Heather Jackson on Gen M and why brands are sitting up and taking notice of us at long last

Join me this time as I chat to Heather Jackson, one of the co-founders of GenM (the menopause partner for brands). Heather talks us through her own perimenopause experience, including a scary episode where she genuinely thought she was having a heart attack, she reveals how utterly unprepared she was for perimenopause and why that in turn inspired her and Sam Simister to create GenM. As Heather rightly points out, we wouldn't enter a marathon without the right kit and preparation, and yet every year millions of women enter perimenopause totally unprepared. GenM is helping to move the needle, by engaging with brands (large and small) to both support their own employees, but also to ensure that they are catering appropriately to what is effectively 20% of their market share (when you look at it like that, it's a no-brainer). Brands, Heather tells me, are taking notice and adapting, but it takes time, and campaigns are planned a long way in advance so visible change is slow to bloom. But there's also action we can take ourselves - we don't have to wait for the companies we work for to wake up to this: as Heather says, we can Be The Change and be the catalyst for those conversations to happen!  You can find Gen M at https://gen-m.com/mission/  and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/genm_official Don't forget to follow us over on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/ or find out more/listen to past episodes/subscribe to the newsletter at https://middlingalong.com   It would mean so much if you’d subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts to share the love! You can also find me at www.managingthemenopause.com where we offer coaching and workplace training.