Perimenopause is widely misunderstood, and I contend that many women have not been given a clear roadmap to understand their symptoms. I speak with Karen A. Herrera, author of Perimenopause Clarity, who transformed her own search for answers into a practical guide. We explain that perimenopause is a long transitional period with many possible symptoms, from hot flashes to heart palpitations and cognitive changes. I note that many clinicians receive minimal training on menopause, which often leaves women without adequate answers. We discuss concrete steps: seek appropriate specialists, share experiences with loved ones, and ask for empathy and practical support. I affirm that honest storytelling, clear information, and advocacy can replace isolation with community and help women regain confidence. I speak as the host, Reverend Dr. Keith Haney, and I undertake to encapsulate a conversation that reframes bewilderment into comprehension and isolation into communal affirmation. Karen A. Herrera articulates a personal odyssey that commences with professional displacement and culminates in the authorship of Perimenopause Clarity; she converted the destabilizing ambiguity of her symptoms into an imperative to educate. I observed her delineate the distinction between perimenopause and menopause with clinical precision: perimenopause is a protracted transitional epoch that may initiate in the late thirties or early forties, whereas menopause denotes a singular demarcating day after twelve consecutive months without menses. She enumerated an expansive symptomatology—cardiac palpitations, cognitive lapses, libido alteration, profound fatigue—thereby repudiating the reductive caricature that confines the condition to transient vasomotor events. I further recount Karen’s sober analysis of structural inadequacies within medical pedagogy, citing contemporary studies that reveal minimal residency exposure to menopause education and thereby explaining the frequent diagnostic vacuum women encounter. She advanced practical counsel for interlocutors and intimates: cultivate empathetic presence, assume pragmatic household responsibilities when feasible, and assist in the procurement of specialized care. Throughout our dialogue I witnessed her insistence that vulnerability and narrative testimony operate as instruments of validation and communal repair. Her clarion challenge to listeners compels each of us to consider which chapter of our lives, once disclosed, might render succor to another.

Takeaways:

• I discovered perimenopause is a prolonged transitional period distinct from menopause and deserving clear definition and attention.
• I learned that many obstetrics and gynecology training programs provide minimal menopause education, which leaves patients without informed guidance.
• I explain that perimenopause symptoms can be diverse and include heart palpitations, fatigue, mood shifts, and altered sexual desire among others.
• I urge women to advocate for themselves, pursue hormone specialists when necessary, and not accept dismissive explanations as final answers.
• I recommend that partners respond with empathy, practical assistance, and patience rather than attempting immediate remedies for hormonal disruptions.
• I stress that sharing personal narratives builds community, reduces isolation, fosters empathy among strangers, and provides reassurance and normalization for those undergoing transitions.

What if the symptoms you've experienced aren't all in your head, but no one ever gave you the roadmap to understand them?

What if one of the most significant transitions in a woman's life has been misunderstood, overlooked, or far too often suffered through in silence?

Today's guest turns confusion into clarity, frustration into purpose, and a deeply personal journey into a book that is helping women feel seen, informed, and empowered.

We're talking about midlife transition, the story of power of storytelling, and why sometimes the answers we're searching for become the message we were meant to share.

This is a conversation filled with wisdom, laughter, and hope.

So stay with us.

Welcome to Narrative Voices, the podcast where we share stories from a voice, from every voice that has a story.

And I'm your host, Reverend Dr. Keith Haney.

Today, I'm delighted to welcome Karen A. Herrera.

Karen is the author of the Perimenopause Clarity, a writer, storyteller, and advocate for helping women navigate one of life's most misunderstood transitions.

A graduate of University of Texas at Austin, Karen spent years carrying a dream of becoming an author before making courageous midlife career pivot and turning that dream into reality.

Her debut book grew out of her own search for answers during Perimenopause.

What began as a personal research evolved into a mission to provide women with practical information, scientific understanding, and a healthy dose of humor during a season that often feels confusing and isolating.

But when she's not writing, Karen can be found climbing towers for clarity, exploring quantum physics, and enjoying Formula One racing or entertaining her two cats.

