Menopause is often the time of momentous change for women. Are you going to change yourself and your life for the better? In this episode, Juliet Clark and financial security specialist and life change navigator Carole Hodges dish on everything that is menopause for women. Carol shares her personal experiences when she reached 50 years of age, what changes she undertook, and how she parlayed these changes to help her write her best-selling book, “The Menopause Millionaire: A Guide to Prosperity and Meaning in the Second Half of Your Life”. Tune in and learn more about menopause and your life changes only here.

—

Watch the episode here

Listen to the podcast here

The Menopause Millionaire Mentor With Carole Hodges

Welcome to the show. We have another good guest. Before we get started with our guest, I want to remind you guys to go subscribe to Breakthrough Author Magazine. I know for so many of you, you’ve taken the quiz. There’s so much you don’t know about the publishing industry. You wouldn’t believe how many questions we’ve gotten because Amazon is not doing their job the way it should be, and people want to know why, so I have to go explain the backside of the industry to them.

Go over, get your subscription, tips, and tricks. We have some great contributors. You guys read them at the beginning of 2022 on the show. Jared Rosen, he’s a writing coach, DreamSculpt, and book development. Chris Johnson is book development and editing. Shannon Procise is PR, and Melanie Herschorn writes on content, and you need all those things if you’re going to write a book. Go over www.BreakthroughAuthorMagazine.com. Also, you can go over and subscribe to us on YouTube. You’ll get to see all these people in person and see what they look like.

This episode’s guest is Carole Hodges, and she’s best known for breaking down complex problems into simple actions which bring happiness and serenity. For many years, she has been sharing best practices for finance and communication with business owners and speakers. She holds multiple certifications in DISC, NLP, gender communication, and results coaching. She can be heard on a wide variety of podcasts and is the author of The Menopause Millionaire: A Guide to Prosperity and Meaning in the Second Half of Your Life, which is what we’re going to talk about in this episode.

She specializes in financial security for those 50 or better. Her clients include leaders in personal development and business owners around the world. She was recognized for outstanding sales by MCI Worldcom and Peak Potentials for Success Tracks coaching. She has done everything from tap dancing in 42nd Street to walking on glass and burning coals. When she isn’t finding solutions for her clients, she spends time with her husband and Toastmaster club or planning a getaway with her family.

—

Welcome, Carole.

I’m so glad to be here. 

I’m excited. Your book, by the time this airs, will have already come out. You’ll already be a bestseller, but what inspired you to write Menopause Millionaire?

What inspired me was realizing that as I look back past menopause, I realized what a monumental change it was and that it wasn’t just me. I was not alone. There are changes in your health, your body is suddenly revolting, and you need to new learn new things, but also in relationships. I got divorced right at that time and discovered that about 25% of the divorces are those who are 50 and older, so I’m not alone.

That means rearranging your thoughts about your life, your finances, and your relationships going forward. It’s a time to take a step back and say, “What is my life all about?” That’s what I began to realize. It’s a time to look for the meat or the real meaning of why we are on this planet, and that’s why I wrote the book. It’s to look at those elements and to provide a self-coaching guide to go through and look at the changes you may wish to make in your life.

Menopause: As we looked past menopause, we realized what a monumental change it was.

One of the things that struck me about your book that I remember from my days going through menopause was every time I had physical problems and would see the doctor. Mainly, this is the time when you’re getting a Pap smear every year. The medical community seems to only want to give you, “Here’s some Xanax, some Valium or whatever the drug of the day is.” They don’t consult on, “You’re going to need to change your diet. You’re going to need to do this and that,” and what struck me is how many friends I had that were getting drugs instead of these life hacks that you’re going to need long-term to live a long and healthy life.

I love that word life hacks because that’s what I’m all about. My doctor knows very well I have a deal. I walked in and talked to him and said, “I don’t do drugs, so if there’s anything wrong with me, you and I will have to discuss what I need to change in my lifestyle or my eating habits. That’s what I will change.” That attitude helped me.

I discuss a lot about diet, reading labels and becoming far more aware. There’s a little bit of study that you need to do, especially when you reach menopause. Somehow, our human bodies can get away with a lot when we’re younger. We can eat junk food and it’s not that bad for us. However, it starts to tell as you reach menopause and beyond that. You can make a huge difference if you just become aware of your food and your nutrition.

