Every woman over 35 should know about this!
Plus: Our Menopause Journey Survey (one of the largest of its kind) and the best advice to take with you into 2026 🎉
In this week’s Take the Lead, we’re focusing on a life stage many women are already in - without realising it.
Perimenopause can begin in your thirties, and its early signs are often dismissed as stress, burnout or “just ageing”. Anxiety, changing periods, brain fog, aching joints, a dip in libido - none of it is random, and none of it is something you simply have to put up with. Dr Naomi Potter breaks down the key signs every woman over 35 should know.
We’re also marking a major moment for The Female Lead. We’ve launched our Menopause Journey Survey - one of the largest of its kind - designed to listen, properly and at scale, to the lived experiences of people navigating peri- or postmenopause. With 13 million people peri or menopausal in the UK alone, the silence around menopause no longer makes sense. Take a few minutes to share your experiences and help women navigate menopause in the future.
And while we’re on the topic of listening to our bodies, our needs and our instincts, the rest of this newsletter brings together the best advice we’ve shared this year - across health, self, society, work, money and relationships - to take with you into 2026.
Enjoy this issue, share it if you like it, and please reply directly to this email to let us know what you think.
You can also catch up on our other newsletters from 2025, here.
The Female Lead Team
7 signs of perimenopause every woman over 35 should look out for
By Dr Naomi Potter, Menopause specialist and award-winning author
6 ways to look after your brain health in your 20s and 30s
By Jitka Vseteckova, Senior Lecturer Health and Social Care, The Open University & Corrina Grimes, Atlantic Fellow, Global Brain Health Institute, Trinity College Dublin
What every woman should know about money after divorce
By Sally Matthews, Client Manager at Paradigm Norton
How to ditch ‘fomo’ and foster ‘jomo’ – the joy of missing out
By Fuschia Sirois, Professor in Social & Health Psychology, Durham University
Parents share 6 game-changers that reduced screen time for their children
Children and young people’s obsession with screens can drive their parents mad – almost literally.
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