Menopause Whilst Black

Menopause Whist Black Season SIX Episode 5! Our guest this week is Dr Yansie Rolston. Dr. Yansie Rolstons PhD experience is in health equity providing technical expertise to statutory organisations. She is a researcher, skilled trainer and facilitator working across Europe, Africa, America, and the Caribbean, designing and implementing health equity strategies. Dr Yansie founded You and Menopause...

Menopause Whist Black Season SIX Episode 4! Our guest for Episode 4 this week is Professor Joyce Harper. Professor Harper is an internationally renowned, award winning educator, author podcaster academic and scientist who has written over 240 scientific papers, published three books and is working on her fourth. Joyce is leading the development of a UK Menopause Education and Support Programme, is...

Menopause Whist Black Season SIX Episode 2!  Our guest for Episode three this week is Dr Itunuwoluwa Johnson @DrShoCares. Dr Itunu is a portfolio GP who specialises in menopause care based in North London. She is a founder of @rockmymenopause bringing menopause facts and myths to the fore and part of @heal_courses empowering Black health. Dr Itunu champions health equity and holistic practise as G...

Menopause Whist Black Season SIX Episode 2! This weeks guest is Mary Martin, founder of fashion house Mary Martin London. Mary is an award-winning self taught fashion designer based in South London. Originally from Wales, Mary's story literally reads like a 'rags to riches' novel - this determined woman has never had any intention of being stuck with the cards she was dealt. Her strong Christian f...

Menopause Whist Black Season SIX Episode 1! We're BAAAAACK!  Our guest this week is @theKarenArthur - ex teacher and fashion designer, now broadcaster and founder of this podcast @menopausewhilstblack . Yes it's me!  Here's my bio: "Karen Arthur is a Black woman with a powerful story to tell. From an unexpected and unplanned departure from her teaching career, brought on breakdown triggered by her...

Menopause Whist Black Season 5 Episode 10!  The Finale! Our guest this week is Dr Zandile Ndlovu @ zandi__ndvolu . Zimbabwean, Dr Zandile Ndlovu is the daughter of political activists who fled Rhodesia in the sixties. Zandie worked in D&I within the financial sector before bringing her considerable expertise and passion for equity and equality to her current role as Head of Consulting of an award-...

Our guest this week is inspirational Coach and mentor, Karen Charles @definitively_karen . Karen Charles is a Londoner with Grenadian heritage and describes herself as an introvert everyone thinks is an extrovert! Karen and I have a rich conversation around the following: 🧡 The Pill, the Coil and losing touch with her monthly cycle. 🧡 Listening to her own body when it came to exercise needs. 🧡...

 Adah (pronounced Ah-Dah) Parris has many titles including Life and Creative coach, Speaker and Artist. So many things to tell you about our lovely conversation! Nigerian/Guyanese Adah who is based in Southeast London says that she has 'found herself' during menopause. A late ADHD and Autism diagnosis helped the final puzzle pieces fall into place.  Adah shares her struggles coping with fibroids i...

Happy New Year!  It's 2024 and our FIFTIETH guest *runs around screaming excitedly* is the delightful Vanessa Afful of Made By Pure Hands Aromatherapy @mbpharomatherapy Vanessa Afful has had many former lives but found her calling as an aromatherapist and massage therapist after developing eczema in her twenties. A lack of natural skincare available to suit her specific needs led to her starting h...

Our guest this week is Pauline Blackwood, founder of Pendulum Massage. Pauline, a former Textiles teacher was raised in Islington, London and is now based in the Southeast of the capital. A teacher for seventeen years, Pauline's deteriorating physical health stopped her from being able to leave her home for work. Doctors discovered fibroids in her twenties which led to years of treatment including...

Our guest this week is Karen Mannion, The Health Creator. Karen is a former PA who now helps women with hormone health issues confidently navigate peri-menopause. Karen is of Ghanaian heritage raised partly in Ghana and mostly in London, United Kingdom. Her trials, from reconnections with her biological family, to a diagnosis of Adenomyosis and Fibroids and the ensuing treatment by medical profess...

Our guest this week is  Paula Stuart. Paula is a Menopause and Lifestyle Coach having been a nurse for 10+ years and a Yoga Teacher in training. Born in Leeds of Caribbean parents, she is now based in West Yorkshire where she helps those in the prison system with physical, learning and mental health issues. Paula, who was featured in the 2022 documentary Sex, Mind and the menopause with presenter...