My simple hack is I cut out white sugar and white flour products years ago. I haven’t had a soda or a Coke since 1999. I cut them out one day and I’ve never gone back. Those are a few things, and even if that could seem extreme to someone who hasn’t done it, it’s amazing. Your taste buds and everything else begins to change. I find that I can go out someplace where I can’t read the label, I’m at a restaurant or somewhere else. I’ll be able to tell. My body responds. It’s like, “There’s too much sugar in that.” I can taste it. My taste buds are far more refined now. I’m perfectly happy with all that I eat, and I’ve found great recipes for healthy eating.

Sugar is, quite frankly, my downfall. There’s this great spray that you can get on Amazon that will take the craving away, but every once in a while, I get really into it. I know you know Karie Cassell, the author of The Domino Diet. When I was working with her, there’s a whole series in her book about your body renewing itself. Every 120 days, you’re a brand-new person.

For the first time, I went five months without any sugar at all, and I wish I could say I felt differently, but I didn’t. Here’s the deal that is important. I went through withdrawal as if I were an alcoholic or a drug addict. I went through withdrawal, and I don’t think that people, especially women, understand how powerful that is. It’s supposed to be worse than heroin.

It is addictive. My mom was allergic to corn syrup, and it was in the ‘70s that they started putting corn syrup as a sweetener in all kinds of things. It’s very high in sugar. My mom would get horrible migraines. When that would happen, and I was a teenager and the oldest of six, none of us wanted to be around my mother with a migraine headache. It was not a good thing. Once she discovered it was corn syrup, we all learned how to read labels and make sure that nothing came into the house with corn syrup. What that meant was we didn’t have ho-hos and all these sweet things. They weren’t allowed in the house because they had corn syrup.

I didn’t realize what a blessing that is. It was an eye-opener. I saw a video of the moon launch that was in ’69. There was no corn syrup available at that time. Look at the general public. These are not actors. This is the general population. There are no fat people. It is amazing. The difference in our general population since corn syrup and other sweeteners have been put in is amazing. Go to Disneyland now and see what people like. They do not look the same as they did in 1969.

The Menopause Millionaire: A Guide to Prosperity and Meaning in the Second Half of Your Life

I agree. We went on vacation to Wisconsin and we drove. This big place out in the middle of nowhere, it’s called Wall something in South Dakota, and it was a giant, obese smorgasbord. Everywhere we walked, there were huge people, fast food too. I don’t think we had as much fast food back then as we do now, and I stay away from that completely. Every once in a while, I have an In-N-Out Burger, but that’s twice a year. That’s about as fast food as I get. In addition to this change in diet and exercise, you also focus in the book on doing what you’re passionate about in the second part of your life and finances. Can you talk about that a little bit?

Yes. I titled the book The Menopause Millionaire because what I recognize is that any woman who has reached around the age of 50 has handled $1 million in her life already. That is around $34,000 a year on average, so this isn’t about being wealthy. Your average woman would have handled $1 million. If you’re 50 and you plan on someday retiring, you will need another flow of about $1 million in order to retire 20 or 30 years.

I emphasize the word flow because it’s not about having it all in your hands at one time, but how do you identify where your money will come from long-term? That’s going to be a combination of things. Some people still have pensions. There is social security. There are different types of investments. There are 401(k)s. There’s a variety of things. If you own a house, there could be reversed mortgages.

What I’d like to do is rather than recommending one thing, I’ll have everyone find out where they are now. Get your net worth statement. Where are you? Net worth also shows you what you have spent money on that’s lasting. It’s an eye-opener on your thoughts about money, but once you’ve done that, then you can go through and check off for yourself those things you want to find out more about. There’s taxable and non-taxable. I hope I presented it in an easy way where you see this is not the down and dirty details of everything, but it’s to be able to say, “Maybe I need to know more about these few things,” and then you make up your own mind.

