Wild, Wise & Curious...

Michelle Haggerty-Wood & Lou Baker
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Health & Fitness
  • Semiweekly

Welcome to Wild, Wise & Curious - the podcast where midlife, perimenopause and post‑menopause become a wild awakening rather than a slow unravelling. If you’ve ever felt like you’re losing the plot, rewriting it or stepping into a new chapter, you’re in the right place. We’re Michelle & Lou - not experts, just two midlife women with lived experience, curiosity and a deep belief in the wisdom of shared stories. Michelle, a scriptwriter, has always been drawn to the power of narrative - how stories shape us, heal us and bring us together. Lou, with a background in psychology, is fascinated by the human experience and the ways we make sense of our lives. Naturally curious and happily chatty, we love listening to women’s stories and helping others feel seen, heard and valued. Wild, Wise & Curious was born from that shared love of conversation, curiosity and community. What began as two women talking honestly about our own midlife experiences has blossomed into rich, meaningful conversations with guests from all walks of life... and we LOVE it! Each episode, we sit with real women navigating anxiety, panic, hormonal chaos, identity shifts, grief, joy, rage, rebirth and everything in between. Their honesty is medicine. Their laughter is grounding. Their wisdom rises from the lives they’ve lived and the truths they’ve reclaimed. Wild, Wise & Curious is a community, a conversation and a reminder that you’re not going mad - you’re unbecoming what you were taught so you can remember who you are. Follow, subscribe and share with your midlife mates. Trigger note: we discuss anxiety, panic and emotional wellbeing, so please take care while listening. If the podcast nourishes you, you can support the show here ☕ https://buymeacoffee.com/wildwiseandcurious Find us on Instagram & Facebook: @wild_wise_and_curious

  1. 5d ago

    Done with the BS, Still Waiting for Menopause, & Goddesses in the Sky

    It’s been 19 months since Holly last joined us, and at 50 she’s still in perimenopause, still waiting for menopause to arrive. Holly was told she was perimenopausal at 42, quite flippantly, in an appointment, and in the years since she’s lived with cyclical symptoms: brain fog, joint pain, and on occasion, the feeling of wandering around in the body of an 80-year-old. We catch up on the strange goings-on in June, when some women reported two periods and others had none at all, and Holly shares that she had the worst period of her life. Holly knows her astrology, and she takes us up into the sky to talk about the goddesses, the moon, and the links between the heavens and women’s cycles and the cycles of a woman’s life. She shares how she works with the moon to make sense of her own cycle, and the idea that women’s cycles once synced with the lunar cycle. She also tells us about Venus, and how over eight years the planet’s journey across the sky traces the shape of a pentagram. We also get into the harder side. Holly describes a condition similar to endometriosis, where tissue contracts like the womb does during a period, with a pain like elastic bands snapping. When she went to the GP, she was initially told it was just perimenopause - and thankfully she knows more now. She’s done with the BS: done swallowing her feelings, and done not advocating for herself.   To find out more about Holly's offerings, visit: Instagram and Facebook: @witcharcanauk And to join her Wild Women, Witches & She Wolves group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wildwomenwitches Enjoy the episode and fancy buying us a brew? Head to: https://buymeacoffee.com/wildwiseandcurious

    Done with the BS, Still Waiting for Menopause, & Goddesses in the Sky

  2. Oct 23

    Menopause, Burnout and the Symptoms No One Warned Me About

    What happens when your body starts changing, you’re exhausted beyond belief, and no one has told you what to expect? In this episode, we hear a refreshingly honest and relatable story about menopause, burnout and the symptoms that can leave you feeling completely lost. At 54, Cristelle began experiencing hot flushes and nights of sweating so badly that she would wake up drenched, change her sleeping arrangements, and even end up sleeping on the cold stone floor to cool down. Yet despite everything she was going through, she was left wondering what on earth was happening to her. Then came burnout. One day, standing at the bottom of the stairs at work, Cristelle realised something was wrong. She was so exhausted she couldn’t face climbing the stairs. She stopped going to work, went to see her doctor, and was told she was experiencing burnout. As she puts it: 'I was a wreck!' Looking back, she can laugh about some of those experiences now. But at the time, she was worried, exhausted and searching for answers. Nobody had prepared her for what menopause might look like, and the internet felt like an overwhelming maze of information. So Cristelle decided to do something about it. She wrote Menopause - The Little Manual to help make sense of an experience that so many women go through without feeling properly informed or supported. Join us for an honest conversation about menopause, burnout, the importance of listening to your body, and why women deserve better information and support. Because no woman should have to feel like a wreck just to discover what’s happening to her own body.  Find the book on Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Menopause-Little-understand-navigate-hormonal/dp/B0HHRW4HPS/ Follow Cristelle on her socials: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/menopausethelittlemanual/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61593835517727 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@menopausethelittlemanualMenopause -The Little Manual on Amazon.  Buy us a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/wildwiseandcurious

