Cynthia FortlageCEO, The FORTLAGE Collective · I help senior leadership teams turn difference, disagreement and complexity into stronger leadership & measurable business performance | Founder, 4P Leadership Accelerator | Author & Board Advisor

Resilience, Perimenopause, and Speaking Out About Women’s Health #substack #shorts

19 Aug 2025 · 1 min

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This content was created by Cynthia Fortlage. This content was uploaded by Cynthia Fortlage. This is a YouTube short titled "Resilience, Perimenopause, and Speaking Out About Women’s Health #substack #shorts" (created 2025-08-19T08:07:50+00:00). The excerpt is a first-person monologue in which the speaker describes experiences with PMDD and the onset of perimenopause in their late 30s, how monthly hormonal symptoms affect them, and the awkwardness of discussing these issues with male colleagues or managers. The content is a short-form personal commentary advocating for more open conversation about women’s hormonal health and resilience.

Chapters

there are other, you know, symptoms that are coming into play, like the perimenopause. And I think it's only through the last few years where I really appreciated the journey through PMDD that I still manage on a monthly basis. So now kind of getting a little bit older, getting into my late 30s and thinking, okay, here comes the next thing. And then, and then kind of having that appreciation of, oh my God, here's another thing, here's another hormonal condition that affects so many women. But we're still not talking about it. And I'll talk to anyone that will listen about it. And it can feel a little bit awkward, you know, for speaking to your male colleagues around or male managers, you know, that I've had to mention it to before I work for myself. Say, look, just to make you aware, there's half of every month where I'm not myself.