Meet Ali Stripling
I’m Ali Stripling, a workplace menopause speaker, qualified Menopause Wellness Practitioner, author of #TweakAWeek™ and co-founder of The Brave Behinds.
Before I started talking about menopause for a living, I spent more than 20 years working inside major organisations including Arm, Heineken, EDF Energy and MIB, across employee engagement, inclusion, partnerships and organisational culture.
That experience matters because I understand the realities behind workplace wellbeing. I know what it is like to work with senior leaders, navigate competing priorities and try to turn good intentions into something employees can actually feel.
Now, I combine that corporate experience with professional menopause training and lived experience of perimenopause and stage 3 cancer.
I deliver honest, engaging workplace sessions that help colleagues and managers better understand perimenopause and menopause, while moving the conversation from symptoms to what support actually looks and feels like.
My sessions are definitely not a yawn-fest.
I believe difficult subjects do not need to feel heavy, clinical or frightening. People learn more when they feel comfortable, included and able to laugh too.
That is the space I create.
When perimenopause changed everything
I was practically born clapping.
I was confident, energetic, sociable and always up for an adventure. I loved my career, my team, the travel and the life my husband and I were building. Then, in my mid-40s, things began to change.
My confidence disappeared. My anxiety went through the roof. I struggled to sleep, overthought everything and barely recognised myself. And eventually, I was signed off work with exhaustion and prescribed antidepressants. A nurse mentioned that I might be perimenopausal, but there was no real explanation and very little support.
At the time, I had barely heard the word, so I went home and Googled it.
That search eventually led me to retrain and complete a comprehensive Level 5 Diploma in Menopause Wellness with the College of Functional Wellness. During the course, I had one hallelujah moment after another as I finally began to understand what had been happening in my body and mind.
I started putting what I was learning into practice. Some changes helped. Some did not. At first, I tried to do everything at once and quickly became overwhelmed. Then I asked myself a different question.
What if I could turn some things up and dial others down?
That question became #TweakAWeek™.
Why I created #TweakAWeek™
#TweakAWeek™ is my practical wellbeing framework and ebook, built around 52 small, realistic lifestyle changes. And it’s the no-diet, no meal-plan, no juice-cleanse zone.
The tweaks cover movement, sleep, nourishment, stress, blood sugar, hormones, mindset, confidence and the everyday habits that can make a real difference over time.
I created it because I was tired of women being told to overhaul their entire lives.
Most of us do not need another impossible plan, another list of rules or another reason to feel as though we are failing. We need ideas that fit into real life.
That might mean drinking a glass of water while the kettle boils, adding protein to breakfast, getting outside for ten minutes, putting the phone down earlier or dancing around the kitchen to one brilliant song.
Small changes matter when they are changes you can actually keep doing.
That thinking runs through my workplace sessions too. I want people to leave with more than awareness. I want them to leave with practical ideas they can use, conversations they feel more confident having and a clearer understanding of how to support themselves and others.
Then came cancer
In October 2024, I was diagnosed with stage 3 anal cancer.
Yes, you can get cancer up your butt. No, I did not know that either. The diagnosis came after months of symptoms I had explained away or assumed were caused by something else. Treatment involved 28 days of chemoradiation over five and a half weeks.
It was brutal, frightening and life-changing.
It also brought treatment-induced menopause, a new understanding of trauma, recovery and life after cancer, and an even stronger belief that the subjects we find hardest to discuss are often the ones we most need to talk about.
I am now living beyond treatment and rebuilding my strength physically and emotionally. Cancer changed my perspective, but it did not take away my humour, my energy or my desire to help make difficult conversations feel less lonely. It strengthened them.
The Brave Behinds
My own diagnosis also led me to co-found The Brave Behinds, a no-shame support squad for women affected by anal cancer.
Anal cancer is still surrounded by silence, embarrassment and misunderstanding. Too many women feel unable to talk openly about their diagnosis, treatment or the physical and emotional impact that follows.
The Brave Behinds exists to change that.
Podcasts & Conversations
I’m always up for an honest conversation about menopause, cancer, recovery and the things we still find difficult to talk about.
Menopause, Cancer and the Conversations We Avoid
On The Menopause and Cancer Podcast, I joined Danni Binnington to talk about my Stage 3 anal cancer diagnosis, the link with HPV, pelvic radiotherapy, treatment-induced menopause and the gaps in support that can leave people feeling incredibly alone.
It is an open conversation about shame, confidence, sexual wellbeing and why every cancer deserves to be talked about. We also talk about HRT, local oestrogen, life after treatment and finding humour in the hardest moments.
The Many Faces of Cancer Podcast
I joined Melissa Grosboll to talk about my Stage 3 HPV-related anal cancer diagnosis, the symptoms I ignored, the reality of chemoradiation and the part that often gets overlooked: life after treatment.
We also talked about scanxiety, reducing stress, finding community and why there should be no shame around anal cancer.
Living With & Beyond Cancer
I joined Steve Pointon to talk about my journey from the first symptoms and diagnosis through treatment, recovery and the challenges that followed.
We also talked about the impact cancer had on everyday life, the importance of patient advocacy and shared decision-making, and why support after treatment matters just as much as support during it.
What matters to me now
I want women to understand their bodies sooner, managers to feel more confident having health conversations, and workplaces to move beyond awareness into meaningful support. I bring warmth, humour and honesty to every session, while creating a space where people feel informed, included and never pressured to share more than they want to.
I deliver workplace menopause sessions virtually for organisations worldwide, and in person across the UK, tailored for employees, managers, leaders, networks and awareness events.