    Menopause, Burnout and the Symptoms No One Warned Me About

  3. Oct 16

    Ablations, Endometriosis and Surgical Menopause: The Parts Nobody Explained

    As a young woman, Tonie’s periods were so heavy and agonising that she would pass out, yet doctors told her it was simply heavy periods. She even felt pain in her heart whenever she had a period. What followed was ablation after ablation and a hysterectomy and an oophorectomy, with very little explained to her about what was being done or why. She went on to have two children, and it was a homeopathic doctor who first told her she might have endometriosis, and explained that in rare cases it can affect the heart. It felt as though the answers had been there all along, but no one else had shared them with her. She was also found to have a chocolate cyst (a cyst on the ovary caused by endometriosis). She had a total hysterectomy and oophorectomy (removal of the ovaries), which meant surgical menopause overnight. Tonie believes that if it had been picked up at the start, keyhole surgery might have been possible. Instead she had open surgery, and she describes the physical aftermath with brilliant honesty. While she was in surgery, tissue was also being checked for cancer, so she was told that she couldn’t start HRT for six weeks, until her results came back clear. Much later, when she looked at her NHS app, she discovered the surgeons had also removed her stomach lining, something she had never been told. Tonie also runs her own business, Ethereal Skin, using earthy, natural products. We talk about being dismissed, the importance of knowing what’s happening to your own body, and what it means to claim your story back. An honest, powerful conversation about pain, persistence and finding your voice.   About Tonie - I'm a corneotherapuetic skin specialist and founder of Ethereal Skin, combining science led skincare with a deeply restorative approach to treatment. I'm passionate about women's wellbeing, particularly through midlife and menopause, helping women understand their changing skin and making space for themselves.   Social media links - instagram @etherealskin_tonie Facebook @etherealskintonie   Enjoy this episode and fancy buying us a brew? Head over to https://buymeacoffee.com/wildwiseandcurious?status=1 #surgicalmenopause #surgicalmenopausesupport #mentalhealth #BrainFog #menopause #Perimenopause #périménopause #riteofpassage #MenopauseStories #PerimenopauseSupport #MidlifeTransformation #WomenInMidlife #Midlife #MidlifeMagic #MidlifePodcast #PerimenopauseSymptoms #MidlifeWomen #midlifechanges

    Ablations, Endometriosis and Surgical Menopause: The Parts Nobody Explained

  4. Oct 9

    Surgical Menopause: Knowing Where to Turn When Menopause Happens Over Night!

    In 2017, Lisa underwent a total hysterectomy and bilateral oophorectomy - and with almost no pre-operative information about what surgical menopause would actually mean for her, she was left to navigate anxiety, low mood, sensory issues, and a long, difficult search for the right HRT regime almost entirely on her own.   Now, Lisa, a psychotherapist, runs the Surgical Menopause Support Group, a thriving online community supporting women through sudden, surgically-induced menopause, and hosts her own podcast, Tough Love and Surgical Menopause.   We talk about the psychological toll that's so often overlooked, the role of HRT and testosterone in surgical menopause specifically, the importance of mental health support and women supporting each other, and the work still needed to improve menopause care and representation in the media. Lisa also shares details of the upcoming Surgical Menopause Awareness Day.   For more info on the podcast and what Lisa is up to - see below: Facebook - Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SurgicalmenopauseUKsupport Instagram - Podcast: @toughloveandsurgicalmenopauseInstagram Instagram - Support Group: @thesurgicalmenopauseuksupportgroup Surgical Menopause Awareness Day: 30th October. Visit the website to find out more: www.surgemenopause.com www.mistletoecounsellingandwellbeing.co.uk  - Lisa's therapy website   Enjoy this episode and fancy buying us a brew? Head over to https://buymeacoffee.com/wildwiseandcurious?status=1 #surgicalmenopause #surgocalmenopausesupport #mentalhealth #BrainFog #menopause #Perimenopause #périménopause #riteofpassage #MenopauseStories #PerimenopauseSupport #MidlifeTransformation #WomenInMidlife #Midlife #MidlifeMagic #MidlifePodcast #PerimenopauseSymptoms #MidlifeWomen #midlifechanges

    Surgical Menopause: Knowing Where to Turn When Menopause Happens Over Night!

