• Wendy calls herself the The Menopause Mastery Coach

• She gave up her job in senior management to help other women

• Stages group workshop where women have a chance to share their experiences

• Wants to show women how they could make improvements during menopause at an earlier stage

• Wendy delivers weekly classes at Champneys Springs near Ashby

When Wendy Penlington could not remember the name of a work colleague she had known for years, she feared the signs of early onset dementia in her late 40s.

But when she saw her doctor, she was told her symptoms were due to peri menopause, and a couple of years down the line, she decided to give up her corporate role of almost 25 years to help others in the same situation to manage their symptoms.

Now Wendy has her own business and is known as The Menopause Mastery Coach.

And she currently delivers a weekly Menopause Mastery workshop at Champneys Springs, near Ashby, for their guests. She will also be holding a workshop at Fishers Solicitors in the town on March 18 for a group of their employees.

She told Ashby Nub News the story behind it.

"Until November 2018, I'd worked for almost 25 years as a senior manager in a FTSE 100 company - a stressful job, with the usual pressures and targets that come with the territory in that kind of position," explained Wendy.

"I was always a very organised, structured sort of person, then about five years ago, I felt as though I was gradually losing my mind, and at the very least, thought I must have early onset dementia!

"My memory was getting worse, I was experiencing brain fog, and had really poor sleep, all making it hard to concentrate on anything for long.

"I was taking longer and longer to get the same things done at work and changed from a really confident, organised person who was known for remembering everything, to someone who felt like I couldn't remember anything at all.

"It really started to affect my confidence, and I was getting more and more anxious.''

Wendy added: ''I never even considered it could be the menopause, because like a lot of women, I thought that was something that happens way off into your 50s.

"I struggled on for a year or more, thinking it was all down to the stress of the job, until I hit what I would call my rock bottom moment - I sat in a meeting one day with maybe a dozen or so people, and two things happened. I looked across the table at a colleague I'd worked with for at least 10 years, and I couldn't remember his name!'

"Then I opened my mouth to raise a point, and what had been in my head clearly a few moments earlier, had completely disappeared, not a clue. I didn't know what the words were that I wanted to say.'

"When I finally went to see my GP, he was brilliant, because a lot of ladies really struggle to have menopause diagnosed. There's a lot of inaccurate information out there in some cases, and also menopause being wrongly diagnosed as depression.

"But I was lucky. He took one look at the gibbering wreck in front of him, and said I was in perimenopause, and should go and see the surgery's hormone specialist.

"I was just ecstatic that I hadn't got senile dementia! In my mind this was something that could be fixed and at that point, I chose to take HRT to fix me.

"I then started to do a lot of research myself and realised there were many things I could do holistically to help myself to manage my symptoms.

''A couple of years later after taking this approach, I didn't feel that my true purpose was being fulfilled in my corporate role, and it made me re-assess what I felt was important at that stage of my life, so I took the decision to leave my job and I trained with the International Association of Wellness Professionals to become a certified Health and Wellness Coach.

"I wanted to help others who were experiencing what I had, but show them how they could make improvements during menopause, through holistic means, at an earlier stage than I did.''

And that has been the start of a major career change for Wendy who helps women in all stages of menopause struggling with their symptoms, feeling generally overwhelmed, anxious and exhausted, to go from Menopause Misery to Mastery.

She added: "I call myself The Menopause Mastery Coach, because women really can come through menopause fitter and healthier than before. Their symptoms aren't something that they just have to put up with, it can be a really empowering; a time for positive changes.''

''My approach is to take a complete 360° holistic view of someone's life, and by making changes to diet, exercise, and lifestyle, women can take back control of their health and wellness during menopause.

''As a Wellness Coach, I work with women to help them achieve their goals by creating plans for a long-term wellness strategy to take them through menopause and beyond.

"Many people benefit from the guidance and that supportive, listening ear that a coach provides.''

She explained: "I hold a 60 to 90 minute group workshop where women have a chance to share their experiences; it covers some steps that women can take away and start to implement straight away to help manage their symptoms, whilst giving a taster of what I cover in more detail during my 1:1 programme should anyone choose that route for personal support.''

For more information about workshops or to schedule a personal complimentary Menopause Mastery Discovery call to find out how she could support you 1:1."

To contact Wendy, call 07740 895148 or email: [email protected]