Hormones - Your Superpower as a Female Entrepreneur with Stephanie Shaw

“So for the women listening and who don't understand, get a book that teaches you about the flow of your cycle because when you step into that it is magical. It's crazy! I call it our superpowers because we're superwomen.” - Stephanie Shaw

Welcome to Imperfection In Progress, a podcast for ambitious women who are people pleasers, perfectionists, or procrastinators. Want to feel less stressed and more joy in your life? Then this is for you. I'm your host, Dawn Calvinisti.

Today’s episode is such a fun conversation with Stephanie Shaw. Who knew talking about hormones and cycles could be so enlightening when it comes to our businesses.

Stephanie took the strategies she implemented to recover from a two-year illness and turned them into a nutrition coaching and online education business where she teaches midlife women how to manage their hormones so they can manage their weight, have more energy, and slow the aging process. 

You’re going to want to start implementing all the great tips Stephanie shares in making business and life easier by working with your hormones.

Connect with Dawn.
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Transcript

[DAWN CALVINISTI]

Welcome to Imperfection in Progress, a podcast for ambitious women who are people-pleasers, perfectionists, or procrastinators. Want to feel less stress and more joy in your life? Then this is for you. I’m your host Dawn Calvinisti.

[DAWN CALVINISTI]

On today’s episode I’m joined by Stephanie Shaw, a health & wellness speaker, course creator, and host of the podcast Hello, Hot Flash. 

An educator by nature, Stephanie took the strategies she implemented to recover from a two-year illness and turned them into a nutrition coaching and an online education business where she teaches midlife women how to manage their hormones so they can manage their weight, have more energy, and slow the aging process. 

Stephanie’s online course, Mastering Menopause, supports midlife females by helping them peel back the layers that are blocking them, so they can control the change. As a result, women build lasting lifestyles of confidence, energy, and a body they deserve.

As a part of our summer series on female entrepreneurs, learning how to work with our hormones to make things easier and more enjoyable is an important part of understanding our bodies.  You can learn more about Stephanie by checking out her website hellohotflash.com

I know you are going to be fascinated by how you can tweak your calendar to use the tips Stephanie shares with us. Here’s our conversation.

Dawn Calvinisti: I'm so excited to have Stephanie Shaw with us here today. We're talking all things hormone, and I would love Stephanie if you can tell us a little bit about why do you do what you do.

Stephanie Shaw: Yeah. So first of all, Dawn, thank you so much for having me here. I really appreciate it. Unfortunately my story is one of those stories where you're like thrown into something. And that's why I, I, I do what I do. So I spent two years very Ill actually March 23rd, 2017. I was in New Orleans walking down the street and my body crashed.

I really thought that I was having a stroke. That night I ended up in two emergency rooms. First one didn't know what to do with me, so they shipped me to another one. And throughout that the a two year period, I had a ton of different medical issues. Things were tingling in my hands and feet, rapid heartbeat.

Even prior to the march of 17 crash, I had noticed that my hair was [00:01:00] falling out. Twitching in my eyes. So it had been going on for a while, but it actually escalated on that date. And during that that time, that two year period, I visited 18 different doctors. I went to two world renowned medical facilities.

I spent over $20,000 out of pocket trying to discover what was going on. And through those conversations with eastern and western medicine doctors conversations with gynecologists and all types of specialists, like no one mentioned nutrition. And no one mentioned menopause at all. And so once I started to slowly, I read so many books, went back to school, got two certifications in nutrition, trying to figure out what was going on with me, and then I started to think I cannot be the only human with these issues.

So I decided at that point in time that I would start, I'd always wanted to do something in nutrition, so I decided that I would start coaching other women who were going through this menopausal phase. So that's how I [00:02:00] got here. So I call it my pain into purpose story. Because now I really feel like there are tons of opportunities for me to support people.

So again, they're not spending two years trying to figure all of this out.

Dawn Calvinisti: I love these pain into purpose stories. I think that's the thing, right? Is we go through something and we see that there's a need out there. It's not just us that have experienced this, and then we wanna help. Help women that are in the same situation. So I love that you're doing this.

Stephanie Shaw: Yes.Dawn Calvinisti: So I have a question for you because I know on the podcast we often talk about the three Ps, but for the summer we decided that we would talk a little bit more about women entrepreneurs who are, you know, interested in being the best them.

And I firmly believe it's not all about your business. Like if you are not in good shape, if you are not physically well, if you are not mentally well, if you are not feeling connected to community and other women and, you know, feeling strong in yourself, [00:03:00] it's really hard to put yourself out into your business and feel excited about it and energized and you know, like, like it's worth doing.

