Welcome to The Pause: Straight Up—a podcast for every woman who's ever stared into the void of her 40s (or 50s) and wondered “what the hell just happened?” In this very first episode, I finally hit record after too much overthinking and hoping my husband wouldn’t overhear me.

This intro is all about why I started the podcast, what I hope it becomes, and why I think it’s high time middle-aged women like us got to do a little more yapping. No advice. No toxic positivity. Just honesty, a bit of filth, and hopefully a few laughs. If you’ve ever felt like your eyelids have become crepe paper and your life plan took a hard left at midlife, you’re in the right place.

If your perimenopause symptoms are piling up faster than your savings, and you’re pretty sure everyone but you got a cheat code to life, welcome to The Pause: Straight Up.

Join host Shannon for raw, honest conversations about the messy, hilarious, and oh-so-relatable realities of midlife.

Hosted by a fellow perimenopause warrior, The Pause: Straight Up is a new podcast for women who are going through it. Our days can be a fight against brain fog and a mystifying number of new aches and pains, not to mention the strategic incompetence of our loved ones, and trying to embrace the life we've built, even if it's not the one we always dreamed of having. The Pause: Straight Up is a place we can all take a deep breath together.