Karen, welcome to the podcast.

Hi, Dr. Haney.

How are you?

I'm good.

It's so good to have you on.

It's so good to talk about this topic.

I've had this topic once before, and it was one of the more popular one, mostly with women, but also with men who are trying to figure out how to support the people that are important in their life.

So we're looking forward to this.

Great.

So I'm going to ask you my favorite question to kind of get us warmed up.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?

Ooh.

So I got this years ago whenever I was starting my career early.

It was an early manager that said this to me, and I just thought it was brilliant.

And it was, leave them better than you found them.

Which means anytime you embark on anyone, any.

Any person or even any.

Anything that you're doing, you always want to make sure that your output or your interaction with them leaves them better than you found them.

So I've always made that my goal in life.

That is really neat.

I like that.

I'm at.

I'm about to borrow that one and use it down the road somewhere.

Yeah, it's a good one.

So let's talk about your journey.

You dreamed of becoming an author for many years.

What finally moved you from someday to action?

Wow.

So, yeah, that action piece is always tough sometimes when we're going after our dreams.

And what finally did it for me was deciding that to take something that could have been a big barrel full of lemons and turning it into lemonade, which was.

I decided to get off my rear end and go after my dreams after I was laid off from a job that I had for six years.

And another reason I decided to take that versus scrounge around and pull together the resume, which I did within the first three days, because that's what we have to do, is I had even considered a year prior to that transition hap.

Transition happening to quit the corporate job and go waitress or go work at Athleta or serve coffee at Starbucks so I could focus on my writing.

But I didn't do it.

I still didn't do it.

I didn't feel like I had enough in me or what have you to go ahead and make that change.

And I felt like the universe came and gave me a little nudge, as it can do sometimes, and put me in the right place in order to feel a little bit more comfortable about going for it.

So that's really what got me to spring a dream into action.

Wow.

You know, anytime you decide to take on something like this, as a writer myself, I know I had overcome some things, but what are some fears or doubts that you had to overcome to publish your first book?

Oh, wow.

I think for me, it's.

It's probably a.

A fear that many of us have is.

Or the.

The internal dialogue that might say, well, who do you think you are going out and trying to do this?

Or what's going to happen if people think it's a, you know, a bad piece of work or what have you?

And I decided, especially after years of other things happening in looking back and saying, you know, we figured that out and it worked out okay and it's okay if it's not perfect.

I think going in and.

And getting past that fear of everything having to be perfect and just saying, you know what, let's just do it, and even if it's not perfect, that's okay.

I'm going to continue to write.

I think I had to get past that fear, which I think a lot of us have, is the fear of either being rejected or somebody not liking what you're doing.

But hey, if.

If all of us are worried about that, I don't think any of us would get anything done.

So it was really just decided to get over that fear.

Yeah.

Like your, your book is your baby.

It's like here.

And you're asking people to think your babies look as attractive and pretty, you.

Know, so, you know, and I'm sure a lot of my friends maybe have said that's a pretty baby.

But yeah, you know what, whatever.

And that's okay.

You know, we're allowed to.

We're allowed to have our opinions, but.

But I had to get over, you know, maybe my baby didn't turn out that pretty and just put it out there anyway.

Yeah.

So what surprised you most about your writing journey?

Yeah.

Wow.

So I think what surprised me most about it because again, I had been writing off and on for 20 something years, actually probably longer.

I keep forgetting how old I am now.

But I think what surprised me most was getting.

Getting it to the point where I did get it done and push it out there and get it out on Amazon.

I mean, looking at your first book, the first time posted on Amazon and even getting reviews, it's pretty incredible.

Whenever I consider all of the essays or blogs or half written, this or that that I've had in my, you know, first on.

First on little disks and then on external hard drives and now on my icloud drive that have just sat there forever.

So I think what surprised me most was getting to a place where I was okay with getting it out there and even sticking it out there on Amazon.

And I mean, I know I would be proud, but man, there is nothing, there is just nothing like to me in this world than holding your completed product and working with a designer to get your cover done and just go, wow, I've.

I've actually accomplished this.

