love for you to share this podcast episode with your friends! We all know women who are navigating perimenopause or menopause and could benefit from these conversations. The more we share, the more we learn, and the more women we can help. That's what Sharing Out Loud is all about!

xxx,

Heather

A few weeks ago, I had a FANTASTIC (although much too short!) conversation with Dr. Sheila Crowe, a chiropractor and acupuncturist whose own menopause journey completely changed her perspective on bioidentical hormone therapy.

Rather than sticking with what she thought she knew, she got CURIOUS. She educated herself, changed her approach, and became passionate about helping other women navigate menopause with better information and more options. 👏

And THAT is what I love about her. She's not only incredibly knowledgeable, but she's also curious, open-minded, and genuinely passionate about women's health.

Another thing I LOVE? She's not a supplement pusher! 🙌

She believes in keeping things SIMPLE. A healthy lifestyle, hormone therapy when appropriate and desired, and targeted supplements like vitamin D and magnesium when needed. Not a cabinet full of expensive pills and powders!

We need MORE healthcare professionals who are willing to keep learning, question what they've been taught, and actually LISTEN to women.

If you're in the Orland Park, IL area and looking for someone to help you navigate your menopause journey, check her out!

📍 Instagram: @drsheilacrowe

🌐 Website: bodyandsoulhealthcare.com

NOTE: Dr. Crowe is not able to prescribe HRT, but she CAN help you better understand what's going on with your body and work toward becoming the healthiest version of yourself as you navigate this changing time of life.

Curiosity changes minds. Education changes lives. And women deserve BOTH. 

Sam Wade, @samwade72, is back on the podcast almost exactly one year after we first sat down together.

If you haven’t listened to Part One, I really encourage you to go back and listen before this episode, because Sam’s story has stayed with me.

During one of the darkest periods of her life, Sam spiraled to the point of trying to end her life and ultimately spent an extended period of time in a psychiatric hospital. She was put on 11 different medications (AND had electric shock therapy while in the hospital) and then spent THREE YEARS trying to get off of them because she never needed them in the first place! She just needed her hormones regulated.

Today, Sam is back to tell us what her life has looked like since starting HRT, what has changed, and what she now understands about what was happening to her during those years.

In Sam’s case, hormones turned out to be a massive missing piece of the puzzle. And yes, that makes me angry. Because how many women have been treated for anxiety, depression, insomnia, rage, or other psychiatric symptoms without anyone ever stopping to ask whether perimenopause or menopause could be contributing? Why is the first line of therapy SSRIs?

This conversation is not about telling women to stop psychiatric medication or suggesting that hormones cause every mental health crisis. It’s about asking why hormones aren’t part of the conversation more often. Women deserve providers who understand that.

Please listen to Sam’s story. And please share this episode. There may be a woman out there who desperately needs to hear it.

xxx,

Heather

In Part 1 of my conversation with Hope Henderson, we talked about the sexual assault she experienced in her early 20s and how that trauma shaped so much of what came next.

In Part 2, we talk about the man she thought was going to be her forever.

Hope’s sister introduced them. Her family already knew him. He worked for a church. They dated for three years. He was her everything, and from the outside, it looked like all the pieces were falling into place for the perfect life.

But even after three years together, Hope says she didn’t know the man she was actually marrying.

After the wedding, another side began to emerge. The control. The manipulation. The narcissistic behaviors. Slowly, the marriage she thought she was walking into became something very different.

Hope shares what it was like to recognize what was happening inside her marriage, how difficult it can be to see controlling behavior when you’re the one living in it, and what ultimately led her to divorce and begin rebuilding her life.

This conversation is about marriage and divorce, but it’s also about trusting yourself again, finding your voice, and realizing that sometimes the life you thought you were supposed to have is the life you have to find the courage to leave.

Thank you again to Hope for being vulnerable. Thank you for sharing YOUR story so that others won't feel so alone. Thank you for giving other women HOPE❤️.

Go follow Hope @joinfranke, and yes, she is open to DM's if you need someone to talk. xoxo

Today’s episode is Part One of a deeply personal conversation with Hope Henderson. A quick note before we begin: this episode includes conversations about rape, sexual assault, trauma, and controlling relationships. Please take care of yourself as you listen.

