The MiDOViA Menopause Podcast
Welcome to The MiDOViA Menopause Podcast! Your trusted source for evidence-based, science-backed information related to menopause.
MiDOViA is dedicated to changing the narrative about menopause by educating, raising awareness and supporting women in this stage of life, both at home and in the workplace. Visit midovia.com to learn more.
Medical Advice Disclaimer
The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.
The MiDOViA Menopause Podcast
Episode 029: From Hollywood to Health: Unveiling The (M) Factor Film
Ever wondered how menopause impacts more than just physical health? In this episode, age enthusiast, community health advocate, and media pioneer Denise Pines shares her incredible journey from the entertainment world to becoming a leading voice in menopause awareness. Denise recounts her transformation after experiencing hot flashes while serving as vice president of the medical board of California, leading her to co-create Tea Botanics and empower women through menopause-focused teas. Her mission is clear: to provide women in midlife with evidence-based information and support.
As menopause gains visibility, thanks to social media and advocates like Oprah, Denise sheds light on the significant challenges still faced in this field. From the difficulty of getting doctors to publicly engage to the shortage of substantial funding from major foundations and corporations, Denise underscores the urgent need for more investment and understanding in menopause research. Our discussion reveals the alarming lack of recent data on menopause, highlighting the pressing necessity for comprehensive research to better support women's health and well-being.
Join us as we explore Denise's impactful advocacy and educational endeavors, including her groundbreaking documentary "The (M) Factor." This film not only highlights the brain changes during perimenopause and the risks of permanent brain decline but also aims to secure more funding for menopause research. Denise shares her vision of transforming "The (M) Factor" from a film into a comprehensive community platform, supporting women, employers, and practitioners. With upcoming screenings and a PBS airing on October 17th, this episode promises to inspire and inform anyone interested in advancing women's health through menopause awareness.
About Denise:
An age enthusiast, longtime community health advocate, and media pioneer, Denise Pines is a trusted resource for women as they pursue midlife wellness. She founded WisePause Wellness, a pro-aging health, education, and workplace platform and co-founder of the FemAging Project which hosts pitch competitions and provides innovators and investors in the health and tech industry sector with research reports addressing innovations specifically designed for women ages 40+. She’s the co-founder and CEO of Tea Botanics and the inspiration behind Hot Flash Tea. Pines is the president of the Osteopathic Medical Board of California and past president of the Medical Board of California and serves on the Board of the Federation for State Medical Board. Pines co-founded Women in the Room Productions and is an award-winning filmmaker producing 12 documentaries including “Birthing Justice” which examines the Black maternal health crisis in America and her next film “The M Factor: Shredding the Silence on Menopause” opens up the conversation on menopause.
Websites:
www.themfactorfilm.com
www.wisepause.com
Continuing Ed for The (M) Factor Film:
www.fsmb.org
MiDOViA LINKS:
Website: https://www.midovia.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mymidovia
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/midovia
Email Us: info@midovia.com
MiDOViA is dedicated to changing the narrative about menopause by educating, raising awareness & supporting women in this stage of life, both at home and in the workplace. Visit midovia.com to learn more.
The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images & other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, di
Welcome to the Medovia Menopause Podcast, your trusted source for evidence-based, science-backed information related to menopause. Medovia is dedicated to changing the narrative about menopause by educating, raising awareness and supporting women in this stage of life, both at home and in the workplace. Visit medoviacom to learn more home and in the workplace. Visit Medoviacom to learn more. I'm one of your hosts, april Haberman, and I'm joined by Kim Hart. We're co-founders of Medovia, certified health coaches, registered yoga teachers and midlife mamas specializing in menopause. You're listening to another episode of our podcast, where we offer expert guidance for the most transformative stage of life, bringing you real conversations, education and resources to help you overcome challenges and reach your full potential through midlife. Join us and our special guests each episode as we bring vibrant, fun and truthful conversation and let us help you have a deeper understanding of menopause.
