How a group on social media became a force for changing women’s lives for the better!
My name is Jessica and I am the founder of CPMS.
At the time of this writing I am 53 years old and I am Canadian. I had good doctors and they were looking for Perimenopause but I wasn’t educated about what to expect. As I learned more about holistic health, I started to see in myself and in my friends the toll that Perimenopause was taking. I graduated with a certificate from Mount Royal University in Yoga Therapy Summer of 2019. I was falling apart myself, expecting a gallbladder removal and having more pain from perimenopause. I did get my gallbladder out but 2020 held a lot of surprises and one of them was that I was more alone than ever dealing with perimenopause and recuperating from surgery.
I realize now that my gallbladder happened along with the endometriosis that was growing from something I later learned was estrogen dominance. I should not have been on birth control pills with estrogen but my doctors didn’t realize this until the endometriosis had already spread.
At some point, I started looking for information online and was astonished to find very little information that was for Canadian women! There are some coaches in the field helping women in their own way, but where were the doctors online talking about this? I have yet to find one that I like. I want the balanced way. Western medicine and Eastern joined together. Take the medicine AND the supplements.
I decided to start the Canadian Perimenopause Menopause support group out of my own sense of urgency. I needed people who were willing to talk about what they were living. A few months in, we were hovering around 100 women. I asked the crew if we should stop it there. I have a minor in Anthropology and there is a theory that we can only actually “care” about 100 people and this is why small populations will branch off sometime after hitting that mark. The ladies all said, it’s your group, so whatever you think. I knew it would take a lot of monitoring, once we passed 100, people might be rude (some are) or thoughtless (some are) or even God forbid, mean (some are) and I decided I was willing to monitor the group to keep it clean and on topic.
To this end, I eventually recruited volunteers!
*We monitor every share!
* We debate what to post if it seems controversial or objectionable
* We deal with member complaints.
Once the group got to be over 1,000 people strong, I hired a business coach and she has helped me to focus my energies. I bring high quality support, for free, to the women in the group and I provide individually catered care plans to the women who hire me as their Holistic health coach. I make them do physical practice, mental and emotional work as well as help them navigate our rather convoluted health care system.
As of May 27, 2024, our group is over 8,000 women, from all over Canada and a few members from other countries as well. I hear every day from women I don’t know in “real” life how much the group has helped them, stopped them from feeling they are going “crazy” and given them an idea of how they might get their lives back!
I am changing women’s lives one day at a time, one woman at a time and helping families and society to function better as a result.
The podcast is on it’s way, and Ovation Studio will continue to expand it’s offerings, for Canadian Women across Canada and around the world!
Listen to our Founder being interviewed on CBC radio:
Scroll to Interview on Oct 29 – Alberta Research looks at women’s us of cannabis during menopause
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/
Read about Alberta women managing perimenopause and menopause and our founder gets the last word!
https://ca.style.yahoo.com/