In her early 20s, Hope experienced rape and sexual assault, trauma that didn’t simply end when the experiences were over. It shaped how she saw herself, how she navigated relationships, and what she came to accept as normal.

We talk about how those experiences followed her into adulthood and informed some of the relationships she chose, including a marriage to a man who became increasingly controlling.

Today, Hope shares her life openly through Join Franke, her Instagram page dedicated to divorce, life after divorce, and all the messy, complicated, and sometimes hilarious parts of rebuilding your life.

This conversation is about the ripple effects of trauma. The things we survive, the things we normalize, and the patterns we sometimes don’t recognize until years later.

Hope shares her story with incredible openness, and there was too much to fit into one episode, so we’re sharing our conversation in two parts.

This is Part One of Hope Henderson’s story.

Give Hope a follow @joinfranke for all things personal and divorce-related on instagram! 

If you or anyone else is in need of help with a sexual assualt, PLEASE CALL 1-800-656-4673 (800-656-HOPE). 

Today Kat Rhadans, Hilary Phelps, Maggie Quinn and I sat down for a really honest conversation about maternal mental health—the parts we understand, the parts we still don’t, and the things women are often afraid to say out loud.

And WOW. I could not have asked for better women to have this conversation with.

Katherine Rhadans is a writer, mother of five, recovery advocate, and the hilarious mind behind No Wine in the Carpool Line. With nearly 13 years of sobriety, Katherine has become a powerful voice in the recovery and quit-lit communities, using her own experience with motherhood, addiction, rehab, divorce, and recovery to help other women feel a little less alone. She brings the kind of raw honesty that makes other women feel safe enough to tell the truth.

Maggie Quinn brought the clinical perspective to our conversation. With years of experience as a psychiatric postpartum nurse caring for women during some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives, Maggie understands maternal mental health from a perspective many of us never see. But what struck me most was her compassion. She never lost sight of the WOMAN behind the diagnosis.

And Hilary Phelps guided this conversation beautifully. Hilary is a speaker, advocate, writer, and certified addiction recovery coach who has been open about her own journey with alcohol and sobriety. She knew when to ask the hard questions, when to push a little deeper, and when to simply let us talk.

And then there’s me. 😂

My own story includes what I now believe was PMDD, postpartum depression, suicidal thoughts, addiction, motherhood, recovery, menopause—and now 7½ years of sobriety. There were times in my life when everything probably looked perfectly fine from the outside. SHOCKER! It wasn't.

The four of us came to this conversation from very different places, which is exactly why I think it mattered. We talked about postpartum depression and other maternal mental health conditions. Addiction. Mommy wine culture. Shame. Stigma. Hormones. Recovery. Motherhood. And what can happen when a woman is drowning behind a life that looks completely normal to everyone around her.

We didn't answer every question, but maybe we made a little more room to ASK them because mothers should not have to become a tragedy before we become curious about what they were carrying.

Katherine, Maggie and Hilary—THANK YOU. I am incredibly grateful to have shared this conversation with you.

And to every woman who watches, listens, shares, or quietly recognizes herself somewhere in our stories: this conversation is for you.

This is why I started Sharing Out Loud.

Because sometimes saying the thing out loud is where everything starts.

RE-RELEASE: Katherine (Kat) Rhadans — Motherhood, Sobriety & Rewriting Your Story

In anticipation of our LIVE Instagram conversation on September 16 about motherhood and mental health, I’m bringing back one of my favorite conversations with the brilliant, hilarious, and incredibly honest Katherine Rhadans.

You may know Kat as the mind behind “No Wine in the Carpool Line” (and yes, we get into how that gem came to be), but there is so much more to her story.

Kat is a mom of five, a prominent voice in the quit lit and sober community, and living proof that you can rewrite your story... even after addiction, shame, divorce, and some of the darkest moments of your life.

At one point, Kat entered rehab while her children remained with their father. One of her greatest fears had become reality. But instead of giving up, she dug in, did the work, and began rebuilding her life.

Today, Kat has created a life rooted in recovery, authenticity, HUMOR, and deep love. In this episode, we talk about motherhood, marriage and divorce, addiction, shame, second chances, and what it really takes to reclaim your life.

And this conversation feels especially important to share again right now.

