Julie Gordon White Turned Brain Fog into Business Clarity

TUP EP 106

Aransas Savas: [: 00:00:00

Re into [00:00:30] my fifties recently, and she said, well, just so you know, honey, the most important thing I learned was once wet is dry and what was once dry is wet. That didn't sound terribly appealing, but then she went on to [00:00:45] say, but it's also where I truly found my power. And where I most became myself. That conversation really stuck with me because it highlights something fascinating that researchers at Harvard have [00:01:00] recently discovered that the midlife brain undergoes significant rewiring that actually enhances creative thinking and problem.

while we've long focused on [: 00:01:15

Might actually be our minds shifting from reactive, detail oriented thinking to more integrated [00:01:30] big picture wisdom. Today's guest knows all about finding unexpected gifts in life's transitions. And Julie Gordon White, the CEO and founder of Manel, created an entirely new business at 55 years old, [00:01:45] precisely when conventional wisdom might suggest playing it safe.

nduring it, she got curious. [: 00:02:00

Our greatest challenges [00:02:15] often contain the seeds of our most meaningful contributions to this life. So whether you're in menopause, considering a career change, or facing any significant life transition, this conversation offers real [00:02:30] wisdom about embracing change, about staying curious and finding positive.

a candid conversation about [: 00:02:45

You are nominated for the show by the wonderful Denise Pines from episode 37, the Uplifters Podcast. I mean, she's such [00:03:15] a rock star. I am amazed horse of nature. Force of nature. I think I spent half of the episode introducing her because she does so much. I was like, we need an hour long episode for this one so we can have 30 minutes of [00:03:30] introductions.

comes. I feel like there's a [: 00:03:45

Julie Gordon White: We've known each other for about four years now, but we're very close like sisters from another mother and a guy friend of ours saw that I'd started a menopause company [00:04:00] and he said, oh my has a menopause.

sharing hotel rooms, exhibit [: 00:04:15

Aransas Savas: Oh my goodness. That's beautiful. I feel like for me, all of these topics about menopause are such a gift because my grandmother and my great grandmother, [00:04:30] even my mother grew up in an era where that was not a conversation.

the back of your commode and [: 00:04:45

I want it to be better for the next generation of women.

y didn't talk about it. They [: 00:05:15

[00:05:30] Someone is gonna help me. And so they really push this conversation forward, which I'm so grateful.

was about the many shames we [: 00:05:45

Intimacy with other human beings is to share our shames, and I feel like that is so [00:06:00] much a part of the work that you all are doing. It's valuable, insightful, wise, work from lived experience while at the same time it's saying we're pulling this out of the closet.

't it interesting how we put [: 00:06:15

Like how did even get in there in that first place? It's how little girls feel about starting their periods. I remember talking to my daughter and she had a [00:06:30] little period. So there was no need for a magical fairy to come drop what she needed. She was prepared, even though had this conversation. She started

somewhere. [: 00:06:45

Aransas Savas: Yeah. [00:07:00] And what was that bridge like for you? Did you feel like you had shame around the symptoms of menopause or even the label of menopause when it started Free.

tion that I hang out in very [: 00:07:15

Sentences together. My emails, I couldn't type anything. I had to read them five [00:07:45] times and then send it. And then there were still typos after that. Like, what? Why is my brain not working? So I had worry and fear first, and then came the hot flashes and night. [00:08:00] Oh, oh, okay. Also, my mom had hysterectomy, so she had a surgical entry into menopause versus just your hormones falling off a cliff on your on their own.

a different experience. She [: 00:08:15

Aransas Savas: that mystery that creates fear and or shame.

Julie Gordon White: And fear can create shame. I.

versa, of course. And so for [: 00:08:30

I do what all women who

a real, I don't have a blood [: 00:08:45

What it's okay, well, how does that work? And so she shared her experience and then I'm a very curious person. So then it was just sort of on after that. But she did not wanna talk. She didn't wanna call, say, menopause. She [00:09:15] didn't really wanna talk about it, but she was willing to share her experience, but she just wanted to move on from it.

And so then I,

this.[: 00:09:30

The surface. I'm not very shy about saying what's going on, what's happening here. There's curious George. I'm curious Julie. So I love information. I'm obsessed now with AI because [00:09:45] it's like a whole nother level of information. My curiosity makes me a.

at word until two years ago. [: 00:10:00

Aransas Savas: it in this way. What were the big surprises for you when you started doing all of this research?

ordon White: How long it can [: 00:10:15

For me, my journey was 10 years. Like, oh my gosh, are you kidding me? Now we're actually claiming over 60 symptoms and beyond. There's so many things that happen to [00:10:30] our bodies when our estrogen declines and our other hormones also, but we talk about estrogen the most, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, but.

was associated or joint pain [: 00:10:45

Aransas Savas: It's terrible. As you were doing all of this research, like part of me wants to say like, let's go get the research. Let's de-stigmatize, let's [00:11:15] acknowledge that this is a part of our existence and the other part of me is like, now I'm kind of dreading it because it's not just this one like mega symptom that I knew about.

It's all these other things. Yeah.