And I think what surprised me most was that level of pride.

I just.

Because I didn't do it to feel proud.

I did it because I felt like it was something I needed to do.

So I think what surprised me most was just that, wow, I actually did it kind of thing.

Wow, that's so neat.

So your book emerged from your own search for answers.

Um, so let's talk about that part of the journey.

So what inspired you to write this particular book on the perimenopause clarity.

Okay, so this goes back to.

I just have to the job loss bit So I just happen to be working, like I mentioned on one of those pieces.

I was maybe never going to stick out into the world.

Just something funny about Perimenopause.

And I mean, because I'll write little essays and, you know, dink around with the idea of, you know, maybe I should write a book about essays about life.

And I was in the middle of writing something about Perry Perimenopause.

Just the crazy things about the things that We Google at 2 in the morning or different symptoms that I had come to learn about over time and just kind of poking fun at it.

And that was already in the works at the time that I had gotten laid off.

And so after going through that, that phase of, oh, my God, I need to call these people, work on my resume, let's get on, oh, my gosh, LinkedIn, blah, blah, blah.

And then when I made that decision, hey, I want to go ahead and take some time to put something out into the world.

Yeah.

I was chatting with my mom, and because I let her read some of my stuff, she was the only people I would let read anything.

And she just said, you know what, that little piece you were working on, that's pretty funny.

I was like, you know, that might be a good starting point for me because it's something that I have, you know, been going through, still going through.

I'm almost flipping into menopause.

And it, it was a trial.

I mean, it was a couple of years of not getting answers and seeking out stuff, and then the funny things that can come out of, you know, going through this transition.

And I said, you know what?

There are a lot of books out there that were.

That are written by medical professionals, which are awesome.

But I didn't see a whole lot that came from my perspective or from a woman's perspective of going through it herself and also creating some laughter around it as well, because it can be an interesting fun time and we crack up with our friends about it.

And so I just decided, you know what, this would be a good starting point for me just to maybe write the book that I wish I had to help me laugh through it.

And so that's really how the idea came, came about to do it.

I love that.

So you, you mentioned a little bit, kind of alluded to it, the fact that you had a hard time finding reliable information.

So tell us a little bit about what that search was like, trying to find reliable sources of information and kind of what also spurred you to say, let me give, maybe provide these kind of things for people who are looking for answers.

Yes.

And so I remember I wasn't getting a lot of information from the people we always thought that we would get the information from.

Right.

Which would have been our medical professionals.

And some of the research that I was just doing online was, I feel a heart pal.

Is this normal?

What's going on?

And, oh, stress.

This, this.

I mean, you can.

Oh my gosh, there's so many different symptoms.

And yeah, so I was, I was very frustrated that I wasn't getting help from the people that I thought that, that I should be getting help from.

And it really wasn't until I was sitting down with a good friend of mine who is an attorney, and I just kind of happened to mention, oh my gosh, I don't know what's going on my sex drive or, or everything else.

And.

And he referred me to someone who had a hormone specific clinic.

And it wasn't until I got a referral from an attorney that had nothing to do with my own right.

My own doctors to go to a specialist and have a crazy amount of panels run that they were the first ones that told me, well, you're in perimenopause.

You know that.

Right.

And I was like, I what?

Like what, what is perimenopause?

Because the term at the time was not as out there as we see it today.

We're seeing hearing that term a lot more thanks to a lot of different celebrities coming out and what have you.

But that term, perimenopause, it wasn't out there.

Again, it was menopause.

Menopausal.

And there's misconceptions even around that means most people don't even know what menopause actually means, really.

Definition.

So.

So since you mentioned that, what are some myths that people have around perimenopause?

Well, a lot of it is around.

Well, let me just say, Let me talk about the myth around what menopause it means, because a lot of people think menopause is this big transitional period.

Well, that is actually what perimenopause is.

Perimenopause, it starts again.

It can start in your mid, mid to early 40s, sometimes even in your late 30s.

And it's this big, long transitional period until a woman gets to 12 months of not having a menstrual cycle.

That 24.

That day is actually when you flip.

That day is the menopause day.