Speaker 1:Hi everyone, we're so excited to have our guest on the show today, denise Pines. She is an age enthusiast, longtime community health advocate and media pioneer. Denise is a trusted resource for women as they pursue midlife wellness. She founded Wise Paws Wellness. She's the co-founder and CEO of Tea Botanics and the inspiration behind Hot Flash Tea. We have to get some of that. Pines is the president of the Osteopathic Medical Board of California and serves on the board of Federation for State Medical Board. Heinz co-founded Women in the Room Productions and is an award-winning filmmaker, producing 12 documentaries, including her next film, the M Factor, shredding the Silence on Menopause, and we get to open up the conversation about menopause and her next film, so let's dive right in. Hey everyone, we are so excited to have Denise Pines with us today and we get to talk about all things menopause our favorite topic so let's dive in, denise. Welcome to the show, thank you for having me.
Speaker 2:I'm excited.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this is going to be a fantastic conversation. You have a remarkable background, an impressive resume, and so let's dive in, because I know that there's a lot of buzz about this documentary. People are curious about it, and I'd love to start off by just asking you to share with our audience how you got into the production. How did you get into producing films in the first place?
Speaker 2:So I have actually been in entertainment for maybe over 25 years now. I started as a creative producer for talk you know talk TV, talk radio programs and then the person who I was working with got an opportunity to produce four documentaries with PBS and that really kicked off my interest in documentaries and really finding like that was my sweet spot you could tell a really great story. It was fun to unravel and uncover the stories and then to travel around the country and tell those stories. So I really found that you know documentaries storytelling was really where I thought was really powerful and you can make a change, and that where I felt like I really thrived more so than you know talk, you can make a change. And that where I felt like I really thrived more so than you know talk you know talk TV and we work with lots of celebrities. So it was talk celebrity stuff, right. So this kind of out of the you know hearing about celebrity stuff to hearing about everyday people's things.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, I'm sure you have met some remarkable people along the way as well, and that could probably be an entire separate podcast in and of itself. I'm sure that there are lots of stories with that, but I'd love to hear your story on how the M factor came about. What led to this work? What you know? What was there a particular moment in time and experience that inspired this work? What you know? What was there a particular moment in time and experience that inspired this project?
Speaker 2:Well, you know, really, it just began with my my journey. So my journey in getting a hot flash, and, like most women, I was caught off guard, had, you know, little knowledge. But the difference for me was that I, at the time, I was the vice president of the medical board of California, so I had access to any doctor in my state. And yet I was prepared at this stage of my life, and I, you know, and so this just led me down a path first to solve my own hot flashes, and so I, you know, like treating all my health issues naturally. So I partnered with my doctor and we co-created a company called T-Botanics where we launched a series of teas for menopause, from hot flashes and night sweats to brain fog and anxiety. And then that led me to talking to all women and I realized, like gosh, so many women are confused, just like the way I was. Let me bring all these doctors, since I'm like influential in my state, together.
Speaker 2:You know, one day summit to give women evidence-based information, and we termed it Wise Paws Wellness, and I said it was talking about fem tech and everything in the solutions were for women around period fertility or parenting, and I just said, well, we're going to fem aging tech solutions and so thought about creating an initiative called the Fem Aging Project where we could raise the voice of this woman in research. So we released a report during COVID. We released a report about what she's thinking about, about her health and aging, and then we partnered with one of the largest angel investment networks in the world called Koretsu's Forum and started doing pitch competitions to generate more interest in this area, to elevate those who were who did have Femtech health products, and then to meet with investors and do presentations for investors about the viability of this market and to remove the thought for them that this market was niched. Then, as a filmmaker, I went. I got to do a documentary right.
Speaker 1:Yes, of course yeah.
Speaker 3:I love it. I love that you followed every breadcrumb of your interest to. You know, go do the things that lit you up, cause obviously those are all of those things you mentioned make you excited. You can tell let's talk about the M factor Like those are unfamiliar. Can you give us sort of an overview of that documentary and what it explores and how that all came about, because it's coming up soon?
Speaker 2:It's coming up soon. So in the M factor you know we wanted to cover, we wanted first to start off with a montage of women. We're familiar with some women we're not familiar with, meaning that they're just patients to share, like you know. Here's my experience, here's my experience, here's my experience, right, and then we go into talking about the, you know, the top pieces of the experience that most women share. So one the impact that menopause has on the brain.