So I think this is where hormones is a really good spot to start.

Stephanie Shaw: Yeah, it really is because you gave a perfect scenario of what happened to me. I actually ended up closing my nonprofit because I just, I was so exhausted. I would go to work every morning and luckily I was quote, unquote, the boss at that point, because like by two thirty or three, I'm like, I'm outta here.

Then get back up, be there at seven in the morning, and then I just could not get through an entire day. So, it impacts our, our, our business in a manner that sometimes we aren't even aware of. And you broke it down perfectly. The hormones can impact the way that we relate to other women, the way we relate in our communities, the way we do our jobs as well.

So in your body you have three primary, there's tons of hormones, but three primary hormones that are, that will fluctuate as we begin to [00:04:00] age. So your estrogen, your progesterone, and your testosterone levels, they will begin to fluctuate. And the, it depends on where they are in that, that party that they're having inside your body.

It can cause things like brain fog. It can also cause you to have anxiety or be more anxious. Depression can come on. So your, as your, the hormones in your body begin to change, it can actually change who you are as a person. You may notice that you would get up and be completely energized for work, and then all of a sudden you have no energy.

Or it was fine if everyone was yelling at you at work. You can handle the pressure, you can go for it, and then all of a sudden you're starting to snap. It may be that you may be perimenopausal and you may be going through this hormonal change, and what I always tell women is to start to think about how you cope with change because of a lot of the coping mechanisms also impact your hormones. So if you think that, you know, every night I'm [00:05:00] just going have a glass of wine and settle down and get better sleep, that actually is not helping you. Through this hormonal change process, drinking that glass of wine.

It's not, it may initially calm your body, but it's also keeping you awake at night. So again, one of the, one of the hormonal changes that impact us, our hormones, actually impact us as it relates to our sleep. So you wanna make sure that you're not drinking alcohol. You wanna make sure also that you're doing lifestyle changes, things like eating whole and nutritious food.

I know it sounds so, like if I'm, like, if one more person tells me to eat some kale, I just wanna slap 'em. But, but it's so critically important. I always tell folks that 18 different doctors, all this money I spent, the only thing I did, I did not take any medicine, all the only thing I did was start to eat differently.

So if you see that you're, you're having elevated levels of stress, or you see that you are more tired during the day, or you see that you're getting more [00:06:00] perimenopausal symptoms and your hormones are changing, think about what you are putting in your mouth. Are you eating a high fat, high processed meal?

Are you grabbing things quickly on the go or you are you actually eating for your body? The hormones will change, and the way to help those hormone changes are again, around lifestyle changes that include eating better and decreasing the alcohol and increasing your water intake.

Dawn Calvinisti: I love this because I think often when we're just having a bad day and we think, you know, man, I'm real, been really short this week with people, or, you know, I'm really, I'm really struggling with feeling rested. When I wake up in the morning, I'm still feeling so groggy and many times we'll just put it to you, oh, I'm stressed, or, or my life is busy, or, you know, I'm just doing too much.

But the reality is, if we really started to focus on what we're putting in our mouth, what stage of life we're in, what cycle we're in during the month all those types of things we may find that there's patterns there that [00:07:00] we're just missing, and I think tracking is something that's so important.

I don't know. What do you feel about that?

Stephanie Shaw: 1000000%. You have to begin to track this. So, another hormone that I didn't mention is your cortisol level. So that's our fight or flight. And a lot of times those will be off balance as well when we're perimenopausal even prior to that. So what you wanna do is start to understand what, what triggers you to make you feel completely stressed out. I will tell you, I did all of the eating. I did the mindset work, but there was like something still going on. And when I started journaling and tracking what was going on I discovered there's one particular person. Whenever we would have a certain conversation and and so forth, I would physically feel that and my body would get stressed and I would be outta whack for a whole like week, but it was because I was tracking and I could like go back and say, Hey, every time I talk to this person, this is what's happening. Then I was able to make some decisions around what to [00:08:00] do next. So in the workplace, in at home, whatever environment you are in, I 100% agree with you that we need to start to understand and recognize what's going on in our bodies so that we can live according to, so we can make the changes that are necessary so we can decrease distress in our body.

And you also mentioned your cycle as well. So men operate on a 24 hour cycle. Women op operate on a 30 day cycle. So it depends on where you are in your cycle, what you should actually be doing during that time of the month. So if you're in your follicular, and I always pronounce it incorrectly, but you know what I mean, follicular cycle, you may have this higher level of energy and this world domination, and you may not even be aware.

You might like, man, it feels like I have all this energy and I'm, I'm so excited and I can get all this work done. And you're not even recognizing that that's part of who you are and part of your cycle. So what I tell women to do is [00:09:00] when you figure all this out it may take a month or two for you to track this.