It's really a day.

Menopause is one day.

So the myth is that, oh, menopausal and menopause can last for Many, many years.

Like, no, perimenopause lasts for many.

Menopause is the day that we flip, and then after that, we're considered postmenopause.

So.

So that's one of the myths.

Another myth is that it's only about hot flashes and a couple of, you know, emotional, you know, blips, or I've lost my keys and even though they're in my hand, that kind of thing.

Oh, my gosh.

Perimenopause symptoms can range all over the place.

In fact, heart palpitations are one of them.

I wish I would have known that whenever I called myself or I jumped into the car one day and went to the ER because I was having crazy heart palpitations.

And that was actually just due to hormonal.

Hormonal fluctuations.

And instead, because my dad, you know, has a.

Had a history of heart issues, I got right to the er.

Had I have known that, that could have been one of them or an issue of perimenopause or, excuse me, a symptom that comes with hormonal fluctuations, maybe I wouldn't have, you know, rushed myself to the hospital because I wasn't having any other signs of having a heart issue.

It was just some of these weird heart palpitations that were happening.

So that's another myth is that, hey, the symptoms are all over the place.

So if you're experiencing anything that you're feeling a little bit off from, that's not the normal you.

It's might not be stress, because chances are you've probably been dealing.

We've been dealing with life stress, career stress, you know, relationships or stress, you know, from.

From.

From kids and what have you, just general life stress.

Way before that, if things get a little bit more nuts, it's probably not stress.

It's probably hormones.

And so that big myth about perimenopause is having, you know, four or five main symptoms.

That is so.

That's so not correct.

There's so many more that can lead you to know that you're in perimenopause.

That's good to know because that a lot of the stuff you just mentioned is all new information.

So I'm really helping you.

You kind of COVID that.

Yeah.

Why was this so important for you, for your personal experiences to shape the tone and message of this book?

Well, I find that when people.

When you're vulnerable and you share your own experiences, it helps other people feel less alone.

And so I definitely didn't want to make this any kind of a clinical only book.

I wanted to go into, hey, I did have a, you know, a miscarriage in perimenopause.

And I know there's a lot of women out there who experience that and it's really tough to go through and things like that.

Whenever we start going, is there something wrong with me?

Like, what did I do to cause this?

It's like, I didn't do anything to cause that.

It was because hormones were changing and, and that's just a higher likelihood of something like that happening.

So sharing that can.

Sharing your personal experiences can help, you know, women feel less alone and also like there's maybe nothing wrong with them.

It's just a part of life.

So sharing your own story story can help build even a little bit of a community with somebody you may never actually meet face to face, but you're having an impact on them.

Again, it goes back to leave them better than you found them.

Right.

Having.

Sharing your own personal experiences and being open and vulnerable creates a safer space for maybe somebody else to do the same.

And you never know how that's going to impact or help someone else.

That's good.

So what surprised you most about your research as you researched for this book?

It's one.

Okay, so this is what surprised me most.

It goes back to what I mentioned about not getting a lot of information from my own doctors.

What surprised me most was how little ob GYN residency programs cover menopause or anything around perimenopause or menopause training.

About 31% of OBGRI residency programs have any kind, any kind of menopause training.

31% Of that.

They have about four to five hours of classroom time per year covering menopause and perimenopause training.

So it's no surprise that a lot of women are go or still going to their doctors and not getting answers.

Now there is a different study that I read more recently because I have perimenopause on my Google alerts just to see what's going on where a lot because more women are coming out and talking about this.

You know, Halle Berry put Gavin Newsom on notice because the state wasn't providing very much adequate menopause training for, for their ob gyns.

Right.

I mean, I think now that things are coming out, you and women are speaking up about it and we're seeing, you know, people coming out and talking about it.

More and even documentaries are coming out left and right, which is great.

Right now more women are starting to advocate for themselves and ask questions, and doctors are going back and getting more training.

So a different study that came out shows that a lot of these extra trainings that I can have, a lot, a lot more are enrolling in it.

And it's because women are starting to.

We're having to ask and advocate for ourselves.