Julie Gordon White: The

Aransas Savas: real

Julie Gordon White: [: 00:11:30

We're in leadership positions. We make all the buying decisions. So it's [00:12:00] actually an amazing time and for many of us, our kids are moving towards up and out or they're out and we get our time back so we can do things like start a new business. Learn something new. Just [00:12:15] reinvent ourselves or get connected to that little dream, whatever that might be that you put aside that was a secret or you quieted because there was no time.

can work not as hard in the [: 00:12:30

Of things.

ps coming up for me in these [: 00:12:45

You're super smart. And so [00:13:15] when you got brain fog and things started to slow down for you, like cognitively, maybe those f.

u learn to rely on different [: 00:13:30

Julie Gordon White: Right? It's my identity. Exactly. Especially I'm trying to navigate financial statements because of the company that I had at the time. [00:13:45] Yeah, it was scary, but it also helped me develop resourcefulness, tap into resilience.

ter if we're willing to find [: 00:14:00

It was more like, who am I and how do I dig deep? Do I really believe, is this thing important to me? And if it's, how do I figure it out? Because I know I can figure it [00:14:30] out. What do I need? Who do I need to myself? Who do I

ess? I built more resilience [: 00:14:45

The good, and you take the hard and the bad. And so [00:15:15] teaching women to go inside that well, that we actually all have to connect with who you really are, who you know yourself to be, and to trust her, to be resilient, to trust her, [00:15:30] to figure it out, to trust her, to make a different decision and to trust her if she guides you that this isn't the thing.

I.

Music: Mm-hmm.

ce in our lives where we are [: 00:15:45

Aransas Savas: As you were talking, [00:16:00] what I began to imagine was that your intelligence, perhaps in first half of life, was rooted in your brain, and now your intelligence is more rooted in your gut and [00:16:15] heart.

physical gain in the middle, [: 00:16:30

I

ou here won't get you there. [: 00:16:45

Well get me there and that's okay. Mm-hmm. We trust ourselves, believe in something bigger, have a bigger pool of resources to tap into. [00:17:15] We can kind of do anything.

nd the heart, then I already [: 00:17:30

Surrounding yourself with the resources that [00:17:45] you need to enable you to be of highest best purpose.

Julie Gordon White: Yeah, exactly. Being resourceful, because we might not always have resources, but we do always have the ability to be resourceful.

Aransas Savas: Mm. And then [: 00:18:00

Julie Gordon White: a distinction.

Aransas Savas: Yes. That's good. Mm-hmm. I've never heard anybody say that that way.

niverse. You never know what.[: 00:18:15

Just leave a little space for little,

eel like you, you do that in [: 00:18:30

Julie Gordon White: I love the way you [00:18:45] frame that because everything is possible. When I thought about a Meno well bar and a menopause bar, it didn't exist. It was just an idea that it's now a thing, a physical thing, and that we have a lot of representation. Just look around our [00:19:00] office, your microphone. Somebody thought of that microphone, and now it's a thing.

have an idea and it becomes.[: 00:19:15

So I think it's really juicy to play in.

it. But the opening page is [: 00:19:30

Julie Gordon White: Absolutely

Aransas Savas: right, and that every time we make a choice, we become a creator because we're looking for possibilities, as you said.

t these things that now feel [: 00:19:45

Julie Gordon White: That's the fun, the [00:20:00] create, and that's where creativity comes in.

but I'm creative in business.[: 00:20:15

I forced myself to craft. I hated it.

I had shame.

as: Here's to destigmatizing.[: 00:20:30

I was ashamed. I didn't wanna play Barbies, I hated it. I just cut all their hair off all the time and all they wanted [00:20:45] to do was play Barbies. And I was like, this is so boring. Yeah. I was like, can we clean? Maybe that sounds purposeful. Purposely driven. I love that. They didn't wanna do that though. They wanted play Barbies, so I [00:21:00] child to play Barbies with her.

I.

So to me about the Manel bar. So that was an invention. Were you always a cook? I don't really like to cook either. And it came outta your own.

Julie Gordon White: You're fighting

Aransas Savas: [: 00:21:15

Julie Gordon White: bar's not cooking.

the formula. I gathered the [: 00:21:30

But then my curious nature said, how do I take this thing?

enopause, that could help me [: 00:22:00

My.[00:22:30]

h. That's pretty remarkable. [: 00:22:45

Julie Gordon White: in July of 2020. Right. In too much time in my hands, you know, too.[00:23:00]

ted to menopause. Even if it [: 00:23:15

Don't say that. Like, oh, challenge.

Liked the little thing I was [: 00:23:30

Aransas Savas: How interesting. And did you feel like, what drew you personally toward leading [00:24:00] a company like this?

Julie Gordon White: Well, I'm an entrepreneur. This is my third company, so. Mm-hmm. Um, but my other two companies, I coach women entrepreneurs, as I said, for 10 years. And then 10 years before that I had a boutique mergers and acquisitions firm.

[: 00:24:15

for punishment, but I'm just so passionate about the product and helping women in menopause.[00:24:45]

ir mothers aren't listening. [: 00:25:00

Aransas Savas: As a curious person, what are you discovering through these conversations that you feel like most people are probably asking but not getting answered?