  5. Oct 2

    From Survival to Summit:The Bridge, The Brain Fog, The Years Nobody Explained!

    Andrea was once too scared to drive over a bridge she'd crossed hundreds of times - just one symptom in years of perimenopause that brought rage, anxiety and brain fog so severe it left her wondering if she had dementia. These symptoms went unidentified for years, with no one joining the dots to perimenopause. It took watching Davina McCall's documentary for everything else to click - the "a-ha" moment that she wasn't broken, she was in fact perimenopausal, and that this was 'normal'. Now, after recognising traits of ADHD in herself, raising three children, and running her own business through all of it, Andrea has become a menopause coach and runs the  Scottish Pause Summit - a holistic event supporting women at every stage of menopause. We talk through the patchy, inconsistent nature of the current medical support, why community and shared experience matter so much, and Andrea's next chapter helping women build tech skills as they navigate career transitions alongside everything else. The summit lands on World Menopause Day, 18th October, in Glasgow. And you can find out more here: https://scottishpausesummit.co.uk To find out more about what Andrea offers - www.facebook.com/andreaclareart.uk https://www.instagram.com/andreaclareunlimited Listen wherever you get your podcasts or Pop over to YouTube to see all our faces! Enjoy this episode and fancy buying us a brew? Head over to https://buymeacoffee.com/wildwiseandcurious?status=1 #BrainFog #menopause #Perimenopause #périménopause #riteofpassage #MenopauseStories #PerimenopauseSupport #MidlifeTransformation #WomenInMidlife #Midlife #MidlifeMagic #MidlifePodcast #PerimenopauseSymptoms #MidlifeWomen #midlifechanges

    From Survival to Summit:The Bridge, The Brain Fog, The Years Nobody Explained!

  6. Sep 25

    The Return: From Breaking Point to Supporting Other Women Through Their Shifts

    In this episode we welcome back Rowena - returning for her second conversation with us and bringing a deeper, more honest look at what happened when her menopause journey reached breaking point. Rowena talks about the early symptoms she brushed aside, the slow creep of exhaustion and the moment everything tipped over: three months without sleep, spiralling mental health and feeling like she was disappearing inside her own life. It was a friend who encouraged her to try HRT - which became the shift she didn’t know she needed. Her mood lifted, her clarity returned and she began to feel like herself again. We explore the importance of hormone testing, the frustration of navigating GPs who may overlook or minimise menopause symptoms and the relief that comes when someone finally listens. Rowena shares how this experience didn’t just change her wellbeing - it changed her direction. It led her to become a menopause coach, using what she learned to support other women through their shifts, offering mind, body and soul guidance rooted in lived experience. This conversation is a gentle, grounded return - to Rowena’s story, to her voice and to the truth that menopause can be both a crisis and a calling. It’s about what happens when you come back to yourself, and then turn that understanding outward to help other women find their way too. To find out more about what Rowena is doing, visit www.lilaclotuswellbeing.com or see her over on her socials:  Facebook: Lilac Lotus Wellbeing- Coaching, Mindfulness and Hypnotherapy Insta: @lilaclotuswellbeing Enjoy this episode and fancy buying us a brew? Head over to https://buymeacoffee.com/wildwiseandcurious?status=1

    The Return: From Breaking Point to Supporting Other Women Through Their Shifts

  7. Sep 18

    Shift Happens: Reinventing Yourself One 'Tweak a Week'

