Wellness & Growth Journeys

Thirteen dollars. That's roughly what a tube of vaginal estrogen costs. A cream that can prevent the urinary tract infection that sends an older woman into confusion, into a fall, into a broken hip, and too often into an early death.

Across much of the Caribbean, women cannot get it.

In this episode of the Wellness & Growth Journeys Podcast, I sit down with Tamara De Angelis, a menopause practitioner, therapist, and founder of The New Change. She built her clinical practice serving women in the United States and has made her home in Nevis, where she has come face to face with a reality her patients up north never encounter.

This conversation doesn't stop at the problem. Tamara lays out what a workable path forward looks like: regional procurement, public health agencies at the table, and a clinical network that works across islands rather than one at a time.

In this episode:

→ What a $13 tube of cream actually prevents

→ Why mental health care is central to menopause care, not an afterthought

→ What a woman can get in the US that a woman on a Caribbean island cannot

→ Nevis and St Kitts: no practitioners, no medications

→ What happened when a clinician tried to get care for herself here

→ Awareness without access and why a film screening wasn't enough

→ Regional procurement, CARPHA, CARICOM, and pooling purchasing power

→ A cross-island telehealth network: what it would take

→ One thing a woman can do this week while the bigger fight goes on

This conversation is about more than hormone therapy. It's about healthcare access, women's health equity and ensuring Caribbean women are not left behind.

Tamara De Angelis, MSW, LCSW, is a California-licensed psychotherapist specializing in women's mental health and the menopause transition. Her work is grounded in evidence-based care, including menopause-informed CBT and mindful self-compassion, and focused on helping women navigate midlife changes with clarity and confidence.

Connect with Tamara

The New Change: https://www.thenewchange.org/

LinkedIn: Tamara De Angelis

Resource: Thriving Through Menopause https://info.thenewchange.org/thrive

Wellness & Growth Journeys Podcast

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wellness-growth-journeys/id1761928681

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/653PlFZ7LxJvZNf0Nh6crj

Work with Mia

Free Patient Experience Gap Report for clinic owners: wellnessgrowthagency.com/gap-report

Website: wellnessgrowthagency.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mialisa-garnes

Disclaimer: This episode is for general education and shared experience only. It is not intended to provide individual medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional about your personal health circumstances and treatment options.

Experienced women are walking out of jobs they built and careers they love, and most organisations have no idea it's happening.

In this episode of the Wellness & Growth Journeys Podcast, I sit down with Karen Cerezo, a menopause health coach and former middle-school teacher of seventeen years, who left the classroom before she understood that her hormones were driving the decision.

This is the practical conversation about advocating for yourself: how to name what you're experiencing, how to choose which symptom to lead with, and how to walk into a seven-minute appointment with something a doctor can actually act on.

In this episode:

→ Why she left a job she'd loved for sixteen years and only joined the dots two years later

→ Why we're trained from our first period to push through

→ What to know before you walk into the appointment

→ Learning the language: naming symptoms instead of saying "something's off"

→ Choosing the one symptom that pulls the others into line

→ Why your doctor may have had two hours of menopause training

→ Asking to be referred without feeling disloyal

→ What workplaces get wrong, and what actually helps

About Karen Cerezo

Karen Cerezo is a nationally board-certified health and wellness coach, TEDx speaker, menopause advocate, and founder of Lifestyle Fitness. She has spent over a decade helping women navigate midlife and menopause with clarity, confidence, and a little bit of humor. She is a leading voice on menopause in the workplace, bringing long-overdue conversations into boardrooms, HR offices, and leadership pipelines across the country. Her work bridges the gap between science and real life for women who have been overlooked, underserved, and underprepared.

📚 Connect with Karen

Website: midlifehealthcoach.com

Instagram: @midlife_health_coach

LinkedIn: Karen Cerezo

Book: Navigating Menopause: A Comprehensive Tracking Workbook Designed to Help You Monitor Your Health Journey through Perimenopause and Menopause. (Mastering Midlife)

Wellness & Growth Journeys explores women's health, wellness, personal growth, and the conversations that help women live healthier, more fulfilling lives.

Subscribe for more conversations with healthcare professionals, wellness experts, and women challenging the way we think about health.

Wellness & Growth Journeys Podcast

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wellness-growth-journeys/id1761928681

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/653PlFZ7LxJvZNf0Nh6crj

Work with Mia

Free Patient Experience Gap Report for clinic owners: wellnessgrowthagency.com/gap-report

Website: wellnessgrowthagency.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mialisa-garnes

Social media has made hormone therapy sound like magic. One patch and suddenly you sleep, you think clearly, you feel like yourself. So women walk into appointments expecting to be fixed, and when it takes weeks, when it needs adjusting, when the first thing doesn't quite work, they assume it's failed and quietly give up.

