Women-Led Menopause Wellness Transforms Lives with Carin Luna-Ostaseski

In this inspiring episode, Mary is joined by Carin Luna-Ostaseski, a trailblazing entrepreneur and advocate dedicated to transforming how women experience menopause. 

From her journey as the first American woman and Hispanic entrepreneur to create a Scotch whiskey brand to founding Hot or Just Me, a comprehensive platform offering resources and products tailored to menopause and perimenopause, Carin shares her powerful story of resilience, community-building, and innovation.

Discover how her personal experiences with hot flashes, brain fog, and anxiety sparked a mission to break stigma and fill the wellness gap for women navigating this life stage. We explore her approach to creating a curated marketplace, supporting women entrepreneurs, and advocating for menopause-friendly workplaces.

Key topics covered include:

• The importance of community and collaboration among women in business and health
• How to navigate menopause with education, empowerment, and personalized solutions
• The role of women entrepreneurs in redefining menopause support
• Strategies to support women in the workplace and advance workplace inclusivity
• The power of manifestation, resilience, and non-attachment in achieving our goals

Join us as Carin shares her insights on embracing life's transitions, the significance of supporting women-led brands, and her vision for a more inclusive and supportive future for menopause wellness.

Links & Resources:

• Visit Hot or Just Me for menopause resources and products [website link]
• Use promo code MenopauseDisruptor for 10% off select products
• Learn more about Entrepreneurial Spirit Fund and her grants supporting women entrepreneurs
• Recommended reads (not an affiliate links): 
  • The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
  • Creative Visualization: Use the Power of Your Imagination to Create What You Want in Your Life by Shakti Gawain

Hen's Den Yoga
A serene and cozy home studio nestled in the Comox Valley offering a variety of wellness classes.

Transcript

Community is so important, right? As an entrepreneur, as a woman in my own friend group, I call it girlfriend medicine sometimes when you talk to your girlfriends and is this happening for you? Or have you had this yet? Or you have the older wiser elder friend who's telling you exactly what's coming down the road for you.

And so, then there's also in business too. So if you don't have a community of people that are in the same industry, you can go and create one. And so when I was in the alcohol industry, I was a founding member of a group called the Women's Cocktail Collective, and we are a group now of 35 female founders of Spirit brands.

So no husband and wife teams. This is just women going at it alone, building a spirit brand. And our brands were always helpful to each other. We would create recipes that used each other's brands. We were very collaborative, not competitive. If we were doing any kind of trade show events, we'd pool our money and get a big room where our dollars went farther that way.

 Welcome back to the Menopause Disruptive Podcast. It goes without saying. You know, I am thrilled to have you back to another exciting episode, and if you're new to the show, welcome, happy to have you join listeners that span across the globe, and that my friends is pretty freaking awesome and humbling.

This episode comes nicely on the heels of last week's show, in which we discussed careerism and surrendering to. And surrendering to the resistance that holds women back from stepping into their true passion and reaching great success, be it in personal life or in business, and menopause being one of those life challenges that can be so hard to surrender to because of the harsh reality of its impact.

But for one woman, she turned it on its head and rewrote the playlist on perimenopause and entrepreneurial-ship. Today, I welcome Carin Luna-Ostaseski, the visionary behind Hot or Just Me, an online platform dedicated to perimenopause and menopause. A business created because of her own experiences with hot flashes, brain fog, anxiety, and insomnia.

Before menopause, Carin made history as the first American woman and first Hispanic individual to launch a Scotch whiskey brand with her award-winning Sia Scotch whiskey as well. She founded the Entrepreneurial Spirit Fund by SIA Scotch, providing over 350 thousand in grants to underserved entrepreneurs. She shifted outta spirits and into wellness with hot or just me, with the aim to become the go-to online repository of feminine products and resources for addressing key menopause symptoms from items for our body, the bed and the bedroom, to books and educational blog articles on menopause, health and wellness.

What sets this platform apart? All resources are created and designed, owned, or operated by women and for women, including Carin’s own company as well. Her motto is collaboration over competition and creating community is the essence of having spirit and entrepreneurial-ship. She's undoubtedly at Trailblazer dedicated to transforming how women experience this life stage.

