I’m excited to bring you this compelling and insightful conversation with my friend Tricia Brouk and her co-author, Alexandra Stockwell, on a topic that’s a new one for the show: menopause.

Tricia and Alexandra share why they wrote their new book, The Invitation: Vital Conversations About Menopause, as well as their unique writing process together. But before I get into the specifics, I want to share why I wanted to have them as guests, given that it’s an unusual topic for a writing podcast.

First, I think it’s important to support your friends who are launching books and building a business.

Second, my wife just turned 50 and menopause has been a big topic of discussion in our house for the last couple of years, and probably will be for a while longer.

Third, a large percentage of people that I interact with on a daily basis are women, usually ranging from their 40s to 60s. There are a lot of exceptions, of course, but a good chunk of the people in my network and podcast audience are in this age group—in other words, women going into the age of menopause soon, dealing with it now, or having been through it in the not-too-distant past.

Whenever you serve a particular audience, it’s important to understand where they’re coming from and what they’re going through. So, this was a great opportunity for me to learn about this topic that affects every woman, and therefore, the vast majority of men as well.

And fourth, I confess that I’ve never taken much time to learn about menopause. As writers, it’s our job to be curious and seek knowledge about a wide variety of topics. And if you’re a ghostwriter like me, it’s especially important to know something about as many topics as you can.

With that as the foundation of my interest in this topic, let me tell you a bit about my guests.

Tricia Brouk helps high-performing professionals transform into industry thought leaders through the power of authentic storytelling. She founded The Big Talk Academy, where she certifies speakers in the art of public speaking. She was the executive producer of Speakers Who Dare and TEDxLincolnSquare, and is the producer and host of The Big Talk, an award-winning podcast and YouTube Channel. In addition to being the author of The Influential Voice, Tricia curates and hosts the Speaker Salon in NYC, and is being featured in a new documentary called Big Stages.

Alexandra Stockwell, MD, known as “The Intimacy Doctor,” is a Relationship and Intimacy Coach and an Intimate Marriage Expert who specializes in coaching ambitious, successful couples to build beautiful, long-lasting, passionate relationships. Her mission is to change the cultural narrative so people everywhere know that intimate relationships can flourish and improve with time. Alexandra is the host of The Intimate Marriage Podcast as well as the author of Uncompromising Intimacy.

In this conversation, we focus on two main things related to menopause. First, we dig into a basic understanding of what it is and how it affects women, with a view toward how men can better understand it to support the women in their lives.

Tricia and Alexandra also dive into why and how they wrote The Invitation, particularly since the book doesn’t neatly fit into their typical brands. They also share their publishing strategy and why they approached the book as a conversation rather than a typical nonfiction book format.

I’ll be honest: I felt out of my depth on this topic, so I’m grateful for Tricia and Alexandra’s patience and openness. I hope you find this inspiring not just as a writer, but as a human being as well—whether you’re a woman who has been through or will go through menopause, or a man who wants to better understand and support the women in his life.

The Invitation releases on September 13, so I encourage you to support Tricia and Alexandra and pre-order your copy.

I do want to mention that in this episode, we’re discussing some mature themes, so if you typically listen to this episode with younger kids in the room, you may want to stash it in your queue for a later time.