In this episode of the Wellness & Growth Journeys Podcast, I sit down with Dr Kavita Verma, consultant gynaecologist and advanced menopause specialist recognised by the British Menopause Society, for the honest version.

This is the practical episode. Kavita walks through every form of HRT and physically demonstrates how each one is used where the gel goes, why the palm wastes it, why rubbing it in works against you, how long it takes to dry, and what happens if it doesn't. If you've been handed a prescription and left to work it out, this is the conversation you were meant to have in the appointment.

📺 Watch the video version because much of this episode is demonstrated on camera.

In this episode:

→ Why she left the NHS to run menopause clinics her own way

→ Systemic vs local HRT, and why vaginal estrogen won't touch hot flushes

→ Tablets, gels, sprays, patches: the honest pros and cons of each

→ How to apply estrogen gel properly, and the mistake almost everyone makes

→ Why gels and patches need their application site rotated

→ How the hormone transfers to a child, a pet, or a partner if it isn't dry

→ The Mirena coil as the progesterone half, and who it suits

→ Why progesterone isn't optional if you still have a womb

→ Body-identical vs synthetic progesterone

→ Why blood tests aren't the answer most women think they are

→ What the first three months realistically look like

This episode is general education, not individual medical advice. Product names are mentioned for education only, and nothing here is an endorsement. Please speak with your own healthcare provider about your treatment.

About Dr. Kavita Verma

Dr. Kavita Verma is a consultant gynaecologist and advanced menopause specialist with decades of experience in obstetrics and gynaecology. She advocates for personalised menopause care that gives women time to discuss their symptoms, medical history, treatment options, potential side effects, and concerns.

Connect with Dr Kavita

Learn more about Dr. Verma and her services: https://www.menopausecareonline.co.uk/

If this episode made you think of someone, send it to her.

For ten years she couldn't stand, sit, or walk for any length of time. Twelve consultants. Fibromyalgia, Lyme disease, arthritis, a psychiatric referral. Thousands of blood tests. Nobody said the word "hormones" until a physiotherapist walked her back to her GP surgery and said it for her.

In this episode of the Wellness & Growth Journeys Podcast, I sit down with Claire Hattrick, UK menopause coach, author of Menopause Help: Before, During, After, and a voice in the Make Menopause Matter campaign about the perimenopause symptom almost nobody warns women about.

Joint pain is now recognised as Musculoskeletal Syndrome of Menopause. More women experience it than hot flushes. Claire went through early menopause at 40, spent a decade being investigated for everything except her hormones, and now works with organisations building workplaces that actually support women through this stage.

In this episode:

→ Why joint pain in perimenopause goes unrecognised for years

→ Musculoskeletal Syndrome of Menopause: the name it finally has

→ What ten years of tests and referrals actually looked like

→ The physiotherapist who said "hormones" when twelve consultants didn't

→ HRT that gave her life back and why she had to stop taking it

→ Early menopause at 40, and why "come back at 51" fails women

→ What she says to men who ask why they're in a menopause session

→ The prescribing gap for women of colour in the UK

→ Why the workplace conversation has to include everyone

About Claire Hattrick

Claire Hattrick, known as The Executive Menopause Coach, is a menopause educator, author of Menopause Help: Before, During, After, and workplace advocate. Inspired by her decade-long experience with undiagnosed menopause-related joint pain, Claire helps women navigate menopause through one-to-one coaching and works with organisations to improve menopause awareness, support employees, and retain female talent. She has been featured on national television and in leading newspapers and magazines.

Connect with Claire

Book: Menopause Help: Before, During, After

LinkedIn: Claire Hattrick

Instagram: @theexecutivemenopausecoach

Work with Mia

Free Patient Experience Gap Report for clinic owners: wellnessgrowthagency.com/gap-report

Website: wellnessgrowthagency.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mialisa-garnes

Claire Hattrick is a menopause coach and educator, not a medical doctor. This episode is general education and shared experience, not medical advice. Please speak with your own healthcare provider about your own care.

If this episode made you think of someone, send it to her.

You're in your forties. You're exhausted; you can't sleep, and your brain feels foggy. You go to your GP, and you're told to wait, or that it's stress, or you're handed a prescription that doesn't touch it. So you start looking privately, and there's no clear way to tell whether the person you're booking with is trained for what you're actually dealing with.