Not only is she shifting the landscape, Carin is breaking the stigma attached to menopause by providing educational tools and resources that empower us rather than belittle us, and she's doing it with the mission to help other buying entrepreneurs have their place in the market as well. You could be one of them.

So stick around and find out the why and how. behind the hot or just me community. 

Welcome. Thank you for joining me on the Menopause Disruptive Podcast.

Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here.

Inspiration Behind the Business

I really wanna know the inspiration behind this business. What led you to create a business model for everything under the sun, menopause and perimenopause from the bedroom, the bed, the body, books, education material, everything. You cover it all. 

Yeah, all of it. So I think in entrepreneurial terms, it's scratching your own itch. So for me, I'm  years old and my hot flashes started when I was in my early forties. I. And it was a simple question that I asked myself and pretty much everyone around me was, Hey, is it hot or is it just me? And it led me to realize, first that it was mostly just me, and also that I was well into perimenopause.

I had other symptoms like brain fog, anxiety. Night sweats, hair loss, all kinds of stuff. And my first doctors weren't so helpful until I finally found the right doctor for me and started having conversations around HRT and when to start that. And along the way, I found some really amazing products and services that were a huge help to me.

So I thought, what better way to make a difference than to help other women through this process as well? And let them know that, that we're not alone.

Wow. 

Entrepreneurial Journey From Whiskey to Menopause

But you know, creating a business and entrepreneurship is not new to you. You have quite a history and an award-winning one as well, being an entrepreneur. So tell us all about how you went from whiskey to menopause.

. 

Challenges and Triumphs in the Whiskey Industry

So this menopause chapter is actually my third act in life. I spent my first 17 years professionally as a graphic designer and creative director. And after a couple almost decades doing that, I was just sick of staring at a computer screen all day designing things so that other people could stare at their screens or their phones all day long.

And I had this moment where I realized that's not what I want my legacy to be. I was also going through a divorce at the time, so the way that the end of a relationship can make you question your identity and just rethink everything. I had this burn the ships moment and I thought I really, I, I'm so sick of my job and I really wanna create something that connects people in real life.

And around that time, maybe not. So coincidentally, I was drinking a little bit more whiskey than usual. And spending these moments with friends, really having these deep conversations over a glass of whiskey because it's not a shot or a party drink. It's like a take your time kind of drink. And I thought, well scotch has this.

Misinterpretation of being this old stodgy man's drink, and it's really beautiful and complex. I thought, what if I can change the way that people think about this? And so I set out to create a new brand of scotch that could invite a whole new generation of people to the category more diversity, more women into the category.

And so I created Sia, and that was in 2012. I did it on a Kickstarter campaign. So that made the first time anyone had ever crowdfunded a spirit. And it also made me the first woman in history to ever create a brand of scotch and grew that brand for many years, as you said, won numerous awards and So it was a, an amazing journey and one of fear and rejection and self discovery. So it was a beautiful journey.

Oh wow. Congratulations to you

Thank you. Thank you so much. 

Menopause and Perimenopause Personal Experiences

It's funny, my relationship with alcohol has changed now in perimenopause. I used to be someone that could handle drinking at night, and now I've become someone who just needs to be a day drinker. Otherwise I get insomnia. So it's, it's just interesting kind of backpedaling a little bit in life.

Well, and we're gonna unpack that. I, that. There's one thing you said. I really struck a chord, beautiful and complex, the whiskey itself, yet. There is a parallelism with women. 

Addressing the Wellness Gap in Menopause

We're so beautiful and complex, and yet our menopause is so individualized, a personal experience to each and every one of us, and yet a universal phenomenon that went a long time in this wellness gap, and now you are filling that gap. So let's talk about a little bit about why you felt that there was more that could be done in the menopause space to help women to wellness resources, but also invite a sense of ownership on their menopause journey.

Yeah. So I think a big one as you said because our journeys are so individual it's almost like birth stories, right? That everyone, when you know that their journey to become a mom is so, different. And our journeys through perimenopause are as unique as our puberty journeys might have been as well, right?

Where we have some similarities, there are some common symptoms, but for the most part it happens to us at different stages, different ages, different severities. Some symptoms hit us all at once. Some some of us get, get through it with, with not too many. So it's all just so individual. Well, one thing that I have heard as a common thread is that the doctors in the United States only get three hours of training on menopause during their residency.

