Menopause isn’t experienced equally—and the differences are too big to ignore. We sit down with Dr. Kudzai Dombo, OB-GYN and Director of Advocacy and Outreach at Alloy Health, to explore why Black women often face earlier menopause, longer and more severe symptoms, and far less access to effective treatment. Drawing on the SWAN study’s decades of data, we connect dots between evidence, everyday experiences, and the systems that shape both.

Dr. Dombo shares her own perimenopause story—misdiagnosis, expense, and relief once hormones were recognized as the driver—and uses it to illuminate the barriers many women meet: clinician bias, gaps in menopause training, insurance hurdles, and historic medical mistrust. We talk through the shocking 0.5% hormone therapy usage among Black women, why that number reflects more than preference, and how to navigate choices from bioidentical hormones to nonhormonal options. The message is clear: treatment should be personalized, iterative, and explained in simple terms that empower informed consent.

We also zoom out to where health meets work. Symptoms can derail sleep, focus, memory, and confidence—undercutting performance, promotions, and pay. We outline practical steps employers can take now: flexible scheduling for sleep disruption, breathable uniforms, localized temperature control, paid time for medical care, and benefits that cover evidence-based menopause treatment with follow-up. Finally, we highlight the power of community support groups that replace isolation with knowledge, self-advocacy, and a sense of “not just me.”

Don’t normalize suffering. If your care stalls, bring the latest guidelines, ask for options, or change providers. If this conversation resonated, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs it, and leave a review so more listeners can find evidence-based, equitable menopause care.

Dr. Kudzai Dombo is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist, and currently serves as the Director of Advocacy and Outreach and Prescribing Physician at Alloy.She combines deep clinical experience with a commitment to health equity, focusing especially on the midlife health of Black women.

Website: www.myalloy.com

MiDOViA LINKS:

Website: https://www.midovia.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mymidovia
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/midovia
Email Us: info@midovia.com

MiDOViA is dedicated to changing the narrative about menopause by educating, raising awareness & supporting women in this stage of life, both at home and in the workplace. Visit midovia.com to learn more.

The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images & other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Menopause shouldn’t feel like a mystery you have to solve alone. We sit down with Dr. Corinne Menn—board‑certified OB‑GYN, certified menopause practitioner, and cancer survivor—to clear the fog around estrogen, perimenopause, and modern, evidence‑based care. From the infamous Women’s Health Initiative to today’s safer formulations and smarter timing, we separate risk from rumor and show how context—age, route, dose, and goals—changes the story.

We dig into the “window of opportunity” for menopausal hormone therapy, why transdermal estradiol and micronized progesterone matter, and how treatment decisions shift if you’re 5, 10, or 15 years past your final period. We also spotlight what rarely makes headlines: genitourinary syndrome of menopause, recurrent UTIs, and why low‑dose vaginal estrogen (and vaginal DHEA) can be transformative for comfort, sexual health, and even infection‑related hospitalizations. Perimenopause gets its due as a real, treatable transition with anxiety, insomnia, brain fog, and irregular bleeding—symptoms that too often get fragmented into referrals instead of addressed at the hormonal root.

You’ll leave with practical steps to advocate for yourself: how to prep a focused appointment, what to ask about dosing and delivery, and when to seek a menopause specialist or reputable telehealth. We connect the dots between symptom relief now and longevity later—bone density, cardiovascular health, cognitive function—and make the case for lifestyle medicine you can actually live with: strength training, sleep, nutrition, and thoughtful alcohol habits. If you’ve wondered whether estrogen is “dangerous,” whether you’re “too late” to start, or whether vaginal estrogen is only about sex, this conversation reframes the entire landscape with clarity and compassion.

If this helped you feel more informed, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review—your voice helps more women find evidence‑based menopause care.

www.myalloy.com

MiDOViA LINKS:

Website: https://www.midovia.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mymidovia
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/midovia
Email Us: info@midovia.com

MiDOViA is dedicated to changing the narrative about menopause by educating, raising awareness & supporting women in this stage of life, both at home and in the workplace. Visit midovia.com to learn more.

The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images & other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

What if stress isn’t the villain but the spark—and the real unlock is how extraordinary you decide to feel? We sit down with stress resiliency coach and former Microsoft leader Dat Tran to explore a fresh, human approach to burnout, anxiety, and midlife pressure. Dat shares how a car accident and cascading changes forced him to rebuild from the inside out, and why the turning point wasn’t stress reduction—it was expanding capacity.

Together, we unpack a powerful yet simple formula: resiliency equals how extraordinary you feel minus how much tension you carry. That insight reframes everything for women navigating perimenopause and menopause, when expectations, caretaking, and identity shifts can keep the nervous system on high alert. Dat shows how an “extraordinary” mindset calms the emotional brain, unlocks the executive brain, and makes room for better decisions, sleep, and connection. We also dig into why seeing others—kids, partners, aging parents—as resilient actually lowers your own anxiety and gives them back their growth.

You’ll hear practical tools from Dat’s 60-day accelerator: mindset work that returns you to your core worth, skill-building to strengthen, stretch, soothe, and release, and the role of community in sustaining change. We get specific about nervous system states (safe and social, activated, shutdown), release rituals that prevent blowups, and a single actionable step you can take today to shift from overwhelm. If you’ve felt like stress keeps filling every gap you clear, this conversation offers a kinder, sturdier path forward—one that honors your body, your season, and your ambitions.

If this resonated, follow and share with a friend who needs it. Subscribe for more grounded conversations on menopause, midlife health, and lifestyle medicine, and leave a quick review to help others find the show. Your voice helps grow this community.

Dat is a Stress Resiliency Coach & Founder on a mission to redefine how the world views stress. He empowers leaders and teams to build the resiliency they need to achieve their boldest ambitions and lead with confidence under pressure. His work blends neuroscience with real-world leadership to create lasting mindset and performance shifts.

https://www.datstresscoach.com

MiDOViA LINKS:

Website: https://www.midovia.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mymidovia
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/midovia
Email Us: info@midovia.com

MiDOViA is dedicated to changing the narrative about menopause by educating, raising awareness & supporting women in this stage of life, both at home and in the workplace. Visit midovia.com to learn more.

The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images & other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.