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She named it out loud. At work. Without apology.
- Tamara Beckford
- May 7
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 3
Perimenopause does not care about your calendar.
It does not care that you run a professional sports team.
That you have a book coming out.
That you are one of five women in the entire world who holds your job.
It just shows up.
Often without warning.
Often in the middle of the night.
Often on your birthday.
This week’s guest is Tony Will.
General manager of a men’s professional hockey team.
Author. Podcaster. Coach. Mom. Wife.
Five and a half years alcohol free.
She woke up on her 47th birthday with night sweats.
Then came the panic attacks at 2am.
Then came the weight around the middle that showed up regardless of how clean she ate or how hard she trained.
And then she decided to just. Name it.
At work. At home. Out loud.
Without apology.
That kind of honesty is medicine too.
What’s in the News
Anxiety during perimenopause is one of the most common symptoms women experience.
And one of the most misunderstood.
A systematic review presented at the 2025 Annual Meeting of The Menopause Society looked at estrogen-based hormone therapy and anxiety in perimenopausal and early postmenopausal women.
The findings were clear on one thing.
This anxiety is hormonal in nature.
The drop in estrogen and progesterone pulls serotonin down with it.
That is not a character flaw.
That is biochemistry.
The review also found that treatment needs to be personalized.
Not every woman’s anxiety responds the same way to the same intervention.
Which is exactly why a whole-person approach, the kind Tony describes having with her provider, makes such a difference.
NEW EPISODE: This Girl Is on Fire. With Tony Will.
This episode is for you if:
You are carrying everything and navigating this transition at the same time.
You have not given yourself permission to slow down or adjust.
You have not said out loud what is actually happening in your body.
Tony Will does not shrink from hard topics.
She names them. At work. At home. In her own mind.
In this episode we talk about what it is like to lead at the highest level of a male-dominated industry while your hormones are doing something you did not expect.
How she separated what she can control from what she cannot.
How quitting alcohol changed her relationship with her own symptoms.
And why she sees this phase of life not as a loss but as the setup for everything that comes next.
Download it. Listen this week.
Then reply and tell me. What is one thing you have been carrying in silence that you are ready to name?
I want to hear it.
Know a high achiever who is pushing through and not talking about it?
This episode was made for her. Send it.
Two ways to work with me.
Ready to talk through what's happening in your body? If you're dealing with sleep disruption, mood shifts, hormonal weight gain, or brain fog and you're in Texas, Iowa, Illinois, Georgia, or Michigan — book your complimentary 45-minute consult call. We'll look at where you are and what your next step looks like.
Already have labs and don't know what to do with them? I'll review your hormone labs as a physician and help you develop the language to actually communicate your needs with your current provider. You don't have to keep walking out of appointments more confused than when you walked in.
You deserve clarity. Not just survival.
Talk soon,
Dr. Tamara Beckford
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