And so unless a doctor's gone through additional training to become certified, as menopause yeah. Expert if you will, right. Gone through extra levels of training, so I send people to menopause.org to look for someone who has gone through, through this training as a great resource or otherwise seek telehealth options that are mostly covered by insurance these days.

But I think what happens is a lot of women will go to their primary care physician or their, even their O-B-G-Y-N. And say, Hey, like what happened to me? Right? Like, I'm having some trouble sleeping, or I'm feeling a little bit more anxious than usual. And rightfully they don't understand it.

So they're prescribing some Xanax or some like antidepressants and you'll walk away trusting your doctor. But really what we're not aware of is that they don't know that, that you might be in perimenopause and what all of these very common symptoms are for perimenopause. We need to educate ourselves and if we're not ready for discussions on hormones, like what else can we do between diet, exercise any kind of cognitive behavioral therapy might be supplements and just really education to understand that, that this is what's happening to our bodies at this stage in life.

Absolutely. 

Products and Resources for Menopause

And so with your products and your business, hot or. Just me tell our listeners some of the the options of both products and educational material that is available to help them on their individualized journey.

Thank you. We have almost I think about 70 articles written now through everything from symptoms of perimenopause and versus other conditions. We have articles about HRT, the benefits, risks alternatives, articles about bone loss, acupuncture. Diet. And then we go into categories of hot flashes and night sweats.

We've got vaginal dryness and low libido. There's insomnia and fatigue, hair and skin changes and more, and then products in those categories as well. So everything from cooling bracelets and cooling blankets, like the necklaces and bracelets that I'm wearing today, there are tank tops that have anti wick.

Fabric technology. We have vaginal moisturizers. There are cooling eye masks, and there's a a plethora of hair and skin products as well. So just a wonderful collection of products. And we also have a curated bookshop and gift shop as well. Eventually we'll be opening to other categories like irregular periods, brain fog, anxiety, urinary incontinence.

Right now we also have these really cool bundle sets, grouped by need. So we might have a stay cool and calm. There was a Welcome to the Club, which is my favorite, has a few books and a gift card. There is sleep Essentials and Chill Out groups like that. Quite a few options for women that maybe don't know where to begin or know exactly what they need as well.

Well, speaking about how did you know where to begin, you have this vision you were experiencing menopause knew that the gap needed to be filled. It wasn't there being the entrepreneurial spirit that you are set in on your tenacity, having faced the challenges in the whiskey industry, tenacity to persevere.

But how did you decide and map out, okay, this is what I'm going through. These are the solutions I like to And creating the business the offerings that you have,

so I started out with just a lot of research, right. What are the most common symptoms for perimenopause and menopause? So the top 10 would be irregular periods, hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, vaginal dryness, low libido, anxiety, mood changes joint muscle aches low libido. Brain fog and weight gain.

And so then I said, okay, what are like some products that would be helpful here? And so like when I tell you for say hot flashes and I say, oh well maybe a cooling neck fan. I went out and I bought 40 different neck fans out there and I tried them all till the point of their battery ran out for real and said okay, well.

This one has the longest battery life. This one doesn't get your hair stuck in it. This one's not noisy. This one's lightweight. So just like, what are the qualities that make it the best? So when I tell you that the products have been very well vetted and curated, it's not like I just picked one.

It's like, oh, okay. Like, they have been tested, tried and true to have the guesswork done for you. And then in the same vein of being a female entrepreneur and knowing how difficult that journey is, I want to support other female founders as well. 

Supporting Women Entrepreneurs

So most of the products on our site are owned or operated by women.

And then we also have social causes that align with. With our products, right? Period.org is one that we've chosen in terms of supplying menstrual products to young women who are in need. And then I'm looking right now for an organization to align with around menopause in the workplace.

So what are some organizations that help either certify or support businesses in supporting women as we age in the workplace to everything from. Temperature regulated environments to mental health breaks or education insurance supplements. Or it might even be something like if it's a uniform job, like what are we wearing?

Is it breathable fabrics? Is it layered? Is it optional? Right? Just making sure that we surround our women through our entire journey, right? So young to old.

This is fantastic and this is really opening up a whole other area of discussion that I wasn't quite sure we would end up going down there, but you've nailed it. 

