The Simplified CEO is the podcast for ambitious entrepreneurs navigating perimenopause while scaling their service-based business to six figures.
Hosted by business strategist Claire Bartlett, each episode blends practical business strategy with the science of what's actually happening in your brain and body during perimenopause - so you can stop pushing harder and start building smarter.
If you're a coach, consultant, or change-maker who's exhausted, overwhelmed, and ready to redesign your business around your biology - this is the show for you.
So go ahead and hit follow, grab your coffee, and let’s redesign your business to be more sustainable, spacious, and sympathetic.
New episodes drop every Wednesday on all major podcast platforms.
How to Keep Building When Perimenopause Stops You in Your Tracks
What happens when perimenopause, a late ADHD diagnosis, and the dream of running your own business all land at the same time? In this episode, I sit down with Rachael Jackson — founder of Women in Business Network Birmingham and community interest company Array of Light — to talk about the messy, honest, and ultimately empowering reality of building two businesses through some of the most challenging years of her life. If you've ever felt like you've lost yourself, this one is for you.
What You'll Discover
Why perimenopause often doesn't look the way we expect — and how even our closest people can spot it before we do
The NHS postcode lottery of perimenopause care, and why Rachael eventually went private (and wishes she'd done it sooner)
How ADHD and perimenopause symptoms collide and intensify each other — including restless legs, mental fog, and overwhelming emotion
The practical strategies Rachael used to keep moving her businesses forward on the days she could barely function
How she completely redefined what success looks like — and why 'busy' is no longer a badge of honour
The identity loss that comes with leaving corporate — and how to start the journey back to yourself
Episode Highlights
Rachael's husband was the one who spotted the pattern and named it first — and that moment of validation changed everything
Filling in a symptom questionnaire for the first time and realising just how extreme things had become — even for someone who always plays things down
Building not one but two businesses through perimenopause, a late ADHD diagnosis, and some of the darkest emotional months of her life
The mindset shift from corporate productivity to intentional, values-led success — and why her KPIs look completely different now
Enjoyed This Episode?
If this conversation resonated with you, please take a moment to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a woman in business who needs to hear it. Every share helps this podcast reach the women who need it most. And if you'd like support simplifying your business in a way that works with your hormones, not against them, head to https://www.instagram.com/theclairebartlett/ (https://www.instagram.com/theclairebartlett/) to find out how we can work together.
3 Jun 2026
She Went Through Menopause Twice Before 35 - Here’s What She Learnt
What does it feel like when menopause doesn’t arrive gradually - but hits all at once, before you’re 35, while you’re trying to run a business and raise a family? In this episode, Claire is joined by Lucy Blackmer, founder of Blackmer Advisory and known across social media as The Menopause Mum, who shares a story that challenges everything we think we know about perimenopause. Lucy went through chemical menopause twice and then a full hysterectomy in her early thirties - arriving in surgical menopause with no gradual warning, almost no support, and cognitive symptoms nobody had prepared her for. It’s a conversation that will make you rethink who perimenopause affects, when it can happen, and what it truly means to run a business through it.
What You’ll Discover
Why chemical and surgical menopause create a “cliff edge” experience - no gentle transition, just sudden onset of intense symptoms
The cognitive symptoms (brain fog, anxiety, self-doubt, decision paralysis) that hit hardest after Lucy’s hysterectomy - and why no one warned her they were coming
How perimenopause symptoms are routinely misread as performance issues in the workplace - and what genuinely helpful support looks like instead
What small business owners, sole traders, and tiny teams can actually do to support employees and themselves through this transition
Why curiosity - not diagnosis - is the most powerful tool available when symptoms start to show up
Practical tools including journaling and a word cloud meditation technique to help you tune back into what you genuinely need
Connect With Lucy
Find Lucy on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook as ‘themenopausemum’
Let’s Keep the Conversation Going
If this episode landed for you - share it. Send it to the woman in your network who’s wondering why everything suddenly feels harder. Come and tell Claire what resonated over on Instagram at @theclairebartlett. And if you’re not yet subscribed, now is the time - new episodes every week.
27 May 2026
Perimenopause and Business: How to Protect Your Capacity and Keep Growing
If you've been wondering whether perimenopause is reshaping the way you work - and whether that's actually okay - this episode is for you.
Business mentor and growth coach Nicky Masson joins Claire Bartlett - The Simplified CEO - for one of the most honest conversations yet about how perimenopause impacts your business, your body, and ultimately, your identity as an entrepreneur. This is the conversation your best friend should be having with you.
What You'll Discover
Why joint pain and brain fog are more common perimenopause symptoms than hot flushes
How Nicky shifted from structured time management to a capacity-first approach, and why that distinction changes everything
The real reason hustle culture doesn't work for women in midlife - and it's not just mindset, it's biology
Why slowing down isn't the opposite of ambition, and how to let go of the guilt that says otherwise
How emotional intelligence becomes your greatest business asset during perimenopause
The unexpected gift both Claire and Nicky have found on the other side of this transition
Episode Highlights
Nicky's honest account of waking up in physical pain every day - and the practical workarounds that keep her business running
The moment Claire realised she had redesigned her entire business around perimenopause before she even knew that's what she was doing
A powerful exchange on why comparing our work capacity to men's is a fundamentally flawed benchmark
Nicky reframes perimenopause not as a limitation, but as something close to a superpower
Connect & Continue the Conversation
If this episode resonated with you, share it with a business-owning friend who needs to hear it. You can find Nicky on Instagram @nickymasonglobal and on LinkedIn - she would love to connect.
And come and say hello to Claire on Instagram @theclairebartlett. She'd love to hear which part landed for you.
Inside a recent episode
Passive Income Isn't a Myth: How to Start Earning While You Sleep (With Lisa Johnson) | Ep 030
Published 27 Nov 2024 · Transcript excerpt
[…] And I think there's people joke about it actually that, oh yeah, you know, we set up a business to have the freedom, but then we're working more and then probably earning less than if we were employed. It doesn't have to be that way. And I think people just assume that's what you're signing up for if you're going to be an entrepreneur. And actually you've shown the world at probably, you know, the perfect time, like you say, when COVID hit and everyone was looking for an alternative way of trading, that there is another way. And you can have so much more free time, but actually also be growing your income. […]
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