Our guest this week is Life coach and lead voice in Black maternal health Mars Lord Mother to five, Mars, describes herself as a B-abe I-n T-otal  C-ontrol of H-erself (did you work it out yet?) Mars expresses her joy at being able to turn to her best friend Maisie who knows a thing or two about hormones (having written two books about it) Mars takes us through her introduction to peri-menopause a...

Our guest this week is founder of menopause support group Sister2SisterBU, Marcia Jones. 58 year old Londoner with Jamaican and Bajan heritage, Marcia is a people gatherer who loves her life and it shows! Marcia takes us through her life from a shy, introverted teenager to the self aware woman of faith that she is now. Peri-menopause left her confused with its physical and mental symptoms but, wit...

Our guest for the first episode of Season Five is Jewellery Creative and founder of eponymous brand AngeB Designs, Angela Benjamin. West London based Ange (pronounced in one syllable) of Grenadian heritage tells us how she first realised that she was entering peri-menopause in her early fifties and just when the first lockdown began, and the trials that ensued. Years later, Ange feels that she has...

Welcome to Season 5 of Menopause Whilst Black  the Podcast! The podcast committed to sharing the stories of Black women* in any stage of menopause, primarily based in the UK. Founder and host Karen Arthur introduces the eagerly anticipated fifth season of MWB. Menopause is a transition, can be a challenging stage for many. It can also be a gateway to next wonderful phase of our ageing lives. Seaso...

In this final episode of Season four Karen Arthur chats with star of stage, screen and radio, actress and Assistant Director Suzette Llewellyn. Suzette, founder of the BiBi crew - the first British comedy troupe to consist entirely of Black actresse s . Suzette starred in Eastenders from 2019 to 2021. Having trained at LAMDA she went into television and films.   Suzette is a proud West Londoner ra...

In this episode Karen Arthur chats with Yoga teacher Yvonne O'Garro.  A proud East Londoner, with Monserratian heritage, Yvonne left her career in HR to pursue her calling as a Yoga practioner specialising in Restorative and Hatha yoga. Yvonne feels most at peace when being of service and fulfils this by volunteering in a variety of ways. She shares how her denial regarding her menopause journey h...

In this episode Karen Arthur chats with her Film maker, Broadcaster, Wellness and Creative healing practitioner, Chantal Miller. Chantal, who is also the founder of Island Girls Rock and co-host of The Relatable Podcast, has always been a woman who listens to her Self and knows what's right for her but the onset of peri-menopause took her by complete surprise. We chat about her early life in Nevis...

In this episode Karen Arthur chats with her two daughters! Kareem Arthur is a London based writer and a mother. Maheni Arthur is a Scriptwriter, Poet and Creative also living in London, UK. This nourishing intergenerational chat drops some insightful diamonds on growing into women, mental wellbeing and preparing for the future changes to come. They share honest thoughts on how they experienced the...

In this episode Karen Arthur chats with Marilyn Fontaine (MJ) who is a formally trainer lecturer and NLP practioner. She is now an Artist, a trauma informed life coach specialising in helping creative trailblazers reach their infinite potential. MJ is the youngest in a big family of women of Dominican and Guadeloupean descent. Very much in touch with her bodily changes MJ talks openly about the ma...

In this episode Karen Arthur chats with Jay Emme (pronounced 'M') . Jay is a Wedding cellist, Cello Coach and ADHD Life Coach based in Warwickshire. Jamaican diasporic, 44 year old Jay received a diagnosis for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) fairly recently. She talks us through this experience coupled with a realisation that she was going through peri-menopause in her late thirtie...

In this episode Karen Arthur chats with Carol King, . Originally from Birmingham, Former chef now TikTok sensation, Carol moved to Barbados in her late 20s when her parents returned and is a proud Bajan. She shares how her own menopause campaigining came about and her various seemingly odd symptoms that led to her writing her own book to guide others through their menopause transition.  Notes: Car...

In this episode Karen Arthur chats with Valerie Lewis, life style model, Grief coach and Reiki practioner who is now semi-retired. Orginally from Sheffield, the aftermath of a famly tragedy brought Valerie to london forty years ago. Valerie shares her decades long struggle with fibroids and the details surrounding her symptoms  when surgery threw her head first into menopause. We also talk about h...

In this episode Karen Arthur chats with Mrs Amanda Allen, Specialist Oncology Dietician (and Karens younger sister) Amanda shares whole her hormonal journey started with a mystery illness when she was young through two years feeling out of touch with her body. We talk about sleep deprivation affecting work/life balance and the decisions leading to menopause care that made a huge difference in her...