Figure out what stage you are in your cycle and then plan your work around that. So at world domination time, that means that you're having the, you know, you're planning speeches, planning presentations planning those big talks with your boss or, or your employer, what have you. And then the when you're ovulating, your estrogen peaks and your testosterone rises, so you will have more energy, but you also become a verbal ninja.

So do you know, like sometimes during the month you're like, man, I could talk them off of, I don't know. I could sell the Brooklyn Bridge to someone or something like that. It's because that's what phase you are in. So again, that may also be a time if you're a woman in sales, that may be a time where you wanna like pack in all of your sales calls or again, have those big, bold conversations.

Your luteal phase, you'll notice that your energy is lower. You need to honor that. You need to honor it in the way that you eat. You need to eat differently, having more [00:10:00] Omega threes. And you also, if you don't feel like doing something, you also need to honor that and then rest your body.

And then the menstrual cycle. You're also in that lower energy cycle. Put on a blanket, sit by the fireplace and do what you need to do. But I think what we do as women, This may be a generalization, but we assume that we have to be in that go, go, go phase all of the time, and that's not how we operate. So take the time, understand what phase of cycle you're in, and then operate in that cycle.

So for example, I've had a hysterectomy, so I no longer have my cycle, but I still know that. Around the 14, 15, 16 of the month, actually, I'm working on mindset, so this doesn't happen to me anymore, but I still know from tracking prior that that's my time where I am like antsy. I get brain fog, so I still schedule less meetings.

And less conference, less time to, to confront or, or big projects, [00:11:00] I should say, around that time. So it, it's so, so powerful. When I learned about it, I'm like, oh my gosh, why didn't anyone ever tell me this as a young child when I started my cycle?

That, you know, there's these four phases, so, as women owners, as business owners, when you're procrastinating or you're thinking about perfectionism, the things that you talk about all the time, think about what phase of cycle you're in as well. And that may be bumping up to that. And so you're not, don't label yourself.

Just note, this is where I'm at. I'm going to move past it and this is how I can, how I can do that. But it takes time. It takes time to learn your body, but it's wonderful once you do.

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Dawn Calvinisti: Yeah, I agree with you. Like, I wish this was something that was taught in school when I was a kid getting my cycle because I, I think it just, we really can work with our cycle and often I, or at least in my experience, it was just like I don't have my period or I have my period. Like that was basically my cycle. 

Stephanie Shaw: right, exactly. Because that's all we were taught. And I don't know if it, [00:12:00] it's because well, I think one of the reasons why I've been reading these these not really feminist books, but kind of, about how, you know, men created a French gentleman created the term menopause and how it was men that were, that was they were creating the information that we were using. And so as more women started to get into the field and understand what their body and their rhythm was like, they could start explaining it in a different way. So we knew the four cycles, and then I think it took that timeframe time where like five years ago, 10 years ago, I would've never been on a podcast saying I had a hysterectomy or talking about my period, or, you know what I mean?

So I think what the beauty in all of this is, while maybe we didn't get that education, that's what we're here for. If you run a business, if you're a woman entrepreneur, you need to make sure that the women on your team that are younger than you know, this, your nieces, your, your daughters, and so forth. I think we're getting to a stage now where it where now we'll be able to benefit from this knowledge more than we were in the [00:13:00] past.

Dawn Calvinisti: Yeah, agreed. Totally. I love the idea and I, for me, it's been about two and a half-ish years that I've been running my business based on my cycle, and I find it's so, yeah, it's awesome. It, it's so interesting because I know like I, these are the days that I have calls scheduled in my month. These are the days that I do more like physically, you know, I run around and do more things, get more appointments in you know, get more stuff done.

These are the days that I take for copywriting because those are the days where I'm just more creative. Right. Like, it's, it's so helpful.

Stephanie Shaw: Yeah. I love that you said the copywriting part too, because it could take me two weeks to write two articles or it could take me like four hours to write five articles and once you understand that magic and a lot of, so in my mind I would, growing up I thought I was just crazy. I'm like, how do I have all this energy and then I lose it all and how can I think so clearly?

And then I'm thinking crazy, like I didn't understand that process. So for the women listening and who don't understand, get a book [00:14:00] that teaches you about the flow of your cycle because just like you said, when it, when you step into that magical it, it is magical. It's, it's crazy. I call it our superpowers cuz we're superwomen.

Dawn Calvinisti: Yeah, totally. I think when, when you really do understand, and I think that's key. It's the tracking, it's the getting to know those different phases. It's understanding how you are in those phases because we're all slightly different. But understanding how you are in those phases and then be able to incorporate that into whatever your business format looks like.