Speaker 2:So a lot of us know Lisa Monsconi. She's an amazing person out of Weill in New York and she's written a book recently just about the brain and menopause, right Looking at. She got research dollars to look at the brain before a woman goes into menopause, looks at the brain during perimenopause and then looks at the brain once she hits menopause and some years after, and that data is fascinating and that is in the film. When she talks about that the real connection between the brain and the hormone and reproductive system she also says something that was really interesting in the film. She also said something that was really interesting in the film and she said that when it comes to the brain, we go to a gynecologist around that, but they don't specialize in brain, but we go to them for that. So that just was sort of an aha for myself about how we need to wrap ourselves around a more 360 care of our bodies. Right, that we have been relying on our gynecologists to be everything about our health. Well, that's not what gynecologists do, right? Gynecologists really focus from the belly button, you know, down, you know, to the end of our pubic area, right? But that we also need these other wraparound people. And so, when she said that, that came to light for me.
Speaker 2:We try to unpack HRT hormone replacement therapy. We bring in the lack of access that Black women and Latino women have and why they suffer with longer symptoms and more severe symptoms. So we bring in women of color into the story. We have patient stories. We show up patient facing with the physician so that women watching can see like this is the kind of relationship that you should be experiencing with your physician. And if you're not, move on, right.
Speaker 2:We talk about sexual, sexual health. We have some interesting reveals around uh, testosterone, and then we um get into the workplace. You know our favorite area, right. We highlight a company called genentech that has done a really great job in embracing um menopause in the workplace, from policy to insurance, to making sure that their employees and the employee's family has 24-7 access to a health care provider. So we want to show what does it look like when the workplace shows up for these women. And then we end with letting people know like these are great years. These are years when we have like this crazy amount of wisdom. These are the years when we make the most money in our lives. These are the years where we are the huge decision maker across our health, for our family, across our finances and how they're spent. And this is where we get to reconnect back to that young self of our hobbies or whatever it was before we started having children and kind of said, ah, we'll get back to that one day. This is the time to get back.
Speaker 1:Right. Yeah, I absolutely love the storytelling piece that you have real people, real stories, so that women can relate to that. I think we do relate to storytelling, right. It draws us in, much more so than just information being pushed out. But what I'm also hearing, denise, is that this documentary is really an aha right. So we want this to be an aha right. So we want this to be. You want this to be an aha moment, like this is what menopause is, and this is the real truth and the real story. And come here and get this and take a bite, right, and and we're going to give you resources, we're going to give you, like you said, a sneak peek into a doctor's visit, and this is what it should look like, because we don't know what we don't know, right, and we only know what we've been told up until this point. So you're really kind of pulling back the curtain, right.
Speaker 2:Yes For us. So we have, you and I. We've been in this space for a long time now. Right, so we are. We have so much knowledge, but we have to realize we are an anomaly. We are really an anomaly. People do not have the basic knowledge, just knowing what the word menopause really means, let alone current menopause. So I'm always having to put my beginner's hat on every time when I'm talking or meeting people. When I'm with you, I can just come, we can come right at it, but we got to recognize every time. So that's what this film is. This film is an introduction to this topic, to create awareness and what are the really important needs for women and how do we need to get started.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's much more than just our vaginal health and our ovaries and our uterus and right, I mean you mentioned it, the brain connection, and I think there is even an oral health piece in there, and we don't even think about that when we're, when we think about menopause. So hats off to you. You may have just answered the question, but why now? Why are we? Why are you releasing a documentary on menopause? Why now?
Speaker 2:I think that we kind of have come into where menopause is starting to enter the zeitgeist right, and really I think who really kicked it off at a higher level there was obviously, you know, all of the conversation that really was happening in social media. It gave women an opportunity to start talking and sharing information about what was going on with themselves and then that just started to really grow and then it started to. For me, what I saw really was the New York Times do articles. One of their early articles was around the menopause boom. So looking at all of these sort of Gen X companies that were coming into the space because Gen X got here and went what, the what?