    In this episode of Wild, Wise & Curious, we explore how perimenopause can become a season of reinvention - not through big dramatic overhauls, but through small, sustainable shifts. Our guest, Traci, shares how a hysterectomy at 45 and then a sudden rise in blood pressure became her first clues that she was in perimenopause. Instead of returning to yo‑yo dieting, she began making gentle lifestyle changes - her “tweak a week” approach - adjusting diet, movement, rest and recovery. These tweaks lowered her metabolic age, rebuilt her energy and helped her maintain muscle through midlife. She now teaches these principles through her 12‑week programme, Shift, encouraging women to use bite‑sized exercise and simple routines to support their wellbeing. We talk about joint pain, sleep struggles, community and the idea of midlife as a time to rewrite your story - one 'tweak a week'.   If you want to know more about what Traci is doing - follow her on her socials and find all her details below. Social Media Links: Instagram : @thetracishift FB: Shift Coaching : https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567510014560 TikTok : @traci.lowdenstoole Free Workshop : How to make Weight Loss Sustainable. Because nobody wants to lose weight just to find it again! Available here: https://pages.neemacoaching.uk/webinar-registration Free Guide – 5 Metabolism Boosters to help busy ambitious women lose weight for good: https://pages.neemacoaching.uk/free-guide-1 If you've enjoyed this episode or any other and you fancy buying us a cuppa - head over tohttps://buymeacoffee.com/wildwiseandcurious?status=1

    Shift Happens: Reinventing Yourself One 'Tweak a Week'

  8. Sep 11

    A Midlife Leap Into Van Life

    After years working in senior roles across health services and universities, Nicky reached a point where the pace, pressure and perimenopause‑linked anxiety and brain fog made her rethink everything. Together with her husband, they prepared a five‑year plan: retire at 55 and travel across Europe in a van. What followed was a mix of determination, creativity and midlife courage - designing a van's interior inside their flat in Wales, sending friends to view it during lockdown because they couldn’t travel and slowly building the life they’d been imagining. Somewhere along the way, they adopted a dog who now travels with them - adding companionship, chaos and joy to life on the road. Five years in, Nicky’s written a book capturing those early adventures: the learning curves, the mishaps, the unexpected detours and the steady unfolding of a life lived differently. In this episode, Nicky shares how perimenopause disrupted the norm, how she stepped away from a stressful senior career, and how she’s now living full‑time across Europe - travelling, dog‑sitting, exploring new places and embracing the freedom she once only planned on paper. This episode defo had us searching 'Campervans' on the internet... AGAIN! If you’d like to follow more of Nicky’s journey, you can read her book and find her on socials to see where she’s travelling and what she's up to next. Retired and Inspired2020 on FB  @retired.and.inspired2020 on Instagram Retired and Inspired Pet Services - pet sitting  https://www.retiredinspiredpetservices.co.uk/home   Book: Retired and Inspired: finding our own way. Nicky Genders Amazon only  https://amzn.eu/d/0dLL3dHC

    A Midlife Leap Into Van Life
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About

Welcome to Wild, Wise & Curious - the podcast where midlife, perimenopause and post‑menopause become a wild awakening rather than a slow unravelling. If you’ve ever felt like you’re losing the plot, rewriting it or stepping into a new chapter, you’re in the right place. We’re Michelle & Lou - not experts, just two midlife women with lived experience, curiosity and a deep belief in the wisdom of shared stories. Michelle, a scriptwriter, has always been drawn to the power of narrative - how stories shape us, heal us and bring us together. Lou, with a background in psychology, is fascinated by the human experience and the ways we make sense of our lives. Naturally curious and happily chatty, we love listening to women’s stories and helping others feel seen, heard and valued. Wild, Wise & Curious was born from that shared love of conversation, curiosity and community. What began as two women talking honestly about our own midlife experiences has blossomed into rich, meaningful conversations with guests from all walks of life... and we LOVE it! Each episode, we sit with real women navigating anxiety, panic, hormonal chaos, identity shifts, grief, joy, rage, rebirth and everything in between. Their honesty is medicine. Their laughter is grounding. Their wisdom rises from the lives they’ve lived and the truths they’ve reclaimed. Wild, Wise & Curious is a community, a conversation and a reminder that you’re not going mad - you’re unbecoming what you were taught so you can remember who you are. Follow, subscribe and share with your midlife mates. Trigger note: we discuss anxiety, panic and emotional wellbeing, so please take care while listening. If the podcast nourishes you, you can support the show here ☕ https://buymeacoffee.com/wildwiseandcurious Find us on Instagram & Facebook: @wild_wise_and_curious

Information

  • Creator
    Michelle Haggerty-Wood & Lou Baker
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    68
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2024 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Wild, Wise & Curious...