Leading Through the Load - Menopause Workshops in Geneva
Leading Through the Load helps senior women leaders in Geneva navigate high-stakes decisions alongside the biological, psychological, and structural shifts of midlife — through coaching and workplace education grounded in menopause expertise and 20+ years inside Geneva's corporate world.
Organisations lose experienced female leaders in their 40s and 50s at exactly the moment their talent is most valuable. Research shows 72% of women hide their menopause symptoms at work (Catalyst, 2024), and in Switzerland, 1 in 5 women reduce their working hours during this transition (MenoSupport Suisse, 2025).
With 45+ years of combined experience across Geneva's corporate, pharma, finance, and creative sectors, we built this workshop series to change that pattern.
WORKSHOPS FOR SENIOR WOMEN LEADERS NAVIGATING MIDLIFE
BEFORE ORGANISATIONS LOSE THEM
The Struggle -
three shifts that collide
Senior women leaders in midlife are navigating three shifts at once, largely unspoken: biological, psychological, and structural:
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BIOLOGICAL- hormonal changes affecting sleep, cognition, and the nervous system's stress response.
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PSYCHOLOGICAL - a pull toward meaning and legacy, not just achievement.
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STRUCTURAL - the demanding job itself, often carrying family and caregiving alongside it, often alone.
This workshop series names these shifts and gives women in leadership a space to discover, share, and learn together — led by a psychotherapeutic counsellor and a menopause expert who understand the pressures of female leadership from the inside.
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Organisations that address menopause at leadership level see measurable gains in retention and decision quality.
Left unaddressed, menopause-related productivity loss costs an estimated $150 billion annually (Bloomberg/AARP-Astellas Ellenomics), and in Switzerland the gender pension gap reaches 37% (~CHF 20,000/year, OFS) — much of it tied to reduced working hours during midlife.
Leading Through the Load gives senior women shared language for what's happening, concrete tools to protect decision-making and retirement security, and organisations a way to keep their most experienced leaders.
The Future -What Changes
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For more than two decades, I worked across communication, leadership, inclusion and social impact initiatives in both public and private organisations.
My work took me across countries, cultures and communities, helping people navigate change, build connection and create environments where individuals could thrive.
a deep belief in the power of understanding people.
BEFORE THE SECOND BLOOM
Who's Behind This
Sandrine Desmares
Founder of Second Bloom,
Menopause Coach, Geneva
I support women through perimenopause and menopause, and help organisations understand what these transitions really mean for their people. Over 20+ years I worked across pharma, luxury, sports, finance, banking, insurance, and creative agencies — including Haleon, GSK, Richemont, Lloyd's of London, Novartis, and Merck — and saw the same pattern everywhere: midlife transitions misunderstood, barely discussed, quietly costing women their careers and companies their best talent.
Along the way: humanitarian work with NGOs, training in art therapy, a menopause certification, and a menopause-at-work webinar designed and delivered for the ILO, rolled out across 25 local offices with a focus on SMEs. Trained #IamRemarkable facilitator, part of a global coalition aligned with UNFPA standards, and building a network of medical and paramedical partners so this work stays complementary to medical care, never a substitute for it.
Fleur Jaworski-Richards
ICF-certified Executive Coach, Registered Psychotherapeutic Counsellor, Geneva
25 years in senior creative and UX leadership across Geneva's digital agencies and consultancies, including as a senior manager at Accenture.
MSc in Transactional Analysis (TA) Psychotherapy — the model most widely used in organisational and coaching contexts for understanding how people behave under pressure and how they change.
Relational and trauma-informed approach, working with the nervous system as well as the mind.
We've Worked With
Sources:
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Catalyst (2024). Women Call for More Menopause Support in the Workplace — enquête mondiale auprès de ~2 900 salarié·es dans 8 pays.
https://www.catalyst.org/about/newsroom/2024/menopause-workplace-support-global -
MenoSupport Suisse (2025). Enquête nationale sur la ménopause au travail — HWR Berlin, Inselspital Bern & The Women Circle, N=2 259.
https://thewomencircle.ch/menosupport-suisse-fr/ -
Office fédéral des assurances sociales (OFAS) / Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS). Écart de rentes de vieillesse entre hommes et femmes en Suisse (Gender Pension Gap).
https://www.parlament.ch/centers/documents/fr/Rapport%20OFAS%20Ecart%20de%20rentes%20de%20vieillesse%20entre%20hommes%20et%20femmes%20en%20Suisse%20-%20Gender%20Pension%20Gap.pdf -
AARP / Astellas, Ellenomics. Menopause in the Workplace Has an Economic Impact — estimation mondiale de perte de productivité, citée via Bloomberg.
https://www.aarp.org/pri/topics/work-finances-retirement/employers-workforce/menopause-workplace/
Affiliations & références
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EMAS — European Menopause and Andropause Society - https://emas-online.org/
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CIPD — Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development - https://www.cipd.org/
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Menopause Mandate - https://menopausemandate.com/
Workshop Packages
Available in three formats, from a single half-day session to a full trimester-based programme
Half-Day Reset
For organisations that want
to start the conversation.
Naming the load.
Giving a senior-women cohort shared language for what's actually happening, and a first, real space to say it out loud together. An entry point into wider conversations.
Single half-day
up to 20 participants,
in-person.
Weekly Global
For distributed teams
who need this
to reach everyone.
Consistency over intensity.
A recurring hour, once a week for a month, gradually deepening understanding of self, situation, and others, as we work topic by topic. Light enough to sustain across a whole organisation, wherever people are.
1h weekly online sessions
Series of 4 in one month
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Full Programme
For organisations ready
to change the culture,
not just mark a day.
Retention, made visible.
The deepest format: a half-day, once a month, with the same cohort, building across four topics. This is where the pattern really shifts, and it's the format that speaks directly to what retention costs when this goes unaddressed.
4 half days, 1 per trimester
Up to 20 participants,
in-person
The Invisible Load at The Top
WHAT IT ANSWERS: why senior women burn out even when performing well.
The nervous system, brain, and hormonal shifts behind burnout, and the caregiving and mental load most carry alongside it.
Losing Our Best Leaders at 40 and 45
WHAT IT ANSWERS: what pushes senior women out of leadership at this stage.
Unpacking the tipping points that drive experienced women out — and what organisations can do before it happens.
The Hidden Pension Gap
WHAT IT ANSWERS: what menopause really costs a woman's retirement, and how to protect it.
Why so many women end up with a much lower retirement income because of the years they cut back or stepped away from work.
Decision Fatigue at the Top
WHAT IT ANSWERS: why senior women under chronic stress make slower, more reactive decisions.
Reframing nervous-system regulation as a performance-protection tool for your most senior women.