What if the stage of life most women are quietly suffering through is actually their leadership superpower? In this episode, Janine sits down with Karen Stein — executive coach, keynote speaker, author of Be Your Own Leadership Coach, and certified Menopause Champion — for an honest, commercial, and deeply needed conversation about menopause in the workplace.

With over 500 million women of menopausal age currently in the workforce, and 80% experiencing symptoms that affect how they think, feel, and function, Karen argues this is not a personal issue to leave at the office door. It's a leadership issue — and a business one.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why the most urgent thing leaders need to bring right now is calmness, hope, and possibility — especially in a world of complexity and uncertainty
• The philosophy behind Karen's book Be Your Own Leadership Coach — and why she wrote it so that anyone (regardless of access or budget) can carry coaching strategies in their "virtual backpack" every day
• What it really means to lead with kindness — and why mattering is more powerful than belonging
• The truth about midlife cognition — why your fifties are actually your cognitive peak (despite what advertising tells you)
• Karen's "Mad About Menopause" framework — covering mindset, community, and education — and how she's bringing men into this conversation too
• Her group coaching program Peri Pathways and the remarkable confidence shifts she's witnessed in participants
• The powerful reframe: your lived experience is not a liability — it's your positioning, your wisdom, and your competitive edge
• Practical advice for any woman quietly navigating this stage of life: how to move from feeling invisible and fearful to feeling connected, clear, and confident

Resources mentioned:

• 📖 Be Your Own Leadership Coach by Karen Stein
• Karen's group coaching program: Peri Pathways

Karen is a Menopause Champion, and Certified Menopause and Executive Coach, focused on normalising menopause at work. She is passionate about being "M.A.D" about menopause to make a difference in the workplace. Karen supports organisations to address a critical, often overlooked life stage impacting wellbeing, leadership, engagement and retention. She draws on her depth of leadership experience formerly as a partner of 24 years at Deloitte, and her Masters in Coaching Psychology to help leaders and teams build menopause-aware, inclusive and sustainable workplaces.

Most importantly, she supports those working through perimenopause and menopause to thrive through their careers as their best or better selves. Karen does so through her MenoMindset Executive Coaching program, her PeriPathways Group Coaching Program and her MAD about Menopause keynotes and workshops.

Links :

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-stein-coaching/

www.karensteincoaching.com

karensteincoaching@gmail.com

Special offer $100 discount on all of my menopause related programs (coaching, keynotes and workshops) until 30 June 2026 by mentioning "Janine Garner" when making a booking.

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Spreadsheets tell you what is, but intuition whispers what's next. And that whisper is worth more than any data point you'll ever analyse. Most leaders ignore their built-in strategy engine because we've been taught to trust everything except ourselves. We outsource our knowing to consultants, frameworks and endless analysis when the answer is often sitting right there in that gut feeling we keep dismissing. The real rebel move? Stop outsourcing your knowing and turn that gut flicker, that shower thought, that 3 AM wake-up moment into one precise step you can defend in the boardroom.

My guest today is the incredible Chandu Bickford, who helps leaders, individuals and organisations navigate pressure with clarity. We're diving into how to make intuition practical, why it matters now more than ever and how using intuition instead of anxiety leads to better decisions and transformational outcomes. Chandu shares her own journey with intuition that began 30 years ago with a life-altering nudge to go to Africa, completely impractical at the time, but a move that became a transformative adventure in teaching her to trust that quiet inner voice.

We explore how the noise of the modern world drowns out intuitive whispers, leaving us reactive instead of intentional and why creating moments of quiet is essential for clarity. Chandu talks about her time living in a remote Tanzanian village, where she learnt invaluable lessons about leadership, resilience and adaptability that she now shares with leaders tired of running on empty and ready to lead from a place of clarity.

Chandu encourages a simple practice: pause, breathe deeply and ask yourself "What would I love?" This question, posed in tranquillity, can unlock incredible insights you didn't even know were there. We invite you to explore this intuitive path and let your intuition be the hidden advantage in your leadership toolkit, because life's best decisions are often the ones whispered by that inner compass we've been trained to ignore.

LINKS:

Connect with Chandu:

Website: https://chandubickford.com/

Instagram: @chandubickford

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chandu-bickford-9b85a6141/

Connect with Janine:

Elevate with Janine

The Focus Finder Assessment

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Mentioned in this episode:

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Submit your Question: Spotify - click the button below. All other platforms - send me a DM on Instagram or email: support@janinegarner.com.au

Let’s talk about that all-too-familiar business gut punch: you send a killer proposal, wait for the “yes” and get nothing but radio silence. Ghosting. It’s frustrating, it’s awkward and it can leave you questioning your value. But here’s the truth: you don’t need to slash your prices or chase after people who aren’t ready. You just need a smarter way to turn that silence into your next opportunity.

In this episode, I share how to respond when you get ghosted without losing your cool or your confidence. Meet the GHOST framework:

G: Give the Magic Pill

H: Humanise the Follow Up

O: Offer a Quick Win

S: Set Decision Gates

T: Take Back Your Power

Silence Isn’t Rejection—It’s Data

Ghosting isn’t a verdict on your worth. It’s just information. By showing up with clarity, boundaries and a focus on real outcomes, you can turn that silence into stronger client relationships. Remember, you are not here to chase and convince people to work with you. You are in the business of partnership.

Here’s your challenge for this week: reach out to someone who’s gone quiet with a “Yes, No, or Not Now” message. Celebrate any response because clarity is always a win. And if this episode hits home, share it with someone who needs a boost. You’ve got the skills to turn silence into your next big success.

LINKS:

Connect with Janine:

Elevate with Janine

The Focus Finder Assessment

Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube

Mentioned in this episode:

Apply to our Elevate Mastermind

Elevate Mastermind