Denise Pines is a woman that has always had a lot going on. She’s at her best when she’s putting her ideas into action, and let’s just say, she’s got no shortage of ideas…
An award-winning filmmaker, she’s produced 11 documentaries, including the acclaimed film, “PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools,” and her next documentary, “Anthony Fauci” will air on PBS November 2021.
A long-time community health advocate, Denise recently completed a 3-year appointment as president of the Medical Board of California, and continues to serve the health and wellness community through board and committee work. In the midst of all of this, for the past four years she’s been fervently working to bring greater attention to the market need – and opportunity — for health and wellness innovations that support women in midlife and beyond.
If it doesn’t exist and you can’t find someone to do it, do it yourself.
Never one to be defined by others, or weighted down by false limitations to what she can do, Denise is trailblazing her way through menopause landscape and has become a trusted resource for women as they pursue midlife wellness.
She is the founder of Tea Botanics, which features “Hot Flash Tea,” a proprietary tea blend of herbal supplements developed to ease hot flashes and night sweats. In 2019, she founded WisePause Lifestyle, a pro-aging women’s health and educational platform. And last year, she launched the FemAging 2020 HealthTech report, to shine a light on the lack of health innovations and investment for women 40 years and older.
When asked what she hopes to accomplish through it all, she’s pretty clear and resolute,
“I’m trying to amplify this space everywhere. I’m trying to get innovators to start innovating products for women 40 plus. I’m trying to get investors to invest in the innovators who are creating the products for women 40 plus. I’m trying to talk to the women themselves, and empower them and help them to realize that these can be the best years of their lives.”
A multidimensional problem requires a multidimensional solution.
Denise is taking a multi-pronged approach to tackling perimenopause and menopause education and support — and she’s just getting started! She has pretty big goals for the year ahead, starting with working with medical schools to add curricula that prepare doctors to effectively treat women through all stages of their health and wellness, including menopause transition.
“I’m concerned about the lack of preparation for women entering menopause. How is it we’re not prepared like women get prepared to go through puberty or have babies? Why are we rendered silent? Why are we rendered invisible?”
Since menopausal women make up 20% of the U.S. workforce, she’s also been speaking to companies about incorporating workplace policies that recognize and support women going through menopause transition. Denise notes that “success” in her eyes would be reaching a point where women no longer feel ashamed about experiencing menopause and feel supported in all spaces — and where men are comfortable discussing menopause and its impact on their relationships and families.
“We really need to expand our thinking around ‘menopause’ and better educate and prepare women for perimenopause as a potentially significant health stage. Perimenopause has only recently been coming to the consciousness of people, like menopause. People know the word menopause, but we really need to define for them what perimenopause is.”
A place to gather and learn.
After speaking to numerous women about their own experiences, Denise was inspired to create a resource-rich event forum through which women could come together to learn about “the A-Zs of menopause” from leading health and wellness experts around the world. Next month, Denise will host her fifth WisePause event, the WisePause Virtual Conference on Demystifying Menopause.
Scheduled for March 27, 2021, this one-day event will feature more than 40 industry experts offering valuable and insightful information on women’s health and wellness in midlife. Registration is free for 24 hours with the completion of survey, or you can have seven-day access to the virtual content for a low cost of $20 and view it at your leisure. You can also keep up with the latest WisePause events by following WisePause Lifestyle on Facebook and Instagram.
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