Speaker 1:For sure. You don't have that I'm going to.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna create one, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that right, because you know that's that generation, that's what they do. Um, and then women. Then I saw doctors right. When I first started doing Wise Paws in 2019, I really couldn't get a lot of doctors. I mean my power, as at that time, the president of the Medical Board of California got me to get them there to the table but it really was hard to get doctors to come out publicly and really want a front face with the public. They were used to being in their bubble, of talking to each other, kind of like the way NAMS is right, and so it was. You know, it was really tough, and now you see these doctors all coming out. They've created platforms. You know, women are speaking up about it. You've got, you know, my partner in this project, tamsyn, speaking up about it. You've got St you know, my partner in this project, tamsyn, speaking up about it. You've got Stacey London speaking up and you're getting now personalities that have come into the fray, you know, and the ultimate was Oprah.
Speaker 1:Yes, Thank you.
Speaker 3:Oprah, thank you for sure, she changed the narrative.
Speaker 2:She started to change the narrative and we started to make it be a serious topic, as opposed to this thing that was fodder in the past, right where we ha, ha about it, tease women about it, make fun and pun about it, and we need to remove ourselves from that it was interesting when we wanted to do this film like I wanted to do a thread line of humor, right, and Wanda Sykes. I love Wanda Sykes and Wanda Sykes has some of the best comedy on menopause. It's very highbrow. It's really interesting and different.
Speaker 2:And then we thought you know what? First, we didn't have enough room inside the film because it's an hour. But second, we thought, no, we don't need to be funny Because an hour. But second we thought, no, we don't need to be funny. Thread that through. You know, maybe the next film, when someone does it can thread in that Right now we need people to be serious about this. There's not, there's. This is not a laughing matter, right? Very serious matter. This is very disruptive to women's lives and it alters relationships for them. It offers, you know, it alters their, could, disrupt their work and career path. So this is a very serious thing and we decided not to add homework inside of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm glad. I'm glad you didn't. Kim, you were going to say something, yeah.
Speaker 3:I was. You know I'm thinking about all the challenges that we face, like trying to break, break the, you know, the stigma inside the workplaces that we talk to and educate, have to educate so much of what we do, trying to, you know, get, get funding for it, get people involved in it. Like what, what sort of what were those obstacles and how did you overcome them? Did you have any surprises or ahas that you thought, oh man, this will be easy and it was hard? Or vice versa?
Speaker 2:You know I thought it was going to be easy. So you know this is my 13th film. I've raised money from the top 25 foundations in the world, not just in the US but in the world, had relationships with presidents of those entities, from the Kellogg's to the Ford to the Robert Wood Johnson, like direct connection, and I could not get a dollar out of those entities because they did not see this as and the way I framed it is a public health crisis. They didn't see it. They did not have priorities inside of their giving that would allow them to support this film and the creation of this film and toward the outreach. And so I was like initially shocked, going oh, oh, oh, oh, what am I going to do, right? So then I went out into the corporations who have been funding, you know, organizations like let's talk menopause, let's talk about menopause and some other entities, and what I realized is no one was giving real money, right. 10,000 or 25,000, that's not real money. I mean, a documentary costs, on a low end, about 800,000, on the higher end, maybe 1.7 million, right? So that's the standard range of a documentary. And here we had zero dollars and so we put money into it ourselves. I mean, this is how much that we believed in this space and believing that, you know, down the road, the funding would come in, I will say no, the funding hasn't really come in. Yeah, that was definitely a shock that we're talking about it, but we're not investing in, right? So that's the reality of where we are.
Speaker 2:The next is, as we were you know, fact checking doing all of our research. Just the lack of research was unreal to me. We're operating off of data that's 12 to 15 years old, meaning that's the most recent data, Right? It made me realize how little we really know about menopause, including treatment options. I know we have HRT and all of this stuff, but when you ask half of these people physicians around like you know exactly how does it work. You know exactly what's in it. These are chemicals, you know. There's still to me the data missing just in that, and I know we had that big research. That happened in 2002, but why did we stop? Why did we just keep researching, right? So we have now 22 years of what I would say significant data gap around other treatment options and definitely around women who want to take a more natural approach.
