CONNECTION, STRENGTH & Maximizing Midlife

Always polished while anchoring broadcast news for 30 years, Tamsen Fadal, 54, never thought her life would dramatically shift when she started riffing candidly on TikTok.

- TAMSEN FADAL

“Posting videos of myself without a stitch of makeup was one of the scarier things I’ve ever done—and I’ve been embedded with the troops in Afghanistan!” she says. But when she began sharing her “perfectly imperfect” self—including her menopause symptoms—people related…to how she had to lie on the cold bathroom floor during a hot flash or how a doctor dismissed her and just pushed antidepressants. A natural storyteller, Tamsen saw a chance to tell herself—and the 1 billion women in menopause—a new version of the story of aging: one of strength, freedom and joy. “I spent a long time trying to be who everyone expected. It really is this community of women that gives me permission to be who I am,” says the How To Menopause: Take Charge of Your Health, Reclaim Your Life, and Feel Even Better Than Before author. Her new PBS documentary, The (M) Factor, explores the failings of the meno medical system and how to advocate for yourself. “Menopause is not just about one day,” she says. “It’s about everything else that comes after.” So she’s embracing the motto: “Live your ‘someday’ today.” Here, how Tamsen is “finding larger meaning and purpose after age 50.” -BY LISA MAXBAUER

Midlife Mentor & Menoverse Hero

AND THE AUTHOR OF THE NEW BOOK HOW TO MENOPAUSE