If you’ve ever been told to “just use lubricant” or “this is normal in menopause,” this conversation will challenge everything you thought you knew about pelvic health.

In this episode of Women Mastering Midlife, I sit down with Tamar Hill, CEO of MedRoots, to explore an emerging and often misunderstood option in women’s health: CBD vaginal and rectal suppositories for pelvic pain, painful sex, and menopause symptoms.

We discuss what clinicians are seeing in real practice, why patients are quietly turning to these products, and the gap between what is happening in women’s bodies and what is currently included in medical guidelines.

This is not about trends. This is about options.

What We Cover in This Episode

• What pelvic pain really looks like in midlife women

• Why painful sex (dyspareunia), vaginismus, and vulvodynia are often underdiagnosed

• How CBD interacts with the body’s endocannabinoid system and why that matters

• The difference between CBD vs THC and what “microdosing” actually means

• Why some women are choosing CBD over medications like benzodiazepines for pelvic floor therapy

• The role of inflammation, nervous system dysregulation, and the pelvic pain cycle

• Vaginal dryness in perimenopause and menopause and how it impacts intimacy

• The reality of stigma, lack of research funding, and why providers are hesitant to recommend CBD

• How clinicians are navigating documentation and conversations around CBD with patients

• What to look for in a safe, high-quality CBD product (this is critical)

Learn more about Tamar Hill and MedRoots

Final Thought

Women deserve more than silence, dismissal, or one-size-fits-all solutions.

This conversation is an invitation to stay curious, ask better questions, and advocate for your body, because small changes can make a big difference.

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going: If this episode resonated with you, please rate, review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe to Women Mastering Midlife on your favorite podcast platform to receive weekly conversations that help you navigate perimenopause, menopause, and midlife health with clarity and confidence.

Join the Women Mastering Midlife Community and let’s grow stronger together.

Get your FREE guides HERE: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com/freeguides

Share your thoughts and stories on our social channels and tag us @misvictoriabyrd Let’s rewrite the narrative together!

Find more information on our website: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com

Book a FREE 1:1 discovery call to learn more about coaching programs and courses

Disclaimer

This podcast is for entertainment, educational, and informational purposes only. The hosts, guests, and experts featured are not your personal healthcare providers or advisors. The content should not be considered as professional, personalized medical, psychological, or prescriptive advice.

Always consult qualified professionals such as your physician, therapist, pharmacist, or coach for specific concerns and decisions related to your health or lifestyle. *Women Mastering Midlife* is not responsible for any undesired outcomes resulting from actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

What happens when your definition of success changes in your 40s?

In this deeply personal episode of Women Mastering Midlife, Victoria sits down with business coach and speaker Krista Demcher for an honest conversation about perimenopause, parenting teenagers, mental health, identity shifts, and what it really means to reinvent yourself in midlife.

Together, they explore the emotional and hormonal layers of this season from anxiety and anticipatory grief to launching young adults and redefining personal fulfillment beyond productivity and income.

This conversation is about courage. The courage to evolve. The courage to speak honestly. And the courage to change direction when what once worked no longer feels aligned.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• Perimenopause and increased anxiety
• Mood changes and decreased stress resilience in midlife
• Parenting teens while navigating your own hormonal transition
• The emotional impact of launching a child to college
• Anticipatory grief and identity shifts in motherhood
• Redefining success beyond revenue and achievements
• Letting go of a successful business model to pursue alignment
• Social media, mental health, and speaking up in polarizing times
• Why storytelling builds trust in an AI-driven world

Connect with Krista Demcher

https://www.kristademcher.com/ https://www.instagram.com/kristademcher

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going: If this episode resonated with you, please rate, review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe to Women Mastering Midlife on your favorite podcast platform to receive weekly conversations that help you navigate perimenopause, menopause, and midlife health with clarity and confidence.

Join the Women Mastering Midlife Community and let’s grow stronger together.

Get your FREE guides HERE: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com/freeguides

Share your thoughts and stories on our social channels and tag us @misvictoriabyrd Let’s rewrite the narrative together!

Find more information on our website: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com

Book a FREE 1:1 discovery call to learn more about coaching programs and courses

Disclaimer

This podcast is for entertainment, educational, and informational purposes only. The hosts, guests, and experts featured are not your personal healthcare providers or advisors. The content should not be considered as professional, personalized medical, psychological, or prescriptive advice.

Always consult qualified professionals such as your physician, therapist, pharmacist, or coach for specific concerns and decisions related to your health or lifestyle. *Women Mastering Midlife* is not responsible for any undesired outcomes resulting from actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

Midlife is not an ending. It is a beginning.

In this powerful and deeply honest conversation, Victoria sits down with writer, coach, and educator Colleen Kohanek to talk about what she calls “the third act” — the phase of life where women finally get to define their next chapter on their own terms.

Colleen shares the story of her 50s, which she describes as “the blender years.” After being laid off from a long career, becoming a caregiver to her husband during a sudden illness, losing him, navigating her own health crisis, and later losing her sister, she found herself rebuilding life from the ground up. Through grief, trauma, therapy, and reinvention, she began helping other women recognize that it is never too late to start over.

Together, Victoria and Colleen explore:

• Why women over 45 are uniquely positioned to build something meaningful
• How grief, divorce, illness, and empty nesting can become catalysts for reinvention
• The fear of being seen and starting something new later in life
• Imposter syndrome in highly accomplished women
• Hustle culture and why midlife calls for something different
• The psychological shift that happens in perimenopause and menopause
• Ageism, patriarchy, and the freedom that comes from no longer centering the male gaze
• Navigating social media when the world feels chaotic
• Why longevity changes everything about how we think about retirement
• The power of choosing flexibility and freedom over traditional security

Colleen challenges the outdated “Disney script” many women were handed: work hard, perform well, retire quietly. Instead, she invites women to see midlife as the greatest opportunity they did not know was coming.

With longer lifespans and better health than previous generations, women today have decades ahead of them. The question becomes: What do you want to do with your third act?

About Colleen Kohanek

Colleen Kohanek is a writer, coach, and educator who works with women in midlife and beyond who are ready to redefine what is possible in their next chapter. She supports women who want to translate decades of experience into meaningful work, often by building an online business or creative platform.

Her work focuses on clarity, sustainability, confidence, and aligned growth rather than hustle culture.

Connect with Colleen:

https://www.colleenkochannek.com/

https://www.instagram.com/colleenkochannek

https://www.tiktok.com/@colleenkochannek

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going: If this episode resonated with you, please rate, review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe to Women Mastering Midlife on your favorite podcast platform to receive weekly conversations that help you navigate perimenopause, menopause, and midlife health with clarity and confidence.

Join the Women Mastering Midlife Community and let’s grow stronger together.

Get your FREE guides HERE: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com/freeguides

Share your thoughts and stories on our social channels and tag us @misvictoriabyrd Let’s rewrite the narrative together!

Find more information on our website: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com

Book a FREE 1:1 discovery call to learn more about coaching programs and courses

Disclaimer

This podcast is for entertainment, educational, and informational purposes only. The hosts, guests, and experts featured are not your personal healthcare providers or advisors. The content should not be considered as professional, personalized medical, psychological, or prescriptive advice.

Always consult qualified professionals such as your physician, therapist, pharmacist, or coach for specific concerns and decisions related to your health or lifestyle. *Women Mastering Midlife* is not responsible for any undesired outcomes resulting from actions taken based on the content of this podcast.