Elizabeth Joseph has been many things in her life: an actress, a headhunter, a teacher (with a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics and another Master’s degree in Education) and a stay-at-home mum.

She has recently reinvented herself as a freelance writer and columnist writing about perimenopause, menopause and midlife. She has also become a classic, pro- age model in her fifties. Not to mention a social media midlife influencer known as The Menopause Guinea Pig with 7K followers and growing.

This midlife reinvention was prompted by rage. A rage that perimenopause was such a taboo subject when she stumbled into it in her forties, that she initially thought she had an auto-immune disease and early dementia. She no longer felt like herself and, as few women were speaking openly about their experiences at that time, she thought it was just her struggling in this way.

Determined that no other woman should enter this stage in life, surrounded by a deafening wall of silence, she became a menopause guinea pig – trying out all manner of natural approaches and products available out there and some that were truly ‘out there’. From womb massage to cacao ceremonies through cold water swimming and numerous supplements via mouth taping, tapping, turmeric and Tabasco not to mention period pants and fart pants she has tried them all.

Elizabeth detailed her exploits in her columns ‘Women of a Certain Rage’  and ‘the Menopause Guineapig’, looking at ways to tackle symptoms such as hot flushes, night sweats, itchy skin, epic wind, disrupted sleep, mood swings, lack of joy, muscle pain, aching joints, irregular periods, brain fog, skin issues and more epic wind.

She has interviewed many women on the subject of menopause from Dr Diana Mansour, a leading HRT specialist to Heather Jackson the co-founder of GenM and has appeared on numerous podcasts discussing her experiences: The Menopause Mindset, Magnificent Midlife, Real Menopause Talk and Womenkind Collective to name but a few.

Elizabeth strongly believes that a woman’s second act can be her best. No longer a time women become invisible, but rather a time they can choose to ‘step into our power’. In her column ‘Second Act’ she has showcased women who have taken the plunge and taken on new challenges in midlife – think primary school teacher to aerialist, cleaner to night sweats nightwear entrepreneur – and has shown, through their stories, that we really can live our best life in midlife.

As a pro-age model she has sought to disrupt the stereotypes and the narrative around ageing and showcase her own ‘second act’.

Elizabeth has given talks on menopause and midlife at Shoreditch House, the Getahead mental health and wellbeing festival, the LIVE lounge of Living North’s lifestyle events, for Kiss the Moon’s Menopause and Sleep events and numerous corporate events.

A background in acting, a sense of fun, unflinching honesty and real empathy ensure the audience come away feeling they have been heard and understood. They also leave with numerous practical ways to alleviate symptoms and a free copy of Elizabeth’s new book: The Menopause Guinea Pig: a natural approach to midlife, menopause and maturing.