Throughout my career I’ve always had a strong passion for people engagement – especially colleague wellbeing and putting people at the heart of a business. As a Wellbeing Consultant at Phoenix Group I lead our wellbeing community. This is made up of colleagues who volunteer to be a wellbeing champion and some who are trained menopause advocates or mental health first aiders. 

My personal experience of menopause

Menopause is a normal part of life, but the symptoms women experience can impact every area of life, including work. Having struggled with my own menopause symptoms following a surgical hysterectomy in my early 40s, no one mentioned early menopause let alone the impact that the hormone change would have on my mental and physical health.

I put the symptoms that I faced (hot flushes, mood swings, not sleeping, body aches and many more) down to the post-surgery recovery. During the follow up appointments the consultant never discussed or mentioned menopause. Over the next few months, I started to feel more anxious about going out of the house and seeing or speaking to people. These strange symptoms and this darkness had taken over my life and I didn’t know where Mandy had gone. I felt alone.

I took a year off work as I struggled to get through everyday life. Having two children helped as I needed to be there for them but it wasn’t easy. I eventually returned to work, but the symptoms carried on. Every day I woke up and hoped that this would be the day that the happy, fun, loving, positive, motivated Mandy would be back. But it never happened. Overtime I also put on weight which can also be a symptom of menopause. 

I woke up one day and decided enough was enough and I joined a running club. I already loved the outdoors and completed the London Marathon the year before my hysterectomy. After a few sessions I got talking to some of the ladies and we spoke about menopause - one person had also had a hysterectomy but her journey was very different. She had been told about menopause and the symptoms and was give HRT following the procedure. So I decided to make an appointment at my doctors. I explained how I was feeling mentally and discussed the physical symptoms. I was given HRT and over the coming months the symptoms slowly started to improve, I started to feel happier. 

It was going through this experience that gave me the motivation and determination to drive my vision to have a workplace that genuinely supports the diverse health and wellbeing needs of our colleagues, creating an environment where colleagues feel engaged and valued for who they are. 

Leading the way on menopause support for colleagues 

In my role as a Wellbeing Consultant, I lead the work to make Phoenix Group a workplace that supports colleagues throughout menopause.

In 2022 we signed up to the Menopause in the Workplace pledge demonstrating our commitment and desire to take positive action and in 2023 we were officially recognised by the Henpicked Independent Panel who awarded Phoenix Group the Menopause Friendly Accreditation. In September 2024 Phoenix were a finalist in the Menopause Friendly Employer Awards too.

I have thoroughly enjoyed leading the work to achieve this accreditation along with my colleagues. Our employee advocates, along with the wellbeing communities and colleague networks, have played a key part in creating an open and inclusive culture through events, activities and providing colleagues who are experiencing symptoms of menopause a place to talk openly about their experiences. This is a great team achievement.

Our colleagues feel empowered to talk openly about what’s going on for them from menopause, to mental health, to physical health issues. We want Phoenix to be the best place any of us have ever worked and that’s why menopause awareness and support are an important part of our wellbeing programmes – both for those experiencing symptoms and their managers.