In this episode of the Wellness & Growth Journeys Podcast, I sit down with Dr Orlanda Allen, a UK medical doctor and senior healthcare leader who has spent her career on the other side of that problem: designing the systems women are trying to navigate.

Orlanda spent nearly a decade in the NHS in anaesthesia, intensive care and emergency medicine before moving into service design and leadership. She now leads the surgical service at a major private provider and previously headed women's services across breast, gynaecology, obstetrics and fertility.

This conversation is about perimenopause and menopause care as a systems problem: why navigation fails, what collaborative care would really require, and what a woman can do inside a ten-minute appointment.

In this episode:

→ What the UK women's health strategy set out to do, and whether it's changing anything

→ Why navigating to the right specialist is the real barrier, not the diagnosis

→ The sub-specialties of gynaecology most women don't know exist

→ Femtech and wearables: useful data, and why your clinician can't use it

→ What a collaborative care model would actually take to build

→ Why culture shapes whether a woman seeks help at all

→ Exactly what to ask so you don't leave an appointment empty-handed

→ Why being dismissed usually isn't deliberate and what to do anyway

Important

This episode is general education, not individual medical advice. Please speak with your own healthcare provider about your situation.

📚 Connect with Dr Orlanda Allen

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/drorlanda/

🎙 Wellness & Growth Journeys Podcast

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wellness-growth-journeys/id1761928681

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/653PlFZ7LxJvZNf0Nh6crj

🔍 Run a perimenopause, menopause, or HRT clinic? If you suspect women are slipping through the cracks between "curious" and "booked," the free Patient Experience Gap Report helps you audit your own patient journey: wellnessgrowthagency.com/gap-report

🤝 Work with Mialisa

Website: wellnessgrowthagency.com ·

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mialisa-garnes

If this episode made you think of someone, send it to her.

In the Caribbean, menopause is something women whisper about if they say it out loud at all. Patrice Rolle went through surgical menopause with no warning, no local specialists, and a doctor who told her she'd be fine.

In this episode of the Wellness & Growth Journeys Podcast, I sit down with Patrice Rolle, founder of Menolux Health & Wellness in Nassau, executive menopause coach, CBT practitioner for menopausal symptoms, and author of Your Menopause Roadmap.

After a hysterectomy for aggressive endometriosis and fibroids, Patrice went from running seven miles a day to barely leaving her couch, then found that the first treatment she was offered wasn't safe for her. She rebuilt her health, sold her insurance agency, and set out to build the menopause support the Bahamas didn't have.

This is a conversation about surgical menopause, stigma, workplaces that aren't ready, and what it takes to start the conversation in a region where it's only just beginning.

In this episode:

→ Surgical menopause: what nobody prepared her for

→ Why oral estrogen wasn't safe for her and what happened next

→ The stigma of ageing, and what one date revealed about it

→ Early signs Caribbean women most often brush off

→ The meeting she walked out of, and what estrogen had to do with it

→ What a menopause-informed workplace actually looks like

→ Why insurers and national health systems should be paying attention

→ Elevate Her: bringing the menopause conversation to Nassau

→ The one thing to do this week if you don't feel like yourself

DISCLAIMER: This episode is for general educational and informational purposes only and reflects the guest's experiences and perspectives. Patrice Rolle is a menopause coach and CBT practitioner, not a medical doctor. This conversation is not medical advice and should not replace individual medical assessment or treatment. Menopause symptoms and treatment options vary from person to person. Consult a qualified healthcare professional about your symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment options before making changes to your healthcare plan.

🌺 Elevate Her Menopause & Wellness Bahamas Thursday 15 October 2026, 6:30 pm · Fusion Superplex, Nassau. A screening of The M Factor, a menopause panel, the launch of a new menopause programme in The Bahamas, and the first look at the Elevate Her conference coming in 2027. (This evening is sold out! Congratulations, Patrice.)

📚 Connect with Patrice Rolle

Menolux Health & Wellness: menoluxhealthandwellness.com

Book: Your Menopause Roadmap available on Amazon

🤝 Work with Mialisa

Website: wellnessgrowthagency.com ·

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mialisa-garnes

If this episode made you think of someone, send it to her.

HRT or no HRT? The menopause conversation can feel incredibly polarised, with women often being told that hormone replacement therapy is either the answer to everything or something to avoid altogether.

But what if the better question is: What does this particular woman need?

In this episode of Wellness & Growth Journeys, I sit down with Renée Crichlow, founder of REAC Fitness in Barbados, to have a nuanced conversation about perimenopause, menopause, HRT, nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress, pelvic floor health, and the unique cultural context surrounding menopause for Caribbean women.