And now they really want to be able to provide for their patients.

So that's.

So that's great.

That's good news because.

Yeah, you don't fight for yourself, people aren't going to fight for you, probably.

I know, right?

So you talk about the messy metal.

What does that phrase mean to you?

So I think the messy metal can, can be appropriate for men and women, but I'm just going to cover the woman side because that's really all that I can speak to.

But the messy middle.

So perimenopause does come where, during the time when I say the.

The messy middle is we're.

We're going through life.

Maybe we've gotten married and maybe we've had kids, maybe we've gotten divorced, maybe we haven't got divorced.

Our kids are a little older, we're getting into our careers, we're finding we're really getting into our groove.

And then things start to get mucky.

Right?

That's when our hormones start to change, we start to question ourselves.

Is this stress?

Is this something else?

So that middle part of life gets a little messy and maybe our teenagers are rebelling.

Rebelling.

I don't know.

Stressors from work, they.

Other things are happening.

So.

So that's the messy middle.

There can be so much going on with us, and then, hey, guess what?

It's time for perimenopause.

We're going to shake that up a little bit.

So it gets even messier.

So that when I say the messy middle, it's not just perimenopause.

It's whenever we're starting to do really well in life and then all of a sudden something out of left field comes in, hits us and goes, okay, it just gets a little messy and we gotta figure it out.

So.

So for women going through this, what are some of the emotional challenges you commonly run across or women run across during perimenopause?

The biggest challenge that we'll run across,.

Emotional challenges that they're running across.

So.

Oh, gosh, that, that's.

That's a difficult one.

And some of the emotional challenges that we will run into is because of how our hormones are affecting everything.

Our hormones affect everything regardless.

And when things start getting nuts, you know, I used to call it, it's puberty with taxes because we're a little bit all over the place.

Our emotions are going a little nuts.

But it can, it does affect our stress levels.

It affects how, how exhausted we can be.

Right.

Our fatigue, you know, our adrenal glands are getting shot too.

Those are hormones, right.

As we know as well.

And those are kind of bouncing all over the place also.

So we're, we're tired because we're getting tired.

We're feeling like we're not doing as well in life.

Maybe we're letting some balls drop.

Maybe we're.

If we forgot some things for our partner, we, we, we missed a kid's, you know, soccer practice or we missed a deadline at work.

And so things that are out of our own control that we know about start to really mess with us emotionally.

At the same times, our hormones are messing with us emotionally.

So it really can wreak havoc on our self confidence on who we thought that we were.

We thought we were doing well and now we're questioning everything.

And until we know what the root cause of it, it can really, it can affect us.

Right?

I mean even, I mean again, sexually, our sex drive changes a lot and that can cause, that's going to, you know, potentially cause problems in our relationship.

You know, it's, it's like, hey, I would rather you sit over there and not touch me or can I go to the dentist today instead of right.

It, that's puts additional stressors on our relationship.

And so until we really know that that's what's happening, it's almost like a double whammy of emotional upheaval, for lack of a better phrase.

So with all that in mind, how can loved ones support women during this transition?

So it has to be, it has to be two ways, right?

So I think yes, if a loved one knows that, that their, you know, significant other is dealing, is going through this, they can help by just understand.

So think of it.

Whatever your, your significant other maybe was right, have having their period, okay, she's a little bit more emotional.

I'm going to be a little bit more understanding.

Well, this isn't every 30 days anymore.

It's, we don't really know when it's going to happen.

So if a loved one can, can just say, okay, this is going on, I understand.

She's more tired.

Maybe I can help by as soon as she gets home, hey, you're cool.

Go chill out for a little bit.

Take, you know, I'm going to cover XYZ for us this evening.

Just be there to, to be understanding and maybe not try to fix it because half the time we don't know how to fix it.

Right.

So if you can just be understanding and empathetic and then be there to maybe help her find some resources.

Right, Help her find a different doctor.

But, but just try to take some of the load off, that would be very helpful.

And when I say it's twofold, we as women have to recognize that it's actually happening to us and admit it, you know, it's okay.