It just makes it so much easier every day to feel like, oh, okay, this, I'm not trying to force something to happen like your, your body's working with you.Stephanie Shaw: Yeah, and the more, and the more you know also, and I, I always bring this up because I, you know, the 18 doctor things, but the more you know about your cycle, the more you are watching that, you know, maybe my estrogen levels are lower, maybe my cortisol levels are spiking. When you can track that and have that [00:15:00] type of conversation with your medical practitioner, that is also going to help him or her inform next steps. Always ask for lifestyle changes steps first before you jump to medicine, is what I always say, but that's going to help in those conversations. It, so I have three boys, I have three grown men. My one's married, one's getting engaged, and the other's like, I'm gonna be a great uncle.

But I, I've talked to them about these cycles too. So it's not just for us, it's education that needs to happen in the workplace, it's education that needs to happen with our husbands and with our, the men in our lives too. And one, so my oldest son, he like, knows the cycles, he knows what's in each one, and he's married and he's happily married cuz he knows what to expect and what's coming.

So I just think it's super powerful to have these conversations and then we, we can't keep them to ourselves.

Dawn Calvinisti: I love that you say that. I have two girls and a boy, and my boy knows as much as my girls because he's going to come across like, why is my [00:16:00] wife suddenly really short with me? Why is my wife, like suddenly, you know, wanting to do everything today and like, that's just how women are wired. And so again, having a man understand that makes for a much smoother relationship than, you know, just leaving them out there to try to guess what's happening.

Stephanie Shaw: I know, I know. He is so funny. Every once in a while he'll be like, mom, okay, I did this, this, and this today. And understand why I did it. Thank you. I'm like, yeah, just keep doing it. And then, you know, they're happy for three weeks and then the next week he's like, I had to do this, this, and this. But again, I, I really, we can't keep this message to ourselves.

We have to share it.

Dawn Calvinisti: Yeah, I love this. And I mean, let's talk a little more about menopause and, you know, perimenopause, that whole phase because that lasts really long and I think a lot of women don't necessarily know that it's, you know, perimenopause could be 10 years or longer you know, before full menopause fits in.

And I think what I hear often, and I don't know if you hear this, but women who [00:17:00] are kind of blaming things in their business, I'm going back to business, but blaming things in their business on like, it's their fault. Like, ugh. Like I just, I didn't, I didn't remember this, or, you know, this, I, I can't seem to focus today.

And it is like, it's like this frustration, but again, without that realization that, hey, you might be in a stage of life where this is a common occurrence, and so you may have to change the way that you approach your business because these are common things, and so you're going to have to do things a little differently in order to compensate.

Stephanie Shaw: Yeah. It, it makes 100% sense. I have a in the course that I have mastering menopause, there's actually a perimenopause checklist in there just so you can just, like you said, you may think, oh, why did I do this? Or, oh, I can't remember this. If you go down that checklist, you can like, oh wait, I have 30 out of the 35 symptoms.

Maybe I need to start having a different conversation. I think it gives you I never want to be diagnosed with anything. So my testing included tests for cancer and MS and so forth. I [00:18:00] never wanted to be diagnosed, but yet in my mind, I like, wanted to know what was happening. When I finally found a chiropractor slash naturopath who gave me a list like this, I'm like, oh, wait, I'm not crazy.

It's my hormones. So, having that list going down, that list being in tune with your body and knowing that it is just the phase of life you're in, and you're right, it can last for a long time. So, perimenopause, it does come with symptoms like dried mouth, potential hair loss, or thinning of the hair, rapid heart beat, tingling in the extremities, cold hands and feet, gut issues.

All of those things can happen in perimenopause. And then there's one day that you're menopausal. So the, the one year anniversary that your cycle has stopped completely for a year you're menopausal and then the day after you're postmenopausal. And what a lot of people assume is, oh, I'm postmenopausal it's all over now. Nope. It depends on the woman where you can still continue to have the hot flashes and[00:19:00] the, the dry mouth and you can continue to have the symptoms. But when you are younger and perimenopausal, if you're doing the lifestyle changes where you're eating better and lessening the alcohol intake and exercising and lifting light weight, you can impact what postmenopause looks like.

And a lot of times you can kind of shorten the the length of that postmenopausal stage.

Dawn Calvinisti: Yeah, that's good to know. One last thing before we wrap up, because I know nutrition is a huge part of, I mean, I think any time in life nutrition is a, a huge part in just managing our, our life and living our best life, feeling our most vital when, when we're dealing with hormones. And we're first thinking like, you know, my diet's not horrible, but I'd like to clean it up a little bit.

