Dealing With Premature Menopause and ADHD - With Holly Tennock

In this episode, I sit down with Holly Tennock, who faced something most women don’t expect at just 38—premature menopause. Not perimenopause, but full menopause. Her period stopped. And everything she thought she knew about herself shifted overnight.

A decade earlier, Holly had founded and grown a thriving PR agency, successfully selling and exiting the business in 2019—all while juggling motherhood and home life. The challenges were tough, but they were also motivating. Then, suddenly, what once felt like an exciting challenge began to feel insurmountable. Brain fog, memory struggles, and an overwhelming sense that something was just… off. She blamed stress, but deep down, she knew there was more to the story.

The reality? Holly was experiencing Primary Ovarian Insufficiency (POI)—a condition that affects 1 in 100 women, causing the ovaries to stop functioning before the age of 40. Reduced estrogen. Irregular or absent periods. A premature menopause that turned her world upside down.

And then, another revelation: ADHD. Diagnosed not once, but twice (because she didn’t believe it the first time). The connection between ADHD and menopause is profound—hormonal shifts impact dopamine and serotonin levels, intensifying symptoms like brain fog, emotional dysregulation, and difficulty concentrating. Many women only discover their ADHD during menopause, and 83% report worsening symptoms. Women with ADHD are also 40% more likely to experience depression in perimenopause.

Holly’s story mirrors my own in so many ways. This conversation is raw, vulnerable, and deeply honest—a shared experience of two women who thought they could handle it all… until we couldn’t. And what happened when we finally had to put on our own oxygen masks first.

Grab the tissues—this one’s going to hit deep. Because sometimes, it’s in the breaking that we let the light in. 💛

Lisa x

 

About Holly Tennock 

Holly Tennock is a serial entrepreneur and accredited professional coach. She grew a hot list of the world’s leading health-tech brands with the PR agency she sold in 2019 and is now CEO founder of Wilder Work, an offsite company reconnecting teams in biodiversity restoration sites across the UK.

 

The equity seeking matchmaking site for businesses and high-impact, memorable, nature led offsites is discovering and evidencing the best ways employees and leaders can reconnect in ways that increase economic growth and restore biodiversity. 

 

This entrepreneurial pivot to focus on restoring joy to leaders and their teams came from Holly’s desire to reconnect with her own sense of purpose and values following a premature menopause diagnosis at 38, medically attributed to stress, post agency sale. 

 

 

Follow Holly Tennock

Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/hollytennock/ 

Wilder Work: https://wilder.work/  

Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/wilder/work-wilder-weekly

 

Follow Am I Crazy? Or… 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amicrazyorpodcast/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amicrazyorpodcast

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmICrazyOr/videos 

Website: https://www.amicrazyor.com/

 

Podcast Host & Producer: Lisa Paasche

Podcast Editor & Producer: Luke Naylor-Perrot

 

Links:

 

How Perimenopause and Menopause Impact ADHD Symptoms