Renée shares why she doesn't see herself as either "pro-HRT" or "anti-HRT," and why women should consider their individual history, symptoms, and circumstances when discussing treatment options with their healthcare providers.

Our conversation also explores why so many women focus on weight gain during midlife, the importance of protein and resistance training, how stress and sleep can affect wellbeing, and why small sustainable changes may be more realistic than trying to overhaul everything at once.

And importantly, Renée brings a Barbadian and Caribbean perspective to a menopause conversation that is often dominated by US and UK voices.

✅ The HRT debate: do you really need it? ✅ HRT, symptoms and individual needs ✅ Menopause weight gain and nutrition ✅ Protein, fibre and the "eat less, move more" mindset ✅ Resistance training, sleep and stress ✅ Pelvic floor health in menopause ✅ Why small, sustainable changes matter ✅ Menopause and cultural attitudes in the Caribbean ✅ Creating more relevant menopause conversations for Caribbean women ✅ Renée's advice for women in their 40s and 50s

Important: This episode is for educational and informational purposes only and is not medical advice. HRT and other menopause treatments are individual decisions that should be discussed with a qualified healthcare professional who can consider your medical history, symptoms, risks, and circumstances.

Renée Critchlow is the founder of REAC Fitness in Barbados. She has a master's degree in public health from the University of West London and more than 12 years of experience across exercise programming, nutrition, coaching, pelvic floor rehabilitation, and lifestyle coaching for women. Her public health dissertation focused on perimenopause in the workplace.

REAC Fitness on

Instagram: @reacfitness, as well as her

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/reneecrichlow

Wellness & Growth Journeys explores women's health, wellness, personal growth, and the conversations that help women live healthier, more fulfilling lives.

Subscribe for more conversations with healthcare professionals, wellness experts, and women challenging the way we think about health.

Work with Mia

Free Patient Experience Gap Report for clinic owners: wellnessgrowthagency.com/gap-report

Website: wellnessgrowthagency.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mialisa-garnes

What if perimenopause is affecting more than your symptoms? What if it's affecting your career, income, relationships, and quality of life?

In this episode of Wellness & Growth Journeys, I sit down with Dr. Maria Zalazar, physician, founder, and medical director of MZ Medical, to explore the hidden impact of perimenopause and menopause on women's health, work, and economic wellbeing.

Dr. Zalazar explains why the conversation around menopause needs to move beyond hot flashes and why symptoms such as fatigue, sleep problems, brain fog, irritability, low mood, and anxiety can go unrecognised for years.

We also discuss the "menopause penalty" and research examining how menopause can affect women's earnings, career progression, and participation in the workforce.

✨ The menopause penalty and its impact on women's careers and income

✨ Why perimenopause symptoms like fatigue, brain fog and sleep problems can go unrecognised

✨ Why menopause is about more than hot flashes

✨ The challenges women face getting diagnosed and treated

✨ How menopause can affect work, relationships and quality of life

✨ What healthcare providers and workplaces can do differently

✨ How women can advocate for better care

Dr. Zalazar also shares an important message for women who recognise themselves in this conversation: don't wait for hot flashes or for menopause to be "official" before paying attention to what is changing in your health, work and relationships.

If you're experiencing changes in your energy, sleep, mood, concentration or overall wellbeing, this conversation may help you recognise that those changes deserve attention.

For healthcare practitioners: This episode also explores how the patient experience can be improved, from recognising symptoms earlier to creating more comprehensive and evidence-based menopause care.

Dr. Maria Zalazar is a physician, founder, and medical director of MZ Medical, a digital women's health platform based in London. Her clinical focus includes perimenopause, menopause, endometriosis, and metabolic and hormonal conditions affecting women.

She also writes about women's midlife health through her Women's Health in Midlife newsletter.

Connect with Dr. Maria

Website: mz-medical.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dr-maria-zalazar

Instagram: @drmariazalazar

Wellness & Growth Journeys explores women's health, wellness, personal growth, and the conversations that help women live healthier, more fulfilling lives.

Subscribe for more conversations with healthcare professionals, wellness experts, and women challenging the way we think about health.

Work with Mia

Free Patient Experience Gap Report for clinic owners: wellnessgrowthagency.com/gap-report

Website: wellnessgrowthagency.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mialisa-garnes

This episode is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for personalised medical advice. Speak with a qualified healthcare professional about your individual symptoms and treatment options.

Menopause care should not depend on your income, insurance status, or where you live.