What would be maybe one or two things that you would suggest to look at first before we maybe try an overhaul.Stephanie Shaw: Yeah, a su sugar intake is the very first thing I would look at. And then there's the assumption that, oh, I don't eat sweets or desserts, [00:20:00] but condiments even. Some canned goods, even if you like buy pre-packaged rice, there's a lot of hidden sodium and sugar in there. So look for the amount of sugar that you're taking in each day, because sugar is, it becomes addictive like a drug.

And so you want, you wanna make sure that you are, and it causes wrinkles. It just deteriorates the inside of your body. So you wanna make sure that the, if there's one thing, look at your sugar intake, but I have a whole list, but sugar is the number one thing.

Dawn Calvinisti: Yeah, I always think it's nice just to have one thing to look at and focus on to

start. Um, cuz I know we can get so overwhelmed, right? So I have a question for you because I do ask this on every podcast. Where do you fall when it comes to people pleasing perfectionism or procrastination? Which one do you lean towards most often?

Stephanie Shaw: So I am in recovery. Thank you very much. People pleasing perfectionism or procrastination? Perfectionism, [00:21:00] I think. And so I think, and, and I say that because then the other two can kind of fall under it, but I'm working on the perfectionism like I am working on. This is one of the best things I've heard this week.

My son said to me, you've done your best. There was a glitch in the system on a contract I'm working on. You've done your best and it wasn't your fault, right? I'm like, yeah. He said, well, you can't be perfect then. And I'm like, I know. So even though I know what to do, sometimes you need someone to reiterate that conversation.

So I do fall under perfectionism and it's something I'm constantly working on, but the whole, the best part is I'm not making myself physically ill anymore like I used to. It's more like, all right, I needed 10 minutes to whine and cry, and then I can, I can go back to the good side.

Dawn Calvinisti: I love hearing this. I think for every woman like yourself and like me that are, you know, running their own businesses. It, it's important for women to understand. Like, it's not like it just goes away if we struggle with any or all of these [00:22:00] Ps. It's, it's a progress, right? And we, we work on it all the time, but it's nice to just, like our hormones to be aware then allows us to make a decision on how we're gonna deal with it.

And so I think that's important too, is just being aware. What, what is the, what is the issue that we kind of deal with and struggle with?

Stephanie Shaw: Yeah. And making that decision to change. So that's, that's huge and, and powerful. It, it feels really good to be able to take it from 10 days to 10 minutes.

Dawn Calvinisti: That's right. That's right. I know that you're giving us a, a hormone quiz, Stephanie, as our freebie. And so take a look in the show notes. It'll be there for you. And same with all of Stephanie's contact info. Get onto her, her newsletter. Get to know her. I think that's the fun part about podcasts is that you can really get into people's communities and find the support that you're needing there.

So I encourage you to do that. But Stephanie, tell us a little bit about how this hormone quiz can help us.

Stephanie Shaw: Yeah. So it, it does that. Once you take the quiz, it'll tell you, it'll suggest to you which hormone may be off balance the most estrogen, testosterone, cortisol. [00:23:00] And based on that, I give you a series of oh full week of emails that will come to you and telling you step by step some very small things that you can do, like maybe eliminating sugar or watching the way that you you, your sleep patterns or, or jotting down.

What, why can't, I think right now I'm having a, I'm having a menopausal moment. So the quiz will walk you through the process the, the email series rather we'll walk you through some very simple. Practical steps on how you can help that hormone level increase. 

Dawn Calvinisti: I love it. That's awesome.

Stephanie Shaw: Me being completely transparent and honest. Don't even edit that part.

Dawn Calvinisti: I love that. The reality is none of us are perfect. We all are going through our own phases and, and cycles and our hormones. So, you know, that's how it is.

Stephanie Shaw: Dawn said I wasn't perfect. Oh my gosh.

Dawn Calvinisti: [00:24:00] Hey, I'm, I'm preaching in the choir over here too. Stephanie, thank you so much for being a part of the podcast.

Stephanie Shaw: You're welcome. Thank you so much for having me. I truly appreciate it.

[DAWN CALVINISTI]

Thanks for listening to today's show. If you found value in what you heard, please share it with a friend and rate and review us on whatever platform you listen on. It really helps get us out to other women who could benefit from listening. 

Check out our show notes for details from the show and to connect with me or our guests. Want to continue the conversation? My website is www.pursueprogress.com or DM me @pursueprogresswithdawn on Instagram. 

Until next week, pursue progress no matter how imperfectly.

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Freebie: Take the quiz to determine which hormones may be out of balance and uncover the steps you can take to repair them.