Building a Menopause Brand: Naomi Watts on HRT, Hot Flashes & Hollywoo

This week on unPaused, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Naomi Watts, Academy Award nominated actress, entrepreneur, and New York Times bestselling author of Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I'd Known About Menopause. Naomi's career spans decades in Hollywood, from her breakthrough role in David Lynch's Mulholland Drive to recent work with directors like Ryan Murphy and Lena Dunham. After receiving a shocking early menopause diagnosis at 36 while struggling with fertility, Naomi spent years navigating untreated symptoms in silence before becoming an unexpected advocate for millions of women facing midlife transitions. In 2021, she founded Stripes Beauty, a menopause focused skincare and wellness brand built on community, education, and celebrating womens earned wisdom rather than promising to reverse time.

In this conversation, Dr. Haver and Naomi explore the reality of growing up across continents after losing her father at eight years old, the decade long struggle to break into Hollywood, and the moment at 30 when her acting career finally launched. Naomi opens up about the devastating news from her doctor that she was approaching menopause at 36, the desperate fertility journey that followed including traveling to China for herbal remedies and extreme dietary changes, and the perimenopause symptoms she dismissed as allergies or stress in her late twenties including night sweats, migraines, brain fog, and sleep disruption.

Naomi reveals the shame she carried about being menopausal while building her career in an industry that tells women their value expires at 40, the moment with her now husband, actor Billy Crudup, when she had to explain her estrogen patch, and the panic of experiencing hot flashes on airplanes and in public spaces before finding proper treatment. She discusses successfully managing her symptoms with hormone replacement therapy since 2013, the changes to her skin and vaginal health she didn't expect frozen shoulder and UTIs that surprised her, and the pushback from friends and industry peers when she considered building a menopause brand.

Dr. Haver and Naomi discuss the shifting Hollywood narrative with older actresses like Pamela Anderson, Nicole Kidman, and Demi Moore landing sexually driven age appropriate roles, the statistics showing one in five to one in 10 women quit jobs at career peaks due to untreated menopause symptoms like brain fog and anxiety, and why being cast in roles specifically because directors know she'll authentically portray perimenopause and menopause feels meaningful. Naomi shares her experience writing her New York Times bestseller with contributions from medical experts, cold pitching her menopause brand concept during COVID, the importance of connection through in person events and community building and looking ahead to longevity and living a functional independent life like her grandmothers who lived past 99 and 101. This conversation provides both personal vulnerability and practical wisdom about transforming shame into purpose, managing symptoms from hot flashes to sleep issues to sexual health changes, challenging ageism in entertainment, and building a second act focused on empowering women to feel seen and celebrated during the second half of life.

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