By Darlene Donloe
Contributing Writer
LOS ANGELES — Women in Los Angeles often wait months to see a menopause specialist. On Aug. 22, they can see more than 30 in one day.
From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., the Skirball Cultural Center’s Ahmanson Ballroom will host the 12th WisePause Wellness Summit, a one-day resource center for perimenopause, menopause and the midlife fallout that follows.
Physicians, functional medicine practitioners, nutritionists and fitness experts — many with waitlists into 2027 — will be there with no referrals and no co-pay roulette. No being told, “it’s just your age.”
“Women should not have to spend years searching for someone who understands what is happening to their bodies,” said Denise Pines, 60, the founder of WisePause Wellness and president of the Osteopathic Medical Board of California. “WisePause collapses years of searching and waiting into one day of access.”
This is the 12th summit, the fifth in person. Virtual events during COVID drew women worldwide and taught Pines two things: the suffering is global, and the silence is expensive.
“One out of four women will drop out of the workforce as a result of their menopausal symptoms,” she said. “Especially if they end up getting brain fog and they start making mistakes at work.”
The pitch is simple: brain fog, sleeplessness, hair thinning, bladder leaks, sex that hurts, energy that vanished — women are encouraged to bring their questions to the people who usually make you wait.
The roster mixes traditional and functional medicine.
Dr. Rajita Patil explains perimenopause. Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl takes on brain fog. Dr. Karyn Eilber and Aggie Postman Kuchta talk incontinence without euphemism. Dr. Valerie Cacho tackles sleep. Dr. Katherine Klos and certified sex therapist Kim Ronan address the bedroom. Dr. Carl Truesdale covers skin and hair. Nutritionist Julie E is on energy. Drs. Amanda Tracy and Deanna Minich walk through natural solutions. Dr. Tracey Sylvester, a Los Angeles OB-GYN who does robotic surgery, joins Dr. Amy Day and Dr. Julie Taylor on what happens to the body — and how to treat it.
“I support this mission,” said Dr. Tracey Sylvester. “Any chance I get to get this message out to a large group of women, I will. The message of how to age well, have vitality, longevity and the tools to do that.”
If the 400 women expected to attend walk away with nothing else, Dr. Sylvester said, they should walk away with “more questions.”
“They need a road map, some blueprints to a pathway forward,” she said. “Menopause is a natural state of being. It’s not an illness. It’s a transitional part of life — just like puberty. We don’t have to suffer through it.”
Dr. Sylvester said stigma drives fear.
“The stigma is the loss of function in the body,” she said. “There is shame associated with change. The summit is to change that narrative. It’s who you’re going to become the rest of your life.”
That work starts on stage and continues at lunch with Table Talks: one-on-one conversations on hair thinning, autoimmune disorders, dental hygiene, GLP-1 medications, and A.I. and menopause.
Between panels, Pines threads in five-minute “rebalancing” sessions — breathwork, tai chi, sound bath, acupuncture, meditation.
“One of the biggest reasons women suffer so much, especially Black women, is that we’re stressed,” she said.
The name “WisePause” is deliberate.
“Menopause happens between our 40s and 50s,” Pines said. “When we are accelerating at work. When we’ve raised kids. We have a body of wisdom. But when it comes to our bodies, we are not.”
Pines has produced 14 films, including “The M Factor” and “M Factor 2: Before the Pause” on PBS.
“The movies have opened up conversation all over the world,” she said. “The suffering and silence are a global issue.”
WisePause will hand out three Menopause Recognition Awards.
The first goes to Melani Sanders, founder of the “We Do Not Care Club,” the internet’s second-ranking menopause influencer.
“At 65, 75, and 85, we will still be telling the truth, still laughing, and probably still asking why everybody keeps calling us when they could have sent a text,” Sanders said. “The We Do Not Care Club was created during menopause, but it is not limited to menopause. It is about women permitting themselves to just be at every stage of life.”
Sanders said in creating “The We Do Not Care Club,” she was simply telling the truth about what was happening to her and “other women recognized themselves in it.”
“The moment I realized it was bigger than one funny video was when women flooded the comments saying, ‘I thought it was just me,’” Sanders said. “They weren’t only laughing — they were relieved.”
Sanders said the club isn’t avoidance.
“Our ‘not caring’ is reclamation,” she said. “It is deciding we no longer have the energy to carry everybody’s expectations. Perimenopause has a way of making you ask, ‘Why am I still doing all of this?’ We’re putting that energy back where it belongs — with ourselves.”
“She hit that point where you could relate,” Pines said about Sanders. “She’s speaking to a group of women who have not been spoken to.”
Sanders is appreciative of being recognized for her work.
“This honor means more to me than I can fully explain because I did not start talking about menopause with a grand plan,” she said. “I was simply telling the truth about what was happening to me, and other women recognized themselves in it. To receive the Menopause Trailblazer Award tells me that our stories matter. Our laughter matters.
“And the women who have felt ignored, dismissed, or told to just deal with it are finally being heard,” she added. “I may be the one receiving the award, but it belongs to every sister in this club.”
The second award goes to Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, D-San Ramon.
“She’s done two bills,” Pines said. “When the governor vetoed the last bill, she said, ‘I’m going to do another one.’ She did not stop.”
Pines is backing AB 1940, a workplace menopause protection bill moving through the state Senate to keep women from leaving jobs due to symptoms.
The third award goes to Bristol Myers Squibb for culture change.
“They’ve got champions employees can go to about menopause,” Pines said. “Every employee has been educated. They’ve got benefits and a portal for information. That is what every company needs to do.”
Every attendee gets Pines’ “365 Days of WisePause” e-book, a free pre-appointment sheet. It lists midlife tests “way beyond regular tests,” the 34 top symptoms of menopause — hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, anxiety, depression, vaginal dryness, fatigue — and notes there are actually 103 symptoms.
“I just love women, and I hate that women get a bad rap,” Pines said. “Here we are with the wisest part of ourselves at midlife, and then all of a sudden, we feel our confidence go out. I want to change that so we can thrive. When women are feeling good, everybody else feels good.”
The 12th annual WisePause Wellness Summit will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 22 at the Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd. Tickets start at $99 with survey and include breakfast, lunch and the afterparty.
Darlene Donloe is a freelance reporter for Wave Newspapers who covers South Los Angeles. She can be reached at ddonloe@gmail.com.