Menopause in the Workplace

Menopause in the workplace. Now, my work as a menopause doula and an educator is focused bringing education to make more menopause friendly. Menopause aware. To break the stigma and make it more comfortable and a confident discussion between managers and those affected by menopause at work, because we talk about diversity, equity, inclusion, talk about mental health in the workplace. We even talk about physical and mental disabilities in the workplace the point where now it's of course, of course we are accessible.

Of course we are mental health aware. The menopause continues to fall through the gap. and now you've identified some possibilities areas where we can improve the workplace, looking for business perhaps to support. I really feel it's important to start with the education piece. How do you envision then being able to bring the education into first and foremost? 'cause as you said, you had to do your research first. You had to get educated first on what needed to be done to provide product or a business to support perimenopause and menopause. So if we start there with the education piece, how do you envision that we could improve the workforce for women?

Yeah, I think to your point about it's so obvious, right? Maternity leaves, paternity leaves, there's rooms for nursing. But where can the same room be utilized for women experiencing hot flashes or just needing a moment to deal with anxiety or some brain fog concentration issues.

Is it something that is you can order for your environment? And like, we talk a lot about ergonomics support and our posture and is our monitor the right height, but is the temperature regulated for us? And these are. Big challenges, right? Is there a fan room that I can just pick up some supplies from the supply closet and have a fan in my room or at my desk?

Is it. Something that I can wear on, on my person right as I go about my day. If I'm someone who drives for a living or is working in some kind of a factory or something where, you know, the materials of the, the clothing really affect our temperature as well. So just being.

Advocates for this. And sometimes women are fearful to speak up, especially when it comes to age because there might be some stigma around ageism in the workplace. I see this a lot being in the Bay Area around technology. As people favor someone who might be young, but they don't realize 

The experience and understanding that comes from someone that has that wisdom and expertise of having been in the industry and seen change and navigated that change for so long. So I think, yeah, just being aware, having conversations with your manager. I read this wonderful book that I'm sure everyone, everyone is aware of by now, but it's called The New Menopause by Dr. Haver. But she has how to talk to your doctor about it. And in the same vein, maybe there's a discussion of how to talk to your manager about it, Or how to talk to your HR professional and how to bring up these discussions. So yeah, I think it's just having the conversation, maybe leading groups around business resource groups or employee resource groups that exist in larger companies around women in the workplace topics.

And I think it also needs to start from maybe a government level as well.

Glad you said that But it's as though we have, on the one hand, government is speaking this language and enforcing it, endorsing it, then it takes the effort of those organizations, the employees, or maybe union groups, union leaders, actually step in and say, okay, well our government is talking about it, but take that. Overall intention and turn it into policy or turn it into a framework that supports employees. And then why do we do that? And I love what you said, women have so much wisdom, certainly as they're climbing through the corporate ladder or have longevity in the organization. the corporate knowledge, it's acquired, it would be such a shame that go because you lose so much and I'm glad that you mentioned that. So we need to build the awareness just to invest. What most important return on investments is our employees for sure.

Women are natural community builders and we naturally have this instinct to help support other women rise through the ranks. I have this one boss that was, she was just amazing and I remember as like an executive vice president at the business, she always had an assistant or some kind of an admin, and she would 

Exclusively hire women for the role and tell them, Hey, within a year I want you to find another position in this company and I'm gonna groom you for it and have you apply for it and move you through so that you can start elevating your career. 'cause I don't want you to be in my assistant forever, and if you're still here as my assistant in a year, I will fire you.

So it was just, it was really beautiful to see that she was personally invested in building the careers of so many women through her career. And I think that women have this tendency naturally to do that.

Yes. Well, you yourself are a true trailblazer dedicated to allowing or helping women rise up with your entrepreneurial spirit fund,  at SIA,

Yeah.

 at SIA, Scot, you provided. 30,0 in grants to underserved entrepreneurs.

Yeah, so I'm so proud of this. It was it was something that I realized as an entrepreneur, as a woman, as a minority, it was so hard to fundraise and. Create any kind of capital for my business. And so I bootstrapped it, worked a second job, a third job, eventually took on some investment.

