Make Midlife your superpower, with MPowder.
MPowder is a community for curious minds that co-creates highly nutritious 5-star supplement powders and personalised wellness programmes to support our bodies and minds in menopause.
How did it all begin?
MPowder is the result of a personal journey that became a public mission. Our menopause transition happens when many of us are still climbing the career ladder or starting new ventures. We’re ambitious. We’re driven. We’re not done yet!
Yet 75% of us feel blind-sided as our hormones start to fluctuate. The symptoms are varied and hard to untangle from the everyday pressure of midlife. As a result, it takes on average 3-4 years for women to find the support they need to nourish their bodies and minds. During this time our bodies and minds can become depleted. Anxiety sets in (often bringing their best friend ‘imposter syndrome’ along for the ride). Sleep becomes elusive for 40% of us. Our hair and skin change. We experience food intolerances, bloating…alongside the more commonly talked about symptoms of brain fog, mood changes, and hot flashes. 80% of us will find life harder. 1 in 5 of us will leave the workplace.
When my body transitioned into peri-menopause I was 43 which is when most of us will start the biochemical transition into menopause. Like c.75% of women in the UK I visited my doctor. And, like 75% of those that get an appointment, I was told I was ‘too young to be menopausal’. I was left to navigate a complex and often isolating life-stage alone; MPowder was created to ensure no other woman has to. Today we’re a vibrant community of 12k+ women creating innovative products that work, educational content and workshops that engage and inspire and personalised programmes to help you ‘meno-well’.
What sets your business apart?
We are the first brand in the menopause space to actively collaborate with our community. They trial every product in our supplement range to ensure that potential seen in the lab translates into real life. They vote on the content of our workshops for curious minds. They drive our direction of travel. Their input makes us better. And ensures that we are able to deliver 5-star solutions that really work.
What is the concept behind your business or the problem you’re solving?
The reframing of midlife as a superpower – to provide the support and the science to enable our menopause transition to be a stepping up point, rather than a fading away.
Where to next/What is your brand vision?
In Chinese Medicine, menopause is described as our ‘second spring’. Our vision with MPowder is to reach as many women in midlife as possible with innovative solutions to nourish their bodies and minds in midlife so they can continue to bloom.
Rebekah Brown
Founder of
MPowder
What do you feel passionate about/what drives you?
I am passionate about the wellness of women – in rebalancing attention on the female form so that our hormones can be harnessed and that we can access insight, innovation and support at all stages of life.
Share an example of early life that has shaped you?
I’ve always been fascinated by what influences behaviour and what drives our wants and needs at different points in life. Looking back, it informed my university studies as well as the projects I was drawn to as a researcher for other brands and businesses. And I guess it was that curiosity about what it is to be human that led me to view my own difficulties during peri-menopause as a research brief too! To go deep. To view from multiple angles. To listen hard and learn. And it is that fascination that ultimately led to the creation of MPowder.
Highlights of your business journey so far?
The organic growth of our community has brought me real joy. The scientists on my team would tell me there is a biochemical reason for this. When women experience stress and our bodies switch to ‘fight or flight’ mode, which happens far more during menopause, our cortisol levels rise – but we also release oxytocin, which leads us to want to protect and nurture…and, critically to seek out other females to connect with; to ‘tend and befriend’. I’m happier today because I have a sense of agency for my career as an entrepreneur. But, as importantly, I’m connected to other individuals at the same life stage as me. Which keeps my hormones – and therefore my body and mind, happy.
Key lessons you have learned along the way?
The power of listening really hard – even to the stuff you don’t want to hear.
Best piece of advice you have received?
You can achieve all that is possible in a calm and peaceful manner.
Advice to an aspiring entrepreneur or woman just starting her career?
Make sure you take time to recognise what you won even when it feels like you’re failing. Entrepreneurship is a journey. It is bumpy. But even when everything goes wrong you can find the wins; the new skill you acquired, the new insight, the connections…collect those jewels. They keep you moving forward.
What funding route have you chosen for your business and why?
We have sought external investment – building a cap table of very smart women who can support us on our journey. Our rationale was simple. We wanted to reach as many women as possible. And our mission is urgent. The external investment will allow us to move faster.
Some of the challenges you have faced and how you overcame them?
The biggest challenge has been educating an audience to enable them to recognise they need you. It takes time and energy. It needs to be baked into your business model to make it affordable.
Why is it important to support women-led business?
We’re 51% of the population. We’re not niche. And we’re not simply tiny men. This is about rebalancing society so everyone wins. We navigate the world differently – and women-led businesses provide fresh perspectives, fresh ways of thinking – and fresh products that often tap into unmet needs.
60
Seconds
with
Rebekah Brown
My inspiration is...
the resilience of women in midlife.
My greatest fear is...
holes. Particularly socks (and fingerless gloves..which should simply be banned).
The most courageous thing I’ve ever done is...
starting MPowder.
Guilty pleasure?
Creme Eggs.
Mantra you live by?
"kill the haters with kindness".
Female role model?
So many. In literature, Carol Ann Duffy for her collection of poems, The World's Wife and Maya Angelou for every single word she uttered.
Women-led brand you love?
In business, Trinny Woodall for building a community as well as an innovative product range that has an insight driven USP and has scaled so rapidly. Plus many of the founders here in The Women's Chapter community - I can not wait to learn from you all!
Top productivity tool?
Otter Ai transcription app.