Julie Gordon White: Yeah, [: 00:25:30

And because there was a study years back that hormone replacement wasn't good. The type of [00:26:00] hormone replacement.

tion of doctors that are not [: 00:26:15

You flocking to the M Factor film to understand what's happening with their body. Even yesterday, I was having like a little, um, heart palpitations, [00:26:45] which even post menopause can happen and because I take hormone replacement and I started it. Of my 10 year window, which now even they're saying isn't, might not even be a thing.

s a heart thing. I better go [: 00:27:00

Mary Claire, who I love one of my besties in this space, isn't she? She's amazing. You know about what happens in post [00:27:30] menopause and why we need to pay attention to heart related, cardiac related things. My doctor wonderful, but she did not. So this is why women are still talking about it, why they're flocking Instagram and everybody [00:27:45] educating women.

ms, and so I help them build [: 00:28:00

And Wow. And so there were [00:28:15] all these intersections. I love it. Right? She was like, there are huge opportunities here and there are huge hazards and our brains are working in different ways, and so we're thinking about money differently, but we're not responding effectively. And so she's really got, I think, such an [00:28:30] important niche, but none of this is talked about and we don't have anywhere to go for any of this.

experience in most cases so [: 00:28:45

Julie Gordon White: it's very fragmented, but it's starting to come together. You know, there are some buckets of resources at the Menopause Society, and let's talk [00:29:00] menopause following.

oing through this transition [: 00:29:15

Aransas Savas: Yes, and I mean, our worlds were much smaller 200 years ago, right? We didn't have the internet, and so I'm sure. [00:29:30] That's right. They were handed down effectively, woman to woman within the village, whatever that might have been.

rs. But now that society has [: 00:29:45

But these companies just didn't exist for a very large window of time, and it does feel a renewed frontier.

the resources, the services.[: 00:30:15

Aransas Savas: Yeah, that's a really good way of looking at it. What are your hopes for this segment? I don't wanna say industry, 'cause somehow that just like that makes it just commercial, but it's so purpose-based. [00:30:30] What are your hopes though, for this segment in the next five to 10 years?

Julie Gordon White: Yeah. I hope that this conversation becomes fully mainstream, which anytime we have a commercial about menopause during the.

That is a good step. We have [: 00:30:45

But I would just probably think a little bit [00:31:15] farther out that my 26-year-old daughter, that when it's time for her to go through menopause, she'll be ready. She won't even think in 20 years when she has her first brain meltdown or hot flash. She's like, I got [00:31:30] this. I got this. And my sons too. Yeah,

Aransas Savas: and my got this too, and my doctor, my doctor's ready.

I already

e no different than having a [: 00:31:45

Aransas Savas: That's my hope. One of the things I love to ask women, especially women like [00:32:00] you who are in your second chapter or maybe third, fourth, fifth chapter, I dunno, and you are redefining how you are in the world, what takes courage for you these days?

ie Gordon White: I'm raising [: 00:32:15

But I.

That. Why wouldn't [: 00:32:45

So feeling confident in that, but [00:33:00] also knowing that raising capital is part of a big part of my job as a CEO of a CPG company. So that's what I've had to step into. Yeah, that resilience, that courage, and keep on going because it's not [00:33:15] always a yes.

Aransas Savas: Yeah. Tell me about the mindset that you have learned to employ in the face of both asking and hearing.

No.

Julie Gordon White: On

Aransas Savas: the asking side, I

White: know that my company [: 00:33:30

I was like, oh, great. They said no. I was like, what? Are you kidding? Do not know how hard I work. The number of women in this space who need support. That [00:34:00] was my in like initial, but that's not my higher self. So getting back grounded into that mindbody heart connection, right?[00:34:15]

Of the right fits myself.

perfect parallel for how we [: 00:34:30

Julie Gordon White: I love

avas: that. Right? I, I feel [: 00:34:45

And instead open to what is this perfect for? And I think with menopause, that's really the, the, the question I'm continuously coming back to for [00:35:00] myself. But I think it's so true too, to asking for and finding the right partnerships for the projects that we believe in. Be writing a book or starting a.

Julie Gordon White: I love that.

That's the space that I talk [: 00:35:15

Aransas Savas: may or not know. That's [00:35:30] right, and we get to discover that. I'm so glad I got to meet you, Julie.

l be sure to share them with [: 00:35:45

Thank you. So that I and your daughter and my daughters can have an easier road of it. Yeah. And instead of hiding this, opening the door for us. So thank you. That's the big payoff, isn't it? [00:36:15] Thank you for listening to the Uplifters podcast. If you're getting a boost from these episodes, please share them with the Uplifters in your life and then.

Join us in conversation [: 00:36:30

Music: Big love painted water, sunshine with rosemary.

rplexing, though you find it [: 00:37:00

Lift you up.

Lift you up. Whoa. Lift [: 00:37:30

Lift you,

lift, you[: 00:37:45

lift.

eautiful. I cried. It's that [: 00:38:00

Aransas Savas: peace.