Speaker 2:I don't like all the pooh-poohing around that. I'm a person who deals with my health. Naturally it works. We have only been living as humans off medication for about 100 years and, if I'm going to be honest, really about the last 50, 55 years. So for the last million years of human existence. What have we been surviving off of? We've been surviving off the land, the earth right, the plants. So I get really upset when people believe that chemical drugs are the end all to our health and wellness. It is absolutely not, I think. The other thing that was really shocking and I wanted to, and this was one of those 12-year-old stats was the use of HRT. Only 4% of women were using it. This is 12 years ago. Data Couldn't get a recent data point. The Menopause Society just released September 10th of this year, so this month, the latest data on this and it was alarming. Now only 1.8% of women are using HRT.
Speaker 3:So we're shocked, which is amazing. Right, I mean right, crazy it's gone down.
Speaker 2:We need more research to understand why what is that, right, um, so you know, so there was, you know, you know, a lot of aha moments and lack of research. Um, the difference that you know the positions, that all, really, some of them don't agree on things, right, um, I think the other thing is just who is the best expert to tell the story? You know there's so many, you know we call them the menopause, and there's menopause here, menopause there, right, right, like, who do we really have, when people started to find out? Because you know one doctor friend to tell another doctor friend, oh, I just got interviewed for the impactor, call him up. So, like, every doctor felt like, oh, wow, should be in it. That was definitely challenging.
Speaker 2:Um, and then I would say the stories. You know we have quite a few stories. There was only so many that really what I call made the cut. Yeah, didn't mean that someone's story wasn't valuable. Um, it just was like how we were trying to tell the story, what really made sense. And then at some point, you know you kind of have to stop, right, you got to, and it really was the director. Right, the director is the decision maker. And one day she said stop, do not send me another expert, do not send me another patient.
Speaker 1:Wow, it's too much.
Speaker 1:right, it's one hour, it's one hour, you'll have to do another one, although we just said, you know, funding has been a challenge, and I find that not surprising, but surprising, something that affects not just 50% of the population, because we know that you said it earlier, denise it's not just individuals that are experiencing menopause, it's everyone else around you, right? Menopause affects 100% of people, so we're talking about something that is pretty impactful to everybody on earth here, and we don't have the funding, we don't have the support for it. So I hope that the M factor really raises that awareness for not only individuals, so that they have the resources and the education that they need, but also it's an aha for corporations, the private sector, so that there is more funding for menopause related information, documentaries, products, whatever that might be. Yeah, and research, yes, I think the first lady, jill Biden, just announced another round of funding from the Pentagon yesterday. So for research, which is good. I haven't read the full press release on that yet, so I'll have to dig in a little bit further.
Speaker 2:That's giving the money now what's that dod?
Speaker 1:oh yes that.
Speaker 3:That's where I'm confused.
Speaker 1:But okay, that's fine we'll take it, but it is odd dollars right yeah yeah, we'll take, we'll take it, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, all the crumbs start to add up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but it's interesting. It is. It's curious that's the word I'll use today very curious. Yeah, denise, there's a lot that the documentary covers in that hour and you've had to really rein it in. As you look back now, uh, after all of the pieces have been put together and you're able to watch this film, what resonates with you personally the most?
Speaker 2:Um, I, it resonates with me, I think the brain, really, that brain conversation was like wow, it really factualized it, right, it really validated that something does happen to women during the perimenopause years. Even more shocking is when you come on the other side of it. Right, that there are some women that come and they get a 20-year-old brain back. Right, they go in with I don't know a 46-year-old brain and come out with a 20-year-old brain. I thought, ooh, that wasn't me. That's exciting though. Yeah, like me, I came back with the same brain I went into.
Speaker 2:The really alarming part was the women who have permanent brain decline. Wow, yeah. And what do we do for those women? Those are the women who show up as dementia on Alzheimer's later on, right? So now that we know that, how can we? What is this? What's the secret to the 20 year old brain? Or just, hey, let me just keep the brain I have. When I went into this phase, I mean, how do we help those women who actually deteriorate mentally? So that, I think, was, you know, the biggest personal takeaway of like going. Yes, you know those moments where I can't remember somebody's name who I've known for 25 years and they're standing right in front of me. It made that like really hone in and say it was very real.
