The Business of Menopause

A generation of companies has emerged to address the symptoms of menopause and extend women's vitality. In the process, they're changing the very nature of aging

- By Ainsley Harris

Building, inside the glass-and-cement where more than 300 women's voices beckon, I'm confronted with an electric rainbow of statement blazers Barbie pink, blush pink, velvety mauve, lime green, highlighter green, '70s plaid, leopard print. The "festive casual" dress code didn't mention power dressing, but it didn't have to. We're here for a symposium on menopause, dubbed "The New Pause," and the women of a certain age who are in attendance have earned the confidence that their clothes convey.

How old these women are is hard to say. In the U.S., the average age at which women officially enter menopause, or a year without experiencing a menstrual cycle, is 51. (Throughout this article, we use the word women to refer to people with ovaries and a vagina.) But here-among women who have dropped $195 on a day spent exploring the latest research around menopause, while learning how to optimize their bodies through diet, exercise, supplements, prescription drugs, and intentional gratitude-the specific age associated with menopause feels less material than the life stage it represents. These women are parenting teenagers, or have recently become empty nesters. They have careers. They have sex lives. And they have disposable income.