Today is very special for us here at Become™, not only is it World Menopause Day – a hugely important date for raising awareness about women’s health – but it also happens to be our First Birthday!

When Become™ launched back in October 2017, we knew we were onto something special.  Our anti-flush vests and knickers were stylish, groundbreaking and we couldn’t wait to get them into the hands of the women we knew they could help. We were a tiny start-up, but powered by the innovation of our parent company, MAS Holdings, an award-winning and ethical manufacturer whose workforce of 94,000 people is made up of 90% women. We could never have imagined how far we’ve come in the first year. Here are just a few of our favourite highlights…

Our fantastic journey so far

Way back in January we helped Meg Mathews launch her website Meg’s Menopause. Meg’s long been a great partner to Become™ and we’re really looking forward to working more with her over the coming months – watch this space! In March we enjoyed celebrating International Women’s Day with Loose Women’s Andrea McLean and in June, we were delighted to launch our Facebook Group, The Chilled Menopause. This group of fantastic ladies has fast become a fun and lively forum for discussion. We have over 3,500 members who offer a huge amount of wisdom and support, as well as our menopause gurus who regularly offer expert advice.

July saw the launch of our #HotWomenOnly Competition – our mission to find the ‘Hottest Women in Britain. But this was no ordinary contest to find the new models to represent our brand! We wanted to redefine the word ‘hot’ and reach out to real menopausal ladies dealing with hot flushes and night sweats, navigating the journey that is being a woman. This created a few waves in the media and we were delighted to garner support from singer Michelle Heaton and comedian Shappi Khorsandi. It was so hard to choose a winner from all the amazingly inspirational entries. Stories of overcoming adversity and keeping strong. But we’re so proud of our fantastic finalists, our winner Nell Larrier and runner up, Rhianon Lucas. Read all about them and how they came to enter the competition here.   

Our Menopause Picnic in August was such a fun day. The fact that we hosted a picnic on one of the rainiest of days of the year just goes to show that we don’t let anything hold us back! We had the pleasure of meeting some hugely inspirational women who were our real-life models for the day including Sophie Claus and the ladies from Hot Flush.  

August also saw our first advertising campaign on the London Underground of which we  are very proud – these were bold and confident posters that perfectly encapsulated our company ethos of changing the way we talk about the menopause. We hope they started a few interesting conversations!  

But it doesn’t stop here, our mission is just heating up! We’ve so many more exciting projects to look forward to, starting with World Menopause Day!

Celebrating World Menopause Day 2018 

So what is World Menopause Day all about? The International Menopause Society in collaboration with the World Health Organisation has designated 18th October as World Menopause Day. More specifically, it’s to devote time to support women experiencing the menopause across the UK and raising awareness about women’s health, particularly in midlife, so that they can continue to be healthy, active and have fun. According to research by the British Menopause Society more than half of women feel negative about their experience of the menopause – you only need to check out our posts on The Chilled Menopause to see some of the debilitating symptoms and problems our ladies are experiencing.

That was when we had the idea to have a menopause meet up! What better way to support this initiative than a Become™ get together. So this weekend we’re going to be hosting Become’s Menopause Workshop Event, with food, drink, entertainment and the most up-to-date tips on how best to manage menopause. We have a number of guest speakers including pioneer of the Natural Menopause Movement Maryon Stewart, fashion expert Evey Amery Kurlander, The Menopause Chef, Henpicked’s Deborah Garlick and yoga instructor Dawn Boulanoff. We will also welcome Becks Armstrong from Clarity, Lauren Chiren from Women of a Certain Age, Jane Dowling from Meno and Me, Nicki Gaylor from Sylk, Jane Atherton from Phytomone and our charity partner, Wellbeing of Women. Make sure to get your tickets here.

Lindsey, Become’s Head of Marketing explains why it’s going to be so special: "We learned from our Facebook group, The Chilled Menopause, how isolated and uninformed menopausal women are feeling, so we hope that the women attending the event will have a fantastic time celebrating World Menopause Day and Become's First Birthday with great food, lots of wine and live music. We know they will leave with enough knowledge to improve their health and wellbeing, as well as a goody bag, full of the most wonderful treats worth over £250! The event is the first of its kind for Become™ and is going to be hugely exciting day."

We’re also so happy to be adding to our product range. Our customers have been asking for more products for a while now and we’re delighted to be able to offer vests in pink, navy and white, coming to our website very soon. We'll only have limited stock available, but be first in line to buy by signing up to our VIP mailing list. We also have lots more products coming out from now until Christmas and we're all beyond excited – look out for short and long-sleeved T-shirts, nightdresses and leggings.

Become has been built on the belief that women of all ages can achieve great things and they don’t need to be held back by something as common as a hot flush or night sweat. We’ve met so many inspirational women in our first year and really look forward to having you join our journey as we continue into our second! We’re very excited to continue with our mission to transform how modern women talk about, think about and take on their menopause. For more details about forthcoming events, news, competitions and product launches, make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter and sign up to The Chilled Menopause Facebook Group. As well as discussion and advice, its a place to share tips and recommendations, get real feedback and ask the things you're too embarrassed to talk about! If you have a question you want answering or just fancy a chat, we’d love you to see you there.  

We still have some tickets available for the special price of £8 (£9.21 inc.fees). Simply BOOK HERE and use the code BECOME at the Eventbrite checkout.   

Helen Prentice, October 2018