Money is in the process of change. I have no crystal ball to tell you, “This is what you do.” In fact, I like to run the other way from someone who tells me, “This is the way to do it,” but it’s very important to become educated and to find out where that flow would come from. It might even be saying, “I need additional sources of income,” but you’ll come at it from a knowledgeable review as well as what’s important to you.

One of the things that you talk about is getting into something that you really like in that second half of life. Whether it’s relationships, hobbies or a new career because see so many women in their late-40s or early-50s that are done with corporate America trying to start something new, which is great. Can you speak to that a little bit? Do you feel like the emotional stuff you go through during menopause is that shift that’s like, “I’m not going to do anything I don’t want to do anymore?”

Some of it. In my life, it came bit by bit. It was one little recognition after another. I always say life is an adventure because you can’t see the end of it from where you are. We can look back. I love the quote that, “We understand life backward, but we live it forwards.” The idea is once you’re in the middle, you can look back and begin to say, “There are some things I’m not going to tolerate anymore.” In my case, that was some things in my marriage. It may not be that dramatic for everyone, but maybe there are certain friends or situations that you are not going to take those actions and keep moving forward.

Every time I hear do what you love, for years, I sat there and thought that one day, the sky would open up and I would be blessed. A beam of light will come down and I will know what my life purpose is. It never works that way. What I did find by looking back and thoughtfully is what was I always drawn to? I studied Writing and Philosophy in college. I never went into being a writer and philosopher. I went in many other, but it was my heart calling me to do that.

I began to look at that and say, “What have I loved in life? What things have I found beautiful? What has enriched my soul?” I did musical theater because I had to do it. There was that expression in me of singing and dancing that called to me. I had to overcome being terrified at auditions, and no one was encouraging me to do this. This was me facing a huge fear to go learn this. As I looked back, I began to see how do all these things add up, and that has led me to where I am now to begin to talk about it and guide women forward. If you’re like me and waiting for that beam of light, don’t wait. Look inside as to what’s real, and notice on a daily basis what lights you up.

I’m going to add at the same time, look back at what you’ve been doing, because, for me, I had this trail I was on where I would go, “What the hell am I doing? I went from publishing, advertising, marketing to real estate,” but then, when I started the business I am in now, I knew looking back that I gained the experience for what I’m doing now from every little thing that led up to there. I feel like somewhere in my heart. My heart knew my path, but my head didn’t. I was learning and growing along the way.

Menopause: Life is an adventure. You can’t see the end of it from where you are.

I encourage people to look back at that too, because there has been a trail of breadcrumbs probably for a lot of people, and they haven’t acknowledged and followed them. Where can we find your book? It’s coming out. Can you give us the URL where we can find your book?

Absolutely. It is the MenopauseMillionaireBook.com.

You guys go over to MenopauseMillionaireBook.com. Grab yourself a copy. We have it on softcover and Kindle. I would sit down with this book. I’d read through it with maybe a little journal and start jotting down some ideas too, because that’s part of what you’re going to be doing in the course that follows this up, and keep in mind that course. I imagine sitting with a group of women in a group program doing this. It’s super beneficial when everybody brings something to the table. Thank you so much for being here.

This has been delightful. I always love chatting with you.

Important Links

• www.BreakthroughAuthorMagazine.com
• YouTube – Superbrand Publishing
• The Menopause Millionaire: A Guide to Prosperity and Meaning in the Second Half of Your Life
• Carole Hodges
• The Domino Diet

About Carole Hodges

Carole Hodges is best known for breaking down complex problems into simple actions which bring happiness and serenity. For over 30 years, she has been sharing best practices for finances and communication with business owners and speakers. Carole holds multiple certifications in DISC, NLP, gender communication, and results coaching. She can be heard on a wide variety of podcasts and is the author of “The Menopause Millionaire, Keys to Prosperity and Meaning in the Second Half of Life.” She specializes in financial security for those 50 or better. Her clients include leaders in personal development and business owners around the world. She was recognized for outstanding sales by MCI Worldcom and by Peak Potentials for Success Tracs Coaching. She has done everything from tap dancing in “42nd Street” to walking on glass and burning coals. When she isn’t finding solutions for a client, Carole spends time with her husband and Toastmaster club or planning a getaway with her family. Learn more at: www.MenopauseMillionaire.com