On September 16, Katherine and I are going LIVE with Maggie Quinn, PNP, PMHNP, and Hilary Phelps, Recovery Coach, advocate, and speaker, on Instagram for a conversation about motherhood and mental health, including postpartum mental health, addiction, sobriety, and the “mommy wine culture” that was sold to so many women as harmless fun when, for some of us, alcohol became a way to cope with things we desperately needed help navigating.

Listen to this episode, then come join us LIVE. This is a conversation we need to keep having OUT LOUD.

Find Katherine:
Instagram: @katrhadans
Website: Katrhadans.com

And please give Maggie and Hilary a follow as well!

@mnichol7

@hilaryphelps_

PLEASE SHARE THIS EPISODE! I am sure there are women in your life who need to hear the message(s) shared here today❤️.

If you’ve been listening to me for any amount of time, you know how strongly I feel that women deserve BETTER when it comes to our hormones and our health. We deserve to be heard, educated, taken seriously, and treated like partners in our own care.

Enter Dr. Mondona Goodwin.

Talking to Dr. Mondona is honestly like an educational meditation session. 😂 She KNOWS her stuff, but she has this incredibly calm, reassuring demeanor that I swear could put an angry mama bear at ease. And I absolutely loved talking with her.

Dr. Goodwin is a board-certified Internal Medicine physician, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, and Menopause Society Certified Practitioner with more than a decade of clinical experience. She’s also the founder of CYRA Wellness, a practice inspired in part by her own journey with hormones, and by her desire to create the kind of healthcare experience she wished existed.

One of the things I love most about Mondona’s philosophy is this: Don’t just treat the hot flash. Treat the WOMAN.

YES. THIS.

Because we are so much more than a list of menopause symptoms.

We talked about hormones, metabolism, mood, long-term health, individualized hormone therapy, and why estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone can all have a place in the conversation when appropriate.

But we also talked about something that I think is just as important: how a woman FEELS when she leaves her doctor’s office.

Did you feel heard?

Did you feel taken seriously?

Do you understand your options?

Do you know what the plan is?

And do you feel like your provider is actually your PARTNER in your healthcare?

This conversation is educational, empowering, and, thanks to Dr. Mondona, somehow incredibly calming at the same time.

Thank you for turning in, AND HUGE THANK YOU to Dr. Mondona for taking the time to hang out with me on Zoom😘.

You can find out more about CRYA Wellness practice in California here: https://drmondona.com/

And please follow her on Instagram! @drmondona

xoxo,

Heather

Today’s guest is Lisa Peterson, a fitness and life coach who specializes in working with women over 40, and Lisa didn’t just find her way into the midlife space professionally. She lived it. And she’s been through some stuff.

Fitness had always been a huge part of Lisa’s life. She even trained throughout her pregnancies. But after having children, her health began to unravel. She was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroid disease, and then, at just 39 years old, she went into premature ovarian failure, also known as premature menopause.

Suddenly, Lisa was dealing with an alarming list of symptoms at an age when menopause wasn’t even on her radar. She went from provider to provider looking for answers, only to have her concerns brushed aside. She was offered antidepressants. Birth control pills. And when she finally asked a functional medicine doctor to test her hormones, he wrote the order—but not before asking her with a smirk, “Why, is that what your friends are doing these days?”

That began what Lisa calls the answer-seeking period of her life.

Looking back, Lisa can see just how much her body had endured: graduate school, infertility, an intense corporate career, a new marriage, three babies in four years, three years of breastfeeding, surgery—and then over-exercising and under-eating in an effort to “get her body back.”

And then, two years ago, Lisa faced yet another life-changing health diagnosis: a benign brain tumor. While benign, the experience took an enormous emotional toll and, in Lisa’s words, left her feeling emotionally paralyzed.

In this episode, we talk about all of it—the hormones, the health scares, the fear, the pressure women put on themselves and their bodies, and what Lisa has learned about fitness, nutrition, stress, and taking care of ourselves as we move through our 40s and beyond.

Because Lisa’s approach to coaching women in midlife isn’t something she learned only from a textbook or certification. It comes from living through her own body changing, searching for answers when answers were hard to find, and ultimately finding her way forward.

Let’s get into my conversation with Lisa Peterson.

You can find Lisa on Instagram @lisavp305 and also on Substack https://lisavpeterson.substack.com/