Perimenopause Made Me Quit My Dream Job: Why Women Blame Themselves First w/ Joanne LaMarca Mathisen

Joanne LaMarca Mathisen spent nearly three decades behind the scenes at TODAY, rising from NBC page to executive producer of the show's fourth hour with Hoda & Jenna and winning three Emmys along the way. After walking away from a career she loved, she turned her storytelling skills to a subject television had largely ignored: menopause. The result was The M Factor: Shredding the Silence on Menopause, the first CME-accredited menopause documentary, now on PBS and screened around the world. Her latest film, The M Factor 2: Before the Pause – Perimenopause, takes the conversation even earlier. In today's episode, Joanne and I go beyond the résumé. Our families crossed paths long before her films did, and that friendship gives this conversation an honesty you don't often hear. We talk about what it really cost her to step away from the job she loved, how she built two documentaries on a shoestring budget, and why so many women in midlife are still left wondering what happened to the person they used to be. Joanne opens up about the insomnia, anxiety and brain fog that pushed her to walk away from a job she loved, before she even knew perimenopause was a word. She shares the close call in her driveway, the painful comment from her son that stopped her in her tracks, and why she once thought she was "allergic to her husband." We dive into how the 2002 WHI study pulled women off hormone therapy almost overnight, the "lost generation" of women it left behind, and what newer data says about starting treatment in perimenopause. We also talk about genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM), why it's quietly ending marriages, and what the husbands in The M Factor 2 want every woman to know. Our conversation also covers why the first signs of perimenopause are often emotional rather than physical, why Joanne wants these films in every high school, what hormone testing can and can't tell you, and the Tyrer-Cuzick score that led to Joanne's stage 0 breast cancer diagnosis. I also share the non-oral estrogen options I recommend during the patch shortage. Join us today as we discuss perimenopause and menopause, brain fog and anxiety, the WHI study, hormone therapy, GSM and intimacy, midlife women in the workplace, breast cancer risk, insurance parity, and why it's not you, it's menopause. Watch The M Factor films: http://themfactorfilm.com Non-oral estrogen options mentioned in this episode: Evamist (estradiol spray): https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2024/022014s015lbl.pdf Divigel (estradiol gel): https://www.drugs.com/pro/divigel.html Femring (estradiol acetate vaginal ring): https://www.drugs.com/pro/femring.html Joanne LaMarca Mathisen's Links: https://www.instagram.com/jolamathisen/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanne-lamarca-mathisen-coach Dr. Somi Javaid's Links: https://www.instagram.com/dr.somijavaid/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/somi-javaid/ https://www.tiktok.com/@somijavaid https://www.drsomi.com/