I did a crowdfunding campaign and it was really challenging when it came to fundraising. But from day one, I knew that I wanted to give back in some way. And I think it's really important as an entrepreneur to always have a North star. Like, why do you do this business and who do you wanna help with it?

And so the first year I think I tallied up my sales and all I could have afford. Award was to give a hundred dollars to a local charity that supported women entrepreneurship initiatives. And then the second year was $2. And then as the business grew, I was really fortunate to build a grant program.

And to date, we've given $350,0 away in the form of grants, so no strings attached. Just $10,0 to each entrepreneur. Who's a woman? A minority person from a underrepresented group like LGBTQIA plus community to help them. Start and run their own businesses and very much around small businesses. I think there's a lot of attention to VC type businesses, but I think the backbones of our society are these businesses that support our local communities and have that tendency to hire people that look like them and help them get a leg up as well.

So it was really important to me and continues to grow.

 Oh, that's so beautiful, Julian. That is absolutely wonderful that you have that vision to give back, and it's core to you, to your purpose, fundamental value that you continue to

It is been really sweet too, watching the groups like I mentor them as well. It comes with six months of personal mentorship and so watching the entrepreneurs start to get to know each other and then they start to build collaborations or social media initiatives together that I see. Or sometimes they even meet in person and they'll send me some photos and it's just really been beautiful to see almost my little kids grow up and go off to college.

That's the reason why I wanted to really touch on that is because my listeners. 

Entrepreneurial Advice and Personal Growth

Very much are entrepreneurial women, as well. And they may just find a lot of interest in this in terms of understanding how, they can build a business perhaps, or like me shift from the workplace then decide, you know what, I'm birthing a new purpose

I love that.

I'm not doing corporate anymore. I have

No.

do this. And, and, but It can be. It can be so scary, especially if you've done it for a long time and your identity is wrapped up in it. So for me, it was 17 years of this is who I am. My name is Carin and I'm a graphic designer and yada yada. My community, my network, my salary, like all of this was tied into this job.

And so to take that leap and say I'm gonna start a business is really scary. But once you do it, you can't look back. It's amazing.

 true. Kain, thank you for thank you for reminding us that we do tend to get our identity stuck in one spot, but it's when we let that go. We really can tap into something more beautiful, as I say. And again Ayurvedic philosophy say this so much in my podcast, but we are at the age of wisdom

And, and because of menopause, we have this natural change that's happening in our bodies, so it's almost cyclical that we can time something new to it. it's a beautiful time of life.

it really is. I'd like to get back to the product though, that

Sure.

through this transition. Let's talk about some of the the pa, the bundles and the individual products. and we'll certainly share in the show notes, your, link to your website, or just me, but I'd really like to understand some of the products that you found to be most effective in response to those top 10 popular

sure. So I think for hot flashes and night sweats, a big one. You know about having a good night's sleep is so important, right? So it's what are you putting into your body? What are you surrounding your body with? If you do wake up in the middle of the night, how do you get back to sleep? So we also have tips for a lot of this in terms of caffeine, alcohol diet, magnesium exercise, things like that.

And then in terms of the products for say, hot flashes and night sweats, we have a collection of cooling blankets. Temperature regulating pillowcase, cooling sheets there, just fantastic. We have some cooling eye masks that are really great because they come straight outta the freezer and they don't hurt your skin.

As I mentioned earlier, the neck fans. We have portable fans. I. Sleepwear has different fabrics, different styles. There is some makeup setting spray in case you might get sweats during the day. 

Exploring Popular Products for Women's Health

And that's just for one category, right? In vaginal dryness and low libido. This is actually our most popular section moisturizers and lubricants.

And then, vibrators as well in different styles. And then for insomnia and fatigue we've got eye masks. We have this wonderful nod pod weighted eye mask. So if you're a side sleeper, it doesn't like shift or move. And then same thing for hair and skin changes. And then the bundles, which you talked about were really fun.

The, we've got. I spice things up. One that has some of the more vaginal dryness and low libido categories. We've got quite a few in the sleep essentials. Some for hair and makeup or hair and skin, and then hot flashes. So we have a couple different ones that they pair either jewelry or the wearables with some of the tank tops and jewelry.

 Beautiful. And have you received from, it’s from the users?