I mean, I remember when I, when I was, I was a lot younger, just, gosh, I'm older, blah, blah, blah.

But now I look at this part in life and, you know, I'm very grateful I'm still here.

I mean, I've lost friends, you know, a lot.

Most of us have lost some, some friends over time, family, et cetera.

And I'm so grateful that I'm still here and alive.

And you know what?

By being here at now 53, I acknowledge that I have hit this point in life, and it's not a bad thing.

It's just part of life.

And I'm grateful to still be here.

So for women, we need to understand how it affects us, share with our partners that we are in it and not be worried about, oh, my gosh, I'm so old.

You know, hopefully your partners are going to judge you based on your age and they, they love you for who you are.

And as partners go, just try to be and help take up a little bit of this slack and understand that she's not, she's not snapping at you because, because it's more like, hey, our emotions are a little bit off and our little reaction gauge is a lot shorter than it used to be and, you know, work through it that way.

So one thing I love about your approach is that you bring humor into the topic that many people find difficult.

Why do you believe laughter is such an important part of medicine and in solving some of the things we're going through?

Well, I always say, well, it feels good, right, if we laugh.

Of course it feels good to laugh.

Ask somebody after they've laughed how they're feeling and they feel great.

But it is also scientifically proven that laughter reduces stress hormones over time.

Right.

It increases the positive endorphins that we need and serotonin, et cetera, and it reduces other types of stress hormones.

So, so it's not only a scientific fact, but it's very important to be able to laugh at life in general.

And if I can make somebody, you know, snort or, or laugh a little bit just because they.

They picture something that I've gone through, or, you know, maybe they go, yeah, I did that the other day and just kind of like, chuckle.

It's, it's.

It goes back to being, you know, it's going to help us out in life a lot to.

To keep it light and keep it as funny as we can.

Versus, this is the big shroud of doom that's coming for all women.

And me and my mom did it, but she didn't feel anything.

But I do.

And what's wrong with you?

Just like, come on, slow down.

Let's.

Let's just go, hey, it is what it is.

Let's get through it.

Yes.

The pants don't fit as well as they used to.

That's okay.

There's even strategies that we can work on with that are a little different.

I mean, just.

Let's just laugh a little bit about it and be grateful that we're still here to go through it.

Amazing.

So now we're going to have a little fun, too.

Since you mentioned laughter, we're going to ask you some lightning round questions.

Okay.

Coffee or tea?

Coffee.

My mom would disagree.

That's because she's.

She's English and Northern Irish.

Whatever.

Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee.

Formula one or quantum physics?

Oh, you're killing me, Smalls.

You are killing me by asking me that.

It has to be quantum physics, though.

I. Yeah, I love studying, learning everything about quantum physics, the interconnectivity of everything.

And I'm sure there's some quantum physics in how they're doing some of those Formula one cars.

So we'll do that.

There you go.

Early bird or night owl?

Night owl.

Yeah.

I've tried to be the early bird.

I have, and I've read all of the benefits of being an early bird, but I'm an idol.

I'm more of an idol.

Hardcover or audiobook?

Gosh, I'm.

I'm old school.

I mean, I. I appreciate audiobooks.

I mean, there's gonna be a lot of people that could be listening to this.

Right.

But I mean.

But.

Oh, I just love the feel of a book in my hand and flipping the pages.

But I also write notes in the margins.

I just.

Yeah, so I got to do hardcover.

So if you did an audiobook, would you have Halle Berry read your audiobook on Peri menopause?

Oh, my God.

That would be amazing.

Yeah, yeah, of course I would.

Who would say no to that?

Yeah, I know.

There you go.

Yes.

Yes, that would be.

Favorite writing location.

Yeah.

So this is hard because I would like to say, oh, this little coffee shopper right here on my desk.

You know what it is.

Wherever the inspiration strikes, I keep my laptop with me all the time, and I will just go.

If something comes out, I flip it open.

If I, for some reason don't have it, like I'm, you know, doing some stairs or what have you, because I had the whole climbing thing, then I will pull out my phone and make a note.

But it is wherever the.

Wherever the inspiration strikes.

So it can be anywhere.

