The Story
About
Thanks for visiting the Power Pause website – we’re really delighted you’re here.
As we set out on the ‘Home’ page, all women experience menopause some day and, as a transitional life stage, like puberty, menopause passes.
However, far too many talented, experienced, successful women give up their jobs during this stage because they find it too difficult to manage the effects that symptoms are having on their daily lives, as they juggle work, family and social demands through this natural life transition.
This situation can result in a talent-drain of qualified women who are at, or near, the peak of their careers in leadership and/or ‘essential worker’ positions, together with women who are ready to be promoted into more senior roles as leaders, on executive teams and/or on Boards.
Why Power Pause?
My name is Jeanette Kehoe-Perkinson, known to most as ‘JKP’.
I’m the founder of Power Pause, which I set up to help organisations to retain key women in their workplaces and to help other women avoid the dramatic and negative experience which I encountered during my own life stage transition.
My story started when my Kiwi husband, two children and I moved halfway across the world from Europe to New Zealand where, soon after, I started a demanding executive role in a bank. While I had held complex Global executive roles for many years, banking was a sector which was new to me and was just starting to experience unprecedented and high-profile regulatory changes in New Zealand.
At the same time, I began experiencing unfamiliar health symptoms; night sweats, brain fog, mood swings, anxiety, sudden weight gain, memory lapses, fatigue, hot flushes - you get the picture. I was in the grasp of peri-menopause but, apart from the obvious hot flushes, I didn't realise the other symptoms were menopausal. Instead, I chalked them all up to the pressures of moving country, moving house, helping our children to settle in, making new friends and moving jobs. At the worst point, I thought I might even have early-onset dementia!
If I had known more about peri-menopause, if the information had been easily accessible and openly discussed, maybe I wouldn't have had to endure the most painful resignation of my corporate life, after only 12 months in my new job.
After many conversations across time zones with my old friends, and extensive reading and research, I realised menopause may be the culprit and I reached out to a wonderful doctor who gave me HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) which worked wonders for me and totally transformed my world!
I am happy to say that I’m now post-menopause and back to my normal self; in fact, I feel like my life has begun again, but with even more energy. I’m sleeping well, eating a healthier diet, exercising daily and I’m feeling fabulous and hugely positive again!
This too shall pass...
Menopause at work is no longer an issue for me, but it is for millions of women worldwide, and hundreds of thousands in New Zealand. As with puberty, menopause is a life stage which passes. It leads to a powerful energy and renewed confidence beyond it, which is further enhanced by wisdom, experience and compassion.
With the 2020 pandemic causing such dire economic and societal effects in New Zealand, we need now, more than ever, to encourage greater diversity, equity and inclusion of women in our workplaces. We cannot afford to lose talented women at the pinnacles of their careers, due to a lack of support through their peri-menopause years.
So, it’s my turn to pass on what I have learned from this rollercoaster called menopause, and help talented women to stay employed, stay positive and stay the course as they transition into the next powerful phase of life.
Cheers, JKP
