Perimenopause and Running a Business: What Nobody Puts in the Business Plan
Nobody puts "perimenopausal" in their business plan. There's a section for cash flow, marketing and growth, but nothing for the day you sit down at your desk and can't remember the word for "invoice".
I'm a coach, a podcast host and the founder of a clothing brand. I'm also perimenopausal. This World Menopause Day, on 18th October, I want to talk honestly about what perimenopause and running a business really look like together. That means the messy parts, the practical parts, and why it's changed the way I coach.
What perimenopause actually feels like at work
For me, it didn't arrive with a big announcement. It crept in.
It started with sleep. I'd wake at 3am with my mind racing through tomorrow's to-do list, then drag myself through the day on coffee. I put it down to being busy. Everyone's tired. Everyone's stretched. You just get on with it.
Then I started noticing other things. My patience was shorter. My energy came and went without warning. Some days I felt sharp and full of ideas. Other days, the same tasks felt like wading through mud.
The hardest part wasn't any single symptom. It was not recognising myself. I've built a whole career on helping people have the conversations they avoid, and here I was avoiding one with myself.
Perimenopause brain fog and losing your words
If you've never had perimenopause brain fog, it's hard to describe. It isn't forgetting where you left your keys. It's being mid-sentence on a client call when the word you need just vanishes, and then losing the thread of what you were saying.
When your work relies on listening, thinking clearly and choosing your words carefully, that's frightening. I started over-preparing for sessions and writing notes for things I'd normally say without thinking. I worried that clients would notice.
What helped most was noticing a pattern. My fog was almost always worse in the afternoons and after a bad night's sleep. Once I could see that, I could plan around it instead of being caught out by it.
When your confidence doesn't turn up
Nobody warned me about the confidence part.
There were days I'd look at a decision I'd normally make in seconds, like pricing a new offer or replying to a collaboration request, and doubt every option. I couldn't explain why to anyone, including myself.
This is the part of perimenopause at work that I think is talked about least. Capable, experienced women suddenly second-guess themselves. Many assume they're losing their edge, when actually something real and physical is going on.
Why perimenopause hits business owners differently
If you're employed, there may be a menopause policy, a supportive manager or a quieter role to step into for a while. When you run your own business, there's usually none of that.
There's no one to cover a bad week. The business runs on you, so when your energy dips, everything dips.
You are the brand. Many of us are the face of our business, so a bad day can feel very public.
Income and wellbeing are linked. Pausing to rest can feel like a financial risk, so we push through.
It can feel lonely. There's no team room to say "is it just me?"
None of this means women can't run thriving businesses through perimenopause. Lots of us do. But it does mean we need to run them differently.
Six things I've changed in how I run my business
These aren't medical fixes. They're the practical changes that have helped me keep going, and they're the same ones I now explore with clients.
I plan around my body, not against it. Big thinking, client sessions and creative work go in the mornings. Admin and emails wait for the afternoon, when the fog tends to roll in.
I build buffer into my week. I no longer book back-to-back days. I leave at least one lighter afternoon each week so a bad night doesn't knock everything over.
I've stopped apologising for needing space. Rest isn't a reward for finishing everything. It's part of how the work gets done.
I write things down. Notes before calls, a running list of ideas, and decisions made on good days so I'm not making them from scratch on hard ones.
I say it out loud. To my team, to people I trust, and now to you. Saying it doesn't fix it, but it stops it being a secret I have to manage on top of everything else.
I've let go of the version of me who could do it all at 100mph. She was impressive. She was also exhausted.
Perimenopause, confidence and coaching: why it shapes my work
The Complicated Coach exists because life is complicated, and pretending it isn't helps no one. Perimenopause has made that more personal than ever.
I now see it in so many of the women I work with. Successful women who suddenly feel like they're failing, without realising there's a reason. Women second-guessing decisions they'd have made in seconds two years ago. Women who think the answer is to push harder.
I can't tell anyone what's happening in their body. That's a conversation for a GP. What coaching can do is hold space for the other conversation: who you are now, what you need, and how to build a working life that fits the woman you're becoming, not the one you used to be.
That's the work. It always was. I just understand it differently now.
Let's talk
If you want to talk about what perimenopause means for your work and your life, that's what I'm here for. Book a free discovery call and we can have a chat, no pressure, no ties.
It's complicated. That's OK.