Customer Feedback and Future Plans

It's been so fun to see people say oh, I love this product, or It's been really helpful or, thank you. I also love getting suggestions, so that's part of my favorite is when women tell me like, Hey you should have this product on the site because I don't know everything that's out there.

And so it's really nice getting some suggestions. Eventually I think this year, in the next couple months, I'll be opening up some new categories. Being able to have a collection of at least 12 products before I open up a section. So that's coming up?

Okay. 

The Rise of Menopause Conversations

And so we've seen we are a lot of menopause, perimenopause talk is on the rise, and we do have, thanks to the trailblazers. So you mentioned one. To Mary Claire Haver several others that are really tapping into the latest research and sharing the latest science on the anatomy and hormonal health.

And this has opened up an a huge opportunity as well as a business opportunities. Such as your business, and now we're seeing so many on the rise. There's a lot of, as we've heard it, meno washing. Because menopause conversation is so very common now. 

What Sets This Company Apart

So with your company that what sets your company apart from a lot of the other related products or companies that are

Yeah, I think it, I think mine is almost more of a marketplace, so it's not just this one product. So grouping everything and specifically by symptom. So I also try to stay away from any kind of supplements that claim to be a one size fits all solution. I just don't believe that. You know that there is some magic pillow out there that if we all took it, we'd be feel fine.

And then a mix of articles as well as products. I'm also looking to expand and build out a services directory, so not just, doctors, but also maybe acupuncturists, maybe it's hair and skin providers, maybe it's therapists. So just a collection of people support as well to surround yourself and build out your team as you go through this process.

Fitness coaches, nutritionists everybody. So Exactly. Yeah. Definitely, kind of rounding it all out. 

Highlighting Women-Owned Businesses

And then obviously women made and operated. I think there have been some supplements that are started by men and it's just that kind of makes me sick to my stomach.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. I was gonna say, I think the fact that you were really supporting and endorsing women made. Products, businesses, and the entrepreneurs behind it so that they can get a, an opportunity, a chance in business to elevate and showcase their worth is in itself real statement about your company

Yeah. And even you have to think about it that way as a business. So if my business is for women, it needs to be women owned, operated, and all the parts of it, right? who are the people that are helping me with my advertising or my social media, or who are my shipper and receiving companies?

Are they all women owned and operated? So it's just really walk the talk.

I love that. 

Innovative Products for Hot Flashes

Now you're wearing a beautiful. a gorgeous necklace, stones tell us what the product is

Thank you. Yeah.

yeah, you mentioned it.

So it's actually, yeah, it's a set. It also comes in a variety of colors. I have a sand color that I love as well, just depending on what I'm wearing. But they're freezable. They come in this really cool pouch that you put in the freezer and it's almost the same as like an ice pack, right?

So it. It cools down and you wear it around your neck or your pulse points, right? And so it helps to keep you kind of chilled out. The bracelet's fun too, because you could wear it if you're gardening or I don't know playing tennis or golf if that's your thing. But definitely could wear it outside as well.

So it's it's really versatile and lightweight and I think it's stylish and it wouldn't even cross my mind to think oh, this is something for hot flashes. So it's really beautiful.

Yeah.

It's attractive, very appealing.

Thank you. Yeah. And it's from a company called Hot Girl Pearls. hot girl pearls. I was gonna say it, some of

Yeah.

 listeners saying, okay, where do we find these

Yeah. And actually it's good to tell your listeners now that we do have a a discount code for your listeners. 10% off using Menopause Disruptor.

oh, this wonderful.

Yeah.

we'll get that in the show notes too. Wonderful. Beautiful. We'll use that. I'll, I'll reiterate that time and again, in the similar vein. 

Supporting Women Entrepreneurs

there's a entrepreneur out there listening to this podcast and she is saying, I have she or they, because we have to, note the fact that not all identify but the pronouns, she and her. And to support A-L-G-B-T-Q community. So an entrepreneur out there who has a product and would really like to have it promoted in your marketplace website, is that possible? Can they

10 Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. We have a contact form at Hotter, just me. It's contact us and yeah, reach out and share any products that either you've used or recommended or one that, that we should be offering.

  that is lovely.

 my favorite part. After I chat with any vendor, I always ask them well, are there any products that you would recommend to have on this site?

