Hi, I’m Jacqui, a no nonsense Lancashire lass who wears my heart on my sleeve!
I have been passionate about sport and fitness from a very young age and never felt better than when I was on the netball court. As a kid I was constantly upside down doing cartwheels, handstands against the wall or headstands and, as I got older, I used to tag along with my Mum to aerobics. (Jane Fonda style!)
I continued to exercise throughout both of my pregnancies and was determined to continue after giving birth. Some of my greatest friendships have been made through sport and exercise, and that’s also how I met my husband.
I was 41 when I had my second child after suffering from five miscarriages. During that time, I had also been made redundant from my accountancy job and lost my mother in law to brain cancer. I wasn’t in a good place mentally and felt that my life was ‘on hold’. After my second child was born, I woke up one day and decided I was going to change my career and pursue my passion in health and fitness. My life was not on hold anymore!
I passed my Level 3 Personal Trainer qualification and started training a few clients in local parks. Two years later, aged 43, I realised that my body felt differently than it had after my first baby. I was irritable, not losing weight, lacking in energy and having sleep problems. I put it down to post baby hormones. "Maybe this is just my new normal?", I thought. I turned to a friend who is a nutritional therapist and explained some of my symptoms and she said, “I think it might be perimenopause”. I started doing my own research and I was shocked. Why did I not know about this? Why are there antenatal classes for giving birth but nothing for perimenopause to prepare you? I mean, considering it’s a life changing process we are going into it totally unprepared.
My friend and I started to work together offering live workshops to women so that they could understand their own personal perimenopause journey and I continued my research into the menopause world. After understanding that I was experiencing symptoms of perimenopause, I have been on a journey of rediscovery. By making small, daily changes to my lifestyle, the symptoms slowly started to disappear and I feel like ME again! I have learned to embrace this new chapter in my life and want to help other women to do the same without it taking years.
By combining the wealth of information I learned from delivering workshops, as well as years of my own research and eventually completing a specialist wellness coach for menopause, I created a system that gave me back control and I gradually started to feel like the old me again. I wanted to reach and help more women, so I decided to take my business online. Every single woman will go into menopause whether naturally, through taking medication or surgery; every single woman's journey will be individual to them and every single woman should feel prepared, informed and supported. I want women to step into this new stage of life with confidence, passion and motivation to be the best version of themselves. I am passionate about helping women to understand their bodies, the natural changes that are occurring and to feel well again.
I still love doing cartwheels and handstands but my new love is kettlebells! My favourite hobby is gardening and, despite living in London, I grow my own vegetables for most of the year. I also make my own moisturising bars and kefir and am very partial to the odd G&T and glass of wine.