In this episode of Wellness & Growth Journeys, I sit down with Dr. Peggy Margetson, board-certified women's health nurse practitioner and founder and CEO of Trust Women's Healthcare, for an honest conversation about the gaps in women's healthcare and what better menopause care can look like.

We discuss why so many women struggle to get appropriate care during perimenopause and menopause, including the barriers created by cost, insurance coverage, provider education, and access to hormone therapy.

Dr. Peggy also explains why symptoms such as fatigue, sleep problems, mood changes, irregular periods, and irritability should not automatically be dismissed as "just perimenopause." A proper evaluation matters because other health conditions can produce similar symptoms.

We explore✨

✔️ The gaps in menopause care and why access can depend on income and insurance

✔️ Why hormone therapy remains underused and the barriers women face

✔️ PCOS/PMOS and what happens during the transition into perimenopause

✔️ Why symptoms shouldn't automatically be dismissed as perimenopause

✔️ Mood changes, irritability, sleep issues, and other overlooked symptoms

✔️ Understanding hormone therapy risks, benefits, and alternatives

✔️ The importance of listening, education, and shared decision-making

✔️ Why finding a provider who listens can change the experience of menopause care

About Dr. Peggy Margetson

Dr. Peggy Margetson is a Board Certified Women's Health Nurse Practitioner and the Founder and CEO of Trust Women's Healthcare, with locations in Brooklyn and Deer Park. With over a decade of experience, she is dedicated to providing compassionate, culturally competent, and personalised care across women's health, including preventive GYN care, menopause, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and sexual medicine.

Connect with Dr. Peggy

Website: https://trustwomenshealthcare.com

The Menopause Connect Webinar: https://themenopauseconnection.eventbrite.com/

Instagram: @drpeggynyc

Wellness & Growth Journeys explores women's health, wellness, personal growth, and the conversations that help women live healthier, more fulfilling lives.

Subscribe for more conversations with healthcare professionals, wellness experts, and women challenging the way we think about health.

Wellness & Growth Journeys Podcast

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wellness-growth-journeys/id1761928681

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/653PlFZ7LxJvZNf0Nh6crj

Work with Mia

Free Patient Experience Gap Report for clinic owners: wellnessgrowthagency.com/gap-report

Website: wellnessgrowthagency.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mialisa-garnes

Why don't I want sex anymore? For many women, changes in sexual desire during perimenopause and menopause can feel confusing and frustrating.

In this episode of Wellness & Growth Journeys, I sit down with Dr. Janet Williams, a board-certified OBGYN, physician, hypnotherapist, coach, and author of Why Don't I Like Sex Anymore?, to explore what can really be behind changes in libido after 40.

Dr. Janet brings more than 20 years of experience in women's health and now helps women navigate perimenopause, menopause, sexual wellness, and pleasure through her work with Good Groove. She explains why sexual desire is biopsychosocial, shaped by biology, psychology, relationships, stress, mental load, and the environment around us.

We explore why desire can change during midlife and what women and healthcare professionals should understand about pleasure, menopause care, and personalised support.

✨ Why libido can change during perimenopause and menopause

✨ The role of hormones, stress, mental load, relationships and the nervous system

✨ Spontaneous vs. responsive desire and the orgasm gap

✨ How clinical hypnosis may support women experiencing menopause symptoms

✨ Hormone therapy, personalised care and knowing when to seek another opinion

✨ Why women can feel dismissed when seeking menopause care

✨ The connection between menopause, brain fog, mood and leadership

✨ How women can begin reconnecting with pleasure after 40

Dr. Janet Williams is a board-certified OBGYN, physician, hypnotherapist, coach, and author of Why Don't I Like Sex Anymore? She helps women over 40 navigate perimenopause and menopause, revive pleasure, and reconnect with their sexuality.

She founded Good Groove, combining her medical background with coaching and clinical hypnosis to support women through this stage of life.

Website: goodgroove.com

Instagram: @goodgrooveco

Free Book: https://goodgroove.com/book

Wellness & Growth Journeys explores women's health, wellness, personal growth, and the conversations that help women live healthier, more fulfilling lives.

Subscribe for more conversations with healthcare professionals, wellness experts, and women challenging the way we think about health.

Wellness & Growth Journeys Podcast

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wellness-growth-journeys/id1761928681

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/653PlFZ7LxJvZNf0Nh6crj

Work with Mia

Free Patient Experience Gap Report for clinic owners: wellnessgrowthagency.com/gap-report

Website: wellnessgrowthagency.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mialisa-garnes