 And I, I almost leave every call with three recommendations and referrals to other brands or products. That would be great fits as well. So I think it's just,

  is.

yeah, it's always good to make the ask, right?

Building Community and Collaboration

 Oh, and that speaks to your mission about also creating community,

 Mm-hmm.

  and I wanted to speak to that as well because you were, you had mentioned earlier on with the bundles and also these communities based on symptoms. So Speak to our listeners a little bit about that.

56 Yeah, I think community is so important, right? As an entrepreneur, as a woman in my own friend group, I call it girlfriend medicine sometimes when you talk to your girlfriends and is this happening for you? Or have you had this yet? Or you have the older wiser elder friend who's telling you exactly what's coming down the road for you.

 And so, then there's also in business too. So if you don't have a community of people that are in the same industry, you can go and create one. And so when I was in the alcohol industry, I was a founding member of a group called the Women's Cocktail Collective, and we are a group now of 35 female founders of Spirit brands.

 So no husband and wife teams. This is just women going at it alone, building a spirit brand. And our brands were always helpful to each other. We would create recipes that used each other's brands. We were very collaborative, not competitive. If we were doing any kind of trade show events, we'd pool our money and get a big room where our dollars went farther that way.

 And same now. It was almost within a week or two of starting the business. I stumbled upon a group called the Menopause Brain Trust, and it's a group of, I think now a hundred brands and marketplaces and service providers and doctors and authors and podcasters and a group of women who are all around the topic of menopause.

 It's a monthly meeting and. You can just introduce yourself and share what's going on. one of the topics I'm looking into right now is, it's unfortunate, but Google and other advertising platforms see menopause as a hardship of some sort versus just like a time of life and a health issue.

 And so you're not able to use words like vagina when you're talking about vaginal dryness and which is. It's crazy, right? So how are you supposed to get around these to, to get the products that you need to women in need. Yeah, so just and it's really fascinating to, to me in terms of how we are all dealing with things as entrepreneurs that we can all talk to each other about and it helps everyone.

Is this a virtual meetup?

 Yeah. Just a Google meet Uhhuh,

I will have to put that in the show

I will yeah,

own exactly. Yes.as you spoke, I was thinking back to an earlier episode when I first launched the Menopause Disruptor Podcast, which at the time was known as all things Menopausal. But my mission was to really disrupt the conversation around menopause so that we can say what words like vagina and not feel the shame and blame.

Blame. And nevertheless earlier on I brought on e Rista, which is a vaginal. Device to help with incontinence and a great product produced here in Canada. I will probably link you up with the CEO of that company, Lauren, because she has she has a beautiful story to tell about how that all got started. And they are looking at ways of expanding their audience. So it might

That's wonderful. Thank you. I appreciate that.

 of that episode hear me or Lauren herself. Here's me. We'll, we'll set that up. 

Overcoming Challenges in Business

 but on the, on another topic though, about the tenacity, 'cause you said that you were against some challenges upheavals when you entered into spirits business and became the first worldwide female entrepreneur of Scotch and Spirits. I would like to know how you yourself had to dig deep into your own sense of resiliency or core values to face those challenges and maintain that. Drive your tenacity to persevere.

I think at the time I wasn't aware of the term imposter syndrome, but I definitely had it right

 Yeah.

Who am I to do this? I am not from the spirits industry. I am not from, I didn't grow up in Scotland I, I, I've never even worked in the spirits industry. What, what business do I have doing this?

Right? And so I was also faced with quite a bit of rejection along the way. So it was 80 times in three years, I got a no when it came time just to find the liquid, right? That the core thing that I needed for this product. And it was 80, no, we can't help you. No, we're not interested. No, we don't do that.

Contract blending. So I would like look up contract blending. So it's just kind of like feeling my way around in the dark. And I remember, I was sorry I wouldn't to get defeated at each of these, but they're almost checkpoints along the way to say am I still interested in this? Does this still drive me?

And then it was the 81st person that's finally said yes. And it was actually a set of sisters who were taking over their dads. Scotch importing business and said, we would love to help you. We share a similar desire to change the face of scotch, and we have connections and resources for you, and we'd love to be your partner some in some way.

And so it's quite magical. You just need that one Yes. To kind of get you, get you started and they're fantastic friends and became investors in the business along the way as well. I think it's just about. Really just believing in yourself and just I think there's that moment where, I think it was Indiana Jones or one of them where they take a step off the cliff and there's like nothing to look at.