That might not be a great answer for your listeners, but it is anywhere, and I got to keep it with me.

Most underrated life skill.

Ah, empathy.

I think that's the most underrated life skill, empathy by far.

Being able to put.

To try to understand where someone else is coming from, it's.

It's very hard.

And just being able to acknowledge someone else's feelings, how they're feeling about something and not say, you're wrong.

Right.

Having empathy for.

For others I think is the biggest underrated life skill.

That's good.

One word that describes perimenopause.

Challenging.

Challenging.

But yes, challenging.

I'll leave it at that.

Your favorite author.

Oh, Liz Gilbert.

Elizabeth Gilbert.

I love her writing.

I love her writing style.

I love.

In fact, we talked about vulnerability.

Oh, yeah.

I think that's another reason I love her writing.

She just goes deep.

She's unafraid to express her emotions and.

Oh, yeah.

Yes.

Elizabeth Gilbert.

Love it.

Cats or dogs?

Well, I have two cats, and because they're right in front of me, I'm gonna say cats.

Yeah, I'm gonna say cats because they're right here.

But I love dogs, too.

How can you pick?

How can you pick?

But I get it.

Fine.

Cats.

Hi, bud.

Hey, Charlie.

Yeah, yeah.

Most memorable reading, reader response to your book.

Okay, so I have a good friend, a good friend of mine who of course was gonna.

He was very supportive, gonna read the book, and a male friend, and he read.

He ended up reading the book cover to cover.

He was about my age, maybe a year older, writes this big write up on Facebook, tells all his friends about it.

And I remember he said something about, I didn't come out and intend to become the perimenopause whisperer.

But now, oh, my God, I didn't realize all these.

When we're going through this is so Helpful.

And he just gave me this huge.

And that was just so touching that, that he would do that.

You know, we haven't dated.

Da, da, da.

It's just a good, you know, friend of mine.

And that was just so.

That was.

Yeah, I think that's my.

My most memorable moment from a reader.

Oh, that's neat.

So I'm going to ask you my other favorite question.

What do you want your legacy to be?

I think if I could inspire anyone to go out and go after their dreams, in fact, I think it.

Oh, shoot, Elliot.

Oh, my gosh.

In fact, I wrote it down because I keep it on my.

Anyway, it's never too late to become who you want to be.

Do not let your age or even a circumstance stop you from going after your goals.

You know, here I am.

You know, the book's been out.

You know, we're in.

Well, we're in July.

The book came out last November.

You know, it was a year and a couple of months whenever I got laid off.

And if I could have done it, the only thing I could.

I would have done differently was the year before that when I thought about quitting.

I probably, you know, would go, you know, I could have done that.

I could have.

I could have done that because I actually did the book.

I completed the book.

You know, I. I didn't realize I was going to do it.

But you know what?

It's never too late to become who you want to be.

And if that's a legacy that I leave, maybe that inspires someone else to just go for it.

That.

That.

That would be the legacy I'd want to leave.

Great.

So, Karen, where can people find you?

Where can they pick up the book?

Yes.

So right now it is on Amazon and I actually am in the Man.

If I would stop working on my audiobook right now.

Halle Berry knocked on.

But maybe not.

Maybe not going to happen.

But I am in the middle of working of recording the audiobook right now.

But right now it's available on Amazon.

You can find it and people can find more out about me and some of my work on my website, which is Karen K A R E N A A the letter a herrera.com.

Well, Karen, thanks so much for joining us today for sharing your story, your wisdom and your heart.

Your journey reminds us that sometimes the answers we're seeking become the very message we're meant to share with others through the perimenopause clarity.

You're helping women trade confusion for understanding, fear for confidence and isolation for community listener challenge before we close today, here's a challenge for narrative voices for you.

Which one of your.

Which part of your story have you been afraid to share that might help someone else feel less alone?

Your story matters.

Your voice matters.

And the chapter, often the chapter you struggle with becomes a chapter that provides hope for someone else.

Until next time, keep living your dream.

Keep looking for those stories, and keep sharing your dreams.

Thank you, Karen.

Thank you.