Speaker 3:Yeah, wow. So what's the ultimate goal for you in this, in this documentary? And then what's next in terms of your menopause advocacy Cause? I mean, you are got your hands in so many great places of it and I just love that. You're like there's a need there, I'm going to go fill it. There's a need there, I'm going to go fill it. Yeah, right.
Speaker 1:Right? Well, we know you get up at 4am, denise, so you have to in order to get it all done. Yeah, you know one I have to say.
Speaker 2:I do play hard. I mean I travel. I have to say I do play hard. I mean I travel extensively, I get together with my friends and my family. So I'm not that I'm a I'm a really intense work person, but I'm a really intense play person as well.
Speaker 2:So, in terms of what we have going on, I mean we have screenings now around the US that are about to jump off. The first one, the very first screening I'm doing in two days in San Francisco for a private club like a you know, like one of these like you know kind of clubs, and then we sort of really kick off everything very early October. But now we have screenings we're coordinating in South Africa and Canada and the UK, new York, australia and even Lithuania Great. But the biggest achievement for this film is turning this film into a continuing medical education credit for physicians, for physician assistants, nurse practitioners and dentists. Yes, you can receive credits towards the renewal of their medical licenses and people listening can go to F, as in Frank S, as in Sam M, as in Mary B, as in boyorg, and they can find the webinar there. We're going to be posting a big webinar October 17, for all of those disciplines and at the very end of that, they'll get their certificate right away.
Speaker 1:Great. I love that because my husband is a dentist, so that oral health is obviously a big topic in our house as it relates to menopause as well. So I'll send him there. And it's exciting. I mean, that's a huge accomplishment for the, for our audience, who doesn't really understand that process. Bravo, I'm clapping. You know that that is important. And and it's important, Denise, because not only is it hard work to get those CE credits I know the process that you have to go through but, um, it really encourages physicians, dentists, nurse practitioners, PAs, to take the time to watch. You know it really encourages that and entices them to do that.
Speaker 1:And then, on the other, side you know how important this information is, so bravo with that. Is there anything else, denise, that we haven't asked you about? The film that you wish we had, that you'd like to share with our audience?
Speaker 2:I would just say you know sort of things like to stay, you know, I think, for women to look at what's happening with their state. So in our state I'm really, you know policy is going to have to force a lot of the changes in our health care system just because of how the health care systems are set up. And we just recently passed the bill here called AB 2270, which is recommends not requires, but recommends physicians and nurse practitioners and PAs to get menopause, mental health and physical training, and it says if you have 35% of your patient population is over the age of 40, we recommend that you get this kind of training. That's a good step right. We have another bill called AB 4870, which is requiring insurance providers to cover, including Medicaid, to cover menopause treatments. So these are the things that we need to really get our states going, while the federal government is trying to pass laws that also encompass this but encompass other things across all the states.
Speaker 2:But we can start with our each of our states. We can start with each of our states to do this, and now is the time right. Now is the time you want to go and meet with your representative to get them to start drafting a bill, because as they go into the January season, that's when they start, like you know, reviewing the bills and they go start going through the floors, and all that for people who know how bills actually get passed. We're also looking to make the M Factor a community platform and resources for women. I realized in doing this that there's not really one space you can go and like engage with people and get a lot of information in like sort of one destination. So we are looking to make the M Factor a community platform for women, employers and practitioners, and that platform right now is just the M Factor film dot com, but I think we'll go to just it saying the nfactor. But that's, I would say, the one thing that we're doing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it goes beyond just the film, right, it's providing those resources and education and platforms beyond the one hour that you're going to watch the documentary, and I love that. And it is being built out. Just the audience knows it's a work in progress, right, denise? It's, it's unfolding as we speak. So keep going back to that website because it will be different Two weeks than it is today.
Speaker 1:Radically different, yes, yes. But for those that want to see the film um, they can go to the m factor filmcom. They can look for screenings in their local area. It will be aired on pbs on october 17th, so everyone can watch it on october 17th on pbs. We'll put all of this in the show notes as well. But before we sign off and before we let you go, we do like to have a little bit of fun with Rapid Round and get to know Denise a little bit better. So let's have a little bit of fun, shall we, I think I know the answer to this, but you're going to start.