But then when they throw us in the sand, you see there's actually a step there and then a path for you to walk on. So just kind of taking this leap into the, the unknown, and there was this other whiskey maker that I always looked up to and I wrote to him, I said, Hey, do you have advice?

For someone like new to the industry, where would you begin? And he said, read a book called The Alchemist. And at first I thought, wait, is this like a scotch book or do you mean The Alchemist that I read in high school from Paulo Cuo? He goes, Paulo Cuo. And I was like, okay. And so I read it and it was very much about when you decide to choose or follow a dream that the universe conspires to make it so and I think that's, it's a big power in just. Baking up for what you're working on and talking about it and not keeping it a beautiful secret because then allies will show up. And the same thing happened to me again recently when I was starting the menopause business. I thought well who am I? I am not a doctor.

 I'm not from the industry. and this time around I was able to tell that voice to just, to pipe down for a little while. Like, I got this, I could figure it out.

That is so great. 

The Power of Manifestation

 Often I ask my guests what their favorite book is, and I'm glad you mentioned the The Alchemist, but you did share in your intake form another one,

Yes. So it’s, bit

ah, that book I could go on forever. It's a book by Shakti GWA and it's called Creative Visualization. And I have read it, I think maybe every decade of my life as a from when I was 20 to to now. And it's very much about the power of manifestation and just, really visualizing your dreams and, and making them into a reality.

And even the littlest things to the biggest things, right? And the biggest things might be finding a life partner. I remember I made a drawing with a little list of characteristics of who's my dream person. And then when I met. Who is my husband now I told him kind of silly I had made a list about you.

And he goes, hang on a second. He goes, do you have it? I said, yeah. So I went and I found it and then he came over and he pulled out a piece of paper that he had written, like his characteristics of the perfect partner as well. And it was just wild that we had both kind of done this exercise and found each other.

And then and then his take on it was, if you don't know what you're looking for, how will you know when you find it? And so I thought that was really beautiful. And then when I was struggling with fundraising for my business, my coach at the time said what would be like the, the biggest, craziest outcome right now that you could imagine, like a miracle?

And I said, if somebody just bought the whole thing. And so she said, well, what would that look like? And so she had me write myself a check. For an amount and date it and who the buyer was and sign it and then just put it away. And then it was almost within a month of that day that I received the paperwork to close on, on the acquisition for my business.

And that was seven months from when I wrote that check to myself. So it was pretty wild. what you can create and manifest and I credit a lot of it to, to this book.

Oh, wow.is so beautiful. 

Advice for Women in Transition

I was gonna ask you if you had any advice for women, it going through menopause or entrepreneurialship, or shifting from one job to another, leaving the corporate workplace, what would it be? But I think you nailed it

Right

you. I think it's in, in so many ways, it's almost a, there's a distinction between being committed and being attached to an outcome, For me, it was like my husband and I, we were committed to having a big family, but we weren't attached to how it happened. And when we couldn't conceive naturally, we thought, well, let's do IVF.

And so we did. And we have three amazing kids now. And to go from this feeling of scarcity to like full abundance of the. Big, beautiful family and families come in all shapes and sizes. So I think I think just having the ability to know that what you want, but just not it has to be a certain way

very true. Love that. Committed versus attachment.

Yeah.

 we know very well. Just to go back to one of my favorite topics about yoga. Yoga also is a practice of non-attachment in itself. S and when we can really tap into who we are and then see ourselves from a point of view of where we can just simply observe without absorbing.

And that speaks a lot to the menopause journey too. How can

Yeah.

 and then lean in? And I love that women are leaning in together, creating products, creating businesses, creating community in which we can share in this journey. Because like you said earlier. It's not about competition, it's about collaboration. that in, in itself, I feel is the spirit of the wise women rising.Oh, I, I've loved this conversation.

same. Thank you so much for the opportunity to share my story and hopefully to help other women as well.

 Yes. We'll get all those important links in the show notes. You shared so many and I just can't wait to See how the feedback is from the listeners. knows, they may have just landed themselves a future career or future journey in entrepreneurial-ship.

Oh, may it be 

 May it be so