Who's Who
The Experts
From Fitness, to Nutrition, to Sleep, to Well-Being, this is the team behind Owning Your Menopause.
Kate Rowe-Ham
I am a Level 3 qualified personal trainer specialising in helping women reach their fitness potential. I will help you find a love for exercise, giving you tools you need to adopt a sustainable approach to exercise and giving you long-lasting results.
As a mum of 3, I know how our needs can fall by the wayside and I am passionate about motivating and inspiring women, and helping you find ways to make time to get fit and stay fit.
I know first hand how hard it can be to regain your body confidence especially after having children, and have first hand experience of heading into peri-menopause and know how some of the symptoms can leave you feeling very overwhelmed and anxious.
I want to encourage you to see how diet and exercise can make a positive impact on how you feel, and for you to gain an understanding of how mind and body work together, so you truly appreciate what you are capable of regardless of your shape, size or age.
Dr Katie Armstrong
Dr Katie Armstrong: Founder, Clinic51 Being an NHS GP and busy working mum in my 40’s, I understand only too well the impact that hormones can have on a woman’s life.
I founded Clinic51 in 2020, to offer a holistic approach to women’s health. I firmly believe that we should not have to be at the mercy of our hormones; that women should continue to be happy and healthy, throughout their reproductive life, through the menopause, and beyond.
At Clinic51 we are able to gather a full picture of your general health, how you are feeling, what matters to you, and how your symptoms are affecting your current quality of life -and what you want to get out of life in the future. Thankfully, there is more and more advice out there now about the effect of hormones and the menopause, but navigating it successfully can be a minefield. We are able to offer advice that is completely tailored to you, and your situation.
As well as a being a practising GP, I also trained with Dr Louise Newson, The British Menopause Society and The Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology – so offer access to the safest and most effective evidence-based treatments.
I often give talks on women’s hormones and menopausal health on Instagram, in the workplace, or at wellness events. I believe it is important to share as much information about the menopause as possible, so that women can feel informed and empowered.
Zoe Fisher
Zoe Fisher has been teaching Pilates since 2010. Qualified with both Body Control Pilates and Basi Pilates, she has a wealth of experience teaching people from all walks of life. Initially using Pilates to rehabilitate her body after child birth and various training injuries, Pilates became a passion. Zoe encourages clients to explore the concept of inner strength and self-awareness through breath, movement and flow and although a passionate teacher – doesn’t like to see her clients taking anything ‘too’ seriously. It’s really important to enjoy the session no matter how gentle or challenging the experience. With regards to the challenges of mid-life, Zoe believes that this is a time of life when mental, physical and emotional well-being are unavoidably linked. Movement heals a multitude of sins. You don’t have to train hard ….just move mindfully each and every day. Zoe can be found teaching classes in West Sussex and also regularly creates free content for her You Tube channel Fisherpilates.
Current passion projects are Glow for a Good Cause, not for profit events incorporating Pilates, Barre and Yoga where attendees will be rewarded with delicious treats after getting their Glow on for Macmillan Cancer Research, and also Retreat Yourself Pilates with groups heading to Cornwall and Greece in 2022.
Natalie Pennicotte-Collier
Natalie has a unique insight to improve our Sleep Health and help us wake up Circdian Sleep health, the first pillar of wellbeing Sleep, Rest & Recovery especially crucial in supporting mid life health.
Every day Natalie gets to listen to the unique insomnia midlife sleep stories both in clinic and in high performance organisations and provide a remedy.
At 43 years strong, her strength as a compassionate leader and mother of 2 (her son jude having spina bifida) fuels her mission to support women navigate midlife Sleep Health …Natalie has deep personal experience having recovered from many Insomnia Sleep chapters most recently navigating surgical menopause and neurosurgery in 2021.
She is writing her debut book for Penguin on Sleep & mental health – sharing the development of her 5 week Sleep 2.0 sleep coaching, alongside NHS GP’s – an evidence based mindfulness based intervention for midlife insomnia. Championing an integrative approach to our sleep health, sleep hypnotherapy and breathwork.
Natalie is recognised as the UK’s leading Performance sleep coach specialising in Circadian Sleep health & mental wellbeing in both elite sport & clinical private practice. Her passionate and proven approach to Integrative Sleep Health MBCT-i is endorsed by leading sport science professionals, from formula one teams to supporting the sleep of Professional GB Athletes & high performance organisations in sport, workplace and clinical practice.
Zoe Kirby
I am a Registered Nutritionist, with nearly 20 years’ experience and a special interest in women’s health and wellbeing. I love helping my clients and their families to feel their best and get the most out of life through making easy, sustainable changes to their diet and lifestyle. I am also a mother of three, so I know how hard it is to look after yourself while juggling the demands of a busy family life, especially with Covid thrown into the mix.
Last year, I moved my business online, and I now offer online courses, workshops and 1-2-1 ‘Power Hours’, covering anything from meal planning and fussy eating to hormone balance and immune support. I have a monthly nutrition newsletter called The Pulse that you can sign up for via my website www.zoekirby.com or come and say hi on Instagram at @zoekirbynutrition – I can’t wait to meet you!
Cathy Proctor
Like many of us, I stumbled into the world of menopause completely unprepared and blindfolded, didn’t know what to expect, how it would impact my life and certainly didn’t know what the symptoms were. The little I thought I knew about HRT, turned out to be wrong and based on the misinformation from the media 20 years ago.
In March 2020 I started to experience severe joint pain and muscle fatigue, I had to give up exercise and at times found it hard to walk. I had muscle fatigue and tightness like I had never had before and my life came to a standstill, I lost my confidence, my mojo didn’t know who I was anymore and felt lost and wondered where I fitted it. All the trips to the GP, Physio, MRI’s, and acupuncture were inconclusive and so I began to research what was wrong. The more I researched the more lightbulb moments I had and soon realised that what I was suffering from was that my hormones were declining and I was perimenopausal (a word I had never heard before March 2020!)
I researched for 6 months, listened to podcasts, read, read some more, became so frustrated and couldn’t understand how I had managed to reach the age of 52 without any knowledge of something that would affect every women at some point. The more I talked to friends and family the more it became apparent that it wasn’t just me who had missed this- none of us were prepared for the changes that would happen to our bodies, physically and mentally!
I started my Instagram page in September 2020 as a way of sharing all that I was learning and to try and help encourage other women to educate themselves. I did a huge U turn in my thinking over HRT and wanted to share my journey with others.
Having access to factual evidence-based information and having a support network around us is crucial and something we all deserve. Over the last year and a half, I’ve realised just how much women are struggling, how little they know and the difficulty they are having to get the support they need. I’m now passionate about helping to educate and support other women that are struggling.
I’m so excited to be part of the Lounge and help support women in a safe environment where there is no judgment just friendship and a common issue that brings us together.
Menopause isn’t the end, it’s a new spring, a new start and a time we should be able to embrace not dread.