Speaker 3:I'll start, though. Do you like a movie or a book first?
Speaker 1:A book, okay, ah, because you just work on films.
Speaker 2:all day long, love reading.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what's your favorite book to start a curiosity? Or maybe just what are you reading now?
Speaker 2:That's a little bit of pressure there. What's your favorite book? I'm reading the Other.
Speaker 1:Black Girl right now. And what is that? Fiction, nonfiction.
Speaker 2:No, there's a film on it um on Hulu right now. Oh.
Speaker 1:I had no idea. Okay, great, another one to add to our list. Yes, all right. Well, we just had dinner with you last week, so maybe I know the answer to this. But sweet or savory?
Speaker 2:I'm going to go with savory. I'm going to go with savory.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, you can't stop the chips, but you can stop the cookies, because I'm the opposite of that.
Speaker 3:I like salty too. Okay, home cooked meal or takeout.
Speaker 2:Oh takeout.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You have some pretty good food where you are. So, I don't blame you on that one. The last question that we have, a little more serious what's the best piece of advice that you've ever received? The best piece of advice that you've ever received?
Speaker 2:The best piece of advice. You know, this was an interesting question because I have gotten so much advice Ask for and not ask for. You know how that goes. What really is what I lead with and almost everything that I pursue that's new is it just takes one person to say yes, right. So you know, I always keep this in the back of my mind. It keeps me persistent, it keeps me disciplined when I might get frustrated For example, just you know, raising the money for this film, when I got out of the nose I went. I just need someone to say yes. I just need someone to say yes. I just need someone to say yes. And when we think about this, for everything we do right in our career, um, you know, even in our educational pursuits you just need one person to say yes I love that.
Speaker 1:So, looking for the yes right, keep looking for the yes don't and don't be afraid to ask which is what right you have to ask to get the no.
Speaker 3:So you also have to ask to get the yes, because the answer is already no, if you don't ask right exactly yeah
Speaker 2:that's really really good advice for anyone some advice is always leave a tip at the hotel every day, ah, the room experience will elevate. And so I left that. But it wasn't until one of the TV shows that I worked on. The guy would always ask what was the best advice you ever received. And one day I was watching and one of the celebrities said leave a tip, your experience will be amazing. And so I always kind of left the tip. But sometimes I would said leave a tip, your experience will be amazing. And so I always kind of left the tip, and sometimes I forget to leave a tip. But I am so hyper-conscious Like I can literally leave a room and go oh shoot, I didn't leave the last day's tip. But I tell you, the experience is always elevated when you do it.
Speaker 1:I love that because you know what. It never dawned on me until you just said that I always leave a tip the last day. Right, it's checkout day. You leave your tip on the counter. But I have always asked my husband, like what about everybody else that has helped in this room through the whole week? Like who gets it today right? Who's been here all week? So I don't know why it didn't dawn on me to do that, but that is great advice.
Speaker 3:So I'm gonna do that next time I travel. A lot of takeaways from that advice. You know, leaving a tip, it could be a lot of different kinds of ways to leave tips that make your experience better.
Speaker 1:Yes, agreed, denise, we're so excited for this film. Of course we are. Yes, great, denise, we're so excited for this film. Of course we are. We're all about menopause, but we're so thrilled that you kept looking for that. Yes, thank you for continuing to look for the. Yes, we wish you really good sleep over the next month, because you've got a busy month and we're looking forward to seeing the screening and taking part in some of those panels. So, audience, go check it out, the mfactorfilmcom, and, until we meet again, go find joy in the journey.
Speaker 2:Thank you Bye everyone Bye-bye.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Medovia Menopause Podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please give it a thumbs up, subscribe for future episodes, leave a review and share this episode with a friend. There are more than 50 million women in the US who are navigating the menopause transition. The situation is compounded by the presence of stigma, shame and secrecy surrounding menopause, posing significant challenges and disruptions in women's personal and professional spheres. Medovia is out to change the narrative. Learn more at medoviacom. That's M-I-D-O-V-I-A dot com.
